Top Stories – Nov 12 – Cenotaph Disturbance

The Kelowna RCMP is investigating a disruption by a group of anti-vaxxers yesterday at the Cenotaph in City Park. Anyone who captured the disruption on video is asked to send a copy to the police. Inspector Adam MacIntosh says people have the right to protest, but when they choose to willfully interrupt the assembly of citizens at a Remembrance Day ceremony, it is a step too far.

Central Okanagan Regional District Building and Inspections staff continue to work with property owners impacted by the White Rock Lake wildfire. Victoria is funding the RDCO for more temporary staff to handle the increased development and planning applications and requests. To date, 30 demolition permits and one building permit have been issued.

The new multi-use path bridge on Lakeshore Road over Bellevue Creek will be fully open for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians this weekend. The improved bridge connects the multi-use path from the Lakeshore Active Transportation Corridor to the commercial centres and Collett Road roundabout.

Central Okanagan Public Schools has received approval for its concept plan to build a secondary school on the repurposed George Pringle Elementary site on the west side. Next week, the District will release considerations for catchment changes for the next school year and for when the new grade 9-12 secondary school opens.

This shows how low some people will go. Kelowna RCMP arrested a man after two poppy donation boxes were stolen from 2 banks on Ellis Street. After the second theft, police found the suspect a short time later. A 24-year-old man from Kelowna was arrested and released to appear in Kelowna Provincial Court on January 13 on two counts of Theft Under $5,000.

Health Canada has approved a booster of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for people over the age of 18. It’s designed to help people with their first two doses maintain their protection against the virus over time.

The number of active covid 19 cases in Interior Health has jumped up to 766 while the number of people in hospital continues to climb. As of Wednesday, there were 71 people in hospital with the virus and 33 of those were in intensive care. The long outbreak at Cottonwoods Care in Kelowna has been declared over after 70 cases among 55 residents and 15 staff. There were 17 deaths connected to the outbreak.

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue and the RCMP have suspended the search for a missing West Kelowna man. A ground and air search of the area around his home on Peters Road turned up no trace of James Wood. He was last seen Monday afternoon.

Kelowna Council was updated on a feasibility study for the 6,000-square foot space known as the Creative Hub. It’s planned to be part of a new development on the former RCMP site on Doyle. The 13-storey building would be used by a variety of arts and culture groups. Council agreed to proceed to phase two of the feasibility study, which includes a more detailed design.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets are on the road for games in Prince George tonight and tomorrow, while the Kelowna Chiefs host 100 Mile at 7 tonight at Rutland Arena.

In Colorado last night, the Avalanche had three goals and Vancouver had 3 shots in the first period. Colorado went on to a 7-1 win. Maybe the Canucks’ luck will be better in Las Vegas tomorrow.

The West Kelowna Warriors have their 2nd BCHL game in Wenatchee tonight. Last night, the game went to overtime before West Kelowna took a 5-4 win. Warriors are back home tomorrow to host the Vernon Vipers at 7 at Royal LePage Place.

A couple of big NFL signings. Cam Newton is heading back to the Carolina Panthers after they ran into quarterback trouble and Odell Beckham junior has signed with the Los Angeles Rams.

The BC Lions are back home tonight to take on the Calgary Stampeders. Kickoff is at 730. In the NFL, the Seahawks are in Green Bay on Sunday at 1:25.

The Formula 1 teams have moved from Mexico to Brazil for the second of three straight weekends of racing. Qualifying is today, there’s a Sprint Race tomorrow and the regular race on Sunday.