Top Stories – Apr 13 – Offender Hub

Kelowna will be one of 12 hubs in BC the government will set up to target repeat violent offenders. Police, dedicated prosecutors and probation officers will work with local stakeholders and other existing programs. It will expand police investigative resources and targeted enforcement capacity and allow law agencies to enhance co-ordination and share information quicker.

Investigators were trying to determine yesterday what exactly started fires that spread to five cars in Kelowna. The fire department says it happened in the 800 block of Finns road behind the Volvo dealership. There were no injuries.

Members of a union that represents more than 120,000 federal public servants have voted in favour of a strike mandate. The Public Service Alliance of Canada can now launch a strike anytime in the next 60 days, but the union has not signalled when that might happen. The union and the government began mediated negotiations in early April and both parties are back at the bargaining table this week.

Lake Country RCMP arrested a man in connection with a stolen truck, a service truck, tool trailer and tools in a file going back to last December. A tracking device embedded into the tools by the owner led officers to a business on Highway 97. Police found the suspect and arrested him for multiple counts of possession of stolen property.

The Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program is about to start its annual egg-addling program to manage introduced populations of non-migratory Canada geese. It involves shaking eggs or coating them with non-toxic, biodegradable, food-grade corn oil within 14 days of incubation to make them non-viable and returning them to the nest. Geese will then continue to incubate until they realize the eggs will not hatch, usually too late in the year to produce more.

The Bank of Canada is holding its key interest rate steady at 4.5 percent, as was widely anticipated. The central bank says recent data is reinforcing its confidence that inflation will continue to fall in the coming months. It expects the inflation rate to drop to 3% by mid-year and back down to its target of 2% by the end of 2024.

As the rain continues to stay away from the Okanagan, the chance of spring flooding continues to decrease. The River Forecast Centre says the snowpack around here is about 113% of normal compared to an average 80% in the rest of BC. However, a sudden warming trend at the higher elevations could lead to a higher freshet flooding risk.

Victoria investing 26 million dollars into 250 new public charging stations to allow more electric vehicles to get on the roads. The government says zero emission vehicles represented 18% of new light-duty vehicles sold in BC last year, the highest for any province or territory.

A delegation of MPs from all four of Canada’s main federal parties is in Taiwan this week to show support for the island as it faces the threat of a Chinese invasion. The group gave some consideration to whether their trip would hurt relations between Canada and China, but ultimately decided it was more important to show support for Taiwan.

Sports

Canada will play Sweden today in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Hockey Championships. Face off in Brampton is a bit earlier… at 2pm.

The Vancouver Canucks wrap up their season on the road today. The game in Arizona starts at 7.

The Toronto Blue Jays finish their three-game series against the Detroit Tigers today at Rogers Centre. Yesterday, the Jays won 4-3 in 10 innings.