Top Stories – Feb 7 – Falcon Leads Liberals

The BC Liberal party has elected a new leader from 7 candidates. Former MLA Kevin Falcon was selected on the 5th ballot by more than 40-thousand party members. The 59 year old former cabinet minister lives in Surrey. He left politics 10 years ago to spend more time with his young family and work with an investment and property development firm.

A West Kelowna man wanted by RCMP for more than a month is now in custody. Dayton Lloyd McAlpine has been the subject of a search since an assault on New Year’s Eve. He was picked up without incident on Fox Road on the west side and has been remanded in custody while he awaits a court appearance later this month.

The weekend covid numbers will be released this afternoon and we’ll see if the Interior new cases continue to be among the highest in BC. On Friday, there were 18-hundred new cases, and more than 500 in Interior Health. 51-1/2 percent of all adults in the province have now had 3 vaccines.

Kelowna RCMP is investigating a targeted shooting Friday evening in the 900 block of Fuller, near Ethel. Police say just moments after multiple shots were fired, two small vehicles were seen racing away. A short time later, one of the cars involved was found on fire in the 2300 block of Belgo Road.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth called out covid protestors who he says are going too far. He said British Columbians have been navigating the challenges of the pandemic together, and it’s unfair to have one group disrupt the lives of so many others. Health care workers in Greater Vancouver were advised not to wear any I-D identifying them if they walk to work.

President’s Choice brand Roasted Cashews with Sea Salt have been recalled due to off-odour and off-taste. They were sold nationally in 200 gram and 1.3 kilogram containers with best before dates of December and October. More details on the Health Canada recalls website.

Home sales in the Central Okanagan were down last month, but the selling price continued to climb. There were 157 single family sales, down 17% from a year ago, but the benchmark price jumped 36% to 1-million-37-thousand dollars. Townhomes fell 12% to 67 sales, but the price was up 27% to 697-grand, proving the seller’s market continues.

A pedestrian died after being hit by a car on Highway 97 near Grizzly road in West Kelowna Friday night. There is no crosswalk in the area and the driver of the vehicle remained on the scene to cooperate with the investigation. Police say driving behavior, impairment and speed do not appear to be factors.

And if you still use stamps, there’s a chance you could get a new one honouring the Queen. Yesterday marked 70 years since she ascended to the throne and Canada Post unveiled a new stamp to mark the platinum jubilee. The queen has been on 70 Canadian stamps over the years.

Sports

The Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team made it 3 straight wins with a victory over Russia at the Beijing Games. Canada takes on arch-rival United States tonight at 8:10.

Back to regular business tonight for the NHL following the all-star break. Just 2 games with New Jersey and Ottawa and the Leafs hosting the Hurricanes. Vancouver hosts Arizona tomorrow.

It was a 3 game weekend for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets south of the border. They picked up wins against Spokane and Tri-Cities by a combined score of 10-2. But the 8 game winning streak ended on a sour note yesterday with a 6-2 loss in Everett.

On the links, Pebble Beach hosted the PGA Tour for its annual event. Tom Hoge picked up his first Tour win finishing at 19 under par. The Tour moves to Arizona this week for the ‘zoo’ that is the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

The BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors beat Prince George 3-2 in a shootout on Friday hosted Salmon Arm on Saturday and another game that went beyond 60 minutes, they lost 2-1 in overtime.

The Kelowna Chiefs had 3 weekend games at Rutland arena where they beat North Okanagan, lost to Princeton and beat Summerland 4-3 in overtime last night.