One person was arrested but later released in connection to what police say was suspicious activity in Coldstream.Vernon North Okanagan RCMP received a report of a suspicious individual outside a residence on Tamarack Drive shortly after midnight Thursday, Dec. 11.It was believed the person could potentially be in poss...

Vernon's Mayor and Councillors will have their remuneration going up next year, but not by as much as previously expected.At the request of Councillor Kari Gares, city staff have developed a plan to maintain the remuneration rates at the 2025 level for 2026.This would see the mayor's remuneration increase by $4,638 to ...

The local martial arts school proved its mettle at a major tournament.Sundance Martial Arts placed first overall at the 2025 Western Canadian ITF Taekwon-Do Championships.The Vernon-based dojo secured the title after its athletes took home 20 gold, 17 silver, and 32 bronze medals across nearly all age categories."...

The local freestyle ski group is raising money for a brand new, off-season training equipment.Silver Star Freestyle Club wants to establish an Air-Bag Training Site, where the athletes can practice their skiing and snowboarding skills when the snow is not flying."This facility will allow our athletes to have acces...

A special ceremony will be held to recognize Spallumcheen resident Ina Forrest Monday.Forrest is being inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.She has also been named co-captain for Team Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and is one of six Paralympians who serving on Canada's Athle...

UPDATE Friday, Dec. 12The RDNO has lifted the Water Quality Advisory issued in connection with a water main break Wednesday, Dec. 10.Bacterial testing results Friday morning showed the disinfection levels within the water system were within normal drinking water standards.-- Original Story --A Water Quality Advisory ha...

The North Okanagan Hospice Society has been recognized for its work delivering end-of-life care to people in their own homes.NOHS was the recipient of a B.C. Quality Award from Health Quality B.C. for its Hospice at Home Program. The award came through the agency's Coping with Transition from Life category."This a...

An undeveloped property that the District of Coldstream had planned to sell has been taken off the market and will be turned into a proper park.The green space at the corner of Pointe Sage Park and Pointe Sage Drive was put on the market, much to the dismay of local residents who rallied together to oppose the sale.The...

After a few delays due to low snowpack, the local ski hill is ready to open.SilverStar Mountain Resort announced it will be opening its alpine ski and snowboard runs Thursday, Dec. 11."Snow conditions have improved and we are ready to kick-off the Winter 2025/26 Season with goodies at the gondola for those who are...

Police had a quick response to a report of a firearm in a Vernon neighbourhood Monday morning that turned out to be a replica.Police received a call at around 7:45 a.m. Dec. 8 of a man with what appeared to be a firearm laying on the street in the 3900-block of 24th Avenue.The witness called for police after the man ro...

The basketball event in support of the Splatsin Monument Project was a success.The Splatsin First Nation said its Play for Truth community basketball event raised $16,277.The event saw local leaders and first responders meet on the court as Team Truth and Team Reconciliation for some basketball action, as well as for s...

A group of Coldstream residents are opposing a plan to sell a small park property.Mike Sanford, a Coldstream resident, told Vernon Matters that a small park at the corner of Pointe Sage Drive and Pointe Sage Crescent had been rezoned and listed for sale.Sanford and other area residents attended the Coldstream Council m...

Testing has come back and found negative results of a suspected case of disease that affects deer and similar species near Enderby.On November 24, the B.C. Government said a potential case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was suspected in a deer harvested in the Enderby area. The alert was issued after an initial scree...

One person died following a collision on the Trans Canada Highway.RCMP say a Buick sedan was heading west on Highway 1 when it crossed the centre line and collided head on with a tractor trailer.Mounties said the driver of the truck attempted to get out the way, but was unable to avoid the collision, which occurred sho...

The movie theatre in downtown Vernon is hosting the finale of a prominent Netflix series.The Vernon Towne Theatre said it was one of the few theatres in North America selected to air the series finale of Stranger Things."We are the only theatre in the Interior chosen to play it and very few in Canada at all!"...

Environment Canada has issued multiple weather alerts across the Okanagan and B.C. Interior as a strong Pacific frontal system moves through the region. Five alerts and warnings are in effect, including high winds along the Okanagan Connector from Merritt to Kelowna and heavy snowfall on the Trans-Canada Highway near R...

The lineup for the 40th annual Funtastic A&W Music Festival has been set.Organizers announced that the Canadian Queen of Rock, JJ Wilde, will headline the show on Friday, Trooper will take the Stage Saturday, and that the headliner for Sunday will be Tim and the Glory Boys.Organizers say the Friday show will also f...

Some roads in Enderby will be closed Monday for the filming of a movie.The City of Enderby said the filming would be done sometime December 8 and would require portions of Cliff Avenue and Belvedere Street to be closed to traffic."Intersections at Belvedere/Mill and Cliff/Vernon will generally be open except for b...

An online art auction is going to support the North Okanagan Hospice Society.The auction featuring approximately 60 pieces is going online until December 12.Money raised through the auction will go to support end-of-life care and services offered in the North Okanagan.

Local Mounties are taking part in a national campaign to get impaired drivers off the roads.December is National Impaired Driving Enforcement Month, and December 6 is National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day, which the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP will use as a kickoff to a month-long Counter Attack campaign.Throughout ...

The economic region that includes Vernon saw another unemployment spike last month.Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey showed the unadjusted unemployment rate for the Thompson-Okanagan rose to 8.1 per cent in November.That was up from the rate of 7.3 per cent in October, and the highest it has been since April of 2...

A second-degree murder charge has been laid in a two year old homicide case.On July 3, 2023, the body of 30-year-old Miguel Suzor was found on a forest service road near Vernon.Vernon North Okanagan RCMP, E-Division Major Crime Unit, and the B.C. RCMP Major Crime Section investigated the case, which resulted in a secon...

The Climate Action Ripple Effect (CARE) program has re-branded and is looking for new mentors.The program, run by School District 22, is marking its fifth anniversary with new branding, an updated website, and strategies to boost student and community climate education, engagement and impacts.CARE sees Vernon and area ...

Greater Vernon will see a lot of investments into assets in the coming year.A report to the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee (GVAC) stated that it had over $39,500,000 worth of projects planned for 2026, though those would be majorly offset by a $20-million grant for one of the projects.The projects planned for 2026 i...

The local art scene has gotten a big boost from a sponsor and members of the public.As part of GivingTuesday, VantageOne Credit Union pledged to match $2,500 in community donations to the Vernon Public Art Gallery.The gallery had hoped to raise that sum through community donations, but the public made their support cle...

Parking permits will be available in less than a month, and can only be secured through the city's parking provider.Vernon will be selling its annual parking passes through HotSpot starting at 10 a.m. January 2.People will be able to purchase their permits through the Apple and Google apps, or via the HotSpot website.H...

The North Okanagan housing market saw a bit of a slow down last month with one realtor saying the decline was more than usual for this time of year.The Association of Interior Realtors says there were 107 units sold in the latest reporting month, which was down 10.2 per cent from the sales recorded in November of 2024....

The local ski hill will not be opening this weekend.SilverStar Mountain Resort had planned to open it's alpine runs on November 28, but pushed the opening back to December 5.SilverStar said Wednesday, Dec. 3, that it would be pushing the opening back again due to poor snow conditions.The resort did not say when it plan...