West Kelowna
Yard sale planned for evicted trailer park tenants
WEST KELOWNA – Friends and supports for a West Kelowna couple evicted from the Jubilee Mobile Home Park have organized a yard sale to help raise money. Ross Arnott and Ed Schneider have until April 1 to move or vacate their manufactured home in the park on Westbank First Nation land on Boucherie Road where...
Money isn’t everything as West Kelowna councillor Rosalind Neis found out during 2014 election
WEST KELOWNA - It seems candidates in elections everywhere are spending ever more to get elected, which makes West Kelowna councillor Rosalind Neis’ 2014 campaign war chest that much more impressive. There was nothing in it. Neis’ campaign contribution disclosure form, released Monday by Elections B.C., is full of zeroes — no corporate or developer...
Westside Road shooter not guilty of attempted murder
KELOWNA – Michael Ellis, the man accused of shooting at police as he and two others tried to escape along Westside Road in 2012, was found not guilty of attempted murder but could still face a lengthy jail term after he was found guilty of more than a dozen other related charges. Justice Ian Josephson...
Mar Jok Elementary School rings in Chinese New Year with grand opening
WEST KELOWNA - A new West Kelowna elementary school has held its grand opening and the opportunity to bring the Chinese New Year — year of the goat — into the celebration wasn't ignored. The event on Wednesday, Feb. 29 was attended by the family of Mar Jok, the new school's namesake. He immigrated to...
Community centre set to reopen nearly 18 months after arson
WEST KELOWNA - The Westbank Lions Community Centre, the unofficial meeting place for the West Kelowna community, has officially recovered after being destroyed by fire nearly 18 months ago. The hall was set on fire in September 2013 and while it was initially thought it would need to be torn down the structure was able...
Arsonist admits to burning down West Kelowna Lion’s Hall
KELOWNA – Kerry Robert Cooper pleaded guilty Thursday morning to burning down the West Kelowna Lion’s Hall. Cooper, 30, entered the plea from North Fraser Pre-Trial, declining legal representation. Crown prosecutor Dave Grabavac says Cooper admitted to the Sept. 1 arson after seeing video footage of him buying gas, walking in the direction of the...
UPDATE: Missing West Kelowna teenager found
WEST KELOWNA – A teenager from West Kelowna who had been missing since Monday, Feb. 9 has been found. RCMP asked for help to find Megan Cowan, 18, on Thursday, Feb. 13. "The West Kelowna RCMP is pleased to confirm that the 18-year-old woman reported missing has been located, and she is safe and sound,"...
Clark to make announcement about West Kelowna power needs
WEST KELOWNA – Premier Christy Clark will be in West Kelowna Thursday afternoon to make an announcement regarding the district's power supply. West Kelowna is one of the few areas supplied by a single transmission line, which runs from Merritt to Shannon Lake. In October a fire atop one of the poles left thousands without...
Big bucks on big plans for bikes and pedestrians in West Kelowna
WEST KELOWNA - West Kelowa is pushing ahead to improve and upgrade its pedestrian and bike path network with an ambitious plan both to make cycling and walking easier and to find ways to help pay for it. West Kelowna council saw the first draft of the 20-year pedestrian and bicyle path plan this week,...
Why West Kelowna council balked at a $100,000 gift to community
WEST KELOWNA - They don’t mind having it, just not where B.C. Hydro wants to put it. That’s the reaction of West Kelowna council to the utility’s proposal to install a fast charging station for electric cars at the Mt. Boucherie complex. “They liked the idea just not where they want to put it,” communications...
Sheer volume of snow overwhelmed West Kelowna crews during January dump
WEST KELOWNA - With just a couple years experience managing their own snow removal, staff with District of West Kelowna said they did alright during the near-record breaking snowstorm in early January with local reports of snow as deep as 50 centimetres. “We’re still quite new at this but we heard from other communities that...
Vandals spray paint car, garage door in Glenrosa
WEST KELOWNA - Someone is tagging personal property with spray paint in the Glenrosa neighbourhood of West Kelowna. The latest incident happened last night, Jan. 28, in the 3200-block of McMahon Road, a few blocks from Glenrosa Elementary School, according to a post on Facebook. A Subaru Forrester and garage door were spray painted with pink...
Evicted trailer park tenants threatened with legal fees
KELOWNA – As the deadline to remove their home from Jubilee Mobile Home Park nears, evicted tenants Ross Arnott and Ed Schneider say they are now being threatened with legal fees incurred by the managers who want to use the spot as a maintenance facility. The manufactured home, where they have lived since 2007, is...
American travel writer predicts Kelowna the Next Big Thing
KELOWNA – A story written for a weekly newspaper in Colorado is getting some love on social media in the Okanagan. Travel writer Amiee White Beazley has an article in the Aspen Times predicting Kelowna will be the Next Big Thing calling it the Boulder, Colorado of 40 years ago, but with the added bonus...
Tenant dispute has nothing to do with WFN
WESTBANK – A dispute between two tenants in a mobile home park and a mobile home park owner has nothing whatsoever to do with the Westbank First Nation, Chief Robert Louie says. Ross Arnot and his partner Ed Schneider took a dispute with their landlords public this week as they face eviction from unit 144...