Top Stories – Nov 28 – Parking Taking Off?

The long term parking lots at YLW were at capacity on the weekend as Kelowna council considers a plan to raise rates, saying current ones are lower than many other airports such as Vancouver and Quebec City. For example, the weekly charge would jump to $78.75 from 75 dollars, while daily parking would go up 75 cents to 15.75. The first hour of short and long term would stay at 2 bucks, however each additional hour would increase from $3 to $3.25.

The federal government is extending employment insurance sickness benefits to 26 weeks, up from 15. Ottawa says far too many workers pay into EI, and yet when they become seriously ill, or when they have injuries to recover from, the 15 weeks isn’t enough. The maximum length of unpaid medical leave for federally regulated private-sector workers is also being extended to 27 weeks from 17.

NASA’s Orion capsule entered an elliptical orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon Friday, as it neared the halfway mark of its test flight. It was 380,000 kilometres from Earth and is expected to reach a maximum distance of almost 432,000. That will set a new distance record for a capsule designed to carry people one day.

The Tree of Hope in Kelowna’s Landmark District is shining brightly for another year. This year’s beneficiaries are the Southern Interior YMCA and BGC Okanagan which helps kids build healthy, supportive relationships with caring adult role models. Donations can be made at treeofhopekelowna.ca and the Stober Group will match them up to half a Million dollars.

Alberta businesses could face a reckoning on wages next year because the province has not kept up with the rest of the country when it comes to wage increases. Nationally, wages are up seven percent over the last two years, while in Alberta, they’re up less than one percent.

Elon Musk says that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts. It had suspended the service, which granted blue-check labels to anyone paying $8 a month, because of a wave of imposter accounts. He now says companies will get a gold check, governments will get a gray check, and individuals, whether or not they’re celebrities, will get a blue check.

The Province is expanding a program that trains internationally educated doctors, so they can get licensed to practise in BC. Victoria is also working to help International medical graduates start the accreditation process before they arrive. Bylaw changes will be made in the coming weeks to allow American doctors to practise medicine in community settings.

The Liberals have unveiled their long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy, which announces more military spending and closer ties with countries such as India. The strategy unveiled in Vancouver, earmarks 2.3 Billion dollars for Canada to form closer ties with countries from Pakistan to Japan. Ottawa says the strategy is critical to Canada’s future stability.

Protesters angered by strict antivirus measures have called for China’s powerful leader to resign. Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for President Xi Jinping (shee JIN’-ping) to step down, and an end to one-party rule. The protests have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing.

Sports

Canada’s World Cup hopes are over following a 4-1 loss to Croatia yesterday as Alphonso Davies had the Canadian men’s first-ever World Cup goal. They have one game left Thursday against Morocco.

The Kelowna Rockets started the weekend with a 4-2 win over the Silvertips in Everett, then at home dropped a 4-3 decision to Moose Jaw.

The Canucks took a 5-1 win in Vegas on Saturday and 4-3 overtime victory in San José last night to pick up their 3rd straight win.

Canada swept two singles matches over Australia to win their first ever Davis Cup tennis title.

Monday Night Football features the Steelers in Indianapolis to take on the Colts.