Top Stories – July 10 – More Boucherie Work

Beginning Thursday, Boucherie Road in West Kelowna will be closed from Ogden Road to Montigny Road for the ongoing improvements. It will stay that way until the end of August when crews will shift to putting in a 3 metre gravel walkway by Quail’s Gate. Traffic will be detoured and a 30K limit will be posted, so plan extra time.

Canada’s premiers will be in Winnipeg this week to discuss the health situation. The last time they were all together in the same room was in February, when they were mulling over Prime Minister Trudeau’s offer for 46-Billion-dollars in new health funding in exchange for their commitment to targeted reforms. Since then, all but Quebec have formally accepted Ottawa’s offer.

An influencer-backed energy drink that has earned viral popularity among kids is facing scrutiny from U-S lawmakers and health experts over its potentially dangerous levels of caffeine. PRIME was launched last year by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI and reportedly contains nearly twice as much caffeine as Red Bull. Representatives for PRIME have said the drinks are clearly marked as not recommended for minors.

Ellison Provincial Park along Okanagan Lake, south of Vernon, was evacuated yesterday after a wildfire got going. BC Wildfire responded with air tankers, a helicopter and ground crews. It was pegged as a ‘spot fire’ initially with no immediate cause, but smoke was quite visible. It was classified as ‘under control’ a few hours later.

Analysts are still expecting the Bank of Canada to hike its interest rate this week, even as the labour market shows some signs of softening. Stats Canada reported the economy added 60-thousand jobs in June. But as more Canadians looked for work and the population continued to grow, the unemployment rate climbed higher to 5.4 percent.

The CRTC is sticking with the way it sets prices for Canada’s large carriers that give smaller competitors internet access. Rates for wholesalers such as TekSavvy are based on the service and infrastructure costs to the major players, plus a markup. Most of the country’s large carriers complain the traditional rate-setting method has seen competitors pay them less than break-even costs.

Starting today, Stage 1 water restrictions are in place for all District of Lake Country water customers. This is the first restriction and means that those with even numbered addresses can water on even numbered days and odd numbered addresses can water on odd numbered days. Underground systems with automated timing are used on alternate days, but garden and vegetable watering is still allowed daily.

More than seven-thousand BC port workers remain off the job. But talks between striking workers and their employers resumed on the weekend with the help of federal mediators. The docks have been shut down since July 1st, affecting 500 million dollars worth of trade per day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the 500th day of the war with Russia on the weekend by speaking to his country’s soldiers in a video from an island in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the U-K Ministry of Defense said the eastern town of Bakhmut, that was captured by the Russians in May, saw some of the most intense fighting along the front last week.

Sports

The BC Lions moved back into a tie for first place in the CFL West yesterday with a 35-19 home win over Montreal. BC is off this week.

The Blue Jays are off for few days as baseball prepares for the All Star game tomorrow. On the weekend in Detroit, Toronto took 2 games, while the Tigers won the other.

The Vancouver Canucks have signed 22-year-old winger Nils Hoglander to a two-year deal worth $1.1 million per season. He spent most of last season with the Abbotsford Canucks.

At the F1 British Grand Prix, Red Bull continued its podium domination as Max Verstappen won his 6th straight race of the season and the team’s 11th consecutive win.