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West Kelowna News

UPDATE: Westside Road fire evacuation order downgraded to alert

WEST KELOWNA - Lots of good news today from the 560 hectare Westside Road fire as evacuated residents are allowed to return home and the blaze is 25 per cent contained. The Emergency Operation Centre advises that effective at 11:00 a.m. today, July 24, the Evacuation Order for the Shelter Cove/Westside Road Fire is downgraded...

UPDATE: Evacuation alerts ended for Bear Creek fire

WEST KELOWNA – The evacuation alert for the Bear Creek Interface Fire is rescinded as of 2 p.m. today. 10:16 a.m. July 22 update. Submitted by CORD Emergency  The Emergency Operation Centre advises that the Evacuation Alert for the Bear Creek fire remains in effect. The area burned by the fire remains at 1.8 hectares and...

Crews battling wildfire in Bear Creek Park

WEST KELOWNA – Firefighters are responding to a grass fire in Bear Creek Provincial Park on Westside Road. The fire was first reported as small in size but has grown to 50-by-50 metres in size and is burning Rank 2 or 3 uphill, according to unconfirmed reports. The trail has the blaze guarded on three...

Aboriginal forestry business gets boost from federal funding

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Aboriginal-owned forest sector companies in B.C. and Alberta will soon enjoy technical support and business advice from Western Economic Diversification Canada. Western diversification minister Michelle Rempel announced during a press conference at the Westbank First Nation corporate offices in West Kelowna that private company FP Innovations would receive $1.8 million to deliver educational...

West Kelowna considering lifeguards in Gellatly Bay

WEST KELOWNA - Lifeguards could soon be watching over swimmers at the CNR wharf in Gellatly Bay. West Kelowna staff have outlined in an information report possible options and the cost of hiring lifeguards to watch over the popular swimming spot during the busy summer months. The wharf was reconstructed in 2014, adding in jumping...

Kelowna and Westside food banks announce merger

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Citing cost and operational efficiencies, the Kelowna and Westside community food banks have announced they are merging to form the Central Okanagan Community Foodbank. Lenetta Parry, already the executive director of both organizations, says the move was prompted by usage rates that remain stubbornly high. “Locally foodbank usage is up 20 per...

Intense 2014 fire season changes mindset in West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA - Most municipal mayors, when given the chance, will trumpet the achievements of council and staff, but in the preface to its 2014 annual report, West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater talks mainly about one thing — how last year’s fire season affected the outlook of city council and staff. “We had two major...

Motorcycle crash kills West Kelowna man

WEST KELOWNA - A man is dead after losing control of his motorcycle on Boucherie Road Sunday afternoon. A 30-year-old man from West Kelowna was seen 'passing unsafely and exceeding the speed limit' on his blue Harley Davidson around 1:15 p.m., July 5, according to an RCMP release. He was driving his motorcycle southbound on...

West Kelowna boy run over by work van released from hospital

KELOWNA – The eight-year-old West Kelowna boy who was run over and seriously injured by a work van in his neighbourhood on June 22 has been released from hospital. Candice Loring, the mother of the boy, says in a Facebook post the family will return home Tuesday. “Doctors said it was a miracle that he...

Dancing and playing highly encouraged in local parks this summer

KELOWNA - With summer full on, expect a lot more activity in urban parks around the Central Okanagan. The City of Kelowna wants locals to bust a move with the Dancing in the Park program, now in its fifth year and held each Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Stuart Park. All ages and...

Heat wave could force water restrictions in Summerland

SUMMERLAND – If the heat wave resumes the Summerland Treatment Plant could be forced to issue measures to reduce water use in the area. Due to increased demands the Summerland Water Treatment Plant has been operating at maximum capacity the last week, according to a media release issued today, June 29. If the demand rises...

Cracks were showing in Westbank First Nation’s private hospital plan last year

WESTBANK FIRST NATION - Despite assertions from the partners behind Canada’s first for-profit private hospital that it is proceeding as planned, documents show the deal to develop the Lake Okanagan Wellness Centre was in disarray last year. When it became clear in October 2014 that Ad Vitam Health Care was out of money and unable...

FINAL UPDATE: Crews gaining ground on West Kelowna grass fire

WEST KELOWNA - A one-hectare wildfire near the Rose Valley Reservoir is now out. West Kelowna Fire Rescue Chief Jason Brolund says while wind fanned the fire to a rank three with visible flames on a steep slopes, no homes were ever in danger, in a news release at 9:30 p.m. tonight, June 26. The...

Mother of boy run over by van says he is out of intensive care

KELOWNA – The 8-year-old boy run over by a work van in his West Kelowna neighbourhood earlier this week is out of the Intensive Care Unit at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Jonah Pevach was airlifted to Vancouver after he was allegedly run over by an employee of Abstract Design and Painting the evening of...

West Kelowna becomes province’s 51st city

WEST KELOWNA - Premier Christy Clark recognized the former District of West Kelowna at a brief ceremony this afternoon as the province’s 51st city. “I think most of you would agree this has been a city for some time in all but name,” Clark says. “There is 30,000 residents and 1,400 businesses. It’s time to...

Young boy with Down syndrome airlifted to Vancouver after work van ran over his chest

WEST KELOWNA – An eight-year-old boy with Down syndrome from West Kelowna is in critical condition in Vancouver Children’s Hospital today after a commercial van ran over his chest in his neighbourhood yesterday, June 22. Jonah Pevach's mother Candice Loring says the accident happened around 4:30 p.m. and they were airlifted to Vancouver yesterday evening....

Missing Winnipeg woman found alive in bush near Peachland

WEST KELOWNA – When a woman walked out of the woods near Peachland last night, two ranchers knew exactly who she was. Kara Stoyanowski, 24, of Winnipeg, had been missing for more than a week. She was last seen walking away from a recreational area south of the Okanagan Connector near Headwaters Road and Peachland...

UPDATE: Woman missing near Peachland for more than a week found

UPDATE: 6:44 A.M., JUNE 19, 2015 RCMP say Kara Stoyanowski has been found alive. More details are expected later today. 2:32 p.m., June 15, 2015 WEST KELOWNA – Still no sign of a Winnipeg woman missing in the wilderness west of Peachland for almost a week. RCMP are hoping there is someone who knows something...

Two arrested following Kelowna crime spree

KELOWNA - A day-long crime spree in Kelowna and West Kelowna ended after two men were arrested in a stolen pickup truck earlier this month. Several people and businesses were hit during the one day crime spree on June 3, Cpl. Joe Duncan says in a media release. The spree started with the theft of...

UPDATE: Crews hit brush fire in West Kelowna hard

WEST KELOWNA – Firefighters have knocked down a brush fire in West Kelowna off Westside Road this afternoon. Calls came into 911 at around 3:45 p.m. about several trees burning in a ravine at the edge of Bear Creek Road near Scott Crescent. West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund says his crews were taking no...