Top Stories – June 5 – Gone

A fire yesterday morning gutted a long time Kelowna fixture. Flames were first spotted at the Bankhead Convenience store on Bernard at South Highland about 5:30 and fire crews were still pouring water on the structure hours later.The first arriving firefighters reported heavy flame at the rear of the building and smoke coming from the roof at the front. The fire department says it was a complete loss.

An ultralight aircraft crashed into a field in Surrey on Friday afternoon seriously injuring the one person on board. It caught fire and the flames spread into the dry grass. The fire grew to about 2 hectares before crews were able to put it out.

Meta has decided to temporarily block news on Instagram and Facebook for some of its Canadian users. It’s in protest of the Liberal government’s Bill C-18, which would require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to news content. Meta says if the Bill becomes law, it will end news on Facebook and Instagram, rather than send money to news producers.

A months-long investigation into a drug trafficking operation made a “huge dent” in the local drug trade. Kelowna RCMP launched it in February and raided a house last month. That resulted in the seizure of a kilo of fentanyl, a kilo of crack and powder cocaine, and 10 ounces of meth. Three people were arrested and 3 cars were seized along with cash and cell phones.

The federal public safety minister says reports of teen killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo being transferred to a medium-security prison are “shocking and incomprehensible.” Reports say he was quietly transferred last week to the Institution, about 190 kilometres northwest of Montreal. Bernardo has been serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharine’s, Ontario.

Canada is considering the idea of pushing for a requirement to cut back on the production of plastic in a new global treaty aimed at eliminating plastic pollution. There are three more rounds of talks at the United Nations Environment Assembly before the deadline. Plastic pollution has become a global scourge, choking marine life and contributing to biodiversity loss.

Tomorrow night’s Lotto Max jackpot will be substantial to say the least. No one picked up the $70 million grand prize on Friday and only one Max Million was won. That means tomorrow’s main draw will again be worth 70 million dollars but there will be 16 Max Million bonus draws.

Heavy rain and some military reinforcements arrived to assist efforts on the weekend to tame the wildfires that have destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of thousands of people across Nova Scotia. A major Halifax-area fire that has destroyed 150 homes was 85% contained and no longer spreading. Military members in Atlantic Canada are used to being called in for floods and winter storms, but have never responded to a wildfire.

YouTube will stop removing content that falsely claims the 2020 US election or other past presidential elections were marred by widespread fraud, errors or glitches. The company says it’s an attempt to protect the ability to openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial or based on disproven assumptions.

Sports

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final goes today at 5 in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights are up 1-0 after a 5-2 win over Florida on Saturday.

Mike Babcock will resurface in the NHL next season, as the Columbus Blue Jackets intend to hire him as their new head coach. Toronto fired the now-60-year-old in November 2019 amid a losing streak and allegations of a toxic work environment.

The Blue Jays are back home to begin a 4 game series tonight against the Astros. On the weekend in New York, Toronto took all 3 games against the Mets.

The Memorial Cup was won by the Quebec Remparts who shut out Seattle 5-0 in Kamloops.