Top Stories – May 25 – In The Mail

Property tax notices are starting to go out in the mail. Payment is due by July 4th. And a reminder that banks and credit card companies may take up to three business days to process payments and Friday, July 1 is the Canada Day holiday. Home Owner Grant applications, except for Westbank First Nation residents, are done through the province at gov.bc.ca/homeownergrant .

RCMP investigators were at the scene for hours yesterday morning after a fatal crash involving a cyclist and a car. It happened at Highway 97 and Parkinson Drive in Lake Country just before 7am. The name of the person killed or the circumstances leading to the accident have not been released.

It was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire yesterday at an elementary school. Last night authorities reported 19 children and 2 teachers were killed. The shooter was a resident of the town that’s about 135 kilometres west of San Antonio. The gunman was killed by responding officers and as that the events are still being investigated, there was no immediate motive.

The Kelowna Pride Society says the annual Pride March is back and will take place on Saturday, June 11. People can start gathering at Stuart Park at 9:30, with the walk beginning an hour later. The festival itself will be held at City Park from 11 to 3. It’s part of Pride Week which runs June 6-12.

The federal and provincial governments are each committing 15 million dollars in support of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier John Horgan made the announcement at Rogers Arena. The games will feature alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling as well as swimming, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball.

Canadian mortgage brokers say homebuyers are increasingly considering credit unions and private lenders to secure mortgages as rates rise. Borrowers are now having to qualify for a mortgage at a higher rate. The qualifying rate on uninsured mortgages under Canada’s stress test is either two percentage points above the contract rate, or 5.25 percent, whichever is greater.

Provincial gaming grants will benefit a couple of local non-profits. The Clubhouse Child Care Centre in Kelowna will receive just under 200-thousand dollars which will help install a new outdoor toilet and handwashing space, along with a new septic tank. The society would also erect fencing to mark zones for separated visitor groups. And the Telemark Nordic Club in West Kelowna will receive 11-thousand dollars to purchase a new electric powered snowmobile.

The Quebec legislature has voted to adopt Bill 96, the Quebec government’s language reform law. It requires immigrants to communicate with the government in French after they’ve been in the province for at least six months. It also caps enrolment at English-language junior colleges and Anglophone groups say the law could also limit access to health-care services in English.

Federal Defense Minister Anita Anand has announced more military aid for Ukraine. Canada will donate over 20-thousand artillery rounds of 155-millimetre NATO standard ammunition, including fuses and charge bags. Canada has also trained Ukrainian forces in how to use the heavy artillery guns.

Sports

In Edmonton last night the Oilers came one step closer to advancing to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 5-3 win over the Flames to take a 3 games to 1 lead, heading into game 5 tomorrow in Calgary. And at Madison Square Garden the Rangers beat the Hurricanes 4-1 to tie their series at 2 wins each.  Just one game tonight and the Avalanche can wrap up their series against Saint Louis with a home ice win.

John Tortorella is among the candidates who have interviewed for the Flyers’ head coaching job. He and the Blue Jackets mutually agreed to part ways after six seasons when his contract expired a year ago

The NFL discussed eliminating the traditional Pro Bowl game during the league’s annual spring meeting in Atlanta yesterday. Last year’s edition of the game drew 6.7-million viewers across all platforms, making it the smallest audience since 2006.

At the World Hockey Championships Canada dumped France 7-1 in their final preliminary round game to improve their record to 5 wins and 2 losses. Canada will play Sweden in a quarterfinal game tomorrow.

Things aren’t all rosy in the CFL as players rejected the league’s tentative collective bargaining agreement and stressed the need for further negotiation over outstanding issues. The players’ veto comes despite the bargaining committee and team player reps approving the tentative CBA.