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Penticton news
Okanagan-Skaha school trustees look at cost of living hike
PENTICTON - A pending vote on a pay increase could be bad timing for Okanagan-Skaha school board trustees, from a public perception point of view. The suggestion of a raise comes after the trustees recently passed a budget which included tough cuts to make up for a shortfall of provincial funding. It also comes on...
VIDEO: Spring car cruise attracts automotive fans from across B.C.
OKANAGAN – An annual car cruise which started a few years ago as a way for friends and car enthusiasts to show off their rides, has grown to include hundreds of 'tuners' from across the province. Tyson Noel organized the first Kelowna Spring Cruise and has seen it go from fewer than 50 cars to...
Over $12-million in improvements to Hope-Princeton highway
PENTICTON - Those travelling from the South Okanagan and Similkameen to Vancouver on Highway 3 will soon see construction activity on one of the route’s most notorious stretches west of Princeton. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Transport Canada have announced work is scheduled to begin next month on a $12.53-million highway realignment project...
BC Ambulance, search and rescue teams perform rescue near Summerland trestle
PENTICTON - A 40-year-old man in medical distress near the Summerland KVR trestles was found by triangulating his location with cell towers Thursday afternoon. Penticton Search and Rescue members were mobilized at approximately 1:30 p.m., May 28 after receiving a request for assistance from B.C. Ambulance, who had received a distress call from a man...
Robb Nash delivers powerful message of hope to students
PENTICTON - Robb Nash is in the South Okanagan singing poignant messages of hope and talking to students about the trials and tribulations of teenage life. Nash is a successful recording artist out of Winnipeg who has had four songs on the Canadian top 40. He turned his back on a record contract and potential commercial...
Those red light cameras? Apparently they work pretty well
THOMSON-OKANAGAN - There’s no question drivers run red lights on the highways and byways of the Southern Interior but compared to the Lower Mainland, they’re amateurs. A story this week in the Vancouver Sun shows the worst 25 intersections for red-light running out of the 140 intersections where ICBC operates red-light cameras account for more...
Southern Interior water beat by Chilliwack in tap water taste test
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Waterworks staff in the Okanagan and Kamloops will be drowning their sorrows tonight after losing out to Chilliwack in a tap water taste test which wouldn’t have looked out of place at a winery. “It’s a clear winner,” joked Tanja McQueen, CEO of the B.C.Water and Waste Association, who hosted the tasting and...
Conservation officers give stray cougar a reprieve
PENTICTON - A wild cat discovered in a tree in Penticton’s Lakeside Rotary Park Wednesday morning used up one its nine lives, as far as the conservation authorities are concerned. The young cougar was discovered by a Penticton resident walking his dog by the Peach, May 27. Both conservation officers and the RCMP attended, Barb Leslie...
Got Bats initiative works to save furry night fliers
PENTICTON - There is no reason for residents of the Okanagan to "go batty" over problems they might have with the furry, nocturnal flying creatures this summer. The BC Community Bat Project is getting ready for a busy summer educating and instructing Okanagan residents on how to handle bat issues. The “Got Bats” initiative is...
Local bands seek musical peak in B.C. contest
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Two bands from the Thompson-Okanagan are in the running for the musical opportunity of a lifetime. This year’s chosen dozen for the Peak Performance Project include Vernon-based artist Windmills, and Kamloops-based Van Damsel, the only musicians from the B.C. Interior. The rest of the Top 12 are dominated by artists in the Lower Mainland...
Kelowna company expands delivery to Europe and Asia
KELOWNA – The company formerly known as Kelowna Flightcraft is expanding its cargo routes overseas. Now called KF Aerospace, the Kelowna-headquartered aviation services company will have routes four times a week between Toronto and Europe via Brussels and daily service between Toronto and Atlantic Canada. Within two months the network will expand to include all...
Lakeshore Drive residents wake to cougar sighting
PENTICTON - Residents in the area of 100 Lakeshore Drive may have witnessed an unusual sight this morning — a cougar lounging on park grass just east of the Peach Concession at approximately 7:30. “My wife called me on the way to work and said there was a cougar across the street,” says Penticton resident...
Nine salmonella victims in B.C. Interior contracted from live chicks
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Interior Health Authority is bearing the brunt of a B.C. salmonellosis outbreak connected to live poultry distributed from a hatchery in Alberta. The health authority has dealt with nine of 13 confirmed cases within the province and one of the two that required hospitalization, according to Althea Hayden, a public health physician....
Laundry privatization decision expected this summer
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Hospital Employee Union members who filled the Interior Health Authority board meeting yesterday to show their concern about laundry service privatization got a polite but firm message from chairman Erwin Malzer. “Thank you very much for bringing your concerns to us but no decision will be made until we receive the request for...
Some Okanagan Falls residents will be dry on Thursday
OKANAGAN FALLS - A few Okanagan Falls residents will find themselves without running water for a period of time Thursday. On Thursday, May 28, residents and businesses south of Unit Electric in Okanagan Falls will be without water after 8 a.m. The shutoff will affect users on Maple Street south of Unit Electric and will also...
Aboriginal health strategy hopes to improve care outcomes
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Tailoring healthcare for the 54,000 First Nations living within the Interior Health Authority will improve the quality of life and health outcomes and ultimately save money by reducing the need for services amongst a population that is overrepresented within the system. That’s the message behind the aboriginal health and wellness strategy adopted yesterday...
Naming opportunities come with large donations to hospital fund
PENTICTON – The campaign for funds to equip Penticton Regional Hospital’s planned Patient Care Tower…
Campapalooza campacacancelled
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A first-of-its kind event that gives parents a chance to get a taste of all the different summer camp options in one place has been cancelled. Campapalooza was to be held at Okanagan College May 30, but according to their website has been 'postponed until April 2016.' The event would have brought together...
Delays anticipated with Industrial Avenue paving project
PENTICTON - Motorists using Industrial Avenue west of Main Street might want to find an alternate route for the rest of the week. Final paving capping off a rebuild of Industrial Avenue in the city’s industrial area began today, May 26. Motorists faced delays earlier this morning as the paving project got underway on Industrial Avenue between...
Health authority continues to monitor possible Ebola cases
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the ongoing Ebola epidemic has a human face within the Interior Health Authority, it’s that of Patrice Gordon, a nurse practioner who returned from West Africa last December and promptly began displaying the early signs of of the disease. Gordon tested negative for the virus, but since then the health authority has...
Celebration marks centennial of first KVR trains into Penticton
PENTICTON - Penticton has a party planned for an important anniversary of the city’s rail transportation history. On May 31 the museum, Peach City Community Radio and the Department of Canadian Heritage will commemorate the arrival of the first trains on the Kettle Valley Railway into Penticton with 'Steamfest in the Park.' Fifteen hundred Pentictonites...
Amazing Race Canada returns to the Okanagan
PENTICTON - The Summerland area is about to get some nationwide publicity thanks to a popular national TV show that just finished taping in the area. The Amazing Race Canada recently wrapped up a shoot in the South Okanagan with a segment that is expected to air sometime in July. The Summerland Waterfront Resort was...
UPDATE: Police chase on Channel Parkway
PENTICTON - A police cruiser was damaged by an erratic driver while officers tried to pull over a cargo van Monday evening. At approximately 4 p.m., May 25, police were alerted to a complaint of erratic and possibly impaired driving involving an older cargo van on the Channel Parkway, Penticton RCMP confirms. Police located the...
Penticton Scottish Festival has something for everyone
PENTICTON - If you enjoy everything Scottish, from kilts to haggis and tartan to bagpipes, then the Scottish Festival in Penticton could be right up your alley. While haggis may not actually be on the menu, the Second Annual Penticton Scottish Festival and Highland Games will celebrate Celtic culture with a variety of Scottish oriented...