Top Stories – Apr 28 – Bernard Extension Eyed

While Meet Me on Bernard will be back for the summer this year, there’s thought the time could be extended down the road. Four blocks of Bernard will only be open for pedestrians from Canada Day to Labour Day again this year. However, council asked for a study to find out if its possible to extend the program by a few more weeks.

Demand for housing in BC still far outstrips supply, even as the latest census figures show growth in the number of homes was higher than the increase in population countrywide. There are 222-thousand apartments in buildings with five or more storeys, which make up a total of 10.9 percent of all dwellings in the province. That grew from 178-thousand in 2016. Single-detached homes, represent 42.4 percent of the housing distribution.

One of the organizers of a planned motorcycle convoy is warning of a free-for-all tomorrow if Ottawa police don’t allow hundreds of protesters to bring their bikes onto the streets around Parliament Hill. Police say it’s not gonna happen as part of new rules. Earlier this year, downtown Ottawa was gripped by a big-rig convoy protest that jammed city streets for three weeks.

The Cherry Blossom triathlon returns to the streets of Kelowna on Sunday. That means there will be a number of road lane closures between 5am and noon… mostly in the Mission area of the city. The athletes start, end and transition from one event to another in the H2O parking lot.

More than one in five Canadians of working age are close to retirement… an all-time high that will have major effects on the country’s economy, labour market and health care system. Many of the effects of Canada’s grey wave won’t be felt for about five to 10 years, when Canada can expect to see massive increases in the number of people over 85.

Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 200 people in Ukraine‘s eastern Donbas region who are loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces have been backing separatist rebels in the area for eight years following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. And its not clear what city it will be in, but Canada’s embassy in Ukraine could reopen within a matter of days or weeks.

Kelowna’s Beverly Gilbert got a better birthday present than she could ever imagine. She matched all six numbers from the April 6 BC/49 draw and won the game’s top prize of 2 million dollars. In addition to a European trip this summer, Gilbert will buy a condo, pay off her car and do some investing.

Today is the National Day of Mourning and the City of Kelowna marks it every year with flags at half-mast, and a ceremony to remember people who were lost due to workplace accidents or illness. Mayor Colin Basran says this year, we also reflect on the tragic crane accident that claimed five lives and traumatized so many more people in our city last summer.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is hitting back at Meta, which owns Facebook, after the company did not rule out banning Canadians from viewing and sharing news. Ottawa introduced a bill earlier this month that would force digital giants to compensate news outlets for reusing their work. The bill to support the news industry is modelled on a law in Australia, where Facebook introduced a temporary ban on viewing and sharing news on its site last year.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets avoided a 4 game sweep in their WHL playoff series with the T-Birds thanks to a 3-2 overtime win at Prospera Place last night. Seattle now leads the best of seven, 3 games to one. They go back to Kent, Washington for game 6 tomorrow.

The quarterfinals are underway this morning at the U-18 hockey championships in Germany. Canada is playing Finland. (5:30am)

Tyson Jugnauth of the West Kelowna Warriors is the BCHL’s Defensive Player of the Year. He scored 9 goals and had 41 assists in only 52 games played this season. The team makes the trip to Penticton for round 3 playoff games tomorrow and Saturday.

The Vancouver Canucks wrap up their season tonight and tomorrow. Los Angeles visits Rogers Arena tonight at 7 before Vancouver travels to Edmonton tomorrow.

The Toronto Raptors have another must-win NBA playoff game tonight at Scotiabank Arena. They are down 3 games to 2 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip off is at 4.

The three-day-long NFL Draft begins later today in Las Vegas. The Jacksonville Jaguars have pick first and defensive end Aiden Hutchinson from Michigan was the odds-on favourite yesterday. The Seahawks are 9th with a pick they got from Denver in the Russell Wilson trade.