Top Stories – Dec 29 – Snow Routes Stay

The Snow Event Advisory implemented December 20 remains in place as Kelowna is expected to receive more snow in the coming days. All residents are asked to move cars off the street wherever possible, especially those living on designated snow routes. Since early November, crews have responded to 17 snow events and yesterday they were out scraping up a month’s worth of compact snow and ice.

Will Victoria General repeat in 2023 with delivering the province’s first baby like it did this year. You can bet on it on playnow.com. The odds yesterday were 1 in 18… the same as Kelowna General. That compares to BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver, one of the province’s busiest, which was at 1 in 3.

Ukrainians usually celebrate Christmas on January 7, as do the Russians. But not this year, or at least not all of them. Some Orthodox Ukrainians decided to observe Christmas on December 25, like many Christians around the world…and yes, it has everything to do with the war.

More heavy rain is on the way while flooding is still a concern for large parts of Vancouver Island and the inner south coast. Communities around the Georgia Strait are also keeping a close eye on sea levels as more exceptionally high tides are due over the next several days. On Tuesday parts of Vancouver’s seawall and some low-lying streets were briefly under water.

New regulations on the types of work that are not suitable for young workers take effect on New Year’s Day. This includes some jobs within construction, forestry, food processing, oil and gas and power, and asbestos removal. Some industries will require young workers to be either 16 or 18. The age restrictions do not apply to industry training programs overseen by SkilledTradesBC.

The head of the Canadian Army says his force is facing more demands at home and in Europe as the number of soldiers under his command continues to shrink. Lt.-Gen. Joe Paul says the Army shrunk by 1,200 soldiers last year, and possibly another 800 this year due to recruiting and retention challenges. Troops are dealing with more calls for assistance in response to natural disasters here at home.

The provincial government says it’s improving and speeding up the process for residential tenancy dispute resolution between landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancy Branch’s operating budging and staffing levels are being increased to better oversee applications. There have been over 20,000 applications for disputes this year, an increase of 21 per cent since 2018.

Some people have reported getting email invitations to book a vaccination, even though they are fully covered with 5 for covid and 1 for the flu. The email doesn’t say which one you need. If you are fully vaxxed and get an email invite, the Get Vaccinated line says to ignore it because there is a glitch in the system.

It’s not in Kansas anymore. Governor Laura Kelly banned the use of TikTok on the state-issued devices of government workers under her control. The action came five days after Congress approved the $1.7 Trillion spending bill that banned the app from most U.S. government-issued devices for employees. TikTok has become the world’s most downloaded app, ahead of Instagram and Facebook.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets lost their 2nd straight game to the Kamloops Blazers by a score of 6-2 last night. Kelowna currently sits in 8th place in the WHL western division.

Connor Bedard had 3 goals and 7 points to lead Canada to an 11-2 win over Germany at the world junior hockey championships yesterday. Canada plays Austria today at 3:30.

The Canucks are in Winnipeg where they will be going for their 4th straight win. Faceoff is at 5.

Thursday night football is in Nashville where the Tennessee Titans have the Dallas Cowboys in town.