Top Stories – Dec 20 – More Warm Help

The City of Kelowna has extended its emergency warming bus program hours to run from 5pm to 9am until Saturday when the current extreme cold weather is expected to end. In addition, City staff working with partners, have secured 27 insulated tents and are currently working to have them delivered to Kelowna.

Parkinson Rec Centre in Kelowna will have adjusted hours over the holidays starting with Christmas Eve when it will be closed at noon. It will be shut down Christmas and Boxing Day and New Year’s Day with shortened hours in between. Full details at kelowna.ca/calendar .

Agree with it or not, the Freedom Convoy against Covid restrictions captured a lot of attention in the country earlier this year. That’s the reason editors from newsrooms across Canada named it the Canadian Press News Story of the Year. The streets of Ottawa and key border crossings with the U.S. were blockaded by protesters and big-rig trucks for weeks.

Kelowna RCMP recovered 3 vehicles that were reported stolen this month. A pickup was found with a driver in it, who was arrested. Another with mismatched plates was located near KGH, while the third, with no plates was discovered behind an apartment complex on Pandosy. A 27-year-old man from Nanaimo, faces a number of charges.

The cold weather and snow continue to add up the number of flight cancelations and delays at Kelowna International airport. Flights from around Western Canada are being delayed and there were more than 45 delays of at least 30 minutes or cancelations yesterday. Needless to say, if you are flying, check with your airline first.

How much does it cost to host a Royal visit in Canada? About a million bucks. Taxpayers spent at least $1 million hosting King Charles III, who was then Prince of Wales, when he visited Canada earlier this year. RCMP costs were 450-thousand while Department of Defense spent 568 grand which included the plane to bring him here and fly him around.

Yesterday just after 6 PM, Kelowna RCMP located a green Honda which was reported stolen earlier in the day in West Kelowna. After several attempts by the suspect to car-jack other vehicles, he was successfully arrested. While there were no injuries, Gordon at Coronation Avenue was closed for a while for the investigation.

Tomorrow is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. Winter officially starts at 1:47pm. There is 8 hours, 5 minutes and 27 seconds of daylight around here. However, we turn the corner toward summer on Thursday with 2 seconds more daylight.

The BC Forest Practices Board says about half of all wildfires in the province are caused by people, and in the past decade, government has spent about $2.7 Billion on wildfire suppression. The report did not say how much was recovered from those responsible. The Board review found there were few efforts for the recovery of damages to public resources like timber, forest land and grassland.

Sports

At Rogers Arena last night, the Canucks lost their second in a row. This time 5-1 to St. Louis. Next up, Seattle makes the trip north on Thursday

World Junior exhibition play in Moncton saw Canada shut out Switzerland 6-0.

Monday Night Football was in Green Bay where the Packers sent the fans home happy as they improved to 6 & 8 with a win over the Rams.

In the NBA, the Toronto Raptors were in Philadelphia where the 76ers needed overtime to pick up a 104-101 win.