Top Stories – April 5 – Quigley Evacuation

Just before noon yesterday an unspecified threat was made to Quigley Elementary school on Kitcher road in Rutland. Out of an abundance of caution, the school was evacuated and parents were told to pick up their kids. RCMP were investigating to determine if the threat was real, but it’s expected students will be back in class today.

Premier John Horgan announced yesterday that he had tested positive for covid. He says he is fully vaccinated and his symptoms are mild. The premier says until the symptoms are gone, he’ll be working from home.

Moscow faced global revulsion and accusations of war crimes yesterday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv. Video showed streets strewn with bodies of what appeared to be civilians, some of whom had seemingly been killed at close range. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy left the capital for his first trip since the war began nearly six weeks ago to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” in Bucha.

A Kelowna man in his 50s died after he was involved in a crash on the Yellowhead Highway Sunday evening. RCMP say his vehicle left the road and crashed, ejecting him. He was transported to hospital in but pronounced dead shortly after. His name has not been released.

With restrictions due to Covid easing, the tourism sector is feeling a bit more positive. Lisanne Ballantyne of Tourism Kelowna told Kelowna 10 that they get to market the area for the first time in a couple of years and they’re hopeful it will turn into one of the best summer seasons ever. She says there were some positive signs last year, but the wildfires brought things to a crashing halt.

A group that represents 90 percent of beer brewers in Canada wants Ottawa to do away with the federal excise tax on low-alcoholic beer. South Okanagan/West Kootenay NDP MP Richard Canning has introduced a bill to eliminate the estimated 1.1 million dollars in excise tax Ottawa collected on low-alcohol beer sales in 2020. Beer Canada says no other country has that kind of tax on that kind of beer.

Kelowna Council okayed a development permit for a new Starbucks at the corner of Highway 97 North and Leckie Road. The previous Taco Time restaurant at the site has been demolished. The new restaurant will include indoor and outdoor seating, plus a drive-through.

The federal and provincial governments are extending Covid financial relief to BC Transit and TransLink to help protect service levels while ridership recovers. The 204 Million dollars is on top of the federal-provincial Safe Restart funding of more than a Billion dollars announced in September 2020. BC Transit is reporting its ridership levels have recovered to approximately 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

Building on a pilot program in Kelowna, families across BC can keep their child support amounts updated through the Child Support Recalculation Service. The program adjusts the amount of child support payable if the paying parent’s income has gone up or down. Instead of applying in person every year, parents can now enrol to have payments automatically recalculated annually.

Sports

Game 4 of the BC Hockey League playoff series between Vernon and West Kelowna goes tomorrow at Kal Tire Place. Last night the Warriors beat the Vipers 6-2 to take a 2 games to 1 lead in the best of 7.

The Toronto Blue Jays have their final preseason game today against Baltimore. Yesterday, they lost 4-2 to Detroit. The Jays open the regular season at home on Friday when the Texas Rangers pay a visit.

Oilers centre Connor McDavid was 1st star in the NHL last week as he had 5 goals and 3 assists in 4 games. His week was highlighted by reaching the 100-point milestone for the fifth time in seven seasons.

It was a trade involving 8 draft picks including a number of first rounders in the NFL. Without listing them all, the New Orleans Saints get the 16th and 19th picks from Philadelphia and the Eagles get the 18th. Other picks over the next couple of years were also exchanged.

Peyton Manning is hoping to make things easier for Russell Wilson as he embarks on a new journey with the Denver Broncos. He says they’ve had conversations about some of the things that helped in his transition to a different team. Wilson was traded from the Seahawks in early March.

And are the Seahawks looking to trade another star? With Wilson gone and Bobby Wagner released, DK Metcalf took to Twitter yesterday to say he hasn’t heard anything about rumours that he may be next.