Top Stories – Sept 3 – Bernard Wrapping Up

This is the final weekend that a portion of Bernard Avenue will be closed to traffic. At the end of business on Monday, which is the Labour Day holiday, the businesses will move their stuff back inside. After the barricades are removed, it is set to reopen to traffic next Thursday.

Big White Ski Resort is honouring the frontline and essential service workers of the Central Okanagan. It’s offering those members of our community one complimentary scenic chairlift ride ticket through Monday. Just provide an I.D. or paystub from the employer at the resort ticket window.

As of yesterday 84.6% of eligible people 12 and older in BC have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine… it’s 80 percent in the Central Okanagan. And 76.9% have received their second dose in the province, while around here, it’s 72 percent. There were 237 new cases and 6 deaths in Interior Health yesterday.

A West Kelowna man who was wanted on outstanding warrants since his release from custody Aug. 24, is back in jail. 43 year old Michael Collins has been charged with flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving while prohibited. He was arrested at a West Kelowna home with help from the Emergency Response Team.

13-hundred property owners in Ewings Landing, Killiney Beach and Westshore Estates have been told they can go home. They have also been advised to take their own drinking water as the systems are not safe due to the White Rock Lake Fire. As Westside Road is still closed to the north, they will have to return from the south. There is no access to Parker Cove or the Everly Recreation Site and additional security is in place.

Things were pretty normal in August in the Central Okanagan as far as weather goes. Meteorologist Wesla English says the average daytime temperature was 27.9 degrees, compared to the average of 27.6. Overnight was a bit warmer at 13.7 versus 10.6. And has been the case all year, there was less rainfall at 22.9 millimetres compared to the average of 32.1.

One man is in hospital with serious stab wounds following a fight with another guy in Stuart Park yesterday morning. The injured man made his way to the Queensway bus loop and called for help. Police are looking for security footage and would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the 6am altercation.

Meanwhile, two men were seriously injured during a home invasion in Kelowna yesterday morning. It happened in the 1900 block of Pandosy near Lake, about 7am. RCMP say evidence indicates that this was a targeted incident and as of last night, no one had been arrested.

Kelowna Fire Department responded to a call yesterday morning about a hiker with an ankle injury on Mount Baldy in the Dilworth area. Due to the location and difficult terrain, the KFD all-terrain vehicle was used to get the woman out. Once packaged for transport, she was taken by ambulance to KGH.

Sports

It’s the Labour Day classics in the CFL this weekend. Montreal takes on Ottawa today, Winnipeg is at Saskatchewan on Sunday, then on Monday it’s Hamilton hosting Toronto followed by the Battle of Alberta. As usual, BC is off.

The Formula 1 teams have moved a bit north to the Netherlands for the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend. Qualifying goes tomorrow with the race on Sunday.

The OHL suspended Montreal Canadiens draft pick Logan Mailloux indefinitely after he violated ‘the expectation of the appropriate conduct of an OHL player’. He was charged and fined in Sweden for invasion of privacy and defamation after taking a photo of a woman without consent during a sexual encounter.

Going into the second round of the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta, Patrick Cantlay is atop the leader board at 13 under after starting at minus 10. Jon Rahm is next at 11 under par after starting at 6 under in the strange scoring system they use for this tournament.

Four Kelowna Rockets players are headed to NHL camps this September. Pavel Novak who was a 5th round pick in 2020 goes to Minnesota. Meanwhile invitations were sent to Tyson Feist from Arizona, Trevor Wong heads to Florida and Noah Dorey is off to Boston.

Not only did the Elks release Jacob Ruby for lying about the vaccination status, the league has stepped in. The CFL says that no other team will be allowed to sign him for the rest of this season.