Top Stories – July 31 – Osoyoos Wildfire

The Eagle Bluff Wildfire which crossed into Canada from the United States prompted a number of evacuation orders and alerts for parts of Osoyoos and surrounding areas. Both the Canadian and American sides are coordinating their attack as it was still out of control and picked up intensity with late afternoon and evening winds. Air tankers dropped retardant as structural protection and heavy equipment crews worked alongside local firefighters. Depending on wind direction we may see smoke in the valley like we did Saturday evening.

It’s a big day for kids in West Kelowna as the city’s first fully accessible and inclusive playground, opens at Westbank Town Centre Park on May Street at 11am. ‘Julia’s Junction’, was inspired by Julia Grassmick, who was paralyzed by a blood clot when she was 17 months old. The playground is designed to accommodate all abilities and disabilities.

Roughly 1,200 employees have left Rogers Communications as part of a voluntary staff departure program to eliminate duplicate roles in the wake of its $20-billion takeover of Shaw. It offered packages in certain areas of the business should they decide to leave.

A good ending to the search for two kids that were the subject of an Amber Alert in BC. They were found at a rural property in Alberta where their mother and her boyfriend were arrested. Verity Bolton is charged with two counts of abduction in contravention of a custody order, while the man has been charged with two counts of abduction of a person under the age of 14. The boy and his sister were returned to their father who was waiting nearby with police.

A team of investigators were in a mountainous area west of Calgary to look into why a small plane crashed Friday night, killing all six people on board. RCMP said the single-engine Piper P-A-32 took off from Springbank Airport, near Calgary and was headed to Salmon Arm.

If you are waiting for something that has to come through the port of Vancouver, you may have to wait longer. Longshore workers rejected the contract offer from employers which included a 19% wage increase over 4 years that would have brought the median wage to $162,000. The Canada Industrial Relations Board was ordered to review and could potentially end the dispute.

A contracted firefighter has been killed while fighting the Donnie Creek wildfire in the northeastern part of the province. It’s the fourth death involving a firefighter battling blazes during a historically busy season, and the second killed in the province this month. Premier David Eby says the news is devastating for so many of those in the woods bravely fighting wildfires right now.

An internal Health Canada memo shows the federal government has a stockpile of more than 90-million COVID-19 rapid tests and it doesn’t know what to do with a lot of them. Ottawa plans to keep up to 55 million tests in reserve to prepare for the next emergency, which leaves 39 million extra. Their relatively short shelf life makes it challenging to figure out what the next best move is.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to December 25th from January 7th, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church observes it. The explanatory note attached to the law said its goal is to “abandon the Russian heritage.”

Sports

The reigning Canadian Bowl champion Okanagan Sun kicked off the BC Junior Football season with a 32-0 thumping of the Kodiaks in Prince George. They play their home opener at the Apple Bowl on Saturday against the Valley Huskers.

The BC Lions handed the Edmonton Elks their 21st consecutive home loss and 12th straight loss on Saturday by a 27-0 score. CFL West leader BC is in Winnipeg on Thursday.

The Toronto Blue Jays have the first of four games at home against the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon just after 4.

For NFL fans, the wait is almost over. The annual Hall of Fame game between the Jets and the Browns is on Thursday.