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Vernon news

Woman on scooter struck downtown Vernon

VERNON - A Vernon woman suffered minor injuries Wednesday afternoon when her scooter was struck by a vehicle downtown. Deputy fire chief Jack Blair says it’s unclear what led to the accident at the intersection of 30 Street and 28 Avenue, but police are investigating. “Not sure whether the scooter came out too suddenly, or...

Woman charged in connection with Vernon ATM theft

VERNON - She was caught on camera allegedly stealing cash out of someone else’s bank account, and now six months later, she’s been caught by authorities. Glenda Joan Daku, 53, from the North Okanagan has been charged with one count of theft under $5,000 in connection with the October 2014 offence, which was recorded on...

Lumby RCMP continues to report high number of drunk drivers

LUMBY - Lumby residents don’t seem to be getting the message when it comes to drunk driving, says the village’s top cop. Cpl. Henry Proce with the Lumby RCMP detachment says officers are arresting local residents in very high numbers for impaired driving. In the last three weeks, at least six drivers were charged with...

Vernon man sentenced on animal cruelty charges will get to keep his dog

VERNON - An unfortunate case of animal cruelty was laid out in Vernon Provincial Court this week, and it wasn’t just sad for the pet. Brian Jacobson, 47, was charged with causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal, failing to provide necessities, and causing an animal to be in distress following an SPCA cruelty...

Three people injured in logging accident near Lumby

LUMBY - An injured logger stuck down a 500-foot embankment has been rescued and transported to hospital. The victim was one of three workers injured when a tree reportedly fell on them in a remote area east of Lumby Wednesday morning. The industrial accident is under investigation by WorkSafe B.C. and spokesperson Scott McCloy says...

City of Vernon to enter race for B.C. Seniors Games

VERNON - The city is preparing to bid on a major sporting event, but it needs a little back-up from its neighbours. The City of Vernon wants to host the 30th anniversary of the 55+ B.C. Games (formerly called the Seniors Games) in 2017 at its new sports track next to Okanagan College. It was...

NEW VERNON WELCOME SIGNS: ‘We’ve been waiting for you’

VERNON - They’re supposed to be inviting, but the signs that welcome travellers into Vernon are looking a little worse for wear and no one is sure exaclty who is reponsible for the upkeep of those signs. Installed at each of the three main gateways to the city the 'Welcome to Greater Vernon' signs greet...

Victim of fatal rock climbing accident near Vernon identified

VERNON - A teen who died in a rock climbing accident near Vernon this past weekend has been identified. He was Taylor Samuel Archer, 18, from New Westminster. Archer was hiking with friends near the King Edward Forest Service Road about 15 kilometres east of Vernon on April 11, states a release from the B.C....

Vernon night market to proceed despite concerns

VERNON - A Friday night market in downtown Vernon will go ahead this summer, but there’s still some unease among city councillors about the event.  Coun. Catherine Lord says she’s been contacted by several businesses, some anonymously, wishing to express their concerns about the market. “We’ve been getting some really upset people with it because...

Stolen Lumby vehicle found scorched and shot up

LUMBY - Police are appealing to the public for tips after a stolen vehicle turned up torched and shot full of bullet holes last week. The vehicle, a silver 2000 Audi, was reported stolen from Catt Avenue in Lumby April 6. Two days later, it was found four kilometres up the Noble Canyon Forest Service...

Mother, son duo arrested in connection with Lumby drug rip

VERNON - A mother and son duo are facing charges after allegedly stealing medical marijuana plants from a licensed grower in Lumby. Lumby RCMP Cpl. Henry Proce says charges have been laid in connection with a March 27 drug rip on Grandview Avenue. “The suspects forcibly broke into a house and stole the marijuana plants...

Airport names former Kelowna mayor and councillor to advisory committee

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The group that advises Canada’s largest municipally-run airport will soon be joined by a couple of new faces familiar to people in the Central Okanagan. Kelowna’s former mayor Walter Gray and former city councillor Andre Blanleil, along with industry representative Meryle Corbett were all appointed to four-year terms on the Kelowna Internnational Airport...

Lumby man’s offence not so different from his last

LUMBY - It was deja-vu for a North Okanagan cop dealing with an impaired driving case. The officer was patrolling in the Lumby area April 10 around 2 p.m. when he noticed a prohibited driver in a residential neighbourhood, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “Our officer drove up to the vehicle in a marked police...

UPDATE: Crews battle grass fire in Enderby

ENDERBY – Smoke could be seen for miles as volunteers with the Enderby Fire Department fought a grass fire tMonday afternoon. The fire was reported at about 1:30 p.m., April 13, in a field on Meadowview Road in Grindrod. Deputy fire chief Shane Williamson says the property owner lit the fire earlier in the day...

Vernon RCMP investigate possibility of impaired driving in weekend crash

VERNON - Police are treating a car crash which knocked out power to hundreds of residents as an impaired driving case. The crash happened around 12:30 a.m., Saturday, April 11 when a 24-year-old woman went off Kalamalka Road in Coldstream and struck a hydro pole, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. Over 1,800 homes in Vernon...

Vernon senior could face charges after five hour standoff with police

VERNON - An elderly man arrested after a five hour standoff with police is looking at possible charges. The 70-year-old Vernon man was allegedly involved in a confrontation with a neighbour over some loud music around 1 a.m., April 10. When police arrived, the man had barricaded himself inside his unit of the fourplex. With...

Teen killed in fatal fall from cliff not using climbing gear: RCMP

VERNON - It looks like an 18-year-old wasn’t using any safety equipment when he decided to go rock climbing and wound up taking a fatal fall from a rock face near Vernon on the weekend. The teenager, who has yet to be identified, was camping with three friends when the group decided to go rock...

Forestry crew mopping up wildfire near Okanagan Connector

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A human-caused wildfire sparked south of the Okanagan Connector Saturday afternoon is being mopped up by a Wildfire Management crew today. Fire information officer Kayla Pepper says an initial attack crew of 13 firefighters responded to the blaze which grew to 11-hectares in size near Starshine Way Road, north of Missezula Lake yesterday...

Fire at Vernon apartment building quickly doused

VERNON – If a passerby hadn’t noticed smoke from a small fire burning on the outside wall of a Vernon apartment building Saturday afternoon, it could have turned out much worse. Vernon Fire Rescue crews were called to the Sundance Suites at 2902 43 Ave. near MacDonald Park around 4:04 p.m., April 11, to a...

Fall from rock face claims life of teen in Coldstream

VERNON – An 18-year-old fell to his death from a rock face on the King Edward Forest Service Road in Coldstream last night. Vernon RCMP officers and B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics were called to the scene at around 7:30 p.m., April 11. “The male had suffered significant injuries as a result of the fall, and...

More snow falling on Coq and Hope-Princeton

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A dump of snow on the Coquihalla and the Hope-Princeton highways overnight is being following with another heavy snowfall today. A vigorous cold front passed through the Southwest Interior overnight dropping 10 to 15 centimetres of snow on the Coquihalla Summit and the Allison Pass, according to a Special Weather Statement from Environment...

Low snowpack could mean a dry Okanagan summer

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Current snowpack levels suggest the Okanagan could be in for a dry year, while the South Thompson should fair better. According to Tobi Gardner with the River Forecast Centre, snowpack is at 76 per cent of normal in the Okanagan — the lowest in five years. “What that translates to is a lower...