Top Stories – Nov 15 – Suspicious House Fire

**Check with Drive BC for Coquihalla and Hwy 1 closures**

Sixteen firefighters in 5 vehicles tackled a house fire on Harvey near Richter on Saturday night. There was substantial damage as the front porch was destroyed, but no one was injured. The RCMP is involved as witnesses told investigators they believed the origin was suspicious.

If the covid numbers seemed to be going higher recently, you’d be right. In the Central Okanagan last week, there were 181 new cases… 60 more than the week before. In Vernon, there were 85 positive tests… up from 66, and in Salmon Arm they jumped to 77 from 43. Enderby has the lowest vaccination rate at 67 percent.

Big cannabis companies in the States are backing a new, celebrity-infused campaign to enlist marijuana users to pressure members of Congress to legalize pot nationwide. Vancouver-born actor and comedian Seth Rogan, who’s co-founder of a cannabis company and ‘enthusiastic’ user, says “Legalizing cannabis is long past due, and if we make enough noise, we can make it happen.”

Last Christmas, thanks to a matching donation from the Stober Foundation, Kelowna’s Tree Of Hope raised more than 200-thousand dollars. This year’s lighting of the big tree in the Landmark District will happen on the 25th this month and it will stay lit until January 2nd. This year the focus is to elevate the conversation of ‘Women at Risk’ and they have partnered with NOW Canada and Karis Support Society for the common goal of helping vulnerable women and their children in our community.

A report on BC’s Tree Fruit industry is being used to improve the sector. It outlines 19 recommendations from creating a new governing agency, to having an agriculture-centric labour strategy, and addressing and negating the impacts of climate change.

On Friday, the province reported 992 new cases of covid-19 for 2 days including Remembrance Day, which included 263 for Interior Health. 86.5 percent of people 12 and over are now fully vaccinated. It’s 85.5 percent in Canada. We’ll get the weekend numbers for BC this afternoon.

Kelowna RCMP are still hoping to receive video from anyone who recorded the disruption at the cenotaph on Remembrance Day. An email address has been set up to make it easy. Video can be sent to KelownaRemembranceDayVideos@ rcmp.grc.gc.ca .

Health Canada says a decision on whether to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for children will come in the next one to two weeks, leaving the possibility that some kids could be at least partially protected by Christmas. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief medical officer, said the under-12 age group continues to have the highest incidence rates of COVID across all age groups in the country. Mar Jok Elementary in West Kelowna went to online learning last week after a number of cases at the school.

Internal government documents are providing a picture of the impact covid emergency aid is having on federal support to low-income seniors and families. They show low-income families were expected to see the sharpest drops in support through the Canada Child Benefit, and federal officials say about 83-thousand low-income seniors have lost out on the guaranteed income supplement.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets were in Prince George on the weekend for a couple of games. They took a 5-2 win on Friday, and Colby Knight got his first shutout in a 3-0 victory on Saturday. That’s 4 in a row for the Rockets.

It’s a day off for the Canucks after a 5-1 loss yesterday in Anaheim. Tomorrow they host Colorado, who embarrassed them 7-1 last week.

The West Kelowna Warriors are resting after 3 BCHL games in 3 nights. They took 2 wins in Wenatchee and continued on a roll with their 7th straight win on Saturday. They took the Vernon Vipers 5-1 at Royal LePage Place.

Monday Night Football is in Santa Clara, where the San Francisco 49ers, who are 3 & 5, host state rival LA Rams who have a 7 & 2 record. Kickoff is at 5:15.

The Kelowna Chiefs picked up a much-needed KIJHL win against 100 Mile by a score of 8-1 including a 1st period hat trick by Jordan Lowry. The Chiefs head to Princeton to take on the Posse tomorrow.

The BC Lions posted their 7th straight loss, losing 33-23 to the Stampeders and eliminating any hope of post season play. Their final game of the season is Friday against Edmonton at BC Place.