Top Stories – Mar 31 – Greenway Investigation

RCMP closed access to the Mission Creek Greenway and restricted access to the park yesterday afternoon after witnesses said a body was discovered in the area. In an email the police only said an investigation was underway and they were asking people to stay away from the area. The Mounties said more details will be released when they become available.

The BC government is making a number of amendments to the Civil Forfeiture Act, including the creation of unexplained wealth orders. This will require people to explain how they acquired their assets if there is suspicion of unlawful activity. It would apply to things like fast cars, glamourous homes and luxury goods.

Stats Canada says spending on tourism continued to grow last year, but remained well below pre-pandemic levels. It jumped 45 percent to $74 billion as domestic and international travel came back with COVID restrictions lifted. That’s still below 2019 levels, which neared $95 billion.

For the first time in history a grand jury has indicted a former president of the United States. The grand jury in New York indicted Donald Trump over how he allegedly hid payments to Stormy Daniels. The payment was made in exchange for Daniels’ silence about an alleged sexual encounter she said she had with Trump a decade earlier. He is expected to surrender to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office early next week.

If you are into collecting music, head to the Ukrainian Catholic church on Sunday. The Kelowna Music Collectors show will feature vinyl, cds, DVDs, concert posters and turntables. Early birds can get in between 9 and 10 for a $5 fee between 10 and 3 it’ll cost $3.

The Regional District says property tax increases will range from 16 to 21 dollars for Lake Country, Kelowna, West Kelowna and Central Okanagan East properties depending on value. Central Okanagan West properties will see an average increase of 45 dollars. RDCO is increasing it’s operating budget by 3.5% to 61.5-million dollars.

If you want to get in a hike to Paul’s Tomb on Knox Mountain, do it this weekend. Beginning Monday, until the end of May, the Paul’s Tomb Trail will be closed. Crews will be rock scaling and constructing rockfall barriers along the east side of the trail to mitigate rockfall hazards.

Three hikers and their dogs found out the hard way that there’s still a lot of snow up in the mountains. Central Okanagan search and rescue was called to the High Rim trail between Oyama Lake and Beaver Lake Road in Lake Country when the got stuck in waist deep snow and a woman suffered a medical incident and was unable to continue. She was choppered out just before dusk and the others were rescued by a four-person COSAR snowmobile team.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada says her country’s eventual recovery after its war with Russia presents economic opportunities for Canadian businesses. Yuliya Kovaliv (YOO’-lee-yah koh-VA’-lihv) told corporate groups in Ottawa that the next step post-war will be a rebuilding of major infrastructure and services in Ukraine. She says Canadian businesses should strategize about what role they can play.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets are on the road tonight to kick off the Western Hockey League playoffs. They take on the T-Birds in Seattle and you’ll hear the pregame show on 1047 the Lizard beginning at 6:35. The game tomorrow starts 1 hour earlier.

It’s the West Kelowna Warriors and Vernon Vipers in a first-round matchup in the BC hockey league. Game one goes tonight at 7 at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna.

The Vancouver Canucks begin five straight games at home tonight. The Calgary Flames are at Rogers Arena for a 7pm face off.

It’s a day off for the Blue Jays and Cardinals in St Louis before they have two weekend games. Yesterday in the season opener Toronto picked up a 10-9 win