Top Stories – Aug 16 – 20th Anniversary

It was 20 years ago today that the Okanagan Mountain Park Wildfire started near Rattlesnake Island following a lightning storm. When it was over, almost 26,000 hectares had been burned and 239 buildings, mostly homes, had been destroyed on the east side of the lake. 27,000 residents were forced to evacuate and 60 fire departments, 1,400 armed forces troops and 1,000 forest fire fighters were involved.

And as if on cue, firefighters and helicopters were dealing with a small wildfire on the west side late yesterday above Rose Valley Estates. Meantime, if you happened to look South and saw what appeared to be the remnants of an explosion, BC Wildfire tells us that was from a blow up of the Gillanders Creek fire southwest of Keremeos. It started July 13.

With only about one-third of the Maui wildfire burn area searched, the death toll of what’s already the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century could still rise significantly. Most of the people found dead had been out in the open, in cars or in the water in the hard-hit Lahaina area. Crews are going through what used to be homes, businesses and historic landmarks that burned to the ground.

Early Saturday morning, 4 guys thought it would be great to knock over the ‘Working Man’ statue at Bernard and St. Paul in downtown Kelowna. The statue was significantly damaged when it hit the ground about 1am. The thugs, all white and in their late 20’s, with beer in their hands, were caught on CCTV and RCMP have released images which you’ll find in the news tab on our website.
UPDATE: Suspects have been identified.

Food inflation was running at 8.5% in July, far higher than the headline inflation reading of 3.3. One economist says food price inflation is expected to continue easing in the months ahead as lower commodity prices and easing supply chain pressures filter through to retail products.

COVID-19 infections may be slowly starting to rise again according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. However activity is still low to moderate across the provinces and territories. Waning immunity as vaccines wear off, the presence of new subvariants and the fact that people will be moving indoors in the fall are all factors that will play a role in the rise of cases.

The final numbers for yesterday weren’t in late last night, but if it was anything like Monday, BC set a new record for electricity use. As people cranked their air conditioners and fans, power consumption jumped to 8,400 megawatts. BC Hydro says heat waves can result in an addition of over 1,000 megawatts, which is the equivalent of turning on about 1 million portable AC units.

Mounties are again enforcing an injunction against anti-logging protesters at the Fairy Creek Watershed near Lake Cowichan. A statement says officers will begin advising protesters blocking a bridge that they will enforce the injunction, and if they don’t move, they will face arrest. It comes less than a week after the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed the acquittal of a protester at the same site because police failed to fully read out a court order.

The Liberal government says it will soon give an update on how it plans to address recommendations from a public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act during the “Freedom Convoy” protests. Justice Paul Rouleau made 56 recommendations, some of which are aimed at the federal government and deal with policing, intelligence and security and required Ottawa to respond within a year.

SPORTS

It’s a quick series against the Phillies in Toronto. Yesterday in game 1 the Blue Jays picked up a big 2-1 win. Game two goes this afternoon with the first pitch just after 4.

Victor Cui is no longer the president of the Edmonton Elks in a move that’s been termed a mutual departure. He had earlier defended head coach and GM Chris Jones despite the team’s miserable record, saying it would be hard to make a change midway through the season.

Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bobby Baun has died at 86. The hard-hitting defenceman helped the Leafs win four Stanley Cups in the 1960s.

Roger Federer will be honoured at the Laver Cup in Vancouver. The 20-time Grand Slam champion will be invited onto the court on September 22 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his last competitive match.