Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
West Kelowna News
First Nations hotel and conference centre in the works for West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – If Grand Chief Ron Derrickson gets his way, West Kelowna could become a major destination for First Nations business people across North America. He is in the early planning stages of a luxury hotel and conference centre on his 5.5-acre property next to Two Eagles Golf Course off Carrington Road in West...
West Kelowna faces signifcant water and sewer rate hikes
WEST KELOWNA - It’s going to cost more for water and sewer service on the Westside after a decision this week to increase utility rates. Citing significant cost pressures, West Kelowna council gave first and second readings to its fees bylaw, which will see an increase of 20 per cent to district sanitary sewer user...
Westbank cemetery to see new life under expansion plan
WEST KELOWNA - The District of West Kelowna is considering spending $694,000 on the expansion of the Westbank Cemetery. In a report to council, parks supervisor Stacey Harding is recommending the district award the expansion contract to Arterra Construction, the low bidder on the plan to expand the graveyard which opened in 1925. Harding says...
Traffic calming construction could cause delays and detours in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA - Local residents should soon be enjoying the results of a traffic calming study conducted two years ago in the South Boucherie neighbourhood of West Kelowna. Within a couple of weeks, crews will begin installing decorative medians along portions of Gregory and Mission Hill Roads, which could cause temporary delays and possible detours....
Thieves try to break-in to Food Bank in West Kelowna
"ATTEMPTING TO BREAK INTO A FOOD BANK IS NOT COOL!" WEST KELOWNA – An attempted break-in at the Westside Community Food Bank on the weekend has left staff and volunteers shaking their heads. The Food Bank’s executive director Lenetta Perry says someone damaged a side door trying to get into the building twice Saturday night....
Old dynamite forces evacuation at West Kelowna trailer park
WEST KELOWNA – The bomb squad from Vancouver travelled to West Kelowna last night to blow up some old sticks of dynamite. RCMP say the explosives were in a backpack found by a resident of the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park at 1860 Boucherie Rd. while he was on a hike. The man brought the...
$1.4 million to train Okanagan Aboriginal workers for “in-demand” jobs
VERNON – The province is spending nearly $1.4 million dollars to train 50 Aboriginal workers to be heavy equipment operators it says are in-demand. The program will be run in partnership with the Southern Interior Construction Association with workers from the Splatsin First Nation, the Okanagan Indian Band and the Westbank First Nation will take...
West Kelowna moves closer to becoming a city
WEST KELOWNA - A bid by the District of West Kelowna to apply for an updgrade to city status is moving to the next level after only 166 counter petitions were submitted during the alternative approval process. “There is no significant concern from the public and I think we made the right call using the...
Young hockey player’s sad story may have a happy ending
KELOWNA - It appears the story of the nine-year-old boy who quit his hockey team in tears after being repeatedly benched, may have a happy ending after all. Our story about Sam Lescarbeau has gone truly viral with people from all over Canada writing to encourage him, share similar stories from all manner of sports teams...
Valley mayors push for early start to water conservation
OKANAGAN - Mindful of the dry winter the Okanagan has just experienced, valley mayors and councillors joined the Okanagan Basin Water Board for an early launch of the Make Water Work conservation campaign today. Mayor Doug Findlater, who chairs the water board, used his own community of West Kelowna as an example of why the...
West Kelowna stabbing victim dies in hospital
WEST KELOWNA – The 45-year-old West Kelowna man who was stabbed in a fight last…
West Kelowna pushing city status bid under the radar
WEST KELOWNA - Opponents of the district’s push to seek city status say mayor and council have tried to slide the issue under the radar when it deserves a full and open public debate. Gordon Ficke, President of the Historic Westbank Association, says council ignored a request from the group to hold a townhall meeting...
Hard lessons from California drought to be learned in the Okanagan
KELOWNA - With snowpack levels on the west side of Okanagan Lake at extremely low levels coupled with the dry winter the valley has just experienced, a comparison with drought-stricken California and the measures they must now take to avoid catastrophe is perhaps inevitable. “People say jokingly the best planning is done in advance… what...
The heart-breaking reason this nine-year-old boy quit hockey
"TO WIN AS A TEAM AND LOSE AS A TEAM IS A PRICELESS CONCEPT THAT SHOULD BE CHERISHED AND VALUED MORE THAN WINNING AT ALL COST" KELOWNA - A young hockey player made a heart-breaking decision to quit his hockey team with only two games left in the season and his father’s written reasons for...
UPDATE: Man arrested after stabbing in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA – A 45-year-old man remains in hospital with life threatening injuries after he was stabbed early Wednesday afternoon. RCMP were called about a stabbing near the intersection of Solar Road and Elliot Road in West Kelowna just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29. “When police attended they located a 45-year-old man suffering...
West Kelowna irrigation systems the target of a special brand of vandalism
WEST KELOWNA - Faced with an unusual type of vandalism aimed at its irrigation systems, the District of West Kelowna is asking for help trying to put an end to it. “This isn’t your typical loser kicking over a sprinkler head,” parks supervisor Stacey Harding says. “Whoever is doing this has a knowledge of irrigation...
Fire at West Kelowna pub put out by staff
WEST KELOWNA – Quick thinking staff at a West Kelowna pub had a fire out before the professionals arrived this afternoon. Fire crews responded to a report of a fire in the wall at the pub at Shannon Centre, 3099 Shannon Lake Rd. Captain Nathan Pike says the fire was behind an appliance in the...
Neighbours fight crime with Block Watch program
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - In a world where social media provides almost instantaneous connections, an anti-crime program that relies on email and the telephone for neighbours to stay connected seems almost anachronistic. But that’s the model the Block Watch program still uses in British Columbia and local crime prevention coordinator Duane MacTavish says it is doing...
Criminals should worry about Facebook in West Kelowna’s Shannon Lake
WEST KELOWNA - You almost have to pity the drug dealer, con man or break-in artist who tries to do business in Shannon Lake. The walls have eyes and they are all connected to each other. A suspicious thin, white male, late teens, maybe early 20s, driving an old silver or grey Buick, made that...
Fire at West Kelowna townhouse complex could have been much worse
WEST KELOWNA – Fire crews had a tough fight on their hands when they were called to a vehicle fire in a carport next to a duplex in a townhouse complex in West Kelowna last night. When firefighters arrived at the complex near Witt Road at about 8 p.m., April 3, both the van and...
West Kelowna wants to be a city not a district; using alternative approval process to make it happen
WEST KELOWNA - Like an awkward teenager, not quite sure where it fits in, the District of West Kelowna is looking to grow up into a full-fledged city. “We have about 31,000 or 32,0000 people. We are in within the population range,” Mayor Doug Findlater says. “It would be more recognizable as a city in...
Suspected Tim Hortons robber arrested after public tips
WEST KELOWNA - RCMP on the Westside have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a robbery at the Tim Hortons on Carrington Rd. Saturday night, March 28. According to RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Duncan, the suspect is alleged to have covered his face and gone into the the restaurant with a weapon where he...
Why that glass of Okanagan wine is $10
WEST KELOWNA – Neil Martens decided the best way to respond to customers who are ticked-off about the 'high' price of a glass of Okanagan wine in his West Kelowna restaurant was to tell it like it is. In an open letter published on the 19 Okanagan Grill + Bar website, Martens, the owner and...
Employee takes punch to face trying to stop liquor store robbery
WEST KELOWNA - Staff and a patron at a West Kelowna liquor store were able to take down two of three men allegedly attempting to steal liquor Monday night. The attempted robbery took place at the Liquor Depot on Gosset Road at 9:46 p.m. on March 23, according to a media release from West Kelowna...