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Penticton news
Kamloops dental surgeon continues work while awaiting penalty for causing brain damage to patient
KAMLOOPS - A local dental surgeon continues to work at his practice while he waits to hear what penalty a professional panel imposes for a series of failures which led to a patient’s cardiac arrest during surgery. A team of investigators for the Inquiry Committee of the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia examined...
Mental health issues at root of Osoyoos convenience store robberies
PENTICTON - A Penticton provincial court judge sympathized with a young man suffering from mental issues after two bungled robbery attempts in Osoyoos. Twenty-four year old Aaron Paul Hillstad will only spend one day in jail after receiving credit for time served, but will face two years’ probation under a number of strict terms following...
RCMP reunite missing dog with family
KAMLOOPS - Saundra Potter didn’t expect to come home without a dog when she took a family trip to Kelowna to run an errand. Potter and her three children left their dog Bailey in the back of her truck with a blanket, food and water when they entered a store to grab barbecue supplies last...
Ribfest ready to return to Penticton next year
PENTICTON - A first-time event that took place in Penticton this weekend looks like it has staying power. The Penticton Rotary’s first ever Ribfest completed a three-day run in the city’s Lakeside Park this past weekend. A tired but content Ribfest chairperson, Barb Hoolaeff, calls it an 'awesome weekend.' “The Ribbers estimated 20,000 people attended...
Serious leg injury for motorcyclist avoiding tow truck
OSOYOOS - A motorcyclist trying to avoid a tow truck backing out of a driveway lost control and crashed his bike on 82nd Avenue late last week. Cpl. Jason Bayda with Osoyoos RCMP says a 56-year-old Osoyoos man was travelling east on the roadway around 2 p.m. on Friday, July 3, when he tried to...
Hikers missing for seven days in the backcountry tell their story
KEREMEOS – An Ontario couple who went missing in the Similkameen Valley southwest of Keremeos late last month have have decided to share their experience. Rick Moynan and Lynne Carmody were first declared missing by staff at Cathedral Lakes Lodge when they did not return from hiking by supper time, Monday, June 22. What followed...
Single vehicle crash on Highway 3 sends six to hospital
OSOYOOS - A single vehicle collision Sunday morning sent six people to hospital after the vehicle left the road and went down an embankment. The crash happened around 9:30 a.m., July 5, near Kobau Mountain west of Osoyoos. A four-door Honda Civic with six occupants left the road and went down an embankment. All the...
Seasonal workers add to Penticton soup kitchen clientele
PENTICTON - It may be summer, but there is no sign of diminishing need at the Penticton Soupateria. Past President Keray Lavant says the volunteers fed 185 people on Friday, July 3. That’s up from a normal summer day of 160. “We’re normally cleaned up and out of here by 12:30 p.m., but it’s 1...
Regional district celebrates pedestrians, transit
PENTICTON - The regional district kicked off July by celebrating a new community walkway and showing its appreciation for ridership on the South Okanagan Transit system. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen held an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Canada Day with local political dignitaries and a handful of Kaleden residents. In a regional district release,...
Trial ends for Okanagan women accused of defrauding govt of $200 million in taxes
"I THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT. I'D NEVER MADE THAT KIND OF MONEY." KELOWNA – She got paid the same as her business partner - up to $7,000 a month - but she was only a secretary. At least that’s what one of the two women accused of helping 224 clients defraud the Canada Revenue Agency...
Eats, arts, and all things Scottish in Penticton this weekend
PENTICTON - Penticton is the place to be this weekend if you like food, art or just about anything Scottish. The Rotary Club’s Ribfest is already underway in Okanagan Park, and promises to be a very busy place this weekend. “It’s our first and hopefully to become an annual event," Rotary Chair for Volunteers Craig...
No changes planned for city traffic system in spite of increased volume
PENTICTON - Penticton motorists don’t have much to complain about when it comes to traffic issues in the city but with summer here, traffic on city streets is on the rise. The influx of summer visitors and the corresponding increase in vehicles on local highways, combined with traffic changes in the city’s south end this...
Okanagan feeling the heat
OKANAGAN - Expect temperatures to remain in the mid-30s through much of next week as the Okanagan continues to flirt with record-breaking temperatures. Environment Canada is calling for temperatures of 36 Celsius throughout the Okanagan today, July 3, and 31 C Saturday in Vernon and Kelowna. Penticton is expected to reach 33 C on Saturday....
Smoke in South Okanagan from aggressive wildfire
KEREMEOS - A fire is burning in the remote wilderness of Snowy Creek Protected Area and causing smoke that is visible from Highway 3 and throughout the South Okanagan. B.C. Wildfire is estimating the aggressive fire at 90 hectares and says it is burning the high elevation grassland and timber surrounded by natural barriers. Crews...
Boat inspectors at work in Okanagan
PENTICTON - Inspectors are making sure Penticton beaches remain mussel-free this summer. Inspectors Branden Beck and Graham Wheating say it’s their second time to be stationed at the Kaleden scales, inspecting boats for any sign of invasive zebra and quagga mussels, part of a provincial program that has three crews monitoring highways, beaches and boat launches...
Vernon cop charged with possessing child porn nearing trial date
KELOWNA – The trial of the former Vernon cop charged with possessing child pornography will start the middle of next month after a brief court appearance today. Ryan Hampton, 37, faces counts of possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography, attempting to obstruct justice and half a dozen breaches of court orders. He was arrested...
Willowbrook residents cleaning up after nature’s fury
PENTICTON - Several Willowbrook property owners continue to clean up after a brief, localized storm hit the community on Monday, June 29, around 3:30 p.m. “It must have been a twister," Kurt Klaes says, describing the storm front as 'a white wall.' On July 2, he and wife Ruth are still cleaning up with a...
Council unwavering in spite of opposition to waterfront development
PENTICTON - Penticton Council gave the go-ahead for Skaha Lake waterfront development Monday, but citizen approval was anything but unanimous. Plans for a major waterfront facelift at the south end of the city were first unveiled at the May 19 council meeting. According to all reports, including postings on social media sites and a series...
The weather record breaker that was June
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – If it felt like weather dominated the headlines throughout June, that’s because if it wasn’t dropping a month’s worth of rain in a day, we were shattering high temperature records around the region. Lisa Coldwells, an Environment Canada meteorologist, says despite the heavy rains that bookended the beginning and end of the month,...
Penticton Vees mourning loss of team Chaplain
PENTICTON - The Penticton Vees lost a part of their family with the passing of the team’s chaplain, Jamie Weberg. Weberg passed away Sunday, June 28 after a two-year battle with cancer, said Fraser Rodgers, spokeperson for the team. "He was diagnosed in late 2013 with a type of bone cancer. It was an incurable...
VIDEO: Kenny Vs. Spenny promote upcoming Kelowna show
KELOWNA – The best friends from Toronto who actually kind of hate each other, have put out a video promoting their upcoming show in Kelowna. Both Kenny Hotz and Spencer “Spenny” Rice, stars of the hit TV show Kenny Vs. Spenny, feature in the short video, but it is Spenny who does most of the...
UPDATE: Missing Lumby woman has been found safe
VERNON - Police say a Lumby woman has been found safe. A family member reported Susan Catt, 54, missing about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, to the Lumby RCMP detachment. She was found sometime Tuesday, according to a RCMP release sent around midnight. An original release said Catt left her home in Lumby around...
Okanagan apples almost ready to cross the globe
OKANAGAN – The general manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association says they are about a month away from knowing if Okanagan apples will be bound for one of the largest markets in the world. Glen Lucas says he had hoped they would have the answers to whether or not local apples will be a...
Man found dead in Kal Lake identified; second man still missing
VERNON - Police have launched a full scale search for an individual last seen with a man found dead in Kalamalka Lake over the weekend. In a media release issued in this afternoon, June 30, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy confirmed what 23-year-old Curtis Wilson’s family announced earlier in the day; that he was last seen...