Top Stories – Nov 9 – E-Bike Sharing

Kelowna has just started an e-bike share program with 20-40 bikes available today with more coming in the weeks ahead to total 100. The city is partnering with Spin, which is owned by Ford and the bikes have a 160 km of range, wireless charging for smartphones, and a dual kickstand to keep sidewalks clear. They will cost between 15 and 39 cents a minute and a buck to unlock.

Voting in BC elections will not be changing. A petition was started that would have done away with practically all advance voting and end voting by mail. Elections BC says the number of signatures didn’t come close to the requirement of 10% of registered voters in each of the province’s 87 electoral districts.

The NDP says no deal has been made with the Liberals to prop up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government for two to three years. MP Charlie Angus confirmed that an initial conversation had taken place between Jagmeet Singh and Trudeau, but it was no more than “an initial meeting.” Trudeau has held talks with the leaders of opposition parties since the Sept. 20 election.

Thanks to COVID, the annual Polar Bear Dip wasn’t held in Kelowna this year. However CRIS Adaptive Adventures says its big fundraiser will return January 1st at Tugboat Beach. As a virtual event this year, they were still able to raise 33-thousand dollars.

Stats Canada says more than 19,000 Canadians lost their lives during March last year and July this year from COVID-19 than would have been expected if the pandemic never happened. The highest number of deaths happened in the spring and fall of 2020. BC and Alberta also saw more people dying than typically expected this past summer when the heat wave settled over both provinces.

A tiny home in a wealthy Boston suburb has sold after about a month on the market. The roughly 250-square-foot, or about 16 feet by 16 feet home was built in 1970 and was described as an “adorable tiny studio, with open living space, a loft, ready to finish basement, and recent renovations including a new bathroom and electrical upgrades”. It sold for 315 thousand dollars.

Kelowna’s Gospel Mission will add 10 more beds to its 50-bed emergency shelter on Doyle Avenue within the next two weeks. Meantime outreach teams will be out seven days a week, handing out items to keep people warm such as blankets, sleeping bags, gloves, toques, warm coats, and Hot Paws hand warmers. The Gospel Mission’s total beds for people experiencing homelessness is at 120.

There were 423 new cases of covid 19 in BC along with 84 for Interior Health yesterday. BCCDC reported 66 people in hospital with 27 in critical care in the interior. There have been 280 deaths in the region since the pandemic began including 1 over the past 72 hours.

Amazon says it plans to open a second cloud-computing server hub in Canada in late 2023 that will result in billions of dollars of investments in the coming years. Amazon Web Services says the new hub will be based in the Calgary region to provide better service to Western Canada. Its other hub is located in the Montreal area.

Sports

The Vancouver Canucks wrap up 7 straight games at home tonight. After taking 2 wins against 4 losses, they’ll be hoping to go out on a winning note against the Anaheim Ducks at 7pm.

Seems everyone has thoughts on Aaron Rodgers. Howard Stern says he should be thrown out of the NFL, former NHL player Mike Fisher defends his stance, and one of Rodgers’ big sponsors, State Farm Insurance said it supported his personal point of view, despite disagreeing with his statements.

In Monday Night Football, the penalty flags hit the turf so many times they started to turn green. Most were against Chicago, who might have had a chance to win until the Steelers got a field goal with 26 seconds left and took a 29-27 win. Pittsburgh improves to 5 & 3, while Chicago drops to 3 & 6.

The Seattle Seahawks have a strong interest in adding wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.. Quarterback Russell Wilson has urged the team to bring him in as he can be claimed off waivers as early as today following his official release from the Cleveland Browns.

The captain of the West Kelowna Warriors was named one of the BC hockey league’s stars of the week. Elan Bar Lev Wise had 7 points in 2 games helping the Warriors remain undefeated at home.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been cleared to play Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Wilson has been out since week 5 after requiring finger surgery.