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Vernon news
Vernon dog team nabs neighbourhood thief
VERNON - A man accused of stealing from peoples’ boats, cars and garages was stopped in his tracks by the Vernon RCMP’s dog unit over the long weekend. Police received a report of a suspicious man going through cars and yards in the Cranberry Lane area of Middleton Mountain Monday, May 18. One caller reported...
Distress call leads police, Vernon Search and Rescue to mountains outside Lumby
LUMBY - A pair of injured men were lucky to have a well-prepared outdoorsman come along after they crashed their ATV in a remote area outside Lumby. The men were riding a two-person, side-by-side ATV on a forest service road near Squaw Valley Road outside Lumby on Sunday, May 17, when they hit a rut...
UPDATE: Power restored for over 2,000 in Shuswap
SHUSWAP – Equipment failure is being blamed for a power outage in the Shuswap which impacted over 2,000 B.C. Hydro customers for two hours this morning. The power was back on at about 10:15 a.m., May 17, according to the B.C. Hydro website. The lights went out at about 8:19 a.m. in an area west...
UPDATE: Rainfall warning ended in Okanagan
OKANAGAN – A rainfall warning issued for the Central and South Okanagan has been ended by Environment Canada. Forecasters say significant rainfall is no longer expected. The heavy rain has tapered to light and scattered showers. An upper disturbance brought rain to the entire Okanagan valley overnight and Saturday morning, May 17. Osoyoos received about...
RCMP looking into Lake Country grass fire
LAKE COUNTRY – A grass fire in Lake Country this afternoon was likely human caused. A report of smoke and flame at Sherman Drive and Copper Hill Road behind Peter Greer Elementary was called in about 12:48 p.m., May 16. Lake Country firefighters, with help from B.C. Wildfire, put out the fire which produced heavy...
$1.3 million facelift ready to begin at Vernon Rec Centre
VERNON – Renovations to give the City of Vernon’s aging Recreation Centre a fresh, new look will take up to a year-and-a-half to complete. The over $1.3 million dollar facelift will begin on Monday, May 25 and city staff promise the facilities will stay open during all phases of the construction. The Rec Centre gets...
$1.4 million to train Okanagan Aboriginal workers for “in-demand” jobs
VERNON – The province is spending nearly $1.4 million dollars to train 50 Aboriginal workers to be heavy equipment operators it says are in-demand. The program will be run in partnership with the Southern Interior Construction Association with workers from the Splatsin First Nation, the Okanagan Indian Band and the Westbank First Nation will take...
Armstrong man’s story “did not ring true” in sexual assault trial: Judge
ARMSTRONG - What began as a cordial conversation between two strangers hiding out from the rain at an Armstrong church took a sinister turn when the man pinned the woman against a wall, sexually assaulted her, and threatened to strangle her if she resisted. The woman, in her early 20s, was scared and hesitant at...
Mud bogging, hill climbs jeopardize North Okanagan water security
VERNON - Efforts are being stepped up to educate and enforce when it comes to the rules of the road in and around Vernon’s drinking water reservoirs. An increasing number of off-road vehicles in areas like the Aberdeen plateau are causing concerns for water quality, and security, says regional district Water Quality Manager Renee Clark....
Premier asks you to burn responsibly this May long weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – In light of the unseasonably hot and dry conditions throughout the province, Premier Christy Clark is asking residents to be extra cautious this long weekend. "Every summer, the risk of fire increases. With many parts of the province facing unseasonably warm and dry weather, that risk increases even more — putting people's homes...
Precautions taken after confirmed Norovirus case at Vernon school
VERNON - The Vernon School District is taking precautions after a child was diagnosed with Norovirus earleir this week. Superintendent of School District 22 Joe Rogers says a single case of the virus was confirmed Wednesday, May 13, at Ellison Elementary School, prompting a precautionary response. “When we have a potential outbreak, once we have...
Police ticket driver after electric wheelchair accident
VERNON - A person driving a motorized wheelchair was sent to hospital Thursday after being hit by a car. Const. Daniel Gow says an investigation revealed the car was reversing out of an alleyway onto 30 Street, near A&W, and struck the electric wheelchair, May 14. The person on the wheelchair suffered minor injuries and...
Emergency personnel respond to traffic accident on Highway 97 in Vernon
VERNON - Emergency crews responded to a collision involving a truck and a motorcycle on a busy Vernon road Friday morning. Witnesses say the accident happened at the bottom of Hospital Hill on Highway 97 in Vernon and a person was seen lying in the roadway. Vernon RCMP confirm there had been an accident between...
HELSTON: Improving Stickle Road needs to be a two-way street
Anyone who’s waited five minutes to make a risky, left-hand break for it off Stickle Road onto Highway 97 towards Vernon knows something needs to change before someone gets killed. Agreeing there’s a problem is the easy part. Finding a solution is where the road rage sets in. Right now, we’ve got the Ministry of...
Coldstream woman killed in tragic boating accident was an avid water skier: Coroner
CHERRYVILLE - A woman who died in a water skiing accident last summer was killed by a cervical spine fracture sustained when she struck the water face down, says a B.C. Coroner who has ruled her death accidental. Brenda Lee Anne Roine, 46, was boating on Sugar Lake near Cherryville on the Canada Day long...
Dozens of vehicles impounded due to excessive speeding
KELOWNA – In the last two months, more than 50 vehicles were ticketed and impounded for excessive speeding between Kelowna and Vernon. Since March 1, the Kelowna RCMP Integrated Road Safety Unity conducted speed enforcement along the Hwy 97 corridor targeting aggressive drivers travelling more than 40 km/h over the posted speed limit. “Aggressive driving...
North Okanagan-Shuswap budget cuts ‘gut-wrenching’
NORTH OKANAGAN - Literacy programs, grief counselling and class sizes are all taking a hit next year in what the North Okanagan-Shuswap school board chair calls some ‘gut-wrenching’ decisions to balance next year’s budget. The school board approved two pages of reductions totalling $1.7 million at its board meeting Tuesday, May 12. "We have tried...
Feral cats of the North Okanagan: “Somebody has to help them”
VERNON - There’s Blackie, and Boots, Tigger One and Tigger Two, and of course Mr. White, a Siamese whose ears are wrinkled by frostbite. They, and the other dozen or so cats make up the band of misfits, just some of the tens of thousands of feral cats in the North Okanagan. They have it...
Vernon vet clinic goes beyond the call of duty to help animals in need
VERNON - The Creekside Animal Clinic in Vernon has been giving back to the community almost as long as it’s been operating — which is getting close to 30 years now. Founding partner Dr. Murray Flock says it’s just the clinic’s culture to have a charitable side, and at Creekside, that means emergency surgeries for...
Your low-down on the May long weekend weather
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Environment Canada is calling for some pretty spectacular weather this May long weekend. Across the Thompson-Okanagan there will be sunny skies for much of the weekend, with highs getting up to 26 Celcius. Those in Vernon can expect sunshine and a high of 26 C on Saturday, followed by a reprieve from the...
Shuswap school closure decision difficult for school district
SALMON ARM - The closure of a rural Salmon Arm elementary school has been avoided, at least for one more year. Faced with the decision of whether or not to close Silver Creek Elementary a majority of trustees voted to keep the school open for another year while exploring the feasibility of introducing a Montessori...
What you should know about this delicious, and potentially poisonous, local delicacy
VERNON - You might have seen the bright, vibrantly green curlicues in classified ads or at the local grocery store recently and wondered what they are and where they come from. They’re called fiddleheads, and they’re found around the world, including the Thompson-Okanagan, for a few short weeks every spring. Those who have tried the...
Possible arson at Gatzke farm
LAKE COUNTRY – The owners of Gatzke Orchards are hoping someone knows how a suspicious fire started on their property Monday night. According to a post on their Facebook page, the fire started on the south end of the property on May 11 but was noticed before it could spread out of control. “Feeling a...
Parade will close Highway 97 on Sunday
FALKLAND - The Falkland Stampede will take place this May long weekend and as always the annual event will also include a parade that will shut down the highway for part of Sunday afternoon. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk reminds drivers to avoid the stretch of Highway 97 through Falkland on Sunday, May 17. The parade...