Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Vernon news

Top Gear episode airs featuring Okanagan highways

OKANAGAN – Residents of the Okanagan will see some familiar scenery in a recently aired episode of the hit BBC television series "Top Gear." In a rare review of two North America’s truck companies, stars James May and Jeremy Clarkson race each other across B.C. in a Ford F150 VelociRaptor and a Chevy Silverado 2500HD....

History of the Okanagan Commonage Reserve

VERNON - With the impending sale of the discontinued rail corridor between Vernon and Kelowna, the Okanagan Indian band has revived a historic land claim on a large tract of land known as the Commonage Reserve. Formed in 1877 by the Joint Indian Reserve Commission (established by the governments of Canada and B.C. to create...

Malakwa man killed by CP train indentified

KELOWNA – The man killed on the CP tracks in Malakwa last weekend couldn’t get out of the way of the freight train in time. Gilles Robert Joseph Thivierge, 61, of Malakwa was in the back seat of a car, which became stuck on the tracks just off Malakwa Road and Summerville-Husted Road around 9:45...

Satellite images show just how much Vernon has changed in 30 years

VERNON - It’s no surprise the Vernon area has grown over the last 30 years, but now you can see just what those changes look like from above. This incredible time lapse of satellite images from 1984 to 2012 on Google Earth Engine shows how different the city looks today. You will see new building...

Rain, snow increase avalanche risk in Interior

OKANAGAN - With less than a week left in March spring is well under way in the valleys, but that doesn’t mean winter conditions are not present on mountain highways or in the backcountry. Avalanche Canada is warning of a moderate to high risk of avalanches in many of the alpine and treeline elevations throughout...

Proposed legislation will strip presumption of innocence: Defence lawyer

KAMLOOPS – New legislation proposed by the B.C. Liberals this week throws out the presumption of innocence and instead presumes people accused of impaired driving are guilty until they prove otherwise, says a Vancouver defence lawyer specializing in impaired driving. Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act strengthen the government’s controversial Immediate Roadside Prohibition, which avoids...

Bears are waking up and looking for food in the North Okanagan

VERNON - The Conservation Service is reminding the public to minimize attractants as bears come out of hibernation and start looking for food. Conservation officer Mike Richardson says the number of bear complaints has already started to climb in the North Okanagan. “They’re definitely awake and coming out of their dens,” Richardson says. On Monday,...

Vernon native named to WHL all-star team

VERNON - It’s the end of the regular season in the Western Hockey League and while Vernon does not have a team in the league a local player has still cracked the all-star team. The all-star teams along with the 2015 WHL Awards finalists were named Wednesday, March 25 with awards set to be handed...

Citizens call for drastic changes to Greater Vernon Water

VERNON - A citizens group is calling on local politicians to overhaul plans for Greater Vernon’s water supply, including the cost to residents. Citizens for Changes to the Master Water Plan made their case to Vernon City Council Monday afternoon, asking for support in taking a “fresh new look” at the plan. Spokesperson Eric Jackson...

Two Vernon athletes nominated to compete in 2015 Toronto Parapan Am Games

VERNON - Two athletes from Vernon are among 40 swimmers nominated to represent Canada this summer at the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games. Sarah Mehain, 20, is a seasoned paralympian and will compete in four events in Toronto, while the games are a first for teammate Riley McLean. The two will compete alongside another fellow...

Interior Target stores will be closed before Easter

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - By April 2 a total of 62 Target stores will be shut down, including those in Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops. Target Canada opened doors in Western Canada in May 2013. In January 2015 it was announced the company would be shutting down all 133 stores and liquidation sales began immediately. Last week the...

Rail corridor in doubt as Okanagan Indian Band takes land claim to court

VERNON - The Okanagan Indian Band is filing a notice of claim in B.C. Supreme Court, asserting aboriginal title to a portion of the discontinued CN rail corridor between Lake Country and Vernon. It’s part of the same rail corridor local municipalities are working towards purchasing for conversion into a trail, but Okanagan Indian Band...

Doubt cast over 2015 season of Vernon’s Avenue Market

VERNON - There’s concern that a Vernon market designed to attract people to the downtown core is actually having a negative affect on some merchants. The summertime Avenue Market, which is coming into its second year, invites vendors to set up on 30 Avenue on Friday evenings. When it started, the hope was that it...

Vernon parents left frustrated with City Hall over student safety

VERNON - Vernon parents are disappointed local government isn’t planning to do more to make the roads around Beairsto School safer as a drive-through Tim Hortons is built across the street. Out of 11 traffic safety recommendations made by the Beairsto Parent Advisory Council — such as widening sidewalks, reducing the speed limit on 27...

Death of longboarding teen killed by vehicle was accidental

VERNON - A Vernon teenager struck by a car while longboarding July 13, 2014, died of multiple blunt force trauma as a result of the impact, and the incident was accidental, the B.C. Coroners Service has concluded. Christopher Mathew Mitchell, 17, was out longboarding on 39 Street at 11 p.m. when he was hit by...

Young children endangered by drunk driver in Lumby

LUMBY - When an alleged drunk driver was pulled over for failing to stop at a Lumby stop sign last week Mounties saw two small children in the vehicle belted into car seats. Officers from the North Okanagan Traffic Services were sitting in an unmarked car at 7:50 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, when the van...

Four local pharmacies to participate in ground-breaking genomics project

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The concept of tailored medical care based on individual DNA was once the stuff of science fiction novels but now the possibility is ever closer with four pharmacies in the Thompson-Okanagan signed on to take part in a first-of-its-kind genomics project. The 'Genomics for Precision Drug Therapy in the Community Pharmacy' project is...

City provides reminders for bike lane use in Vernon

VERNON - City of Vernon Manager of Protective Services Clint Kanester is reminding Vernon cyclists and drivers of the rules of the road to protect the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers. “It’s important that we respect the areas set aside for bicycle use, as they are an important part of how people move across...

Co-workers step up efforts to support Vernon nurse badly injured in hit and run

VERNON - Co-workers continue to support a Vernon nurse left unable to walk after a hit and run last winter.  As part of an ongoing fundraiser called Robin’s Journey, co-workers have launched a silent auction to help support her financially. Organizer Tina Berg says the community’s response so far with donations has been overwhelming. “Robin...

Lumby-based medical marijuana company still awaiting Health Canada approval

LUMBY - It’s been slow going for a company looking to grow medical marijuana in Lumby. Darcy Bomford, the CEO of True Leaf Medicine Inc. (chaired by former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt) says the company is still waiting for full approval from Health Canada. “It’s been almost a year waiting for this one location,” Bomford...

Suspect sought after attempted truck theft in Salmon Arm

SALMON ARM – Police are still searching for a suspect after a man caught someone attempting to steal his pickup truck early this morning in Salmon Arm. The owner of a residence on 8 Avenue awoke to the sound of his pickup truck being started at 3 a.m., Monday, March 23. When he ran outside...

Salmon Arm RCMP seize drugs, make two arrests

SALMON ARM – Two people were arrested and several illegal drugs, along with cash, were seized from an apartment on Shuswap Street in Salmon Arm on Saturday, March 21. After executing a search warrant, Mounties seized marijuana, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and hashish from the apartment. Two males, one 22 and the other 17, were arrested...