Top Stories – June 12 – Upper Mission Deaths

There were no additional details from Kelowna RCMP on the weekend after two people were found dead in a home on Swan Drive in the upper Mission on Thursday night. The Serious Crimes Unit and BC Coroners Service are conducting parallel investigations, and RCMP said it was an isolated incident and there is no risk to public safety.

This does not bode well for the wildfire season. The snowpack in the Okanagan is virtually at zero percent of normal according to the latest report from the River Forecast Centre. It’s attributed to an extremely rapid melt during the heatwave in May. By comparison, at this time a year ago, the snowpack was at 153% of normal.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine on the weekend. In a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he announced an additional 500 Million dollars in aid for Ukraine in its ongoing fight with Russia. Trudeau added Canada will support Ukraine’s bid for membership in the NATO military alliance.

A public inquest into the death of 40 year old Edward James Waddell will begin this morning at the Kelowna Law Courts. He died in police custody April 1, 2017. Very few details of his death have been announced other than he had been involved in a car accident on McCulloch Road the day before.

Swoop is going to be swept into WestJet. The parent company says it will absorb the discount carrier under the WestJet banner. It anticipates a full integration into its mainline operations by the end of October and Swoop employees will move to WestJet.

The Canadian government has seized a Russian-registered cargo aircraft that has been grounded at Toronto Pearson Airport for more than a year. The Antonov 1-24 was not able to leave last February when countries around the world closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. For every day it has been parked at Pearson, the owners have been charged just over $1,000.

Just after the Pigeon Creek wildfire near Peachland was classified as under control, another one sparked next to a road near Bear Creek Park yesterday. However quick action by firefighters and a helicopter had it held in a couple of hours at less than 1 hectare. It’s a reminder that despite the weekend showers, the wildlands are tinder dry.

Favourable weather conditions helped wildfire crews battle a massive blaze near Tumbler Ridge. Residents were ordered to evacuate last week as the fire approached within five-kilometres of the town of 24-hundred people. Although things had improved yesterday, BC Wildfire said it was still too early to lift the evacuation order.

It’s still slow going on Highway 97 by Summerland where the latest rockslide happened. There’s a 60K speed zone by Lakeshore Road south along with single lane alternating traffic. The next update on Drive BC will be at noon.

Sports

For the first time since 1954 a Canadian won the Canadian Open. Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor did it on the fourth playoff hole yesterday in the rain in Toronto.

The Kelowna Falcons are south of the border for 6 games this week starting tomorrow in Bellingham. Last night at Elks Stadium, the locals took a 5-4 win from Portland with a score in the 9th.

Stanley Cup playoffs have a couple of days off as the teams return to Las Vegas for game 5 tomorrow. The Golden Knights lead the Panthers 3 games to 1.

Reports say the Calgary Flames will name Ryan Huska as their head coach today. He has been an assistant for 5 seasons and led the Kelowna Rockets to a Memorial Cup berth in 2009.