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Vernon news
Horse racing scrapped again; Vernon’s Kin Race Track in legal limbo
VERNON - It will be another quiet summer at Vernon’s historic horse racing track as plans for its future remain mired in uncertainty. Arson gutted Kin Race Track’s grandstands last summer, and without them the Okanagan Equestrian Society’s president says no events can be held. “Everything runs out of the grandstand,” Robert White says. The...
Tall flame at Vernon landfill just standard procedure
VERNON - You might notice a tall flame coming from the Vernon landfill as you drive by, but rest assured, it’s just routine gas flaring. The Regional District of North Okanagan recently constructed a new landfill gas management system at the dump on Birnie Road. In accordance with the B.C. Landfill Gas Management Regulation, the...
Vernon motel could be yours for just over $1M
VERNON - A downtown motel familiar to most Vernon residents is up for sale. The Green Valley Motel on Highway 97 across from Polson Park is on the market for $1,195,000. Built in 1965, the motel features 27 units currently rented out by the month. A description of the listing suggests it has lots of...
What Vernon firefighters hope you do differently to prevent another tragedy
VERNON - Conditions at a fire scene this week gave crews flashbacks to conditions that killed an Enderby firefighter several years ago, and the Vernon Fire Department is now issuing a public warning in the hopes of preventing another tragedy. Crews responded to a dumpster fire around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 8, on 14 Avenue,...
Man brought into custody after five hour standoff with Vernon RCMP
VERNON - A 70-year-old man was taken into custody Friday morning after a five-hour stand-off. Officers were called to a fourplex in the 4900 block of Old Kamloops Road just before 1 a.m. April 10 for a report of a distraught man, police said this morning. “He’d had a confrontation with a neighbour and then...
FULL HOUSE: Need for foster homes increases in Okanagan
VERNON - A shortage of foster homes is impacting the quality of care provided to children during what can be one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, says a spokesperson for a foster parents association. Noelle Typusiak with the North Okanagan branch of the Okanagan Foster Parents Association says the number of homes...
Lake Country referendum could prove pivotal in closing CN Rail corridor deal
KELOWNA - The provincial government recently pledged more than $7 million for the CN Rail corridor purchase but it does nothing to solve Lake Country’s shortfall of $2.6 million. It may also have created a new problem — voter apathy in Lake Country where a yes vote for the purchase is still critical to the deal...
UPDATE: Police say man sought in ‘inappropriate’ pictures did nothing wrong
LAKE COUNTRY - Photos found on a second-hand camera purchased in Lake Country had RCMP looking for the man found among ‘inappropriate’ photos, but after finding him yesterday, say he was not related. A Lake Country woman called police when she ‘discovered some inappropriate photos’ on a child's camera she purchased it second-hand on March...
Court hears speedboat and houseboat lit before crash that killed houseboat owner
KAMLOOPS – A houseboat and a speedboat were on a collision course before a crash that killed the owner of the houseboat, B.C. Supreme Court has heard.
Local electronics retailer expands as big box stores close shop
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If Andre Blanleil gets any satisfaction from the demise of his retail competitor, electronics giant Future Shop, he doesn’t show it. “They were good competitors. They did a good job for the market they were going after,” the president of Andres Group of companies says. The regional chain operates 21 locations under the...
Vernon thief caught on video not who victims expected
VERNON - Police are looking into an odd theft committed by what appears to be an unexpected culprit — an elderly woman. Footage captured by a Vernon couple’s surveillance camera shows what looks to be an elderly woman making off with a patio table shortly after 6 a.m. on April 3 in the area of...
Vernon Search and Rescue deploys helicopter to injured hiker
VERNON - A seriously injured hiker in Kimberly has Vernon Search and Rescue to thank for getting him to the hospital in record time. Leigh Pearson, with Vernon SAR, says the group’s helicopter winch rescue team was deployed on Friday, April 3, for a mutual aid call in Kimberly. After navigating around some bad weather,...
Vernon firefighters come to aid of entrapped person
VERNON - Emergency crews freed two people trapped in a car after an accident Tuesday morning. According to Vernon Fire and Rescue Services, there was a two vehicle accident just after 8 a.m. in the 4300 block of 32 Street. The driver and passenger in one of the vehicles involved were trapped inside until firefighters...
Vernon Breastfeeding demonstration made larger point
“I REALLY DO THINK WE HAD A POSITIVE OUTCOME FROM THIS NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE” VERNON - What began as a negative experience for a Vernon mother quickly became an opportunity to spread a positive messages about breastfeeding, says the organizer of a feed-in at the Village Green Centre. A few days after Megan Deuling was shamed...
Provincial support for Okanagan rail trail may sway voters, but not Okanagan Indian Band
VERNON - While a recent funding announcement from the provincial government may entice some Lake Country voters towards a yes vote in an upcoming borrowing referendum, the Okanagan Indian Band is warning governments not to celebrate just yet. Premier Christy Clark announced a $7.2 million pledge for the acquisition of the Okanagan Rail corridor the...
Vernon couple wins $5.8M
VERNON - A Vernon couple officially received their part of the $35 million Lotto 6/49 grand prize Tuesday afternoon, walking away with $5.8 million and a more relaxed outlook on life. Albert and Margaret Greening had one of six winning tickets in the April 1 draw, the other five were purchased in Ontario and Quebec....
Preschoolers tackle racial tensions using locally-designed dolls
ENDERBY - A troop of handmade, multicultural dolls called the Backpack Kids have been deployed to local childcare centres where they are bringing a message of diversity and acceptance to young children. The life-sized puppets, each representing a Canadian kid with a different cultural background, are part of a newly launched teaching curriculum designed to...
Vernon teen pulled over for drunk driving before he even has his license
VERNON - A drunk teenager was slapped with an Immediate Roadside Prohibition over the long weekend, and he doesn’t even have his driver’s license yet. The 17-year-old was caught driving erratically in the Kalamalka Road area of Coldstream on Friday, April 3, around 10:30 p.m., RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. An officer patrolling in the...
Province pledges $7.2M for CN Rail corridor purchase
KELOWNA - There are some strings attached, but the provincial government is pledging $7.2 million to help make the purchase of the CN Rail corridor a reality. The money is conditional on a successful referendum in Lake Country later this month, according to a press release from the province Tuesday, April 7. “We believe in the...
Five generations of local family inducted into Cowboy Hall of Fame
"THEY DON'T HEM AND HAW OR DO ANYTHING HALF WAY" VERNON - They may be in their 70s and 80s, but the Louis brothers still head to a rodeo nearly every weekend, continuing a long standing tradition that now bridges five generations. Born and raised on the Okanagan Indian Band Reserve near Vernon, the nine...
UPDATE: Costco, IGA chicken salad recall; possible Listeria contamination
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Salads made with pre-cooked chicken have been pulled out of the coolers at Costco and IGA stores in B.C. in a recall triggered by an inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Originally the recall covered in Kirkland Signature brand roasted chicken salads at Costco in Kelowna, Kamloops and the company’s stores across the country. It...
Okanagan College tuition going up
OKANAGAN - Tuition fees are going up two per cent with Okanagan College’s board of governors approval of a $94.95 million operating budget. Okanagan College Board of Governors Chair Tom Styffe says the board initially faced "a seven digit issue, created by a number of pressures,” according to a media release. He says administration and...
Crime spree nets Vernon man more time behind bars
VERNON - A Vernon man says he was denied detox services for the third time shortly before attempting to carjack a woman’s vehicle and breaking into a nearby home. David Arthur Bruno Sammartino, born in 1984, was sentenced in Vernon Provincial Court Wednesday, April 1, on two charges of breaking and entering, and one of...
Woman shamed for breastfeeding in Vernon mall food court
BREAST FEEDING MOM TOLD 'THERE'S A TIME AND A PLACE FOR THESE KIND OF THINGS' VERNON - A feed-in is being organized to support a Vernon mother asked to stop breastfeeding her son at the Village Green Shopping Centre earlier this week. Megan Deuling was breastfeeding her four-month-old son at the food court in the...