Top Stories – May 20 – Lots Of Work

A number of provincial roads will get resurfacing and other work done in our area over the next few months. They include Highway 97 between Summerland and Deep Creek Bridge, the Connector from Hamilton Hill to Highway 5, and Highway 33 from Big White Road to Molnar Road and the Ellison side roads. No specific start dates, but all work should be complete by September.

BC’s Residential Tenancy Branch will now record audio of all dispute-resolution hearings. The government says it will help bring more fairness, transparency and justice for everyone involved in a tenancy dispute. Any hearing participant wanting a copy of the recording can contact the RTB and it will be provided free of charge.

The fate of more than 17-hundred Ukrainian fighters who surrendered after holding out against attacks on Mariupol’s steel factory hang in the balance. There are fears that the Russians may take reprisals against the prisoners. The Red Cross is registering them as prisoners of war to try to ensure humane treatment under the Geneva Conventions.

BC’s former clerk of the legislature dishonestly claimed expenses for work attire, and received payment on a false basis. That was the decision of the judge hearing the case against Craig James. He was found not guilty on three other counts of breach of trust related to a 258-thousand dollar retirement benefit.

The Crown is accusing Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich of breaching her bail conditions and prosecutors say she should go back to jail until her trial. The Crown says Lich has violated one condition by agreeing to accept a “freedom award” from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a legal advocacy group that supported the protest.

Ford has issued three recalls of more than 350-thousand vehicles in North America, including nearly 3,000 in Canada due to a risk the engines could catch fire. Transport Canada said some 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigators could catch fire even while parked with the ignition off. Ford is not advising drivers to stop operating the vehicles… but not to park them inside.

BC saw the number of people collecting employment insurance benefits fall in March. Stats Canada says there were just over 49-thousand residents accessing benefits, down 6.7 percent from February. Included in last month’s numbers was 21-hundred in Kelowna… 5-thousand less than a year ago.

Senior government officials say the Liberals have decided to ban Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies from Canada’s blueprint for next-generation mobile networks. The further development of 5G, will give people faster online connections and provide huge data capacity. Some say its participation could give it access to an array of digital information gleaned from how, when and where Canadian customers use internet-connected devices.

The 18 year old white man accused of killing 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo appeared in court yesterday after a grand jury indicted him. The Assistant district attorney said the first-degree murder indictment covers all 10 deaths. The suspect is being held in jail without bail.

Sports

NHL playoffs last night in Denver saw 2 goals from David Perron help the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 win over the Avalanche and tie their best of 7 at one win each. And Tampa took a 2-0 lead in their series with the Panthers with a 2-1 win.

It’s a 7:30 faceoff at the Saddledome tonight in the playoff between the Flames and Oilers. Calgary leads 1-0 after that 9-6 win on Wednesday. The other game today has the Rangers in Carolina with the Hurricanes leading that series.

Heading into round two of the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Rory McIlroy is the leader at 5 under par at Southern Hills. It was not a good day for the Canadians as Adam Hadwin was best at 2-over.

The Formula 1 teams are back in Europe for three races before heading to Montreal. This weekend they are in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

It’s a day off for Canada at the World Hockey Championships. Yesterday in Helsinki, Canada remained undefeated with a 6-3 win over Kazakhstan. The preliminary round for Canada continues tomorrow against undefeated Switzerland at 620am.

In the WHL Draft, the Medicine Hat Tigers used the first selection to take forward Gavin McKenna who’s with Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna, U-18. The Kelowna Rockets first pick was 81st overall. Jaxon Kehrig is a 14 year old, 5’11” centre, who had 74 points in 31 games and is from a U-15 club in Saskatchewan.