Vernon

Meteors to shower the Southern Interior sky this week

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A nearly full moon may play havoc with the Aquarids Meteor Shower as it peaks this week but there is still a chance to see some of the brightest meteors if you can find a patch of clear sky and are patient. The product of dust particles left behind by Halley’s Comet, the...

Search for lost man in Vernon park extends past midnight

VERNON - A man lost at night in Kalamalka Provincial Park on the weekend made the right decision when he called home to say he was turned around, and losing battery life on his cell phone. That call prompted a quick response from RCMP and Vernon Search and Rescue, who immediately dispatched to the Cougar...

UPDATE: Highway reopens after crash near Vernon

UPDATE: 7:14 P.M., MAY 3, 2015 The highway has reopened. Drive B.C. notes to expect delays. VERNON - A crash is causing major delays on Highway 97 just south of Vernon Sunday afternoon. According to Drive B.C., the highway is closed in both directions 10 kilometres south of Vernon. There is currently no estimated time...

Empty stores a worry for Vernon mall merchants

VERNON - If you’ve been to the Village Green Centre lately, you might have noticed less variety in the 40-year-old mall. Currently, seven stores in the shopping centre are vacant and merchants are feeling the void. The Target closure left a large, 103,000-square-foot hole in the mall, but there are other gaps too. Ricki’s has...

Jason Aldean set to ‘Burn It Down’ in Kelowna

KELOWNA - Country music star Jason Aldean is coming to town this October on the Canadian leg of his recently expanded Burn It Down tour. Aldean, a three-time Academy of Country Music Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year nominee will be coming to Kelowna and Kamloops, as well as Vancouver and Prince...

Jason Aldean set to ‘Burn It Down’ in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS - Country music star Jason Aldean is coming to town this October on the Canadian leg of his recently expanded Burn It Down tour. Aldean, a three-time Academy of Country Music Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year nominee will be coming to Kelowna and Kamloops, as well as Vancouver and Prince...

Fashion label, non-profit organization all part of Vernon woman’s 15-year plan

VERNON - Most fashion designers take six months to create their clothing collections, but Raji Aujla made hers in four days, laying patterns out on the dining table and couches of her parents’ home in Vernon. Aujla, 30, loves a good challenge. Born and raised in Vernon, she has spent time working as an international...

Province revealing proposed upgrade for dangerous Vernon intersection

VERNON - Members of the public can get more information about proposed changes to a well-used road off Highway 97 on the Swan Lake auto mile tonight. Full details about the Ministry of Transportation’s plan for Stickle Road where it meets Highway 97 have so far been scarce, but government officials intend to unveil the...

Vernon dirt biker reported missing wanted to avoid arrest: Lawyer

VERNON - The Vernon man police and three Search and Rescue organizations scoured the Commonage for last week was afraid to go home because he didn’t want to get arrested, court heard today, April 29. Kyle Macinnes, 25, was reported missing by his worried family after he went for a dirt bike ride in the...

Vernon School District sees best aboriginal completion rate in years

VERNON - The Vernon School District is celebrating a six year high in the number of aboriginal students completing high school. The completion rate for aboriginal students in School District 22 has reached 71 per cent, the best in six years and higher than the provincial rate of 61 per cent. The good news came...

Restaurant growth brings new flavours to Vernon

VERNON - Kristina Sidorczuk’s is just one of many new faces you’ll see around town if you’re sampling the city’s new restaurants. The 22-year-old is the proud owner of one of the newest establishments in Vernon’s growing restaurant scene, EATology. The restaurant, located at the Greyhound Station in downtown Vernon across from Cenotaph Park, opened...

Expect to see smoke along the Coquihalla this week

KAMLOOPS - A series of small burns north of Merritt, off the Coquihalla Highway, will be conducted by Wildfire Management Branch personnel starting this week. The controlled burns will take place Thursday, April 30, and Tuesday, May 5, and are in preparation for a training course that will help students determine the origin and cause...

Vernon woman chopped from MasterChef Canada

VERNON - Vernon’s MasterChef contender Jennifer Innis is toast. The local dental hygienist and mother of three was eliminated from the competition after falling short in a tea treat challenge. She and partner David Jorge struggled to produce profiteroles for the tricky task, and bickered throughout the challenge. But Innis still has a smile on...

Barenaked Ladies returning to Kelowna

KELOWNA - With a new album set to release in June, the Barenaked Ladies are ramping up for yet another Canadian tour this fall. The SILVERBALL tour will kick-off in Prince George on Oct. 19 before hitting the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops on Oct. 24 and Prospera Place in Kelowna on Oct. 25. In...

Yes side claims resounding victory in rail trail referendum

LAKE COUNTRY - With a voter turnout that puts other elections to shame, about 75 per cent Lake Country voters showed their support for the CN Rail corridor purchase with a resounding yes vote. In a media release from the district, chief election officer Reyna Seabrook says 4,4462 or 47.9 per cent of eligible voters...

Vernon Jubilee Hospital unveils new mammography machine

VERNON - North Okanagan residents are benefiting from recent enhancements to Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s imaging department, including a new digital mammography machine.   Local individuals and organizations donated to the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation’s Take a Picture campaign, which raised more than $500,000 towards the purchase of the new mammography machine, the foundation said in...

West Kelowna keeping an eye on medical marijuana dispensaries

WEST KELOWNA - A pair of businesses in West Kelowna may have the distinction of being the only legal companies in the province allowed to act as de facto medical marijuana dispensaries. While such dispensaries abound in Vancouver — over 80 at last count — none of them have business licenses, but intstead operate as...

Happy 10th birthday YouTube; local viral videos

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The very first YouTube video was uploaded ten years ago today so InfoNews has put together some of our regions most watched clips of the last decade. The first Okanagan classic is about a focused skater singing the national anthem at a Penticton Vees game in October 2014. It has more than 3-million...

Mussels with wings; the new front in the battle against invasive species

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The defensive war on invasive mussels hitching a ride into British Columbia’s lakes and rivers via recreational boats has just begun but there’s already talk of opening up a new front — float planes. While recreational boats and commercial boat haulers are the primary target of the recently-launched Don’t Move A Mussel educational program,...

Snowfall advisory for Coquihalla

KAMLOOPS - Several centimetres of snow has already fallen on the Coquihalla Highway between Kamloops and Merritt and Drive B.C. is warning of more snow for that stretch of highway before the night is over. Drive B.C. is calling for 10 to 15 cm of snowfall for the stretch of highway from the Portia Interchange...

Vernon School District will use reserves to bridge budget shortfall

VERNON - The Vernon School District will dip into its reserves to cover next year's budget shortfall, but it's already worried about what to do the year after that. Once again, School District 22 is facing a budget deficit, this time in the amount of $950,000 due to cost pressures and a $400,000 cut in...

UPDATE: Dirt biker no longer missing

"THE FAMILY IS VERY HAPPY THE WORST DIDN'T HAPPEN" VERNON – The search for a missing dirt biker in the Vernon area has been called off after the man showed up at home this morning. “The Vernon RCMP want to let the public know that the missing man on the dirt bike has returned home...

UPDATE: Vernon RCMP appeal to public for help finding overdue biker

VERNON - Search and Rescue has joined the effort to locate an overdue, and inexperienced, motorbike rider last seen Tuesday afternoon.  Kyle Macinnes, 25, went out on his dirt bike at 4 p.m. April 21, and has not returned.  “His family is very concerned as he is not a very experienced rider,” Molendyk says in...