Penticton news
Future of Naramata Centre still undecided
PENTICTON - Two upcoming meetings of the Naramata Centre Board of Directors will hopefully define the immediate future of the retreat, board spokesman Gerry Anderson said Feb. 26. “We have a board meeting Sunday and our Annual General Meeting in June. Those meetings will go a long way to deciding our future direction,” Anderson said....
Flying fees edging upwards at Kelowna Airport
OKANAGAN - Flying in and out of Kelowna just got a bit more expensive with council approving an across-the-board increase in operating fees at the city-owned airport. The success of Kelowna Airport and its record passenger volumes means increased costs for maintenance, labour, utilities and technology, Noreen Redman, the airport’s corporate services manager, told council....
Valley-long trail envisioned by regional district
PENTICTON - The Okanagan's three regional districts like the idea of a continuous trail running from Osoyoos to Vernon. The Regional District Okanagan Similkameen’s board chair and Chief Administrative Officer met recently with Central Okanagan and North Okanagan counterparts to discuss the possibility of a trail running the length of the valley. “We meet with...
‘One can hardly imagine a more horrific assault’ than Bobbitt’s: Crown
KELOWNA – Reckless, self-serving, grandiose, entitled, antisocial, narcissistic, lacking in empathy, sexually sadistic, psychopathic and violent. Those are some of the words the Crown used to describe David Wesley Bobbitt in a hearing to determine if he deserves dangerous offender status. Bobbitt, 39, has already pleaded guilty to seven charges, but before Justice Peter Rogers...
THREATENING LETTER: What Penticton police are telling parents as they prepare for a new school week
PENTICTON - Fears of a continued threat and frustration over communication was on parents’ minds at a community meeting set up by School District 67 following last week’s discovery of a threatening letter at Skaha Lake Middle School. Police and school officials met with students' parents and members of the public to hear their concerns...
Canadian country music star George Canyon to play Peachfest
PENTICTON - Country music fans, mark Friday, Aug. 7 on your calendar. That's the day George Canyon performs during this year’s 68th annual Penticton Peach Festival. Canyon is considered to be one of the most requested and well known stars on Country Music Television, in addition to being the most played Canadian artist on Canadian...
Threatening letter reaction, the line between thwarting a threat and mentioning a menace
PENTICTON - The only thing that appeared out of place at four schools named in last week’s threatening letter was the presence of police in parking lots Monday. Ty Carey and Nolan Aubie, grade 11 students at Princess Margaret Secondary School said they had attended an assembly Monday just prior to lunch. They said there...
Hockey dad could face criminal charges
WHEN YELLING AT REFEREES GOES TOO FAR THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A Kamloops hockey dad who allegedly took his anger out on referees in the parking lot after a Junior-A hockey game in Penticton last week could face charges. Penticton RCMP Sgt. Rick Dellebuur says the 52-year-old father of a Merritt Cenntennials player allegedly threatened two referees...
Gangster parolee back behind bars
PENTICTON - A man previously convicted of offences in Kelowna and Winnipeg is back behind bars following his arrest in Osoyoos on the weekend. Osoyoos RCMP arrested Donald Bryce Lyons at his residence on Feb. 21 after his parole was revoked, according to an RCMP news release. Lyons was apprehended without incident after a Canada...
More to Penticton bridge project than meets the eye
PENTICTON - As bridges go, one wouldn’t think the new Satik bridge currently under construction at Green Avenue and the Channel Parkway in Penticton would be a very complicated project. After all, it’s a small bridge, with a low span running a distance of 100 feet or so. But there is more to the Satik...
KOOPMANS TRIAL: Two shot dead for revenge: Crown
PENTICTON — Two people from Princeton were shot to death and another was seriously wounded because the gunman was "crushed" and betrayed by his belief they broke into his home and stole from him, a Crown prosecutor told the jury today, Feb. 25, in the opening of the murder trial of John Ike Koopmans. Koopmans...
Penticton municipal candidates spent more than $100,000 on campaigns
PENTICTON - It cost an average $4,526.34 to try to get elected to Penticton City Council during last year’s November municipal election. The six successful candidates spent a total of $27,158.09 to get elected. That compares to an average expenditure of $2,322.21 spent by all of the 25 council candidates that tossed their hat into...
February weather helps city move capital project along
PENTICTON - The almost complete absence of winter in Penticton this February has helped the city make steady progress with its capital works program this year. Work on the rebuilding of Industrial Avenue that began in October, 2014 restarted recently after a short shut down. A mild and relatively precipitation free February has helped city...
Mayor’s race was close from a budget point of view
PENTICTON - The contest for the Mayor’s chair in last November’s Penticton municipal election proved to be a closer spending race for two of the candidates than the results at the ballot box. The province recently released financial disclosure statements for the November municipal elections. In Penticton, winning candidate Andrew Jakubeit’s campaign cost $21,888, while...
Vees announce playoff schedule
PENTICTON, BC –The Penticton Vees are winding down their regular season schedule with the BCHL Fred Page Cup playoffs just around the corner, and with that, the team has released its home dates for the Interior Division playoffs. Due to a three-way-tie between Merritt, Salmon Arm and West Kelowna for the final two playoff spots,...