Page 49 - Rob Munro News Today

June 14, 2021 - 6:00 PM A new survey by Insights West shows residents of the Interior of B.C. are much less likely than other British Columbians to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The survey of 831 people conducted between May 26 and 30 found that eight per cent of the residents in the Interior and Northern Health regions were "100 per cent certain" that they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a media release. That compared to two per cent on Vancouver Island and four pe...

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Marichu Etchart June 14, 2021 - 2:35 PM Traffic has ground to a crawl through downtown Westbank as the RCMP investigate a report of a dead woman. Police were called at about 12:45 p.m. today, June 14, to a truck parked in the 2500 block of Main Street. "We are still in the very early stages of this investigation, and we are working to determine the full details of this incident," RCMP Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy, media relations officer for the Kelowna Regi...

June 09, 2021 - 8:00 AM A recently announced gravel pit proposed for the Joe Rich area east of Kelowna has galvanized that community more than any other in 30 years of living there, says resident Laurie Takoff. Dozens of dump trucks a day could pull out of the pit onto Highway 33 and it could supply about 10 per cent of the Central Okanagan’s annual gravel needs for the next 20 to 40 years. That can make it cheaper to build roads and concrete structures in the region, being...

May 29, 2021 - 1:30 PM After three years of work, the City of Kelowna’s vision for the next 20 years is heading into its final stages with the full support of its citizens. At least that’s the gist of a 130-page report going to city council on Monday outlining the latest and last round of public feedback into its draft 2040 Official Community Plan. “The community has again expressed that the Kelowna of tomorrow should be inclusive, equitable, and sustainable,” the rep...

Image Credit: Submitted/Charlie Hodge May 28, 2021 - 6:30 AM After being a journalist for more than 30 years and a Kelowna city councillor for more than a dozen, the last thing Charlie Hodge ever expected to be doing was write a semi-fictional ghost story. But five years ago, he opened himself up to a whole new way of writing after being approached by Dan McGauley, a former owner of Blaylock’s Mansion near Nelson, asking him to ghostwrite a book about the mansion’s history...

May 27, 2021 - 9:52 AM Those who need a negative COVID-19 test before hopping on an international flight can now get that done at Kelowna International Airport, for a fee. Rapid antigen tests cost $120 and results are available within half an hour. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test costs $240 with results taking 24 to 48 hours to arrive. “We have seen a tremendous commitment from airlines to return air service to our region,” Kelowna airport director Sam Samaddar s...

May 27, 2021 - 11:00 AM While there has been a steady decline in the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 in B.C., the trend is going in the other direction in the Interior Health region, especially in the Central Okanagan. The latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease control shows that the number of new cases in the Interior Health region grew to 334 during the week of May 16 to 22, up from 321 the week before. While that’s only a slight increase, the B.C. case count ...

May 27, 2021 - 2:47 PM Health officials in B.C. have launched a new drive to get more second vaccines into arms. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry made that announcement at a news briefing today, May 27. Older residents (over 70) and those who have been identified as extremely medically vulnerable will be notified as early as today that they can register for their second dose, which could be administered in a matter of days. “I anticipate that everyone will be abl...

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca) May 25, 2021 - 4:57 PM The majority of Vernon city council agreed the Province of B.C. had the right to step in and overturn Penticton’s city council’s efforts to close a homeless shelter. Vernon’s council essentially made that declaration by defeating a motion by councillor Scott Anderson to send a letter to the province asking that “paramountcy not be invoked to overrule municipal decisions.” Paramountcy is the term used for the province...

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/COSAR May 25, 2021 - 11:21 AM After one of the longest search efforts in Central Okanagan Search and Rescue team’s history, the volunteer organization has been ordered by the RCMP to stand down. The search for Kamloops firefighter Capt. Brian Lannon went on for nine days in Okanagan Lake near the Bennett bridge. “Not good,” search manager Duane Tresnich told iNFOnews.ca today, May 25, when asked how it felt to have to walk away after all that tim...