Top Stories – Oct 12 – Two Local Wildfires

That small wildfire in behind Trader’s Cove was started by lightning according to BC Wildfire. It was measured at 1.6 hectares yesterday. And on the other side of the lake, a fire in Myra-Bellevue provincial park by KLO Creek was at 1.5 hectares. Its cause was listed as unknown, but was under control as of last night.

Good weather and the need to get outside after 2 years were a big boost for BC parks this summer. More than 317,000 reservations were made on the new BC Parks reservation service for the 2022 season… an increase of 26.5% since 2019. There are more than 10,000 reservable day-use and overnight accommodations available.

Forget June, Buckingham Palace says King Charles will be crowned on Saturday May 6 in Westminster Abbey. However, there won’t be as much pomp and ceremony as there has been in the past which will make it less than the three hour event for his mother in 1953. The coronation will be known as Operation Golden Orb which Charles will receive along with a sceptre and ring.

If you’re going to fall asleep in your car on the side of the street with music blaring, make sure your weapons are out of sight. Kelowna RCMP arrested a Vernon man on the weekend and discovered two loaded handguns, spare ammo, bear spray, brass knuckles and knives. The man was on probation and faces a number of new charges.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is refusing to swear an oath to King Charles III. He has sent a formal letter to the legislature asking that he be allowed to sit after taking an oath only to the people of Quebec. The once-mighty PQ won just three of the province’s 125 seats in the recent election.

A pink diamond was sold for $49.9 million, setting a world record for the highest price per carat for a diamond sold at auction. The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star diamond was auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Pink diamonds are among the rarest and most valuable of the coloured diamonds and it was expected to fetch 21 Million.

There are still more chances to get your vote in before Saturday’s municipal elections. Just check out your city’s website for locations and dates. Polls are generally open from 8 AM to 8 PM as they are on Saturday.

It was a busy evening for an Ontario man. Toronto police say he is facing impaired driving and assault charges after he allegedly crashed a car into oncoming traffic. He left his injured passenger behind and then assaulted a family before dropping his pants and punching a police officer. He was shot with a stun gun and taken into custody.

Russian forces showered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-carrying drones Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people. It was an attack the U.N. human rights office described as ‘particularly shocking’ and amounting to potential war crimes. The G-7 leaders condemned the bombardment and said they would stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Sports

In WHL play in Victoria last night, Captain Colton Dach scored in his first game back with the Kelowna Rockets to give them a 2-1 overtime win against the Royals. They will play again tonight with Regan Bartel’s pregame show at 6:35 on 1047 The Lizard and rocketfan.ca

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins isn’t ready to decide the future of interim manager John Schneider after the club’s collapse in Game 2 of the wild-card series. However, he said he’s very confident in the job Schneider has done and it would be difficult to find a skipper who could do better.

The Vancouver Canucks begin the regular season tonight in Edmonton at 7. It’s the first of 5 road games that will also take them to Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus and Minnesota.

The NFL plans to discuss roughing-the-passer penalties amid outrage over two disputed calls in Week 5. One idea, suggested by Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones on Monday night after he was flagged, might be to allow video review of roughing calls.

Kelowna Rockets 6-foot-7 goaltender Talyn Boyko has signed a 3 year entry level contract with the New York Rangers which drafted him in 2021. He’s currently at training camp of their East Coast Hockey League affiliate Jacksonville Iceman.

Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith has departed and the entire board of directors agreed to step down. An interim management committee will be named before a new slate of directors is chosen by mid-December.