Top Stories – Apr 6 – Vaccine Passports Ending

Dr. Bonnie Henry says we can put our proof of vaccination QR Codes away on Friday, but businesses are still welcome to ask for them. They are also going to roll out a Spring booster program which will initially be for seniors in long-term care and assisted living facilities. It will then be offered to other age groups as before. The requirement for students living in residence to be fully vaccinated will also be repealed on Friday.

The new adventure play area, east of the Leckie Road entrance to Mission Creek Regional Park is closed until Friday afternoon. Crews are doing maintenance on play apparatus and completing work on trails in the area. Visitors are asked to stay outside the fenced area until the work is done.

There is a month-long, full closure, of the Kicking Horse Pass on Highway One coming up. From Tuesday April 19th, after Easter, until May 20th, it will be closed from Golden to Castle Junction. Traffic will be routed via highways 93-S and 95 and will add as much as one and a half hours of travel time.

Kelowna is spending 31.1 Million dollars in new and improved parks and public spaces that offer venues for community building and recreation. About half is funded through Parks Development Cost Charges. Twenty one-point-three million will go towards developing new parks, while 9.8 million is being invested in renewals of existing parks.

The call for a new electoral area in the Central Okanagan has been amended to include Big White. The three local Liberal MLAs are asking the Electoral Boundaries Commission to establish a South Kelowna riding to represent a growing population. The boundaries of the current ridings would also be adjusted.

Six charred bodies piled together were being investigate in Bucha, Ukraine, where graphic evidence of killings and torture has come out following the withdrawal of Russian forces. Many victims seen by the Associated Press appeared to have been shot at close range. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that those who carried out the killings and those who gave the orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes.

The benchmark price for a single family home in the Central Okanagan continued to climb in March to just over 1.1 Million dollars… up 34% from a year ago. Townhomes were up 28% to 758-thousand, while condos gained almost 32% to 557-grand. While sales were up a bit from February, they were still substantially lower than a year ago.

West Kelowna Council adopted the 2022 Budget and Five-Year Financial Plan setting the tax increase at 4 percent. The increase will result in a total net operating budget of 38.9 million dollars and will average 23-hundred dollars per household in taxes based on an assessed value of 866-thousand.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says the Liberals must be ambitious about lowering the cost of housing in the federal budget tomorrow. It says the government can rely on existing programs that have been successful during the pandemic to boost supply, such as the successful rapid-housing program. That allows for quick construction of modular homes, or to buy buildings that can be turned into affordable housing units.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets started their first of two back to back games in Prince George by going to extra time because nobody scored in 3 periods. Kelowna got the goal in OT to take the win. Game 2 against the Cougars goes tonight at 7.

Just ahead of the opening of the regular season, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Pedro Severino was suspended for 80 games following a positive drug test. He tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. He said it came from a medication to treat infertility issues.

The Vancouver Canucks are in Las Vegas tonight to play their 2nd straight game against the Golden Knights. On the weekend, Vancouver lost in overtime. Tonight’s game begins at 7.

We’ll find out for sure tomorrow, but it appears there’ll be another chapter of the Tiger Woods story at Augusta National this year. Woods met with the media yesterday and came close to giving a full commitment that he’ll play in the Masters this week.

Game 4 of the BC Hockey League playoff series between Vernon and West Kelowna goes tonight at Kal Tire Place. On Monday, the Warriors beat the Vipers to take a 2 games to 1 lead in the best of 7.

Regina’s Ryan Getzlaf is hanging ’em up. The longtime Anaheim Ducks captain will retire at the end of the season. Getzlaf is Anaheim’s franchise leader in games played – 1,150 – and points 1,013. He’s spent his entire 17-year NHL career with the Ducks.