Top Stories – Aug 31 – Big Burn Begins

A big smoke plume was visible across the North Okanagan yesterday as BC Wildfire conducted a planned burn on the White Rock Lake wildfire. About 3-thousand hectares of ground fuel is being burned up on the northeast flank to secure the fire line. The smoke is expected to linger for a few days .

The last evacuation order for the Mount Law wildfire was converted into an alert yesterday. That means there are now 581 properties still on alert. West Kelowna Fire/Rescue chief Jason Brolund says while smoke continues to be visible, it’s not a threat for residents returning to their community. An area restriction order remains in place in the vicinity of the wildfire.

The Skaha Creek fire southwest of Penticton had grown to more than 200 hectares yesterday. It continues to be a low to moderately vigorous surface fire with visible open flame. BC Wildfire says it is an interface fire and the Penticton Indian Band issued an evacuation alert for 210 properties yesterday. They also know it was human caused.

There were 232 wildfires burning in BC yesterday. The total since the beginning of the fire season April 1 is 1,558 with almost 865-thousand hectares burned. There were just under 3,000 fire fighters and other personnel fighting the fires yesterday and they were assisted by 110 aircraft.

Kelowna residents have another opportunity to help grow and preserve the urban forest by ordering a new tree for their yard. The 6 varieties are available for pre-order for $50 + GST from Sept 1 until Sept. 17, or until they are sold out. Go to kelowna.ca/neighbourwoods to see and order them.

The last U-S planes flew out of Kabul and celebratory gunfire erupted across the Afghan capital marking the symbolic end of 20 years of war. That also marked the end of a massive airlift that has allowed more than 122,000 people to leave since the Taliban swept back into power two weeks ago.

On the election promise list yesterday, the Liberals talked about investing a Billion dollars over 10 years to restore and protect large lakes and river systems. The Conservatives said they would ban puppy mills and cosmetic testing on animals. The NDP promised to crack down on tax evasion and strengthen Canada Revenue Agency enforcement.

Do we need to change or update the flag or change the name of British Columbia? The majority, two-thirds of us, say No to a name change. With changes to sports team and school names, Research Co. also asked if the flag should also be changed to be more representative. About half said No, while 30 percent said they wouldn’t miss the Union Jack.

There were 503 new cases of covid 19 in BC yesterday, of which 186 were in the Interior Health region. Over the weekend there were 7 additional deaths from the virus, 3 of them in this region. Yesterday, there were 49 people in Interior Health hospitals, 30 of them in critical care.

Sports

One more game for Canada at the Women’s World Hockey Championships in Calgary today and it is against the United States for the gold medal. Canada took Switzerland 4-0 yesterday to get to the big game. Puck drops at 4:30. Other games today have Japan and Russia playing for 5th place at 9am. Then at 12:30, Switzerland will play Finland for the bronze medal.

The Edmonton Elks and Saskatchewan Roughriders both announced enhanced COVID-19 protocols for attendance at home games starting in a few weeks. Both clubs will require spectators to be fully vaccinated or to provide negative COVID-19 tests to be admitted into Commonwealth Stadium and Mosaic Stadium.

The Houston Texans are prepared to keep Deshaun Watson on their 53-man roster in 2021 and make the quarterback inactive every week. He’s facing 22 lawsuits alleging sexual assault and inappropriate behavior.