Page 67 - Rob Munro News Today

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca) January 23, 2021 - 9:00 AM The photo above shows the current state of a Kelowna property that was demolished, even though it was once on the city’s heritage registry. Like dozens of homes in Kelowna, Kamloops and other Okanagan communities, 409 Park Avenue’s inclusion on a registry meant very little in terms of preserving it. Yet it is an example, not so much of local governments’ disregard for their history, but of residents who have turned th...

March 16 Spring Break starts. The Government of Canada announces it is barring foreign nationals from all countries except the U.S. from entering Canada. B.C. dentists stop practicing. March 17 B.C. declares a public health emergency. Dr. Henry uses the new powers and orders all bars and nightclubs closed. Social distancing becomes a thing as Dr. Henry announces people need to stay six feet apart. The cap on gatherings is lowered to 50 people. Province announces schools wont reopen after spri...

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Interior Health January 22, 2021 - 10:34 AM B.C.’s mass vaccination program will kick into gear near the end of March as long as enough vaccine is delivered in time. By mid-March, people can start registering for vaccinations by phone, computer or app, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix during a news conference today, Jan. 22. Right now, the focus is on getting the limited amount of vaccine to staff...

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C. January 22, 2021 - 12:11 PM While Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is confident everyone in B.C. can get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September, that doesn’t mean lock down restrictions are going to ease any time soon. During a news briefing today, Jan. 22, Dr. Henry was asked when restrictions might be relaxed so people can, for example, socialize more. “I would love to be able to say July 1,” she replie...

Image Credit: Submitted/Interior Health January 20, 2021 - 2:30 PM All residents and staff at long-term care homes in the Interior Health region will be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of next week. That may cut down on the number of outbreaks in those facilities but the virus is spreading like a wildfire from the Central Okanagan to the north and northwest, Dr. Albert de Villiers, the Interior Health region’s chief medical health officer, said today, Jan. 19, during a...

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Melany Nugent-Noble January 20, 2021 - 6:00 AM Whether you want to strike up a conversation about the nature of art, technology or data, Kelowna’s first artist-in-residence project had it all. And, if things go according to plan, Melany Nugent-Noble’s When it is necessary to stand still will have an ongoing impact as she refines the technology and makes it more available to the community. “One of the pieces of feedback I got from participants is...

It used to be simple to save $770 on your municipal property taxes each year. All you had to do was print your name, phone number, tick a box and put your signature on your tax notice to claim your basic Home Owner Grant, or go to your municipal governments website and essentially do the same thing online. That’s changed for 2021. Now you’ll have to apply online directly to the provincial government. “We are centralizing this program because municipalities told us that local program ...

Image Credit: GOOGLE EARTH January 19, 2021 - 6:00 AM Kelowna is being offered almost 100 hectares of land by the developers of McKinley Beach. If approved, it would become the City’s second largest park. The land is on the north side of McKinely Reservoir and across the road from the 102-hectare Stephens Coyote Ridge Regional Park. “It’s definitely a very big positive for us as far as continuation is concerned,” City planner Dean Strachan told iNFOnews.ca. “We’ve...

Image Credit: Submitted/City of Kelowna January 17, 2021 - 3:32 PM One of Kelowna’s favourite wedding locations is on route to becoming protected in perpetuity. The Central Okanagan Heritage Society is asking city council to have the entire 1.26-acre Benvoulin Heritage Park and all its buildings formally designated as a heritage site. Right now, only the church carries that classification. “We are just doing everything we can to make sure that building carries on forever,...

Image Credit: Submitted/Okanagan Forest Products January 18, 2021 - 6:00 AM Most Canadians are familiar with the joys of sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows and creating family memories. They’re also equally familiar with the reality that the smoke from that campfire invariably gets in their eyes, noses and throats. Summerland’s Okanagan Forest Products is changing all that with its compressed wood fire bricks. “If you’re camping, you don’t have smoke ...