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Vernon news

Interior Health CEO Rob Halpenny to resign

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After more than five years as chief executive officer, Dr. Robert Halpenny is resigning from the Interior Health Authority. The announcement that Halpenny will resign from his position, effective this fall, came today, June 9. “Over the five and a half years that Dr. Halpenny has served as CEO, he has driven transformative...

Early spring, California drought has Okanagan grocery stores picking local

KELOWNA – The severe drought in California coupled with an unusually warm and early spring in B.C. has local grocery stores stocking their shelves with fruits and vegetables grown right here at home instead of importing from the south. Chris Holmes is the owner of Quality Greens on Spall Road. With stores in Kelowna, West...

Investigation into Vernon hit and run continues

VERNON - Police continue to investigate a hit and run which left a motorcyclist with serious injuries. The May 23 accident happened in the area of Okanagan Landing Road and Fulton Road when, according to a witness, a Silver Toyota Celica stopped in the middle of the street, causing a motorcyclist to crash into the...

Paving project set for Highway 6, Mabel Lake Road

LUMBY – Millions of provincial tax dollars will be spent on paving projects in parts of Lumby this summer. The province announced today close to 75 kilometres of roadway in the area will get repaved. Work is to start sometime in June on Highway 6 and Mabel Lake Road with the $8.9 million project expected...

Boil water notice for Silver Star continues

VERNON – Residents of Silver Star Mountain are still being advised to boil their water following a advisory issued last week. Customers of the Silver Star Water Utility at the Village on Silver Star Mountain are being advised to continue to boil their tap water until further notice, according to a media release from the...

Record hot weather on the way for Okanagan

OKANAGAN - It was a hot weekend in the Okanagan and the hot weather is forecast to continue through this week. Environment Canada recorded temperatures reaching as high as 33.8 Celsius in Penticton on Sunday, a bit shy of the 35 C record set nearly 70 years ago. In Kelowna temperatures climbed to 33 C,...

Proposed Shuswap River boating restrictions meet stiff opposition from locals

“I CAN TELL YOU, BUSINESS OWNERS AND PROPERTY OWNERS ARE GOING TO GO OUT SCREAMING LIKE A LION” ENDERBY - Proposed boating restrictions on the Shuswap River face fierce opposition, says a local Grindrod resident and waterfront property owner. Sherri DeCorby has lived on the river for the last 10 years and uses it for...

Mom trying to give parents of stillborn babies a few extra days together

WEST KELOWNA – Kristin Esmail and her husband didn’t find out until she was in labour their son, Richard James, was stillborn. After 39 weeks in utero, finding out that they would not be able to take him home was almost too much pain to bear. “It was such a shock,” the West Kelowna resident...

Regional districts, Splatsin band join forces to acquire abandoned railroad

ENDERBY - Local governments and First Nations will work together to acquire a discontinued rail corridor stretching from Armstrong to Sicamous. The North Okanagan Regional District, Columbia Shuswap Regional District and Splatsin Band have formalized their partnership with a Memorandum of Understanding, an important step in pursuing the land deal. “It brings us together as...

SNELSON TRIAL: Ex-wife of accused was vigilant after hearing of missing girl

KAMLOOPS - Katherine Oystryk, 44, remembers hearing about Jennifer Cusworth and watching out for her own safety after the 19-year-old girl went missing from a Kelowna house party her then-husband attended 21 years ago. Now Oystryk's ex-husband, Neil George Snelson, 48, stands accused of manslaughter in Cusworth’s killing. This is his second trial. Oystryk testified...

NHL players to attend event at Vernon’s Kal Beach this summer

VERNON - Hockey fans have an exciting event to look forward to this summer in Vernon. The city announced today the National Hockey League Players’ Association will be participating in a community event and hospital fundraiser at Kalamalka Beach Friday, July 10. The family-friendly celebration will feature a significant donation of hockey equipment made by...

What to do with 100,000 metres of steel rail, ties and a grafitti-covered boxcar

KELOWNA - Now that the CN Rail corridor purchase is complete, there’s the small matter of removing about 100 kilometres worth of steel rail, railway ties, flashing lights and signs, and some contaminated soil sites. Oh, and one graffiti covered boxcar. Fortunately for the Okanagan communities that just ponied up $50 million in cash and...

Creative Chaos craft fair underway

VERNON - A giant Vernon craft show is celebrating 40 years of bringing creative chaos to the North Okanagan. Creative Chaos, a three day craft show and sale held at the Vernon Recreation Centre, will present its 40th annual exhibit starting Friday, June 5. Every year, the craft fair takes over the Vernon Rec Centre,...

Hot weather and hot events coming to the Okanagan this weekend

OKANAGAN – After a week of rain Environment Canada is calling for a sunny, hot and dry weekend, just in time for some great events in the Okanagan. Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-30s Saturday and Sunday with minimal chance of rain, so pack up your kids and your sunscreen and make it count....

HELSTON: Knowing who your real friends are

Usually, we only hear about the girls who kept their conversations with strange men a secret. The girls who found themselves trapped in a vicious circle of extortion; nude photos or exposure of what was already obtained to their friends, family, classmates. We hear their stories, recounted in courtrooms, of how it all began, innocently...

New Okanagan disc golf course lands in Vernon

VERNON - You’ve got your putting and your driving Frisbees, your heavy ones and your sleek, thin ones, and now fans of the popular sport of disc golf — and curious newcomers — will have a scenic, and best of all, free, course in Vernon to fling them on. It’s all happening on a city-owned...

Water board calls on province to take action on invasive mussels

OKANAGAN - The Okanagan Basin Water Board is using the province’s declaration of June as Invasive Species Action Month to prod it into increasing its role in the fight against zebra and quagga mussels. “Awareness is great but action is better. The water board is doing all it can within its mandate to prevent the...

The beetle is gone, now the hard work begins

WILDFIRES, JOB LOSSES, JEOPARDIZED WATERSHEDS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - For the most part the small, yet devastating, mountain pine beetle has disappeared from the landscape of the Southern Interior, but the aftermath of its work will be felt for many years to come. The mountain pine beetle epidemic that crawled into B.C. in 2000 is recognized as...

SNELSON TRIAL: Cusworth was beaten to death: Pathologist

GRAPHIC CONTENT ADVISORY  KAMLOOPS - Around seven or eight blows to the head caused the death of a 19-year-old girl who was found beaten, bruised and strangled in a watery ditch at the side of a pumpkin farmer’s property in Kelowna in 1993. In Kamloops Supreme Court today, June 4, Dr. Ronald Roy, a forensic...

Silver Star residents advised to boil water

VERNON - A boil water notice has been issued for the Silver Star Water Utility due to a bacteria count. The Regional District of North Okanagan, in conjunction with Interior Health, issued the notice yesterday evening, June 3, advising customers to boil all water intended for consumption purposes for one minute. Consumption purposes include drinking,...

SNELSON TRIAL UPDATE: Friends recall last moments with Jennifer Cusworth

KAMLOOPS - The last time Jennifer Cusworth’s friends saw her alive at a house party, they planned to get her home safely after drinking into the early morning hours of October 16, 1993. For Pam Coulombe and Faith Klinksiek their plan didn’t work out; the 19-year-old disappeared from the party. A jury heard Coulombe and...

Why you’ve been reading so much about Vernon vacations lately

VERNON - Vernon has made headlines in various travel publications of late, but what you might not know is how those stories came to be. Those writers from major publications in Canada didn't just happen upon little old Vernon, they’re part of an aggressive new marketing strategy led by the city. Articles in the Globe...

Salmonella outbreak proof that monitoring system works: Buckerfield’s CEO

KELOWNA - The recent spike of salmonella cases connected to live poultry sales is a good news story, proof the system works rather than an indictment of its failings, according to a local business. “Fourteen cases is a very small number and it was detected and caught and the public was actually protected from what...