Vernon

Smoky skies continue, no end in sight to fire season

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With smoke-filled skies and reports of new fires almost every day, it begs the question that’s on everyone’s mind: When will this end? “It’s a good question. There is no hard and fast measure that tells us when things are done. Every season is its own animal,” Kevin Skrepnek says. And B.C. Wildfire’s...

The prettiest thing your butt will touch downtown Vernon

VERNON - Boring city benches in Vernon recently got a bright new facelift. Two downtown Vernon benches were removed over the weekend and painted at Riot on the Roof as part of an initiative between the Vernon Public Art Gallery, Downtown Vernon Association and the City of Vernon. Dauna Kennedy Grant, the executive director at...

Mom raises $14K for Cuddle Cots across Thompson-Okanagan

WEST KELOWNA – What started as an idea to bring to Kelowna General Hospital a device which gives parents of stillborn children a few extra days with their child will now help families across the entire Thompson-Okanagan. In less than three months West Kelowna resident Kristin Esmail has raised enough money to buy four Cuddle...

Smoke wreaks havoc on already-weakened hearts and lungs

SOUTHERN INTERIOR - Looks like the smokey skies will be with us until at least tomorrow and that means more discomfort for those with chronic heart and respiratory problems. “When we talk about smokey skies, we’re talking about the tiny solid particles that remain suspended in the air. The major concern is particles smaller than...

Grassland-eating grasshoppers causing grief for Interior cattle ranchers

KAMLOOPS - A district board member hopes to speak with the provincial Minister of Agriculture about "a great number of complaints" about the growing grasshopper population eating away the grasslands near Kamloops and causing concerns for ranchers.  Ken Gillis, the director for the Grasslands area of the Thompson Nicola Regional District, says he plans to...

Illegal burn doused by Vernon firefighters

VERNON - Vernon firefighters are reminding the public there is still a fire ban, something a local man apparently didn’t know. About 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 20, the Vernon Fire Department was called out to the 7300-block of Old Stamp Mill Road for a burning complaint. “It was a homeowner there claiming he didn’t know...

KF Aerospace announces more layoffs in the Okanagan

OKANAGAN - Rebranding the company hasn’t helped KF Aerospace avoid the turbulence of the marketplace which has forced the company to cut jobs in both Kelowna and Hamilton. President Tracy Medve was not available for interviews Friday as the Kelowna-headquartered company announced layoffs equivalent to eight per cent of its workforce. However, Medve said in...

For this Vernon family, nearly 200 years of sweet tradition is baked right in

VERNON - Not many people can say they’re carrying on family traditions stretching back to 1825, but Vernon baker Roy Bouman continues to do so with pride. Every perfect cream puff, every birthday cake, and each smiling customer pays homage to the long line of family bakers who passed down recipes, strong work ethic and...

Maintenance work to shut down Vernon pool

VERNON - Only a few more days are left to visit the Vernon pool before it shuts down for a month of maintenance work. The annual aquatic centre shutdown will start Monday, Aug. 24 and last until Sept. 21. This year’s closure will be an extra week long so recreation services can replace the flooring...

Credit card skimmers prompt public warning by RCMP

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Police in the Central Okanagan are once again warning about card skimmers after the devices were discovered in Vernon and Kamloops. Spokeswoman Const. Anne Donnelly of the Kelowna RCMP fraud section, said in a press release there are ways to foil the scam, which requires both your debit card number and your personal...

Warm fall, mild winter in long-range forecast

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Look for a hotter, drier fall across the Southern Interior if AccuWeather’s long-range fall forecast holds true. Issued by AccuWeather’s global weather centre, the forecast says a stubborn high pressure system anchored over the West coast and abnormally warm water over the north-eastern Pacific have kept the weather warm and dry. This is...

Police investigating apartment fire that left two Vernon men with severe burns

VERNON - A pair of Vernon men were airlifted to Vancouver last week after suffering serious burns in an apartment fire. The two men, ages 20 and 21, were inside an apartment building in the 3400 block of Okanagan Avenue when a fire started in the bathroom. Deputy Vernon Fire Chief Jack Blair says they...

Turning industrial trash into home furnishing treasures

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - There's something quintessentially Canadian about taking an item like a lowly wooden pallet or a fruit packing box and making good use of it. Keith Hamer and his crew take it one step further in an old fruit packing house in Oyama, creating a business to make new furniture out of old wood...

Vernon cadets show bravery in moments after head-on collision

VERNON - A group of staff cadets and instructors celebrating at a recent graduation parade in Vernon didn’t hesitate to drop what they were doing and run to help those involved in a serious car crash. “The flags were just being marched on and we heard a loud bang,” Major Keri Winkelaar says. “We turned...

Search continues for man presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake

VERNON - Family members believe they could be close to finding Curtis Wilson, a 24-year-old Lethbridge man who went missing over a month ago and is presumed drowned in Kalamalka Lake. Wilson’s family refused to give up the search after police divers exhausted their resources in July and appealed to a number of volunteer organizations to...

Vernon grass fire gets quick response from fire department

VERNON - Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a grass fire burning close to homes in Vernon Friday morning. The fire burned in a field on Melfort Road in Vernon’s BX area, prompting a full response from the BX-Swan Lake Fire Department today, Aug. 14. Local resident Cathy Huber says the fire was burning...

Water managers preparing for longer-term Okanagan drought

KELOWNA - While they are still in the midst of dealing with this year’s widespread drought in the southern B.C. the province’s top water managers are already looking ahead to next year. “Current weather patterns is for a strong El Nino blob off the coast. It is setting up the scenario for a drier than...

Severe thunderstorm watch for Okanagan

OKANAGAN - After a record day in the Okanagan temperatures are set to cool down and we can expect to see heavy rain and possibly severe thunderstorms over the next couple of days. Yesterday, Aug. 13, a new high temperature record was set in Kelowna, 37.8 Celsius, with Vernon, at 36.5 C, and Penticton, at...

HELSTON: What you can learn from a near tragedy on Okanagan Lake

Warnings to stay safe on the water have become to summer what drunk driving campaigns are to Christmas and telephone scam alerts are to grandparents. They’re good and important messages, but ones that tend to lose their kick over time like an old wind-up toy. Organizations work hard to find new ways of connecting these...

Highways closed, smoke fills the sky as wildfires take over Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A hot, dry week followed by a lightning storm that moved through the region has led to an increase in aggressive fire activity in the Kamloops and Southeast Fire Centres today. Currently Highways 33 and 3 are closed because of a 350-hectare wildfire that is growing rapidly near Rock Creek. The fire was...

Vernon tree removal ‘another straw in the demise of the herons’

VERNON - A North Okanagan city is standing by its decision to allow a stand of trees to be chopped down despite concerns within the community it could impact an at-risk species of bird. With a tree removal permit in hand from the City of Vernon, a housing developer removed the tall Cottonwood and poplar...

New weather record set in the Okanagan; heavy rain on the way

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It only took until mid-afternoon for Kelowna to tie the high temperature record for Aug. 13, and within the hour a new record was set.  By 4 p.m. Environment Canada was reporting a temperature of 37.3 Celsius, just above the 36.7 C record set in 1990. At 36 C, Vernon still has a...