Top Stories – Feb 17 – Women Win Gold!!

The women’s Olympic hockey team is coming home from Beijing with GOLD after beating the Americans 3-2 in the championship game. Marie-Philip Poulin had 2 goals, while Sarah Nurse notched the other for Canada, who went undefeated in the games.

Kelowna RCMP have arrested a suspect in connection with a number of breakins in Rutland on the weekend. A 28-year-old man who is allegedly responsible for the B&E’s is currently in police custody awaiting a court appearance. The accused is facing possible charges of break and enter related offences.

There were 750 new covid-19 cases reported in BC yesterday 277 of them in the Interior Health Region. 762 people are in hospital with the virus in the province, 121 of them in critical care. As for vaccinations, 90.5 percent of those 12 and over have had 2 doses and 53.3 percent have had a booster.

As the border blockades ended, police renewed warnings to downtown Ottawa protesters to get out of the area around parliament. A bulletin handed out says anyone blocking streets or helping others to block streets is breaking the law and could be arrested. It also warned the Emergencies Act gives police the power to seize vehicles that are part of the demonstration and ban people from travelling within a certain area.

Local sports teams want to remind fans that arena capacity is back to 100 percent so they can welcome many more spectators. A reminder that vaccine passports still must be shown and masks worn in the stands. Same requirements are in place for fitness centres, bars, nightclubs and any public indoor place.

The federal minister of Public Safety has laid out how the truckers protests against the vaccine mandate should be dealt with. Marco Mendicino says it is up to Ottawa to provide the legal tools and legislation, but it is up to police forces across the country to use them. He added that authorities found ties between a far right group, which he wouldn’t name, and protestors in Coutts, Alberta, where a number of weapons were seized.

Canada’s food inflation rate has hit 6.5 percent, the biggest year-over-year jump in grocery bills in more than a decade. It outpaced the overall annual inflation rate of 5.1 percent. StatsCan says we paid 13 percent more for beef while chicken was up nine points. Margarine jumped 16.5 percent and condiments, spices and vinegars were up 12.

It truly is a big deal. The new Costco in Kelowna opens today (7am) in the area between Leckie, Baron and Springfield. At 167-thousand square feet, it’s about 30-thousand bigger than the old one. The store promises a bigger selection of ethnic foods along with electronics and gaming devices.

Interior Health has issued an alert for the entire region. Multiple drug samples in communities across the region have been found to contain up to 55% fentanyl. The samples have been sold as “down”, heroin, or fentanyl – a wide range of colours and textures have been identified. There’s a poster with more details on our Facebook page.

BC’s senior’s advocate has released her annual assessment of the health and well-being of the province’s older residents. The report approves of the near doubling of the senior’s supplement last spring but finds a different subsidy that assists with housing costs is not keeping up with inflation or the number of seniors needing the help. Subsidized housing units for those over 55 has fallen 14% in five years and average wait times for admission to long-term care is up 33%.

Sports

At Prospera Place last night, the Prince George Cougars beat the Kelowna Rockets 5-2. Both WHL teams head to P-G for games tomorrow and Saturday.

After a few days off, the Vancouver Canucks are back on the ice tonight. They are in San Jose to take on the Sharks at 7:30.

Zac Taylor has been rewarded for leading the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance. The Bengals extended the head coach’s contract through the 2026 season.

The PGA Tour’s western swing continues this week at Riviera in Los Angeles. Max Homa is the defending champion of the Genesis Invitational.

The NASCAR drivers are back at Daytona for another year. The two Duel races to set the grid for this weekend’s 500 will be run today at 4 and 5:30.