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Vernon news

Curious bobcat pokes head into Okanagan home

VERNON - A curious animal believed to be a bobcat stuck its head inside a Vernon home recently. Conservation officer Tanner Beck says a homeowner in the Silver Star Road area left her door open around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 and a bobcat 'poked its head in to see what was going on.’ “It...

Winter forecast is warm with lots of snow

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – AccuWeather is forecasting one of the warmest winters on record for much of Canada, thanks to El Nino. Western Canadians can expect above to well-above temperatures as a prevailing westerly flow delivers milder Pacific air across the region, according to a news release. “Compared to last winter, there will be more snow across...

Vernon cops locking people up for fun, and for a good cause

VERNON - Mounties are asking the public to turn in friends, family and coworkers this Thursday as part of their annual jail and bail fundraiser. People can either turn themselves in at a mock jail set up at Boston Pizza, or snitch on someone and have the cops come and arrest them. Offenders will be...

Meteor shower peaks over the Southern Interior this week

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If clouds part enough tonight you may be able to get a glimpse of the Orionid meteor shower as it peaks early Thursday morning. The Orionid meteor shower, which is formed from the debris of Halley’s comet, is known for producing bright and quick meteors. This meteor shower runs throughout October and into...

UPDATE: Vernon woman missing for weeks finally located

UPDATE: 6:22 A.M. OCT. 27, 2015 A 26-year-old woman missing for weeks has been located. Police say Celina White was found safe and sound Oct. 26. 8 P.M., OCT. 20, 2015 VERNON - Police in Vernon say a young woman who went missing weeks ago has still not been located. Celina White, 26, was reported...

Thievery at scrap metal yard in Lumby

LUMBY - Thieves made off with a large haul of scrap metal in Lumby last week, and while not exactly gold, the material was quite valuable. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says the large quantity of scrap copper pipe stolen from a scrap metal yard on Trinity Valley Road the night of Oct. 13 was worth...

Is Lake Country the new hot spot for crime in the Okanagan?

LAKE COUNTRY - The District of Lake Country is already known as a beautiful, quiet little community nestled between two major Okanagan cities, but a group of concerned citizens fear it is becoming known for something much more troubling. Radmila Machalka has lived in Lake Country for eight years and is part of a group...

Former Okanagan MPs to earn millions in pension

OKANAGAN - Colin Mayes may have retired, and Ron Cannan may have been defeated in the 2015 federal election, but with pensions set to pad their bank accounts to the tune of between $1.3 million and $2.3 million over their life-times, taxpayers are not quite done with them yet. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released the...

ELECTION 2015: Conservative Mel Arnold ready to work

VERNON - Mel Arnold plans to spend his first day as a member of Parliament saying thank you. “So many people kicked in to make this campaign successful,” Arnold says. “I want to thank the volunteers that came out and supported me and the people that voted for me. That means so much moving forward.”...

Research vessel stolen from remote North Okanagan lake

VERNON - Police in Vernon are on the lookout for a university’s stolen research vessel. The boat, a 12-foot aluminum Crestliner with no motor, was moored in Kaiser Bill Lake, just south of Lavington, but was stolen sometime between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. The boat belongs to the University...

Man in critical condition after North Okanagan shooting

ENDERBY - Police are investigating a shooting in the North Okanagan that left a man in critical condition. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says police were called to a rural property in the Enderby area about 5:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19.  Officers located a 55-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds, Noseworthy says. He was transported to...

Firefighters tackle burning truck in Vernon

VERNON - Firefighters were called out to battle a vigorous vehicle fire Monday evening. The fire, which happened around 9:30 p.m., Oct. 19, in the 8800 block of Rising View Way in Vernon,  left a pickup truck fully engulfed in flames. The Vernon Fire Department hit the fire hard, and were able to extinguish it....

Voter turnout jumps in Thompson-Okanagan ridings

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Voter turnout numbers in the 42nd federal election jumped to more than 70 per cent throughout the region, just above the national average and well ahead of 2011 turnout. In the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, where Conservative Cathy McLeod was re-elected, voter turnout jumped to 74.07 per cent this election, up significantly from the 63.3...

ELECTION 2015: Conservative win in North Okanagan-Shuswap

VERNON - Conservative candidate Mel Arnold is the North Okanagan-Shuswap’s new Member of Parliament. Arnold had a healthy lead right off the bat Monday evening, and while Liberal candidate Cindy Derkaz was on his tail, he was declared elected as of 8:30 p.m. with about 40 per cent of the vote. Derkaz stood about 10...

ELECTION 2015: Conservative Mel Arnold leads in North Okanagan-Shuswap race

VERNON - When North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes announced he wasn’t seeking reelection, the riding was guaranteed a brand new representative out of the 2015 federal election. That new representative was chosen tonight. The riding has been a Conservative stronghold for many years, and tonight's results show that tradition will continue for another term.  Conservative...

Accident south of Vernon sends four to hospital

VERNON - Police say a car crash just south of Vernon today was caused when a driver failed to yield while merging onto the highway. RCMP Cpl. Spencer Hornoi says a truck was making a left hand turn off Birnie Road onto Highway 97 and collided with a southbound car shortly before noon, Oct. 19....

Lock down at Vernon high school precautionary

VERNON - A Vernon high school wasn’t taking any chances when it learned of an altercation in the schoolyard this afternoon. Vernon School District Superintendent Joe Rogers says W.L. Seaton Secondary School was placed on lock down around 1:30 p.m., Oct. 19 after administration became aware of an incident involving two adult men on the...

UPDATE: Vernon men identified as victims of northeastern B.C. plane crash

VERNON - A Vernon construction company has been linked to a fatal plane crash in northeastern B.C. last week. A privately owned Cessna 207 was taking off from the Chapman gravel site in Baldonnel, about 15 kilometres south of Fort St. John of Friday, Oct.16, when it crashed and caught fire, leaving two people on...

Warm weather and chance of rain on the way for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - It might be fall in the Okanagan, but that’s not stopping Mother Nature from keeping temperatures mostly above seasonal normals this week. Environment Canada is calling for a high of 16 Celsius in Vernon and Kelowna today, Oct. 19, with the expected high gradually dropping off to 10 C by Friday. Overnight the...

The smell in Polson Park might not be what you think it is

VERNON - The smelly situation around Vernon’s Polson Park might be coming from deep underground. People have been complaining about a foul odour in and around the park, a problem Vernon city councillor Juliette Cunningham brought up at a meeting earlier this week. Cunningham speculated the smell might be coming from the regional district’s sani-dump...

This year’s flu vaccine to target relatively vicious strain

KELOWNA – If you feel like this fall has already been worse than others for getting a cold or the flu, Interior Health has some bad news for you. It won’t peak for another month. According to Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi the influenza virus and all the other viruses that cause flu-like symptoms...