Top Stories – June 14 – Molester Sentenced

Convicted child molester Dr. Albert de Villiers will spend five and half years behind bars for sexually assaulting a child who once saw him as a grandfatherly figure. The disgraced doctor was once in a senior role in both Interior Health and Alberta Health Services. De Villiers molested the child five to seven times between 2018 and 2020 while the child was between seven and nine years old.

All six water systems in the regional district be on further watering restrictions effective Friday as outdoor watering will only be allowed 2 days a week. For even numbered addresses, it will be Tuesday and Saturday, and for odd number addresses it will be Sunday and Wednesday.

Former US president Donald Trump was briefly under arrest yesterday as he surrendered at the Miami courthouse in the classified documents case. His plea was Not Guilty to the 37 counts that were approved last week by a grand jury in Miami. Trump was released without bail.

RCMP in Kelowna say it’s important that people speak out against discriminatory behaviour after a man allegedly accused a nine-year-old girl of being trans-gender at a school district track meet. Police say they are investigating the incident at the Apple Bowl on June 8th. The school district says a process is underway to ban the man from any school property or event.

The Knox Mountain Downhill for Longboarders is coming up at the park on Saturday and will wrap up at 5pm on Sunday. The lower 1-1/2 kilometres of Knox Mountain Drive, from the base to the first lookout, will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 7am Saturday and stay closed through the weekend. Hikers can access trails including the Apex Trail when the downhill course isn’t in use.

Acting RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says there are more than 100 investigations into foreign interference currently underway in Canada. He says he’s been in contact with elections officials about the allegations, which he said Mounties first learned about through the media. Duheme also said he doesn’t recall seeing a memo about the alleged targeting of M-Ps from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Two to three days of expected rain is a welcome reprieve for firefighters working on the blaze outside of Tumbler Ridge, but it’s expected to burn for weeks. About 22-hundred residents were forced to leave the community last week. And the Donnie Creek wildfire southeast of Fort Nelson has doubled in size over eight days to 480-thousand hectares, but no rain is in that forecast.

A rainy forecast for Quebec is raising hopes that thousands of evacuees will be able to return home in the coming days. More than 72-hundred people have been forced from their homes in northwestern Quebec by wildfires. Showers and cooler temperatures are expected to move into the region this week

Some French-language media organizations and smaller local media outlets say they are being targeted by Meta after the digital giant restricted access to their content on Facebook. The Prime Minister said the move was unacceptable and he won’t put up with Facebook’s bullying. Trudeau accused tech giants of making record profits while local journalism has struggled in terms of getting news out to people in ways that matter locally.

Sports

They might still be partying in Las Vegas after the Golden Knights won their first Stanley Cup last night. Four goals in the second period helped them to a 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers that gave them the series 4 games to 1.

The Kelowna Falcons began 3 games in Bellingham last night with a 9-1 loss after the Bells had a 6-run, 4th inning.

Toronto billionaire Michael Andlauer has a deal to become the new majority owner of the Ottawa Senators. The agreement is worth $950 million, and is pending approval from commissioner Gary Bettman as well as the NHL’s executive board.