Top Stories – May 6 – Sales Down, Prices Up

Home sales in the Central Okanagan continued to trend lower across all categories last month. Compared to a year ago, single family sales fell 38%, townhomes were down 25%, and condos dipped 32%. However sale prices were up again with the benchmark price for a single family home up 27% from last April to 1.13 Million dollars

Call it ‘seed money’. The province is increasing support by 90-thousand dollars for seed growers to enhance and expand their operations to bolster food security. It will support them through workshops, mentorship programs, knowledge-transfer events, and conduct trials to select breeds best suited to BC’s climate.

Prosecutors allege Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard repeatedly and violently raped a teen girl and a young woman in two separate incidents months apart at his Toronto-area hotel in 2016.The front man for Hedley has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one of sexual interference. The trial is expected to last a few weeks.

UBCO’s new Skeena Residence has been awarded the Passive House certification by meeting the internationally recognized high-performance standard for energy-efficient buildings. It’s the first student residence in Canada to receive that status. The six-storey building has 220 students, it has bright and vibrant colours and plenty of open spaces with large triple-glaze windows.

A BC Indigenous man and his granddaughter who were arrested as they tried to open an account at the Bank of Montreal have settled a human rights complaint. it includes a monetary payment from BMO to Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter, a private apology, and a pledge from the bank to update its policies on how Indigenous status cards are handled. They were trying to open an account when police were called over suspicion they were using a fake status card.

A passenger on a United Airlines flight was arrested for opening an emergency door and sliding down the wing of a moving plane. It happened after it landed in Chicago yesterday. Ground crew stopped the individual outside of the aircraft, and held him for police. Charges are pending, but you can bet he won’t be flying again for a long time.

The morning cup of coffee was a little richer than normal for an Okanagan woman. Lindalie Dansereau of Summerland likes to check her lottery tickets while having her morning coffee, and recently she found out she had won $1-million from the April 6 Lotto 6/49 draw. She has some travel plans in the works and will also gift some of her prize to her husband and kids.

Victoria says it will begin work on finding remedies for prolific offenders. The news was welcomed by Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran as a step toward to improving citizens’ sense of safety and confidence in the justice system. One example is an offender in Kelowna who, since 2016, generated 346 RCMP files and received 29 convictions for property crime and assault offences.

Justin Bieber has been blacklisted by Ferrari for having his white supercar repainted neon blue. He violated the Italian carmaker’s code of conduct as the brand has strict rules to make sure the prestige of Ferrari is maintained. Luxurylaunches.com reported that Bieber’s other modifications included “ugly-looking flared fenders” and “aftermarket rims”.

Sports

The Leafs and Lightning NHL playoff moves to Tampa Bay today with the series tied at 1 win each. The Lightning won the last meeting 5-3.

And staying in Florida, there’s a brand new Formula 1 race in the United States this weekend. It’s the Miami Grand Prix on a track around the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium with qualifying tomorrow at 1pm and the race on Sunday at 12:30.

Kelowna Rockets centres Max Graham, who is from Kelowna, and Nolan Flamand rank No. 156 and No. 218 among North Americans as the NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its final rankings for the 2022 Draft. Graham improved from the No. 168 spot he held in the mid-season rankings.

The Blue Jays play the 2nd of their 4 games in Cleveland today at 4:10. Yesterday after jumping out to a 2-0 lead, Toronto lost 6-5.

The Oilers are in California tonight for game 3 of their NHL playoff against the Kings. Going into it both teams have a win so far in the best of 7.

Heading into the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Maryland, Australian Jason Day is alone atop the leaderboard after shooting 7 under par at TPC Potomac. Top Canadian on day one, was Adam Svensson who was 3 shots back.