Top Stories – Apr 20 – Snowbirds Fly Back

It has been 8 years since the Canadian Snowbirds flew a show in the Central Okanagan, but they will be back this summer. July 9 and 10 they will perform over Okanagan Lake. Kelowna International Airport is marking 75 years in service this year and an invite for the Snowbirds to be part of it was accepted.

The BC government has announced 3.5 million dollars in grants to 26 local governments in the Kamloops Fire Centre, which is where we live. The funds will be used to support wildfire-risk reduction projects such as reducing fuels on Crown and private land. Kelowna and West Kelowna will each receive 149-thousand, while the Regional District will get a quarter-Million dollars.

Ottawa convoy protest organizer Pat King is now facing 3 counts each of perjury and obstruction of justice as he tries to get out of jail. He was arrested on Feb. 18 on charges for his involvement in the three-week protest against COVID restrictions that overran the streets of Ottawa.

Beginning Monday and lasting until Thursday May 5, KLO Road between Lakeshore Road and Tutt Street will be closed in both directions. Its to allow for utility work and paving in that half-block, and will include restoration and updates to the road, curbing and vegetation. A detour will be in place.

A door to door scam involving a cancer foundation has been reported in Kelowna when a man with an Eastern European accent was going door to door collecting only cash. He was supposedly very pushy, and a homeowner later discovered the foundation was not running in-person fundraising. The RCMP remind us to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity.

His best known song was ‘Mama Let Him Play’. Canadian rocker Jerry Doucette has died at the age of 70. He’d been living in Vancouver since 1972 where he teamed up with local bands like Rocket Norton and Seeds of Time. Over his career he also released 5 solo albums. He passed away from cancer at a hospice in Delta.

Russia assaulted cities and towns along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of kilometres long and poured more troops into Ukraine yesterday. It’s a potentially pivotal battle for control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories. Moscow claimed forces bombarded numerous Ukrainian military sites, including troop concentrations and missile-warhead storage depots, while Ukraine said a hospital was shelled.

The provincial government is going to make it easier for internationally educated nurses to practise in BC. Health Minister Adrian Dix said there will be 12.2 million dollars in funding for streamlined regulatory assessments, bursaries and enhanced recruitment supports. Health-care workers have been asking the province to do more to ensure international nurses can join the workforce for months.

Police are reminding cyclists that wearing a helmet, having the proper lighting at night and following the rules of the road are something they are required to do under the Motor Vehicle Act. Cyclists can be hit with fines of $167 for not doing the basics such as stopping at stop signs, obeying traffic lights, stopping at crosswalks, and staying on the right hand side of the road.

Sports

The West Kelowna Warriors will be looking to wrap up their BC Hockey League playoff series with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks tonight. West Kelowna leads the best of seven 3 games to none going into the 7pm faceoff at Royal LePage Place.

Twins from Delta are rated 5th and 6th in the final CFL scouting report ahead of the May 3rd draft. Jalen Philpot is one notch ahead of his brother Tyson. Both wide receivers currently play at the University of Calgary.

The Vancouver Canucks winning streak ended at 6 games with a 4-3 shootout loss to Ottawa last night. Vancouver moves into the final 5 games of the regular season with a contest tomorrow in Minnesota before travelling to Calgary on Saturday.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $50,000 for flipping off, and directing profane language toward fans during Game 1 against the Celtics. He justified his actions telling reporters he’d keep jawing with spectators who continue to disrespect him. The NBA disagreed.

The Blue Jays started a 3 game visit to Fenway Park with a 2-1 loss to Boston. They’ll try and make up for it this afternoon. First pitch is at 4:10.

Hockey Canada confirmed the rescheduled 2022 world juniors will run from Aug. 9-20 in Edmonton. The original event was postponed in December during the preliminary round due to a COVID outbreak. Results from the original dates will not carry over, and players born in 2002 or later will remain eligible.