Top Stories – October 25

If you are concerned about seeing smoke in the hills, the City of Kelowna asks you to please call the non-emergency line at the fire department. Over the last number of weeks 911 has been overwhelmed with calls regarding open burning sightings. KFD would like to remind residents that specific burnings are once again allowed.

The Province has put forward an amendment with plans to increase it’s zero-emission vehicle targets. It would require automakers to meet an escalating percentage of new light-duty zero emission vehicles sales and leases, reaching 26% by 2026, and 100% by 2035, five years ahead of the original target. The Go Electric EV Charger Rebate Program has been recharged with $7 million in funding.

A warning from some Canadian pioneers in artificial intelligence. They caution that further advances mean A-I could exacerbate global inequities, facilitate automated warfare and pervasively surveil people. Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton are among the 24 signatories of a letter warning that A-I has already surpassed some human abilities because systems can act faster, absorb more knowledge and communicate faster than humans.

Cycling events at Knox Mountain this weekend means some adjustments to the parking situation. On Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm, the main parking lot beside the disc golf area, as well as parking along Knox Mountain Drive, between Broadway and the first access gate, will be closed. Event spectators and hikers can park along Broadway, or Poplar Point Drive.

Prime Minister Trudeau says Canada supports the idea of “humanitarian pauses” in the Israel-Hamas conflict to allow for support and aid to be delivered into the Gaza Strip. It’s being billed as a temporary halt to ensure aid can get into Gaza safely, and to allow people to leave the blockaded territory.

California regulators have revoked the license of a robotaxi service owned by General Motors. Its driverless cars recently began transporting passengers throughout San Francisco and worries reached a new level earlier this month. A Cruise robotaxi ran over a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle driven by a human, and then pinned the pedestrian under one of its tires after coming to a stop.

Experts say BC has yet to escape the repercussions of the hot and dry summer. While an atmospheric river did bring some much-needed rain to parts of the south coast last week, and seasonal cool weather has arrived with some early snow, parts of the province are still in the grip of a drought. A climate geoscientist says the drought in central and northeast areas is still a critical situation.

The federal government is happy the First Nations child-welfare settlement has been approved. This comes after a Federal Court judge verbally approved the landmark 23-Billion-dollar settlement in a First Nations human rights complaint filed in 2007. It will see Ottawa compensate more than 300-thousand First Nations children and their families over continuous underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services.

Premier David Eby and his counterparts in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador received a warning from the Bank of Canada governor after urging him not to raise interest rates last month. In the reply from Tiff Macklem, he clearly warns Eby and the others that instructions or requests from elected officials could give the impression that the Bank of Canada’s independence is at risk. Eby says it’s his job to speak out to federal officials when their policies hurt BC residents.

SPORTS

The last time the Victoria Royals were at Prospera Place earlier this month, 16 goals were scored, 9 of them by Victoria. They will play again tonight with the Kelowna Rockets hoping for a better result. Pregame show on 1047 the Lizard begins at 6:35 with the play-by-play at 5 past 7.

The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their five-game road trip in Nashville last night with a 3-2 win. St Louis pays a visit to Vancouver on Friday.

The NHL has changed its mind and agreed to allow players to represent social causes with coloured stick tape. It comes after Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first player to defy the league’s ban on the use of Pride tape in a game Saturday against the Ducks.