Top Stories – July 14 – Swim Time!

Looks like it will be good weather for the annual Across the Lake Swim event tomorrow morning. It’s the 75th time and will see swimmers gather at the docks on Old Ferry Wharf Road in West Kelowna. They’ll hit the water starting at 8 when they’re ready, as there is no mass start, and swim the 2.1 kilometres across Okanagan Lake to Hot Sands Beach in City Park. The lake temperature is about 22 and swimmers must be pre-registered to take part.

There appears to be a tentative deal to end the 13 day long strike by longshore workers at all BC ports. The BC Maritime Employers Association says it has reached a tentative agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. It says the four-year deal is subject to ratification, so details are not yet being released.

Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister says he is expecting a “fairly substantive” request for help from BC as wildfires worsen. Bill Blair says that could include military assistance for airlift evacuations from remote locations, as well as members of the military trained as firefighters who can provide “mop up” help to keep blazes from reigniting once they’ve been put out. The Coast Guard is mobilizing support for affected coastal communities.

Several bystanders jumped in to help a woman who was being beaten by a man in Kelowna on Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses told police the unprovoked attack happened at Mill Street and Queensway. Several people held the suspect down until police arrived and arrested him and he was charged with assault and mischief.

While the average single family home price in the Central Okanagan was still over 1 million dollars last month, Royal LePage reports the average home price in Canada edged 0.7 percent lower in the second quarter to 809-thousand dollars. The company says the real estate market has almost fully recovered from the drop in home prices last year when interest rates starting rising.

The International Olympic Committee won’t be sending formal invitations to Russia and Belarus for next year’s Paris Olympics. However, some Russian and Belarusian athletes could still compete in Paris, despite their countries’ war on Ukraine, without their national teams being invited.

The Kelowna Community Resources Society was one of a number of organizations across BC receiving $2,500 from the province to create awareness for people to take part in the BC Demographic Survey. The data will be used to help identify and eliminate systemic racism from government services. For more info or to take the survey go to antiracism.gov.bc.ca .

A report on drought conditions from the River Forecast Centre says the combination of record heat in May followed by early snow melt and low levels of precipitation has parched much of the province. The government says the situation is serious and much of BC has never before experienced the current levels of drought this early in the summer. The Okanagan is currently at level 3, where five is the worst.

American actors will be joining writers on picket lines, something that hasn’t happened in 63 years, after members of the U-S acting guild voted to take strike action. The union which represents 160,000 performers, voted unanimously to recommend a strike after talks with Hollywood studios failed to reach an agreement. Demands are higher pay and safeguards against unauthorised use of their images through artificial intelligence.

Sports

After a few days off, the Kelowna Falcons are back in action tonight at Elks Stadium. The Edmonton Riverhawks are the guests with the first pitch at 6:35.

It’s an Eastern Conference matchup in the CFL tonight between Toronto and Montreal at 4:30. The BC Lions are off this weekend.

Major League Baseball gets underway again today after the All-Star break. The Toronto Blue Jays are home and they host Arizona for three games this weekend.

The Indy Cars return to the streets of Toronto this weekend. It’s the only Canadian stop for that series.