The park in Kelowna's downtown core will once again be home to the outdoor ice rink this winter.The City of Kelowna said preparation work was underway at Stuart Park with the goal of having the rink ready for skaters by Saturday, Nov. 30.The rink will be open at 9 a.m. Saturday, but the rest of the season will be open ...

The District of Lake Country has acquired the property that used to be home to the B.C. Tree Fruits Co-Operative.The district submitted a bid of $9.1-million for the 8.4 acre lot at 9718 Bottom Wood Lake Road, next to the Winfield Arena activity hub, and was successful in its purchase.Lake Country plans to use the site...

The slope that collapsed onto Highway 97 in in the summer of 2023 will be permanently stabilized next year.The rockslide brought down roughly 3,000 cubic metres of debris and material onto the highway north of Summerland on August 28, 2023.Crews cleared the roads, surveyed the slope, and conducted some temporary stabil...

The top teams in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) will convene in the Okanagan for the national championship tournament in the spring of 2026.The CHL announced Wednesday, Nov. 27, that the Kelowna Rockets would host the 106th edition of the Memorial Cup.The Rockets were one of five Western Hockey League (WHL) teams to ...

The B.C. RCMP has notified the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. of a death in Nakusp.The RCMP said officers located a suspected stolen vehicle on Highway 6 south of Nakusp around 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25.Police allegedly attempted to make a traffic stop but the vehicle fled, then drove off the road and into a di...

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) has purchased a property to house a new fire hall.The new Scotch Creek-Lee Creek fire hall will be built on the pie-slice shaped property, located at 1435 Beatty Road in Scotch Creek, and will be twice the size of the previous fire hall.The CSRD needed to purchase a propert...

Mounties in Lake Country stopped dozens of drivers as part of a school zone speed enforcement operation.Lake Country RCMP were stationed around Peter Greer Elementary School and George Elliot High School during th morning rush Monday, Nov,. 25.During the operation police:Issued verbal warnings to slow down in school zo...

Firefighters in Kelowna were dispatched to the Orchard Park Mall Sunday afternoon due to a small electrical fire.Kelowna Fire responded to a report of flames coming from a pot light in a façade on the north side of the mall around 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24.Firefighters arrived on the scene but were not able to loca...

Kelowna RCMP will be running it's annual campaign to collect gifts for families in need.The annual Stuff a Cruiser campaign will run Saturday, Nov. 30.Kelowna RCMP will have two cruisers set up where people can drop off toy donations that day, one at the detachment on Clement Ave., and another at the Toys R Us at 2020 ...

FortisBC will host an information session to raise awareness of an energy project proposed for Kelowna.The Okanagan Capacity Mitigation Project (OCMP) is a proposed short-term solution to an expected shortfall of gas in the region by the winter of 2026-27 by developing a new, small-scale liquified natural gas (LNG) sto...

Kelowna RCMP say a video of an attempted assault involving a dog has been circulating on social media, but the matter has been resolved.Mounties say the female was at a gas station in the 1100-block of Ethel Street around 11:20 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2023, where she tried to coerce her dog into biting two employees.The inci...

The highway connecting the Southern Interior to the Lower Mainland is due to get some more snow.Environment Canada issued a Snowfall Warning for the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Hope Friday, Nov. 22.The weather agency said about 15 centimetres of snow was expected to fall on Highway 5 Friday, as as a system p...

Players from Vernon and Kelowna will be joining the U-Sports All-Canadian football first team.The University of Calgary said Liam Reid of Vernon, and Nate Beauchemin of Kelowna, were selected from the Calgary Dinos team to play in the All-Canadian first team by a committee of u-Sports football coaches.Reid, 22, was nam...

The woman charged in the death of a child four years ago has plead guilty and been issued a sentence to a lesser charge.Keisha McCrea appeared at the Vernon courthouse Thursday, Nov. 21, where she entered a plea of assault causing bodily harm in the 2020 incident in Lumby that saw a child die after being transported to...

The cool, wet weather has brought snow to local mountains, allowing skiers and snowboarders to hit the local slopes earlier than anticipated.Big White, near Kelowna, will open it's runs Friday, Nov. 22.That opening will be six days ahead of schedule. As of Thursday, Nov. 21, Big White had a base of 104 cm.SilverStar Mo...

A crash on the Trans Canada Highway Wednesday morning claimed the life of one person.Salmon Arm RCMP say local officers, accompanied by members of the B.C. Highway Patrol, attended a head-on crash involving a passenger vehicle and a tractor trailer on Highway 1 near the intersection of Highlands Drive in Blind Bay arou...

British Columbians in need of rides will have more options in the near future.Uber has announced it will be expanding it's services to communities throughout B.C. starting in early 2025."British Columbians and visitors alike are constantly opening the app to try and find a ride just like they can in most cities ac...

Kelowna RCMP are searching for a stolen truck that has a number of unique features.The black Ford F350 was reported stolen from a business in the 2700 block of Highway 97 in the early morning of Sunday, Nov. 10.The truck is lifted with black wheels and has several other unique features, including a front push bar, blac...

Police in Kelowna launched an operation to target school zone speeders earlier this month, yielding striking results.RCMP say the Kelowna Municipal Traffic Section 45 school zone violation tickets were issued between Nov. 4 and 7.Among those issued tickets was a driver who was caught going 69 kilometres per hour in a 3...

Police have shut down an open-air drug market operating out of Kelowna's downtown core.Kelowna RCMP"s Community Safety Unit concluded its operation aimed at disrupting the market targeting the vulnerable population in the area Tuesday, Nov. 5.The police operation led to multiple arrests; the seizure of large quant...

The Conservative Party of B.C. candidate has been confirmed the winner of the Kelowna Centre provincial riding.Elections B.C. completed the judicial recount of the riding Friday, Nov. 8, and confirmed that Kristina Loewen was the winner with 11,033 votes.She narrowly beat the B.C. NDP candidate, Loyal Woolridge, who ea...

A man from Kelowna is facing drug charges after a fentanyl production super-lab was raided in Northern Alberta.The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT), in partnership with the RCMP"s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Response Team, searched a property in a rural location near Valleyview on Oct. 2, 2024....

The Thompson-Okanagan economic region saw some positive moves to it's labour force in October.Statistics Canada data showed the economic region that includes Vernon had an unadjusted unemployment rate of 4.6 per cent in October, alongside an employment rate of 55.2 per cent.The unemployment rate was improved from Septe...

British Columbia played a major role in the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2023.Statistics Canada data showed Canada's GDP rose by 1.5 per cent annually last year, noting the growth was mainly driven by higher exports and household spending on services.B.C. played a key role in the national GDP growth,...

The Regional District of Central Okanagan has won an award for it's OKGo marketing campaign.The campaign was created through a partnership with the RDCO's Economic Development Commission (COEDC), Accelerate Okanagan, and Tourism Kelowna, to highlight the business support ecosystem in the area and showcase local compani...

People attached to the Grindrond Water Treatment Plant should see their boil water advisory frequency decrease.A new generator has been installed at the Grindrod Water Utility to support operations during power outages.The Regional District of North Okanagan said outages depressurize the water distribution system, lead...

The Okanagan's housing market is predicted to fluctuate a bit in the next year.The B.C. Real Estate Association's (BCREA) Housing Forecast shows the Okanagan is on track to have 7,500 sales in 2024. Those include 4,000 single home, 1,600 apartment and 1,300 townhouse sales.The Housing Forecast Report noted the predicte...

The Office of the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. has honoured several people for their reconciliation efforts, including a woman from the Splatsin First Nation in Enderby.Gloria Morgan was named one of four recipients of the 2024 British Columbia Reconciliation Award.Morgan, a survivor of St. Eugene's Indian Residential S...