Penticton

Coastal ski resort closures bad news for local hills

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – With warm weather shutting down ski hills in the Lower Mainland and Washington state, hills in the Thompson-Okanagan are busier than they’ve been in ten years. But it’s not all good news. Spokespeople for all three major ski destinations in Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops said that although business is up in the short...

Interior Health seeks outside laundry service providers

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Interior Health is moving forward with a plan to privatize laundry service in the region. The organization says it is now seeking more information from pre-qualified service providers recently identified. This will allow Interior Health to look at the external options available, something it hopes will help reduce necessary capital costs to upgrade...

Let there be rock: AC/DC Rock or Bust tour coming to Vancouver

VANCOUVER - Legendary rock band AC/DC is spending the first half of the Rock or Bust World Tour in Europe but has announced plans to tear down the house at more than a dozen North American venues at the end of the summer. With Edmonton and Vancouver on the roster for the end of September,...

Okanagan to get more residential care beds for the elderly

KELOWNA – Two cities in the Okanagan will be getting significantly more care beds for the elderly sometime in the future, according to an Interior Health announcement Tuesday. Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thompson says the beds, which are for seniors with complex care requirements requiring round-the-clock care, will help more than just Okanagan seniors. “These additional...

How to plan the perfect date

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The guy or gal you have your eye on has said yes to a date, but Valentine’s Day is less than a week away and you have no idea how to plan the perfect date. Elizabeth deVries of Together By Design, says you need to think about the experience and connecting on the...

Penticton breaks warm weather record

KAMLOOPS – The spring-like weather continues for Penticton with a record high temperature on Sunday, Feb. 8. The mercury rose to 13 C, breaking the old record of 11.1 C on the same day in 1945, according to Environment Canada’s website. To put things into perspective, the normal high for his time of year is...

Local flooding possible as El Nino-like weather melts lower snowpack

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It doesn’t happen often, but a perfect alignment of the right conditions may cause some flooding in the Southern Interior. The warm Pacific air bombarding the region, thanks to the Pineapple Express, is creating above normal temperatures, which in turn are starting to melt the lower elevation snowpack. Add the still frozen ground...

SPCA fighting cruelty with kindness

MILLION ACTS OF KINDNESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even seemingly little things can help make the life of an animal better and B.C. SPCA wants to celebrate 120 years by fighting cruelty with kindness in 2015. The animal advocacy and rescue group launched the Million Acts of Kindness campaign this week. To launch the campaign...

STAHN: Community needs to step up to stop tagging

There’s urban art, known as graffiti to many, and then there’s tagging—the ugly scribbles, words and obscene pictures that end up on our buildings, on murals and even in tot lots. This has been a growing issue throughout the region and in the past year has hit some pretty low lows. Penises drawn on playground...

Highway 1 closed for avalanche control Friday

AVALANCHE RISK AGAIN HIGH THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you are heading east for the long weekend you might want to adjust your travel times. In addition to a winter driving advisory from the Shuswap to the Alberta border, delays of up to three hours are expected on Highway 1 through Glacier National Park on Friday. Drive...

Heavy snow and freezing rain on the way

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A winter storm is bringing heavy snow to much of the province today and tonight and the Southern Interior is no exception. Environment Canada says to expect heavy snow on Highway 1 from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass—up to 25 centimetres by Friday morning—and on Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass....

Second Penticton water main break should be fixed much sooner than the first

PENTICTON - If you live in the area of Carmi Avenue and your water is brown, the City of Penticton says it's likely from a water main break that happened at roughly 11:15 this morning, Feb. 4. The city was able to shut off a valve, isolating the problem so the crew could work on...

Spring is in the air

TEMPERATURES TO WARM, RAIN TO FALL THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — If you’ve been dreaming of spring weather, this weekend could be your dream come true with temperatures hovering near the double digits, and bringing rain. Lots of rain. Wednesday temperatures will hover just above seasonal normals of 1 Celsius, according to Environment Canada, but by Friday will...

Don’t stop believin’ Penticton

PENTICTON – Journey has included Penticton and the South Okanagan Events Centre on their Canadian tour. Expect the group’s rock anthem Don’t Stop Believin’ to be featuring during the encore. It’s one of the top-selling catalog tracks in digital history, according to a media release. It was featured in the first season of the hugely...

Big and Rich returning to Merritt

JOINS DIERKS BENTLEY, LADY ANTEBELLUM AND OTHERS MERRITT - Dierks Bentley was announced as the Saturday night headliner for the Rockin’ River Fest in Merritt back in November and now several other big country names are set to join him. Big and Rich, who have previously performed in Merritt, will return to close out the...

UPDATE: Water main break sparks boil water advisory

PENTICTON – The huge water main break, which turned downtown Penticton streets into rivers Sunday morning, has health officials concerned about water quality in the area, and as a result, a boil water notice has been issued. The City of Penticton says the damage from the water main break is responsible for the decision to...

February kicks off with snowfall

SKI HILLS CELEBRATE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - February kicked off much the same way January did, with a dump of snow. In Kamloops the snow had mostly tapered off by noon on Sunday, Feb. 1 while in Kelowna a mix of snow and rain persisted into the early evening. Penticton had just a bit of snow on...

UPDATE: Major water main break in downtown Penticton

PENTICTON – City public works crews and the Penticton Fire Department were called to the intersection of Wade Avenue and Main Street around 10 a.m., Sunday, Feb 1 after an 18-inch diameter water main burst. Some flooding of the City Centre building has taken place and street pavement has buckled at the intersection. Main Street...

Penticton website outs nudists, claims “illegal activity”

PENTICTON - Penticton’s famous nude beach continues to make headlines, even in the dead of winter. The beach began making regular headlines in June 2014 when a private landowner, who owns a strip of the beach along with the City of Penticton and the province fenced off a portion after claiming a nudist had scared off...

Cat loses leg after getting caught in trap

PENTICTON – Phoenix the cat has definitely used up one of his nine lives after he was caught in a leg hold trap in Penticton. A local woman and her kids found the cat and surrendered him to AlleyCATS Alliance. “What was in the box was a very frightened, beautiful soft gray cat with large...

More avalanche control along Highway 1

RISK REDUCED WITH LOWER TEMPERATURES THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Temperatures will be just above normal the rest of this week but with the cooling temperatures comes the perfect opportunity for crews to perform avalanche control in Glacier National Park. Highway 1 through Glacier National Park will again be closed for a brief time this afternoon, Jan. 28,...

TIMELINE: Bank robber strikes three provinces in two months

VERNON - A man police are calling a serial armed robber has stolen cash from eight different banks across three provinces in just 52 days, and police are worried he's not done yet. The first in a series of similar incidents happened at 2:50 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2014, when a man dressed in dark...

Temperatures fall short of records

CALGARY GOT OUR HEAT THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It looked like we might set new records this week with temperatures expected to hit double digits, but that hope appears to have skipped right over the Interior and into Alberta, where Calgarians enjoyed temperatures nearly 20 degrees above normal over the weekend. Environment Canada was originally calling for...

UPDATE: Near zero visibility for some foggy Okanagan areas

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Environment Canada has issued a fog advisory for much of the Southern Interior. According to Environment Canada, a strong temperature inversion over southern B.C. will cause widespread, dense fog to develop over many Southern and Central Interior valleys this evening. The fog will persist until midday Tuesday. Visibility may be significantly and suddenly reduced...