Top Stories – Nov 25 – Not For Everyone

Starting January 1st BC will become the first province to have paid sick leave for workers. Employers need to pay employees their regular wages for up to 5 days a year. It does NOT cover federally regulated sectors, self-employed workers and employees in professions and occupations excluded from the Employment Standards Act.

An incident at a home near Gordon and KLO in Kelowna last night prompted a large police turnout. Local RCMP officers were assisted by the SWAT team and whatever was going in was peacefully resolved just after 930 with 1 man taken into custody. Authorities did not immediately say what it was all about and it appears there were no injuries. Charges are pending.

While at this time last year people were hanging on to their money, it’s a different story for 2021. October was the busiest month for building permit dollar value in at least a decade around here. Almost $5.6-million worth of projects in Central Okanagan East and West were approved including 11 single family homes.

The province says it hopes to have the rest of Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley reopened later today. Crews were still removing mud and debris yesterday. Having the freeway open would take a lot of pressure off Highway 7, which is only 2 lanes in many areas outside Greater Vancouver. The Fraser Canyon is still closed and Highway 3 is for essential traffic only.

There were 86 new cases of covid 19 for Interior Health yesterday with 606 active ones. The new count for all of BC was 322, about the same as the day before. There were 9 additional deaths in the previous 24 hours including 1 in the interior. The outbreak at Sun Pointe Village long-term care in Kelowna has been declared over.

Among the fallout from last week’s massive flood event is a woman who is missing after her home was washed away. Police say she lived along Highway 8 near Spences Bridge and was unable to leave her home before it was washed away by flood water. The family has requested no identifying details be released publicly.

BC’s human rights commissioner office says an analysis of data from five police services across the province shows “profound racial disparities” and it is calling for changes to address discrimination in policing. It found Indigenous, black and other racialized people were over-represented in arrests and detentions, as well as in mental health or well-being checks and strip searches.

The SPCA in BC is offering 50 percent off the usual adoption cost for dogs and cats right now. It’s in an effort to make space for pets that have been displaced by the floods. The agency has been providing free emergency boarding since flooding began. It has also been handing out free crates, pet food, leashes and other supplies through Emergency Support Services centres. More info and pictures on the BC SPCA website.

Rail traffic is once again moving between Alberta and the west coast. It was a week-and-a-half ago that the CP and CN lines were impacted by flooding. Canadian Pacific says the first cars loaded with grain and fuel arrived yesterday after about 30 locations between Kamloops and Vancouver were affected by washouts and mud.

The Trudeau Liberals have outlined their latest aid package for the economy recovering from COVID. It involves targeted financial support to businesses still recovering from the pandemic, help for some workers, and extra weeks of benefits that expired just days ago. They’re proposing payments of $300 per week to workers off the job because of a covid-related public health lockdown in their region.

Sports

It’s Thanksgiving in the States so that means NFL football with 3 games today. Chicago is at Detroit, the Cowboys host the Raiders and Buffalo travels to New Orleans.

Aaron Rodgers has finally revealed what happened to his toe. The Packers quarterback, who hasn’t practiced for two weeks due to an ailment he initially described as a ‘COVID injury,’ said yesterday that he actually has a fractured toe.

In Spokane last night, the Chiefs edged the Kelowna Rockets 2-1. Kelowna comes home now for 3 games starting tomorrow when Spokane visits Prospera Place.

The Vancouver Canucks began a 5 game road trip with a loss. In Pittsburgh, the Penguins took a 4-1 win. Bo Horvat had the only Canuck goal. The trip continues tomorrow in Columbus.

The BC Hockey League has launched a fan vote to fill out the remaining roster spots for the January 15 outdoor 3-on-3 All-Star Tournament in Penticton. Three players from West Kelowna are in the running and you can vote for them at bchl.ca/fanvote .

The PGA Tour is raising purses even higher in five of its biggest events. Two FedEx Cup playoff events now offer $15 million in a schedule that pushes total prize money closer to the half-Billion dollar mark this year.