The Daily Courier
Prospera operator takes aim at Kelowna’s U.S. arena deal
The City of Kelowna’s decision to turn management of Prospera Place over to a U.S. firm should be revisited before the municipal election, the arena’s Vancouver-based operator says. Awarding a management contract to OVG flies in the face of current...
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Kelowna’s new building plan has $3B price tag
The cost for building Kelowna’s longsought alternative to Harvey Avenue has soared from $165 million to $210 million, city councillors heard Monday. Extending Clement Avenue from its current dead-end point at Spall Road to Highway 33 has increased...
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Poilievre criticizes EU plans as Conservatives gather in Okanagan
Conservative MPS gathered in the Okanagan this week for a two-day strategy session, as Prime Minister Mark Carney explores bringing Canada into the European Union amid a tariff war with the U.S. While in Penticton, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre...
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Field is set for city election on Oct. 17
Two men are hoping to unseat Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas in the Oct. 17 municipal election. One is well known, the other not. The problem for Ron Cannan and Andrew Uitvlugt is that Dyas likes his job and hopes to keep the seat he won in the 2022 by...
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Dramatic police raid gives neighbours quite a show
An hour-long Tv-like police drama played out on a West Kelowna street last Friday morning. The 9 a.m. quiet was shattered as numerous police cars with sirens screaming and lights flashing pulled into the driveway of a house on Boucherie Road near...
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E-riders competing to see who can be more reckless
We are rapidly becoming the e-generation, thanks to e-bikes, e-scooters and e-dirt bikes. However, those advancements in technology and equipment come with a hefty price in the number of injuries and even fatalities. In news story after news story,...
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City wants injection site gone
An exasperated Kelowna city council is now demanding Health Canada not renew federal authorization for the Outreach Urban Health Centre. In his letter to federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel on behalf of council, Mayor Tom Dyas said the supervised...
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Summerland enters recovery phase
The mayor of the Summerland says the work of recovering from the fire that forced the entire community to evacuate this month is just beginning, despite the blaze being declared held by firefighters. “During the evacuation, we really pulled together...
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Re-energizing Summerland was not such a simple task
When a power outage compounded the Bald Range wildfire emergency in Summerland on Aug. 7, all hands were on deck to get the community back online. “Restoring power was not simply a matter of turning the system back on,” the municipality said in a...
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Summerland regains touch of normalcy
For the first time since the Bald Range wildfire forced the evacuation of around 20,000 Summerland properties earlier this month, residents gathered for the weekly community market. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Summerland, the now 11-year-old market...
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‘It’s not life back to normal,’ as evacuees return home
An Airtag that stayed online as a wildfire roared into the outskirts of her neighbourhood in Summerland gave Harpreet Sidhu some hope that the home she shares with her husband was still standing. Otherwise, Sidhu said she thought it was gone, based on...
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‘We don’t even have a phone’: Aging wildfire evacuees face unique challenges
VANCOUVER — Helen Benallick said she was fast asleep with her husband at their home in Summerland last week when she was woken up by neighbours ringing her doorbell. They told the couple they needed to escape the Bald Range wildfire that was racing...
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Evacuees adjusting to life in limbo
Morgan Galloway knew his house had survived the massive Bald Ridge fire when his doorbell camera turned back on. Like most Summerlanders, Galloway and his wife were unsure if their house survived after fleeing on Friday night. So they were relieved on...
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Wildfire evacuees told to brace for devastation
Heartbroken Okanagan-area officials have told wildfire evacuees to prepare themselves for the level of destruction left by a deadly blaze that police say has triggered a criminal investigation. The out-of-control Bald Range fire is on the outskirts of...
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While B.C. burns, some people are lighting fires
On a weekend when thousands of people were forced to flee a ferocious wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes along Okanagan Lake, others were lighting illegal fires nearby, and in other parts of British Columbia’s Interior ravaged by blazes. The BC...
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Residents flee neighbouring fires
VERNON — Atlyn Becker remembers the hills glowing orange around her on Saturday as her truck edged north to safety from fires burning around British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake. She and her family were among thousands who fled their homes over the...
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Challenge on to find the Okanagan’s biggest peach
This is a real peach of a contest. A Kelowna farmer has challenged other Okanagan orchardists to see who can grow the heaviest peach. “I just want to try to generate some positive energy around farming,” Jacki Zehner, an owner of Hoffman Orchards,...
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Dyas vs. Cannan mayoral clash set
Speculation over. Race underway. Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas has announced he will run for a second term, setting up a high-profile electoral tussle against city councillor Ron Cannan, a former ally-turned-adversary who is also after the city ’s top...
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High school advocate continues working to help local youth
Delaney Neukomm has been a champion for mental health since high school. She helped start the first Walk for Mental Health at Mount Boucherie Secondary, and now, as a university student, she is working to raise money and awareness for a mental-health...
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Rail Trail’s new section paved, open
A new, two-kilometre section of the Okanagan Rail Trail opened at Kelowna Airport on the weekend and the $1-million investment was an instant hit with dozens checking it out. On Friday, a paving crew completed the newest section which starts at...
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West Kelowna signs on to housing fast-track program
West Kelowna is hoping a new incentive will help alleviate a shortfall of mid-density housing as representatives from the federal and municipal governments came together at City Hall Wednesday morning to talk housing. “It’s one of the biggest...
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Lake swim cut short, but goals reached
Marathon swimmer Jessi Harewicz achieved two of her three goals this weekend. And, as Meatloaf sang, two out of three ain’t bad. The Vancouver long-distance swimmer slipped into Okanagan Lake in Vernon at 1:10 a.m. Friday with the hope of completing...
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Okanagan Lake heating up under sunny skies
The temperature of Okanagan Lake has risen to its warmest point this year. A thermometer maintained below the surface of the lake on the W.R. Bennett Bridge showed a water temperature of 21.5 C on Wednesday at 3 p.m. However, the water temperature in...
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A win is not impossible
Canada’s in tough but has a chance against Morocco in today’s big World Cup knockout match, Kelowna’s most famous soccer player says. And regardless of how the game goes, Rob Friend sees nothing but continued growth for a game that once existed on the...
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Football parking not cheap
Hut 1, Hut 2, Ka-ching! Operators of five privately-owned parkades appear eager to cash in on today’s first-ever staging of a CFL game in Kelowna. Rates at the multi-storey parkades with a total of 1,722 stalls in the Landmark district will be three...
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Lions look for liftoff
The BC Lions are counting on a big and boisterous Kelowna crowd to help them shake off a slow start to the CFL season. The Lions enter Saturday’s game at a supersized Apple Bowl at 0-2, the same record as the visiting Calgary Stampeders. “We need...
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Stamps lineman eager for return to Sun country
It’ll be something of a homecoming for a Calgary Stampeders player who was born in Ontario when he takes to the field next Saturday against the BC Lions at Kelowna’s Apple Bowl. Kelon Thomas’ football career has taken him across the country, but some...
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Kelowna only partially quits regional planning
The spectre of a controversial and ill-fated development was raised Monday as a warning against Kelowna exiting a regional planning program. Kelowna Mountain envisioned thousands of new homes, tourist attractions and even a ski hill on a 640-acre...
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Cannan to run for mayor
Straight outta Rutland, via Edmonton, Ottawa and Kelowna. City councillor Ron Cannan is going to run for mayor in the latest instalment of a political career that stretches back 30 years. His mayoral candidacy — to be officially kicked-off Thursday...
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Super-sized Apple Bowl starting to take shape
A temporary 30-row grandstand with more than 10,000 seats that will stretch the length of the field at the Apple Bowl is now being assembled. The transportable structure, most recently used at the Montreal Grand Prix, will be used for two Canadian...
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Students help design BC Games
Months before athletes arrive in Kelowna for the 2026 BC Summer Games, animation students and alumni from Okanagan College have already been designing the visual elements behind the event’s look and feel. The students’ work will appear across the...
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Pro game headlines weekend of hoop-related festivities
Everyone in Kelowna is encouraged to follow a bouncing ball this weekend. ‘Hoopfest’, a celebration of basketball on and off the court, is highlighted by a regular season Canadian Elite Basketball League game on Saturday night at Prospera Place...
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No cup this time for Rockets
There will be no Memorial Cup championship at home this time for the Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets were knocked out of the tournament on Wednesday with a 4-0 loss to Western Hockey League champion Everett Silvertips at Prospera Place. The Silvertips...
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Rockets must win tonight
It’s a must-win game tonight for the Kelowna Rockets, but the Everett Silvertips may be in a foul mood. Everett (1-1-0) and Kelowna (0-1-1) meet in an all-whl showdown at the Memorial Cup. Faceoff is 6 p.m. at Prospera Place. It’s a must-win game for...
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Welcome to the Memorial Cup
Hockey fans gathered in downtown Kelowna Thursday afternoon to welcome the Memorial Cup to town on the eve of the national junior hockey tournament. The kick off for the 106th Memorial Cup festivities was steeped in ceremony and tradition. Indigenous...
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3 league champions coming to Kelowna to take on Rockets
The lineup is set for the Memorial Cup junior hockey championship tournament, which begins in Kelowna on Friday. The Everett Silvertips captured the Western Hockey League crown this past Friday, beating the Prince Albert Raiders 7-2 to earn their...
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Canada’s most powerful wind farm set for West Kelowna backcountry
Construction of Canada’s largest wind farm on the breezy plateaus west of West Kelowna will take place over five years, the company behind the project says. The turbines are to placed within a sprawling area that covers much of the Crown land between...
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Six-storey buildings loom for historic area critics say
One of Kelowna’s oldest and most visually appealing neighborhoods is at risk of seeing an influx of unremarkable six-storey buildings, heritage advocates say. The city could protect the Abbott Street area from the kind of large-scale buildings...
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Origami turns division into dialogue at Kelowna library
A rainbow-like art installation now on display at the downtown library celebrates peace, hope, and equality. Community members discussed sexual orientation and gender identity from various perspectives, wrote comments on paper, and then folded them...
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Do you remember 1986 Regatta riot?
What were you up to on the night of July 26, 1986? The date itself may not immediately trigger a memory, but the picture to the right probably does. A riot rocked downtown Kelowna that night, with hundreds of young people and police battling it out...
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Homeless camp on the move
People staying at the city’s official outdoor homeless encampment were moved this week to a new location along the Rail Trail. Several bylaw officers, police and outreach workers went along the encampment Wednesday morning, helping residents make the...
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KGH only 3% unbuilt, IH says
Other priorities take precedence over equipping empty space on two empty floors at Kelowna General Hospital for patient use, Interior Health says. Health care needs across the sprawling IH region, not just Kelowna, have to be assessed and ranked when...
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Tulips SAVED For NOW
Tulips are in full bloom in the Pioneer Gardens section of Waterfront Park. This had been city council’s preferred location for a $260 million performing arts centre but public backlash has prompted the municipality to once again begin reviewing the...
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Plenty of room at new high school
A new West Kelowna high school, set to open in September 2027, will be under-capacity for almost a decade. Enrolment projections for the Central Okanagan school district have declined since the new high school was approved more than four years ago,...
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New homeless site will have ‘enhanced fencing’, city says
Hikers and cyclists on a newly-reopened section of the Okanagan Rail Trail won’t be DEOH WR VHH LnWR WKH FLWy’V RIfiFLDOOy-dHVLJnDWed homeless encampment. A corrugated metal fence will separate trail users from those sheltering at the relocated site,...
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THE GOOD OL’ HOCKEY GAME
AndHrs MillHr of EvHrHtt SilvHrtips divHs on A loosH puck in WHstHrn HockHy LHAguH plAyoff Action in EvHrHtt vHrsus thH KHlownA RockHts, SAturdAy. ThH RockHts ArH homH tonight At ProspHrA PlAcH for GAmH 4 in thH EHst-of-sHvHn sHriHs. SHH A roundup of...
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Okanagan snowpack at lowest level since 1980
The Okanagan is on the wrong side of a “strong regional divide” in terms of mountain snowpack. In the Valley, the snowpack is at only 58 per cent of normal, the BC River Forecast Centre said this week in its regular monthly update. The snowpack has...
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‘Retro’ vibe powers popular lawn bowling fundraiser
One of Kelowna’s oldest sports clubs will again host a summertime fundraiser to help get more kids involved in rock-climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, and other outdoor activities. More than a quarter-million dollars has been raised in nine...
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Spirit of Easter rises at Gospel Mission
Dozens of Easter lunches will be served today inside a downtown Kelowna homeless shelter and on the streets of the city. Staff and more than 30 volunteers at the Kelowna Gospel Mission have worked to prepare the lunches, which will be served at the...
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Okanagan wine industry up-rooted by gov’t order
All vineyards in the Okanagan must be removed by order of the NDP government which says the making of wine is a poor use of farmland and a threat to public health. The surprise announcement came this morning from Premier David Eby who said farmers...
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Access to new Rail Trail section ‘comes with risk’
A ORnJ-EarrLcaded sectLRn RI tKe SRSuOar 2NanaJan RaLO TraLO wLOO sRRn Ee eIIectLveOy RSened IRr KLNers and cycOLsts. But new sLJnaJe wLOO warn SeRSOe tKey are usLnJ tKe PLnLPaOOy LPSrRved twR-NLORPetre portion of the trail through the Okanagan...
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Canada’s most livable city?
Forget everything you might have heard recently. Kelowna is the best city in Canada to live in, with a high quality of life, lots of attractions, and low pollution. So says a new study on quality of life commissioned by dNOVO Group, a digi WDO...
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Canada spending $307M to buy army rifles from Colt
OTTAWA — The federal government is buying 30,000 made-in-Canada assault ri flHV IRr WKH CDnDGLDn $rPy IrRP CROW CDnDda in a $307 million procurement deal. 7KDW VuP FRvHrV MuVW WKH firVW WKrHH yHDrV of the contract, after which the federal government...
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Swap will drive Springs down to nine holes
A land swap that will turn over nine holes of Kelowna Springs golf course to the city is the best deal WKDW FRuOG EH PDGH, fiYH FLWy FRuncillors decided on Monday. Council approved plans that will allow Vancouver developer Denciti to convert half the...
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Volunteers trained, ready to patrol with RCMP
Ethan Laferdy can’t get enough of police work. He’s a full-time RCMP dispatcher and now he’s a member of the local detach PHnW’V fiUVW GHSORyPHnW Ln many years of an auxiliary volunteer force. “Protecting my community isn’t just my job, it’s my...
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Conflict-averse councillor sits out golf course debate
Kelowna city councillor Maxine DeHart was planning Tuesday to once again sit out discussion on a controversial local issue. She was going to declare a con fliFt oI intHrHst rHgDrding wKHtKHr or not the city should proceed with a controversial land...
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Council decides not to take #$%@! heritage files after all
City staff will continue to review proposed changes in an old Kelowna neighborhood whatever bad language may come their way. But really bad language might result in a complaint to police. Councillors backed away this week from the idea of taking over...
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Iran’s ‘rebirth’ celebrated even as conflict widens
The U.S. attack on Iran creates the potential for regime change but the course of fast-moving events is unknowable as war widens in the Middle East, local Iranians say. Still, the initial response was one of celebration and optimism as dozens of...
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Old church bell will peal back time
An old church bell now hanging in a downtown Kelowna garage will resound in a new South Pandosy urban plaza. The 850 lb. brass bell, cast in England in 1912, has been in the care of 75-year-old twin brothers Clinton and Orison Wood since St. Paul’s...
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Kelowna’s military unit might vacate downtown armoury
The BC Dragoons, a Kelowna-based military unit that has fought in Italy and the Netherlands, could be on the move again. But this time, they’ll be travelling to a different part of Kelowna. The Dragoons’ downtown armoury can’t accommodate future...
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Canadian resolve firm in building up defence sector, MP Fuhr says
Possible blowback from the U.S. won’t GLVVuDGH CDnDGD IURP EHHfinJ uS LWV GHfence industries, Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr says. The Liberal government is committed to a new $6.6 billion program to enhance Canada’s ability to make military equipment...
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Snowpack deepened by recent flurries
The Okanagan’s snowpack is at 67 per cent of normal for early February, the B.C. River Forecast Centre says. Province-wide, however, the snowpack is at 96 per cent of normal, compared to 72 per cent of normal at this time last year. “Areas with...
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Kelowna’s Art Walk gets $2M extension
Time seemed set a decade ago to run out on the W.A.C. Memorial Bennett Clock Tower in downtown Kelowna. CLWy RIfiFLDOV PuVHG LQ 2016 about taking down the tribute to B.C.’s longest-serving premier, which was erected in 1981. “The clock tower is...
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Kings of the Hill
LONDON, Ont. — Hundreds of engineering students braced the bone-chilling cold over the weekend to race concrete sleds down a hill in London, Ont. As part of the annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race, teams from about 20 universities across the...
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Kelowna Springs deal finally teed up for city council
The city’s controversial plan to give a developer prime industrial land in exchange for a nine-hole golf course comes before council on Monday. 0unLFLSDO RIfiFLDOV VDy WKH swap balances the city’s recreational and industrial needs, but critics...
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Memorial Cup already 80 per cent sold out
Kelowna is in a league of its own when it comes to hosting the Memorial Cup. The city’s appeal as a tourist destination ensures a lot of out-of-towners will be here when Kelowna hosts the junior hockey championship tournament in late May. Plans for...
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‘Restless Balance’ sets hearts in motion
Ballet Kelowna will present a mixed program of contemporary and neoclassical works on Valentine’s Day weekend with ‘Restless Balance’ at the Kelowna Community Theatre. The program features ‘Threefold Beat’, a new work LnVSLrHd Ey WKH rKyWKP Dnd flRw...
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New West Kelowna crosswalk would salute Canadian veterans
West Kelowna was expected last night to join the parade of cities painting crosswalks to honour veterans. But the crosswalk design proposed by members of the city’s Royal Canadian Legion branch will need some tweaking, city officials say. The group’s...
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Kelowna voters favour former MPs for mayor - poll
Tracy Gray, a former Kelowna city councillor and Conservative MP, says she’s being encouraged to run for the leadership of the BC Conservative party. And a poll suggests she’d have a good shot at becoming Kelowna mayor if she decides to run in this...
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More like Bluebird Monday
Blue Monday was definitely not a downer day up high in the Okanagan. The third Monday in January has that unhappy moniker thanks to pretty reliable bad weather, a financial hangover from Christmas spending, and failed New Year’s resolutions. Some say...
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Putin partly to blame for Kelowna’s pricey pedestrian bridge
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an “external factor” in the construction of a pricey pedestrian overpass in Kelowna, city officials will hear Monday.. Other events that influenced the Bertram Street project, which cost far more than originally...
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Floods, landslides ‘high risk’ in wake of Peachland wildfire
Visits to a popular waterfall in the Central Okanagan should be discouraged during heavy rain, according to a report on the aftermath of a wildfire. And some elements of the town of Peachland’s water treatment plant are at “high risk” as a result of...
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Kelowna high-rises eyed again for short-term rentals
Hundreds of Kelowna homes could be made available to tourists again this summer if the city convinces the NDP government to modify its rules on short-term rentals. Suites in high-rise towers such as Ella, Aqua, Brooklyn, and Ellis Parc will be needed...
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World Juniors’ MVP set to join Kelowna Rockets
Team Czechia? Team WHL. Eleven players on the silver medal winning team at the World Juniors hockey championship play on Western Hockey League teams. And the best of the best at the tournament, MVP Vojtech Cihar, was recently acquired by the Kelowna...
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