Top Stories – Sept 12 – Wildfires Grow

The wind changed direction and the South coast is being inundated with yellow wildfire smoke from southern BC and Washington State. The Heather Lake wildfire in and around Manning Park has grown to more than 8,600 hectares. The community of Eastgate remains under evacuation alert and the lightning-caused fire was being fought with 23 firefighters and 5 helicopters.

Meanwhile, a fire burning west of Hope, and an accident, forced the partial closure of Highway 1 yesterday. Travelers heading toward the Interior had to go across the Fraser River on Highways 9 and 7 through Agassiz. It’s called the Flood Falls Trail fire and at 458 hectares, 12 properties were issued evacuation orders.

Kelowna’s adjusted employment rate was 64.1 percent and the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent last month… those numbers were little changed from July. StatsCan reported the country saw employment decline by 40,000 in August, and that the job losses were mainly concentrated in youth aged 15 to 24, as well as people aged 55 to 64.

There are 5 people running for mayor in Kelowna. Challenging incumbent Colin Basran are Tom Dyas, David Habib, Glendon Smedley and Silverado Socrates. In West Kelowna, incumbent Gord Milsom has Peachland resident Andrew Kwaczynski as a challenger.

The Conservative party of Canada has a new leader. Party members chose Pierre Poilievre over the other front-runner, Jean Charest who was party leader from 1993 to 95. The 43-year-old Calgary native who is the MP for Carleton in Ontario, embraced those who opposed getting vaccinated against COVID.

The paperwork has been done to proclaim King Charles III as Canada’s head of state. The ceremony at Rideau Hall included a 21-gun salute and a moment of remembrance for his mother, Queen Elizabeth. The signing was done at the same table used by the Queen during her first official visit to Canada in October 1957.

Drivers are going to need to detour around part of Bartley Road in West Kelowna again this week. It will be closed today to Friday from 9am to 6pm between Highway 97 and the new roundabout. This will allow crews to complete the final phase of road and paving work.

Discount retailer Dollarama is winning over new customers as Canadian shoppers “trade down” from more expensive stores and gravitate toward the store’s cheaper prices amid inflation. It reported a second-quarter profit of $193 million, up from $146 million in the same quarter last year, as sales rose 18 percent.

Canada’s military ombudsman says his office has received fewer than a dozen complaints from service members about the Armed Forces’ vaccine requirement. While the vast majority of service members have bared their arms for shots, more than 1,100 have not. Several hundred of those have since hung up their uniforms, either voluntarily or involuntarily, with more on their way out.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets took a 5-2 exhibition win in Kamloops thanks to a hat trick from Andrew Cristall. And at Prospera on Saturday, the Blazers won 6-5 in overtime. Next up is a home game tomorrow against Victoria and don’t forget you can get all the team scoops at rocketfan.ca

The Okanagan Sun erased a 15 point deficit and stormed back to defeat the Westshore Rebels 34-31 Saturday night on the Island. The Sun return home Saturday for a battle against the Valley Huskers. Kickoff is at 4pm.

Monday Night Football will certainly be getting a lot of attention in the Pacific Northwest. Russell Wilson makes his return to Seattle as quarterback for the Denver Broncos in a game against the Seahawks which gets underway at 5:15.

The West Kelowna Warriors won their first exhibition game in Chilliwack 9-7 on Friday, then at home on Saturday, they dropped a 5-2 decision to the Vernon Vipers. The Warriors’ final pre season game is Wednesday in Vernon.

The Toronto Blue Jays were in Arlington on the weekend for 3 games against the Texas Rangers, and they won 2 of them. They’re back home today to begin an all important series including a double header tomorrow, with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Formula One begins now begins what is called it’s flyaway season with races in Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East. Yesterday at Monza in Italy, points leader Max Verstappen picked up his 11th win of the year in 16 races.