Penticton news
Jail n’ Bail puts residents into custody for cancer
PENTICTON - Over $12,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society was collected at the first annual Jail 'n Bail fundraising event in downtown Penticton. The RCMP took part yesterday, June 17, by pretending to arrest high profile members of the communith and holding them until the "perpatrators" raised bail by phoning friends and family for donations. Those...
Big air and local talent featured in extreme mountain bike movie
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Ever wondered what it’s like to do a 70-foot front flip on a tricked out mountain bike? Now you can get an idea without risking reconstructive surgery or a lengthy hospital stay. An extreme mountain biking movie, unReal, is premiering in Kamloops and Kelowna next week. UnReal is a movie that does for...
Windy weather turns tiny tear into major maintenance
PENTICTON - Last Friday’s windy weather turned a small problem into a major concern at Penticton’s only indoor soccer field. A rip in the roof at Penticton’s Adidas Sportsplex has suddenly became a huge, open tear after a windstorm on Friday, June 12, but Ezra Cremers, head coach and executive director of the Pinnacles Football Club...
Filmmaker captures awe of Okanagan Valley
OKANAGAN - The essence of what makes the Okanagan Valley breathtaking has been captured by a filmmaker from Summerland in a short video entitled Born To Wonder. Steve Cogbill, 19, says he just finished several months of work on the video and he hopes it will motivate both locals and would-be tourists to take a...
Fewer rentals available in Thompson-Okanagan as prices rise
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It's getting harder to find an apartment to rent in most Thompson-Okangan cities, and those that are available cost significantly more than they did one year ago. Kelowna and Kamloops saw minor adjustments in rental availability rates this year compared with the B.C. average. Between April 2014 and April 2015, the provincial average...
Rental housing for Penticton seniors gets financing help
PENTICTON - A non-profit group recently purchased a seniors housing complex in Penticton and with a little help from the province rents are set to remain affordable. The provincial government announced about $6.5 million in long-term financing for the Vancouver Resource Society to help cover the purchase price of Charles Manor. The financing will allow...
Aboriginal court case could break new ground in Okanagan
PENTICTON - A woman facing sentencing over a litany of conditional sentence and personation breaches and minor thefts may soon make legal history in Penticton. Mae Lynnette Postel’s sentencing led both counsel and Judge Gregory Koturbash to look into the possibility of diverting her case to a form of aboriginal justice known as a 'sentencing...
Career criminal earns another seven years behind bars
PENTICTON - Call it courthouse math: A man who has been sentenced to 21 years in jail in the last 19 years, yet still managed to find time to commit more crimes, has earned another seven years in prison. Jon Russell Lowe appeared by video before Judge Gregory Koturbash in Penticton Provincial Court today, June...
Protest against Penticton winery liquor license fails
PENTICTON - Local outcry over a Naramata winery’s application for a special events liquor license had the makings of a major protest. When it was all over, there appeared to be little substance to the negative views heard in council chambers earlier this week though. Bench 1775 Manager Val Tait explained the reasons behind her...
Notorious corner claims another vehicle near Penticton
PENTICTON - The sharp curve on Highway 97 at the northern entrance to Penticton was the scene of yet another crash last night, June 15. Witness Tanya Speirs says the vehicle she was in came upon the scene, at the 90-degree corner at the intersection of West Bench Drive, around midnight, moments after it happened....
Two Osoyoos businesses broken into overnight
OSOYOOS - Early this morning, June 16, two local businesses were broken into and RCMP are now asking for help in identifying a suspect seen in a surveillance photo. Osoyoos RCMP say just before 4 a.m. a suspect smashed the front doors to gain entry to Joe’s Plumbing and Heating on 115th Street and then...
SNELSON TRIAL: Lawyers present final arguments in manslaughter trial
KAMLOOPS - Motive, opportunity and his own lies all point to Neil George Snelson as the person who strangled and beat 19-year-old Jennifer Cusworth to death over 20 years ago in Kelowna, court heard from the Crown during final arguments today, June 15. Cusworth, an Okanagan Community College student was found in a ditch on...
Penalty for shooting someone with an airsoft gun? More than you might think
PENTICTON - A 19-year-old Penticton man with a penchant for shooting people with an airsoft gun discovered today they are no toys in the eyes of the law. Christian Darren Leggatt will spend 96 more days in jail for one incident and another 90 days for a second occurrence, Judge Gregory Koturbash decided in Penticton...
Penticton’s newest millionaire revealed
PENTICTON - Another lottery draw, another Okanagan winner. Irene Vestner of Penticton won $1 million in the guaranteed prize draw of the May 30 Lotto 6/49 draw. She claimed her prize today at the B.C. Lottery Corp. head office in Kamloops. Vestner joins several other recent Okanagan winners, including Brittany Powell of Kelowna, Tanya Williams...
Neighbours fear ‘another Boonstock’ if Naramata winery gets special liquor licence
PENTICTON - A Naramata winery operator who faced a gallery full of people against an application for a special events liquor licence, hopes to assuage fears at tonight’s council meeting. The matter first came before council on May 4 and council deferred a decision on the licence for Bench 1775 Winery for 30 days following...