Top Stories – Dec 9 – 2nd Degree Murder

A woman has been arrested in Kamloops following the suspicious death of a man on October 18 in the 600-block of Bechard Road. Billie Jo Bennett, a 54-year-old woman from the Kelowna area, remains in custody at this time to be brought before the courts. She has been charged with second degree murder. Police did not say how the man died.

379 new covid-19 cases were reported in BC yesterday including 94 for Interior Health where there are 580 active cases. Also, 91.8% of all eligible adults have received their first dose of vaccine, 88.8% received their second jab and 12% have received a third. Six new deaths were reported, for an overall total of 2,369.

Canada is joining other countries by not sending a diplomatic delegation to the Winter Olympics in China. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has been very clear for many years about our deep concerns around human rights violations. He says the political boycott is a continuation of expressing our concerns. Athletes can still compete.

Once again the Joe Rich community came through in the annual firefighters food drive on the weekend. Donations were the largest yet with over 2,500 pounds of non-perishable food collected. They also gave 22-hundred dollars in cash, cheques and gift cards which will help feed about 100 families for one month.

Starting January 1, it will cost slightly more to dump garbage at the Westside Residential Waste Disposal and Recycling Centre in West Kelowna. The increase is to help cover increased transport expenses and a fee increase at Kelowna’s Glenmore Landfill where all material in the region is disposed. Among the increases… a bag of garbage goes from $4.50 to 5 bucks and mattresses with springs will cost $20, up from 14.

The Province is providing a 1-million dollar grant to support Lytton in its economic recovery from the devastation caused by this year’s wildfire. Half of it will support the community in its efforts to restart the local economy and 500-thousand will be for operational activities at the Village. This means it can continue to pay its staff who are leading the wildfire recovery in the community.

The parking ban put into effect on Monday for snow route areas in Kelowna has been lifted. Residents are still asked not to park on the road when it snows as it helps plows clear from curb to curb safely and efficiently. You can find out if parking bans are in effect by signing up for Snow Routes news through the City’s e-subscribe mailing list at kelowna.ca/notifications .

More residents of the Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley are being allowed back to survey the damage to their property. Hundreds of families and businesses were told to leave when flood waters caused by the Atmospheric Rivers kept rising. Yesterday, Abbotsford’s mayor announced the evacuation order for the south area of the Prairie is being lifted, leaving about 200 properties under evacuation order.

U-S clothing retailer, Gap, now has a gap in its finances thanks to spam. It was fined 200-thousand dollars for consistently sending out emails to Canadians that had no option to unsubscribe. The CRTC says it happened for about 3-1/2 years before it was able to reach a settlement with the company.

Sports

In the NHL last night in Vancouver, the Canucks and Bruins went to a shootout where JT Miller and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver to give them a 2-1 win and the second straight victory for Bruce Boudreau. Winnipeg visits Rogers Arena tomorrow night.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will turn to quarterback Dane Evans against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 108th Grey Cup on Sunday. The 28-year-old threw for 787 yards, six touchdowns, and three picks this past regular season.

Thursday Night Football is in Minnesota where the 6, 5 and 1 Pittsburgh Steelers take on the 5 & 7 Vikings. These two teams haven’t played in 4 years and back in 2017, Pittsburgh took a 26-9 win.

For the seventh straight year, the New York Rangers sit atop Forbes’ annual list of team valuations, and they’ve become the first NHL franchise valued at 2 billion dollars. The Canucks had a value of 825 Million – 14th in the league, behind Seattle.

The Kelowna Rockets were in Everett last night for their first cross-border game of the season and lost their second game in as many nights in Washington State. Kelowna comes home now for games tomorrow and Saturday.

Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner is the 2021 winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy recognizing Canada’s top athlete. His 9,018-point performance broke the previous Olympic record of 8,893 points, and he set additional records in the long jump and 100 metre hurdle components.