Penticton news
Quick action by Penticton firefighters following lightning strike
PENTICTON - Penticton firefighters responded to a couple of structure fires over the weekend, starting with a lightning strike Friday afternoon which caused some anxious moments for residents of Huth Avenue. Deputy Fire Chief Dave Spalding says lightning hit a tree and ignited a garden shed situated just below at about 2:30 p.m. during the...
BCHL stars return to Vees for 2015-2016 season
PENTICTON - Two of the brightest young stars in the BCHL last season will be back in Penticton for another year. The Penticton Vees Jr. ‘A’ Hockey Club is excited to announce defenseman Dante Fabbro (98) and forward Tyson Jost (98) will return to the team for the 2015-2016 season. Fabbro and Jost, who are...
Why rescuing that baby wild animal is a bad idea
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Encounters with wild animals don’t happen every day so it’s hard to know what to do when you come across a baby animal you think might have been abandoned by its parents. Fairfield Animal Hospital in Kelowna says this year they have seen more baby wild animals than ever brought to their clinic...
Mutual aid: why you see your firefighters in neighbouring communities
PENTICTON - The massive shop fire in Naramata last weekend saw fire crews from several outlying communities scrambling to aid Naramata with extra firefighters and equipment. Extra resources were brought to bear through a mutual aid agreement with Penticton, Summerland and Kaleden which saw those departments release equipment and manpower from their fire protection areas...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...