Vernon

Secret proposals exchanged over Vernon horse racing dispute

VERNON - Proposed resolutions over an ongoing legal dispute between the City of Vernon and the Okanagan Equestrian Society are on the table, but neither side is commenting on the details. The society’s lawyer, Ed Woolley, says proposals were exchanged this week and both parties are now considering their options. The legal dispute has been...

Why a break-in couldn’t have happened at a worse time for two single Vernon moms

VERNON - Kris Zacharuk is pushing her son into the arrivals gate of the Kelowna Airport in a wheelchair when her phone rings. It’s been tough lately to keep the phone bills covered, but she has to in case the doctors call about Christopher’s kidney transplant. It’s her 17-year-old daughter calling. The house Zacharuk shares...

Still confused about consent? Judge’s ruling on Coldstream sex assault might help

VERNON - A man has lost his appeal over a sexual assault that happened after a birthday party in Coldstream. According to a Jan. 6, 2016 judgment by Justice Martha Devlin, a group of people spent the evening drinking and going to a nightclub in Vernon in September 2011 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Later,...

Hockey dad needs help putting on tournament for sick kids

OKANAGAN - A Kelowna hockey dad is looking for a little corporate muscle to put on the Winter Classic, an outdoor hockey tournament at Apex Mountain resort. Yannick Lescarbeau, who manages the Kelowna Minor Hockey Atom Development B team, started the tournament last year as a fundraiser for the SickKids Foundation. The tournament will pit...

Why the government thinks someone intentionally blocked a culvert causing flood damage in the North Okanagan

VERNON - Plastic and wood debris found near a culvert after a devastating landslide in the North Okanagan in 2014 leads investigators to believe the flood was human caused, according to information obtained by iNFOnews.ca. Investigators with the Ministry of Forests announced in November 2015 they believed someone intentionally blocked a culvert, causing Dale Lake...

Gloomy dark clouds over the Okanagan won’t part any time soon

OKANAGAN - That stifling grey pall of gloom hanging over the Okanagan is here courtesy of El Nino and Environment Canada says we can expect more of the same for at least the next ten days. Meteorologist Matthew MacDonald says we are at the mercy of major weather systems conspiring to blot out the sun. That...

Coroner identifies Summerland woman who crashed into Okanagan Lake

OKANAGAN - The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a Summerland woman who died last week after her vehicle slid into Okanagan Lake. Elena Sagario Holly, 42, was driving alone on Highway 97 southbound near Summerland around noon Jan. 4 when her car slid off the road and into Okanagan Lake during bad...

Expect to feel the squeeze as walk-in clinics close or cut back hours in Vernon

VERNON - Dwindling access to walk-in clinics in Vernon will lead to longer line-ups, and more people travelling outside their communities to see a doctor, says a Kelowna advocate for walk-ins. While the community is still absorbing the impending closure of the Vernon Family Doctor’s Walk-In Clinic, another blow came this week with news that...

Record demand met with record generosity at Vernon’s Salvation Army food bank

VERNON - It was a record year for the Salvation Army in Vernon in more ways than one. This year’s annual food bank fundraising drive surpassed all records set during the Salvation Army’s past 110 years in Vernon, Capt. Jean-Curtis Plante says in a media release. Donations reached nearly $458,000 during the Christmas Hope Campaign,...

Free parking in downtown Vernon adding up to concerns

VERNON - There’s concern that free parking is coming at too high a cost in downtown Vernon. Vernon city council has approved a number of free parking days for special events and initiatives, adding up to a total of approximately 15 days of free parking, Coun. Catherine Lord said at a meeting Monday, Jan. 11....

Snowfall warning for Coquihalla Highway

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - While temperatures continue to warm up in town, a system is expected to drop enough snow on area highways today to prompt a snowfall warning for at least one section of highway. Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt, where up to 25 centimetres of...

Strain for medical care grows as Vernon walk-in clinic reduces to half-days

VERNON - Access to medical care continues to shrink in Vernon. Shortly after it was learned the Vernon Family Doctor’s Walk-In Clinic is closing down permanently, news has come that another walk-in clinic has drastically cut its hours. The Gartree Medical Clinic in the Vernon Square Mall has reduced its hours to 8 a.m. to...

Online contest puts Silver Star in North American spotlight

VERNON - The Star is getting some international attention for its cross country skiing. Silver Star Mountain Resort is in the running for a top 10 contest on USA Today for the best nordic resorts in North America. Three Olympians, Sadie Bjornsen, Holly Brooks and Sophie Caldwell were asked to nominate their favourite cross country...

City council disagrees with upcoming bus stop change at Vernon mall

VERNON - Those who take the bus from the Vernon mall are in for some changes. There have been safety issues and close calls at the stop, which is located outside the food court at the Village Green Centre, transportation engineer Amanda Watson said during a city council meeting today, Jan. 11. The transit operator,...

Vernon man handed jail term for child porn offence

VERNON - A Vernon man has been sent to prison after getting caught possessing child pornography. A Vernon provincial court judge sentenced Karl David Lawrence to nine months in jail for the offence, longer than the four to six months requested by Crown counsel during sentencing. Police began investigating Lawrence in March 2014 when suspected...

Mild week ahead for the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - We can expect temperatures to hover around the freezing mark this week, with temperatures expected to be at or near seasonal normal temperatures throughout the Okanagan. Environment Canada is calling for daytime high temperatures to range from -1 Celsius to 2 C this week, with overnight lows expected to reach between 0 C...

Feds shell out $11 million over Vernon property possibly hiding explosives

VERNON - The federal government paid out an $11-million settlement to a B.C. developer who sued after discovering a property purchased in Vernon could be littered with an unknown quantity of unexploded bombs, mortar shells and grenades. Vancouver-based K&L Land Partnership sued the government in 2013 over the 1,349 acre property overlooking Kalamalka Lake. Its...

Early season numbers show decent snowpack in the Thompson-Okanagan

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several snow systems pommelled the region at the end of 2015, leaving the snowpack levels at a good level to start 2016. At 143 per cent, Similkameen is most above normal for this time of year, but with the lowest in the region sitting at 92 per cent of normal snowpack levels, low...

Local politician launches petition to give RCMP auxiliary officers a tax break

VERNON - A Vernon city councillor is petitioning the federal government to get a tax credit for auxiliary police officers. The petition is posted on the Parliament of Canada website, and calls upon the government to extend the same credit to auxiliary constables — unarmed, unpaid, uniformed RCMP volunteers — as it does to certain...