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Shuswap

Decision on proposed Shuswap school closure expected tonight

NORTH OKANAGAN - Some tough decisions are expected to be made by the North Okanagan-Shuswap School Board tonight, May 12. It’s the meeting at which board members must decide whether or not to shut down Silver Creek Elementary School in Salmon Arm. The school was placed on the chopping block when the findings of a...

Highway roundabout in Sicamous goes to open house

SICAMOUS - Plans for proposed highway improvements that could see a roundabout installed on Highway 97A in Sicamous will be presented to the public later today. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will present the project, which includes a roundabout at Highway 97A and Main Street, as well as intersection improvements at the highway and...

Mobile home on ‘Heroin Hill’ in Shuswap goes up in flames

SCOTCH CREEK – A suspicious fire burned a partially demolished mobile home in Scotch Creek to the ground Friday night, March 20. Fire chief Art Stoll says they decided to let the fire in the abandoned singlewide trailer at 4143 Butters Road burn itself out. People in Shuswap town called the property Heroin Hill due...

How a group of North Okanagan teachers took funding into their own hands

NORTH OKANAGAN - It’s not always easy in cash-strapped times for teachers to find spare change for programs, but a group in the North Okanagan has found a way to think outside the box. The Outdoor Learning program in the North Okanagan and Shuswap, unlike many other courses in School District 83 such as the cancelled adult...

School District 83 facing yet another budget shortfall with little left to cut

NORTH OKANAGAN - Deeper cuts are on the way in the North-Okanagan Shuswap School District.  At a board meeting Mar. 10, secretary-treasurer Sterling Olsen said the district must find $1.8 million in savings to balance next year’s budget. “It is a very challenging financial picture and it looks like we have a number of years...

February home sales best in years says real estate board report

KELOWNA – After a disappointing start to 2015, the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board is reporting a 34 per cent improvement in home sales in February compared with the same month in 2014. “After a more than usual slowdown in January, Okanagan-Shuswap home sales rallied along with consumer confidence during February despite weaker economic conditions...

Shuswap woman petitions Province for improved seniors care

VERNON - Judy Galley uses words like horrific, neglectful and nightmarish to describe the state of seniors homes in B.C., and she wants to change that. The Shuswap woman launched a petition calling on the provincial government to improve staff-to-patient ratios at care homes after experiencing the system firsthand. Her parents resided in Kelowna care...

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...

Man dead after driving snowmobile off cliff

SICAMOUS – The RCMP have confirmed a 49-year-old man was killed in a snowmobile accident in Shuswap backcountry Friday afternoon, Jan. 9. Police say the man was driving his snowmobile in the Owl Head Recreation Area east of Sicamous when he mistakenly drove off a 40-foot high cliff. RCMP officers, paramedics with the B.C. Ambulance...

UPDATE: 1,200 still without power in Shuswap

SALMON ARM - More than 1,200 customers are still without power in the Shuswap area after power was restored to about 1,700 customers earlier today. A few customers have been without power since Tuesday afternoon but for many the power went out early Wednesday morning. B.C. Hydro is blaming the snow storm that buried the...

UPDATE: Slow down on the highway and watch your step; freezing rain warning issued

WARNING ENDED FOR CENTRAL OKANAGAN THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Ice is building up on highways, city streets and sidewalks thanks to freezing rain in parts of the Thompson-Okanagan region Saturday. Environment Canada has continued a freezing rain warning for the South Thompson including Kamloops, the Nicola including Merritt, the Shuswap including Salmon Arm, and the North Okanagan...

Just call it Autummer as high temperatures approach records

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - People in the Shuswap enjoyed a record breaking day Sunday and for much of the Thompson-Okanagan region it was a warm day, just not quite hot enough to break records. In Salmon Arm, a temperature of 20.8 Celsius was enough to break a 40-year-old record and was well past the seasonal normal of...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ends

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A severe thunderstorm watch issued this morning has been lifted for Kamloops, Vernon and the Shuswap. Environment Canada issued the watch for nine different regions, include the North and South Thompson, the North Okanagan and the Shuswap, this morning. The watch extended north through the Cariboo and east to the Alberta border in...

Tragedy and success for rescuers on busy Monday

KAMLOOPS - After two months with only a few calls for service local search and rescue members were called out on three separate searches Monday, including one requiring a rope team to recover the body of Barriere man from a rolled SUV. Kamloops Search Manager Alan Hobler says they were first called out shortly after...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ended

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - UPDATE: 8:49 p.m., Aug. 14 The severe thunderstorm watch for the South and North Thompson and Nicola regions has ended. Short-lived storms passed through the region late afternoon and early evening, but no major damage has been reported. UPDATE: 6:07 p.m., Aug. 14 The severe thunderstorm warning has been downgraded back down to...

Salmon run countdown begins

KAMLOOPS - People are already making plans for the return of millions of sockeye salmon to Adams River this fall, including the Adams River Salmon Society, B.C. Parks and Tourism Kamloops. Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park is undergoing upgrades, forcing the closure of the day-use area and main parking lot adjacent to the entrance at the...

Second supermoon lights up the sky

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Full moons often catch a photographers eye but supermoons seem to bring out the photographer in everyone. Sunday night the second of three consecutive supermoons filled the sky. A supermoon also made an appearance in July and another is set for Sept. 9. A supermoon occurs when the full moon is about 50,000...

UPDATE: Power restored after storm cut off thousands of residents

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Power has been restored to most customers in the Thompson-Okanagan following widespread outages affecting over 16,000 customers at their peak. Sabrina Locicero with B.C. Hydro says power in the Thompson-Okanagan and Shuswap regions is back on for the vast majority of customers. Only ten customers remained without power as of Friday morning. B.C. Hydro...

Intense storm dropped record rain at rapid rate

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several rainfall records were broken Wednesday but a local meteorologist says it is the rate of the rainfall that is the big story. “A record rain doesn’t really tell the story, the real story is the speed which it came out of the clouds,” Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada says. “You can have...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm warnings end

UPDATE: A severe thunderstorm warning reissued for the Okanagan Valley has now ended. Twice today, Environment Canada has warned the storms could produce strong wind gusts, dime to nickel sized hail and heavy rain. All weather warnings have now ended for the South Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and North Thompson regions that were under warnings earlier...