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Vernon news
Devastating fire leaves big hole in Malakwa community
MALAKWA - Those who visited the Skyline Truck Stop in Malakwa always left with a full tank, and a full belly. The popular roadside gas station, machine shop and restaurant was a fixture in the rural Shuswap community for decades, and while a devastating fire wiped out the building earlier this week, it hasn’t erased...
North Okanagan schools get provincial cash handouts
VERNON - Local schools are getting a cash infusion from the provincial government. The money will go toward several capital projects at schools in Vernon, Salmon Arm and Armstrong. Okanagan Landing Elementary is getting $600,000 for a geothermal heating plant projected to save 72 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, and about $15,000 in operating costs....
Poppy donations stolen from one Vernon business, tip jar from a second
VERNON - Two local businesses are asking the public to keep an eye out after a man in a blue hoodie made off with poppy pin donations and a tip jar Monday evening. Bosley’s pet store manager Dawn Vipond noticed right away the poppy tray and donation jar was missing Tuesday when she came in...
Who is at fault? Driving instructor takes on traffic circle dash-cam crash
DO YOU BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH TRAFFIC CIRCLES OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO? THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - They're slowly popping up in more streets and neighbourhoods to help us but instead often incite mass confusion, arguments, sometimes panic and even the occasional crash. Does anyone know what to do in a traffic circle? We found...
Vernon father and son killed in tragic plane crash loved to soar
VERNON - A father and son from Vernon died doing something they both loved: going ‘wheels up’. Brad Chapman, 56, learned to fly in his 40s and passed that passion onto his oldest son, Florian, 26, who got his pilot’s license as a teenager. As key principals in the Chapman Group of Companies, flying offered...
Court forces sale of Mandy and Me Trailriding
WEST KELOWNA - Silverado Socrates is hoping for a miracle. Socrates, the owner of Mandy and Me Trailriding, a West Kelowna farm and horseback riding attraction, is in foreclosure and tomorrow, Nov. 4, a Supreme Court Justice will sell the farm where she's lived more than three decades to the highest bidder. “I’m just sad,”...
Do you know the difference between color and colour? What about your kids?
VERNON - Raise your hand if you pronounce the last letter of the alphabet ‘zed’ instead of ‘zee.’ What about colour versus color — do you spell it the first way or the second? Do you refer to the road less travelled, with two l’s or the road less traveled with one? Do you recognize...
Employers in Kelowna, Sorrento fined for exposing workers to asbestos
OKANAGAN - WorkSafe B.C. has slapped two local employers with heavy fines for exposing workers to asbestos. The first, Kelowna’s Kone Inc., was handed a $15,000 penalty for potentially exposing its workers to harmful levels of asbestos. According to WorkSafe B.C., the company, which installs, maintains and repairs elevators and escalators, was first told to...
Watch for Taurids fireballs, northern lights over the Southern Interior this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Taurid meteor shower is one of the longer meteor showers, running from September through December every year, but this year it could be more active than usual with the possibility of fireballs tearing through the sky later this week. The Taurid meteor shower only produces about five to 10 meteors per hours...
Rats don’t deserve to suffer horrible deaths: B.C. SPCA
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As the topic of rats and how to deal with their rising numbers becomes a more common conversation in the Thompson-Okanagan, the SPCA is reminding the public even pests deserve to be treated humanely. Sara Dubois, the chief scientific officer for the B.C. SPCA, says many rat extermination practices are inhumane and potentially...
Malakwa truck stop devastated by fire
MALAKWA - Emergency crews are at the scene of a major fire at a truck stop on Highway 1 in Malakwa. The Skyline Truck Stop located on the Trans Canada in Malakwa broke out in flames today, Nov. 2. Images show the structure is severely damaged. There is no word yet on whether anyone was...
Chance of snow in the Okanagan this week
OKANAGAN - A system moving through the Southern Interior coated mountain passes in heavy snow this weekend and early this week the white stuff could hit the valleys too. Between 14 and 17 centimetres of snow is being reported on the ground at Pennask Summit, Coquihalla Summit and Allison Pass this morning after receiving a...
One year after killing, why there still aren’t any cameras on Okanagan buses
KAMLOOPS HAS 25 KELOWNA – One year after the horrific killing of a Kelowna man on a B.C. Transit bus and six months after they promised to begin installing them, there still isn’t a single operational camera on any Kelowna buses. Last year, on Oct. 30, Caesar Rosales was killed in front of more than...
The Halloween hotspot you don’t want to miss in Vernon
VERNON - Most people carve a couple pumpkins, buy a bag of candy and call Halloween a wrap. Nathan Phillips and his girlfriend Kerrie Wheeler need a storage unit for all their Halloween decor. “I’ve liked Halloween ever since I was a kid,” Phillips says. “It’s kind of like my Christmas.” What started out as...
Piece by piece, Vernon’s Civic Arena is literally falling apart: City
VERNON - Cracked walls, crumbling concrete and a heaving floor are among a long list of problems plaguing the Civic Arena in Vernon. Bit by bit, the 77-year-old arena is falling apart, says Vernon recreation services manager Doug Ross. “Just as you repair one thing, something else crops up,” Ross says. Cracks in the floor...
Canada Revenue Agency scam still making the rounds in the Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Canada Revenue Agency scam is continuing to make rounds in the region, with RCMP detachments fielding several calls a day from concerned residents. This type of scam is not new, and police have issued warnings previously about callers alleging to be from the agency. Cpl. Cheryl Bush says Kamloops RCMP is fielding several...
Halloween will be a wet one in the Okanagan this year
OKANAGAN - Make sure your costumes are either waterproof or you have an umbrella handy because Mother Nature is looking to rain on your Halloween fun this weekend. Environment Canada is calling for at least a chance of rain throughout the weekend, with showers expected Saturday evening throughout the region. Temperatures are expected to be...
Big waitlist for affordable housing in Vernon
VERNON - A new affordable housing building in Vernon is already proving its value. Roughly 60 applications have already been received from people wanting to live at Blair Apartments, John Howard Society of the North Okanagan executive director Barbara Levesque says. Previously known as the Journey Inn, the 38-unit apartment building is now owned by...
Lavington pellet plant emissions questioned
VERNON – No one knows for sure what’s being emitted from a new pellet plant…
B.C. has highest rate of illegal cigarettes in Western Canada, study finds
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As the province with the most contraband cigarettes in Western Canada, the amount of illegal tobacco in B.C. remains steadily high. The statistics come from the latest study commissioned by the Western Convenience Stores Association. In September researchers collected discarded cigarettes at various locations throughout the province to determine which were illegally purchased....
Whitewater Cooks author to stir the pot in Kelowna
KELOWNA - The author of a bestselling line of cookbooks will be in Kelowna next week signing autographs and speaking about her famous line of sauces. The author of four bestselling cookbooks, Shelley Adams of the Whitewater Cooks series was the former head chef at Fresh Tracks Café at Whitewater Ski Resort in Nelson. Her...
Time appears right for petition to dump daylight saving time
KAMLOOPS - It’s been a couple days since Bob Dieno and Tara Holmes created a petition and Facebook page asking the B.C. government to consider doing away with daylight saving time and they are getting strong support from many in the province. The petition ‘stop the time change in British Columbia’ received hundreds of signatures...
Okanagan bus drivers to honour passenger killed one year ago
KELOWNA - A Kelowna man who was brutally murdered on a packed, local bus last year will be honoured by drivers across the Okanagan Friday. Caesar Rosales was 55 years old when he was killed Oct. 30, 2014, during his regular commute home after work. Exactly one year later bus drivers from Penticton to Vernon...
Poppy campaign kicks off this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - This year’s poppy campaign is expected to be underway this Friday, Oct. 30. Poppies will be available at all Legion offices and members will have them available at locations throughout the city. Funds from the poppies contribute to veterans, their families and others in need of assistance in the community. The long-standing tradition...