Vernon

Let there be rock: AC/DC Rock or Bust tour coming to Vancouver

VANCOUVER - Legendary rock band AC/DC is spending the first half of the Rock or Bust World Tour in Europe but has announced plans to tear down the house at more than a dozen North American venues at the end of the summer. With Edmonton and Vancouver on the roster for the end of September,...

Okanagan to get more residential care beds for the elderly

KELOWNA – Two cities in the Okanagan will be getting significantly more care beds for the elderly sometime in the future, according to an Interior Health announcement Tuesday. Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thompson says the beds, which are for seniors with complex care requirements requiring round-the-clock care, will help more than just Okanagan seniors. “These additional...

How to plan the perfect date

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The guy or gal you have your eye on has said yes to a date, but Valentine’s Day is less than a week away and you have no idea how to plan the perfect date. Elizabeth deVries of Together By Design, says you need to think about the experience and connecting on the...

Vernon’s top cop stepping into retirement

VERNON - Vernon’s top cop is retiring. Supt. Reg Burgess made the announcement in front of Vernon City Council Tuesday afternoon.   “I think he did really well. In recent years, we were doing better than the national average in terms of addressing crime,” Coun. Juliette Cunningham says. “It was great working with him.” Burgess...

Vernon breaks warm weather record

VERNON – The spring-like weather continues for Vernon with a record high temperature on Sunday, Feb. 8. The mercury rose to 7.9 C, breaking the old record of 6.1 C on the same day in 1998, according to Environment Canada’s website. To put things into perspective, the normal high for his time of year is...

Local flooding possible as El Nino-like weather melts lower snowpack

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It doesn’t happen often, but a perfect alignment of the right conditions may cause some flooding in the Southern Interior. The warm Pacific air bombarding the region, thanks to the Pineapple Express, is creating above normal temperatures, which in turn are starting to melt the lower elevation snowpack. Add the still frozen ground...

SPCA fighting cruelty with kindness

MILLION ACTS OF KINDNESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even seemingly little things can help make the life of an animal better and B.C. SPCA wants to celebrate 120 years by fighting cruelty with kindness in 2015. The animal advocacy and rescue group launched the Million Acts of Kindness campaign this week. To launch the campaign...

Salvation Army adjusts Vernon thrift store staffing

VERNON - The Salvation Army is reducing the number of employee positions at its Vernon thrift stores as a way to put more money back into the community. It wasn’t an easy decision, says Captain Jean-Curtis Plante, with the Salvation Army, but it had to be done. The non-profit has been struggling financially since at...

Family pleads for witnesses after father backed over by a car

“HE WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME” VERNON - Andrew Raab walked the same route to the Upper Room Mission for lunch every single day, not because he couldn’t afford food—he paid for all his meals—but because he liked the company. “He didn’t like being alone, he liked being out in the...

STAHN: Community needs to step up to stop tagging

There’s urban art, known as graffiti to many, and then there’s tagging—the ugly scribbles, words and obscene pictures that end up on our buildings, on murals and even in tot lots. This has been a growing issue throughout the region and in the past year has hit some pretty low lows. Penises drawn on playground...

Highway 1 closed for avalanche control Friday

AVALANCHE RISK AGAIN HIGH THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you are heading east for the long weekend you might want to adjust your travel times. In addition to a winter driving advisory from the Shuswap to the Alberta border, delays of up to three hours are expected on Highway 1 through Glacier National Park on Friday. Drive...

Heavy snow and freezing rain on the way

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A winter storm is bringing heavy snow to much of the province today and tonight and the Southern Interior is no exception. Environment Canada says to expect heavy snow on Highway 1 from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass—up to 25 centimetres by Friday morning—and on Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass....

Vernon Winter Carnival ready to rock your socks off

VERNON - This year’s Vernon Winter Carnival is ready to rock and roll with only a couple last minute changes due to the weather. The event kicks off Feb. 6 and runs until Feb. 15. A recent warning about thin ice on Swan Lake, an area where the carnival's hot air balloon events often take...

Judge to hear evidence against Lumby man accused of murder

VERNON - A Lumby man accused of murdering his girlfriend, a local teacher, is before a provincial court judge this week. A preliminary inquiry for Howard Everett Krewson, also known as Howard Everett, began Wednesday, Feb. 4 and is scheduled to last five days. Krewson, 55, was charged with the second degree murder of Linda...

Spring is in the air

TEMPERATURES TO WARM, RAIN TO FALL THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — If you’ve been dreaming of spring weather, this weekend could be your dream come true with temperatures hovering near the double digits, and bringing rain. Lots of rain. Wednesday temperatures will hover just above seasonal normals of 1 Celsius, according to Environment Canada, but by Friday will...

Vernon RCMP academy instills teens with life skills

VERNON - Not every teen who enrolls in the week-long, Depot-like RCMP Youth Academy in Vernon becomes a police officer. For some, the early mornings, mandatory exercise, daily chore of making their bed, and getting woken up in the middle of the night for mock disturbance calls is not for them. But for 2002 Charles...

Big and Rich returning to Merritt

JOINS DIERKS BENTLEY, LADY ANTEBELLUM AND OTHERS MERRITT - Dierks Bentley was announced as the Saturday night headliner for the Rockin’ River Fest in Merritt back in November and now several other big country names are set to join him. Big and Rich, who have previously performed in Merritt, will return to close out the...

February kicks off with snowfall

SKI HILLS CELEBRATE THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - February kicked off much the same way January did, with a dump of snow. In Kamloops the snow had mostly tapered off by noon on Sunday, Feb. 1 while in Kelowna a mix of snow and rain persisted into the early evening. Penticton had just a bit of snow on...

Lumby RCMP arrest suspected post office box thief

LUMBY - A suspected post office box thief arrested, cash stolen from the Co-op and a stolen 15,000-litre diesel fuel tank are just some of the crimes officers with the Lumby RCMP detachment are working on. On January 11, 2015, Lumby members arrested a woman suspected of breaking into and stealing contents from post office...

HELSTON: A reminder that you’re innocent until proven guilty

In Canada, you’re innocent until proven guilty whether charged with murder or stealing an ice cream cone. Sure, you might not go to court over a frozen milk product, but the point is, no matter how heinous or mild the crime, the principle remains the same: an allegation is not a conviction. We brought you...

The unique approach Vernon is taking to selling itself

VERNON - A new City of Vernon tourism initiative is focussing more on recommendations shared by word of mouth than snagging a write up in a guide book. The city understands many people rely on reviews from friends and family when picking a place to visit, and it’s found a way to track how often...

How co-workers are supporting a Vernon nurse still recovering from accident

TWO NURSES WENT OUT ON A LATE NIGHT COFFEE-RUN FOR CO-WORKERS. ONE RETURNED IN AN AMBULANCE VERNON — The night shift nurses in Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s bustling Unit C—a section of the emergency room—have long taken turns going out on their break and bringing back coffee for the team. In the early morning hours of...

More avalanche control along Highway 1

RISK REDUCED WITH LOWER TEMPERATURES THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Temperatures will be just above normal the rest of this week but with the cooling temperatures comes the perfect opportunity for crews to perform avalanche control in Glacier National Park. Highway 1 through Glacier National Park will again be closed for a brief time this afternoon, Jan. 28,...