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Vernon news

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...

Winning Lotto 649 ticket bought in Vernon

VERNON - There’s a new millionaire in Vernon, and no, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. According to BCLC, a ticket worth over $5 million was purchased in Vernon on Wednesday, April 1. The $35 million jackpot was split between five other winners, three in Ontario and one in Quebec. The winning numbers were 4,...

Shelf price of liquor changes; little consumer impact expected

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Consumers won’t actually see much difference in costs following the new B.C. liquor laws that took effect today, according to one liquor merchant. Fred Vassilaki, the manager of Last Call Liquor Mart in Penticton, says changes to the province’s liquor laws went into effect on April 1 but they won’t have a huge...

Vernon mall says goodbye to another retailer

VERNON - Shopping options continue to shrink at Vernon’s Village Green Mall. Ricki’s, a fixture at the mall since the shopping centre opened 40 years ago, will close its doors by the end of the month as part of a company restructuring plan. The news comes not long after Target announced it was pulling out...

Video shows Sicamous man up close and personal with an avalanche

VERNON - If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be swept up in an avalanche, a Sicamous man is sharing his terrifying experience after catching it on camera. Curtis Johnson was sledding in the Blue Lake area near Sicamous with a camera strapped to his head when an avalanche came rushing down the mountain....

Okanagan Spirits has a taste for expansion

VERNON - When the shiny pieces of Okanagan Spirits' new state-of-the-art copper stills arrived, there was only one problem: The instructions were in German. With no one fluent in the language, setting up the 50-plate still and 1,500 and 2,000 litre copper pots—now the largest in Western Canada—was an entertaining process, laughs owner Tony Dyck....

Pac-Man takes on the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if Pac-Man took over the streets of the Okanagan, wonder no more. Google Maps is now offering a local version of Pac-Man. Only available in some browsers, you will see a Pac-Man box in the bottom left of the screen. You simply need to...

Okanagan rail corridor proponents pledge $5 million for community trail

VERNON - A citizens group has committed to raising $5 million to build a rail trail from Vernon to Kelowna if local municipalities secure the land. Brad Clements of the Okanagan Rail Trail Initiative says several community members have already expressed interest in making donations toward the creation of the trail. “People say, 'Let us...

Lumby man picks fight with rescue crews after rolling pickup

CHERRYVILLE – A Lumby man pulled from the wreckage of his pickup in facing drunk driving charges after becoming combative with the people trying to help him. RCMP say the man, 39, rolled his pickup on Highway 6 near Frank’s General Store around 10 p.m., Thursday, March 26. After he was removed from the truck,...

Man arrested for powering licensed grow-op with stolen electricity

CHERRYVILLE - Police found something wasn’t quite right at a licensed medical marijuana grow-op in Cherryville. RCMP say officers were already aware of the legal, 1,200 plant operation in the North Fork Road area, but had suspicions the operator was stealing electricity. Police executed a search warrant at the property March 17 and arrested one...

Licensed marijuana grower ripped off in Lumby

LUMBY – The owner of a licensed marijuana grow-op in Lumby was robbed last week in what police call a “grow rip.” RCMP say they were called to a home on Grandview Avenue on Friday, March 27, about an insecure premise. The officers arrived to find it was actually a break and enter. The man...

Small fire at Armstrong Tolko mill

ARMSTRONG – The sprinkler system and an employee with a fire extinguisher quickly dealt with an electrical fire at the Tolko Industries mill in Armstrong this afternoon. Fire crews responded to what they thought was a structure fire at about 1:25 p.m., Monday, March 30, but it turned out to be an electrical motor fire....

Shaking goose eggs controlling Okanagan population

OKANAGAN – There are approximately 2,500 geese living in the Okanagan year round, but without the efforts of the Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program that number would be much higher. “What many people fail to understand, and a large part of the message that we want to provide, is that the geese we are targeting...

Vernon woman step closer to MasterChef Canada crown

VERNON - Vernon’s Jennifer Innis continues to prove her cooking skills on national television. The dental hygienist and mother of three made it to the top ten on MasterChef Canada Sunday night, March 29. “I never thought I'd even make the show, let alone the top ten. Thanks everyone for your continuous support,” Innis writes on...

Police investigate second Lumby assault involving group of youths

LUMBY - Police are dealing with a second situation where someone was surrounded and assaulted by young people in Lumby. Cpl. Henry Proce says the most recent case happened March 16 when a patient at the Monashee Mews care home was confronted by several youths at the bus stop on Norris Road. The youths began...

If your dog is suddenly paralyzed this could be why

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Mary Verigin knew something was wrong with her dog as soon as she opened her crate last Monday morning. “She could get up on her front feet but there was no strength behind her shoulders,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do. Of course I was crying.” Verigen phoned her vet, Dr....

UPDATE: Highway 6 near Needles ferry reopens

VERNON - The section of Highway 6 on the way to the Needles ferry dock closed for repairs following a mud slide and the appearance of a sink hole over a month ago ihas reopened. The Ministry of Transportation says the work on the new drainage installation and rebuilding of the section of road about...

Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival bucks the trend and survives

SALMON ARM - We’ve got Joni Mitchell to thank for the words ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ but the community of Salmon Arm gets the credit for acting on that epiphany before it was too late. Six months ago, things were uncertain for the Roots and Blues Festival. A number of...

UPDATE: Power restored to 2,400 Enderby and Spallumcheen residents

VERNON - More than 2,400 residents in Enderby and Spallumcheen were without power this afternoon. B.C. Hydro says power went off at 11:43 a.m., March 27 for some 2,450 customers east of Highway 97. The outage was caused by a tree falling on the wires and power was restored shortly after 2 p.m. To contact...

Spring snow at Okanagan resorts leaves ski bums less bummed

OKANAGAN - It may have been a rainy week in the valley, but it was dumping snow at local ski hills. Silver Star Mountain in Vernon got close to 60 cm of new snow in the last week, blanketing alpine runs with a 209 centimetre base. As of Friday morning, all chair lifts except the...

Second year without a vigil to mark Vernon Good Friday massacre

VERNON – For the second year in a row, a vigil to remember the nine members of the Gakhal and Saran families who were murdered in Vernon on Good Friday in 1996 will not be held. The families will be remembering their loss in private, according to a media release from the Vernon Women’s Transition...