Top Stories – Jun 20 – Rutland Sexual Assault

Kelowna RCMP issued a warning after a daytime sexual assault in the Springfield Road and Hollywood Road South area last Monday afternoon. A woman was walking between 12:20 and 1:20 when she was allegedly followed and sexually assaulted by a man she described as South-Asian in his mid-20s with a well groomed beard. Police are asking anyone who man have information on the suspect or dashcam/surveillance footage from the area to contact them.

Starting today, Stevens Rd between Ross Rd and the Westlake Roundabout in West Kelowna will be closed to traffic while crews install underground utilities and prep for sidewalks and bike lanes. Stevens will re-open Saturday morning. Access businesses using the Ross detour and drive slowly and watch for turtles on Westlake as it’s migration season.

Rogers will sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor for 2.85 Billion dollars in a deal it hopes will appease federal regulators opposed to its proposed takeover of Shaw. The Competition Bureau has been seeking to block the 26-billion dollar Shaw merger over concerns it would substantially lessen competition in wireless services.

In recognition of National Indigenous Peoples Day tomorrow, the annual Turtle Island Festival returns to downtown Kelowna. To accommodate the festival, the 400 block of Leon Avenue, between Pandosy and Ellis by the Friendship Centre, will be closed to vehicle traffic from 6:30am to 8:30pm. It begins at 9 and there will be performers, activities, vendors and of course, food. More info on the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society FB page.

Warning signs have been posted around Wood Lake due to visible algae blooms. The District of Lake Country, the Regional District and Interior Health are monitoring the lake for potentially harmful algae. Interior Health is recommending people and pets avoid contact with algae blooms in Wood Lake.

A garbage bin from New Hampshire was found far away from its usual location… in Ukraine. No one knows how it got there but it was spotted by a reporter for Associated Press. The bin was on the side of the road, just before the crossing into Poland and was being used by the border guard station.

Further evidence of the slowing of BC’s spring snowmelt is part of the latest Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin from the BC River Forecast Centre. The agency says the melt is two-to-four weeks behind schedule this year, thanks to cool weather throughout the spring. In the Okanagan, the amount of snow left to melt is at 243 percent of normal.

West Kelowna Council approved the annual operating agreement with BC Transit confirming continued levels of service for the next year. Expenses have increased by almost half-a-million dollars, bringing the City’s total transit cost to 1.8 Million. Ridership fares cover about one-third of annual costs, with West Kelowna taxpayers picking up the rest.

Kitties are 50% off until the end of the month at the SPCA. The agency has so many of them, it recently took more than 100 from a property up north, that in order to find them forever homes, the adult cat adoption fee has been cut in half. More details on the BC SPCA website.

Sports

The Colorado Avalanche go into tonight’s 3rd game of the Stanley Cup final with a solid 2 games to none lead. Saturday in Denver the Av’s took a big 7-0 shutout as Mikko Rantanen picked up 3 assists. Face off is at 5pm in Tampa.

The Toronto Blue Jays are in Chicago for three games against the White Sox starting later today. On the weekend at home, they dropped further behind the AL-East leading Yankees after losing 2 of 3 games.

The Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 race on an island in Montreal in the St. Lawrence Seaway was won by Max Verstappen, the sixth straight win for the Red Bull team which maintains the championship lead. Canadian Lance Stroll had his best race in a while, finishing 10th.

The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of signing head coach Jay Woodcroft to a three-year deal. Woodcroft took over for Dave Tippett in February and guided Edmonton to a 26-9-3 record down the stretch before leading the club to the conference finals.

An Irishman won the Canadian Open, and yesterday an Englishman won the United States Open golf tournament. Matt Fitzpatrick finished at 6 under par, one shot ahead of 2 Americans. Top Canadian was Adam Hadwin from Abbotsford, at 1 under.