Top Stories – Aug 10 – Ellis Closure

Starting today for about 2 weeks, Ellis Street will be closed between Rosemead and Buckland avenues, south of the highway. Construction will be done Wednesday to Saturday from 7am to 5pm. It’s for Mill Creek Bridge rehabilitation and is happening during the summer for the lowest impact to fish and their habitat.

A pilot program this summer is connecting employers with seasonal domestic workers looking for employment in Okanagan orchards and vineyards. BC Fruit Works is seeing early success, securing 90 branch hands for fruit-harvest jobs and 60 farmers interested in training and adopting technology to maximize profit and minimize food waste. Links at bcfruitworks.com .

Kamloops RCMP say a man has been charged after a Friday carjacking that led to a taxi cab landing on its roof. When officers located the suspect and tried to stop him, the cab sped away, hitting two other vehicles before landing upside down. The suspect ran off, but was arrested nearby with the help of the Police Dog Service Unit.

There was no late update on the size of the Keremeos Creek wildfire between Keremeos and Kaleden that was last estimated at about 68-hundred hectares. Much of the recent growth has come from planned ignitions. By comparison, the Mt. Law wildfire in West Kelowna last year was 976 hectares. Highway 3A continues to be closed, so Highway 97 to Osoyoos is the alternate to get to Highway 3.

Three years after new rules came into force, the regulator overseeing Canadian airlines has not issued any fines related to passenger compensation claims for flight delays and cancellations. Airlines including Air Canada and WestJet have denied payments on the basis of crew shortages. They claim that makes the reason a safety issue exempt from compensation, despite the agency’s stance that lack of staff typically falls within the airline’s control and therefore should result in compensation.

After 2 years Boeing has been given the green light by regulators to resume delivery of its 787 jets. Production of the big, twin-aisle aircraft has been marred by several problems including gaps between panels of the carbon-composite skin, and use of unapproved titanium parts from a supplier in Italy. About 120 have been parked while Boeing tried to fix things.

RCMP are saying there was no foul play involved in a drowning at Swim Bay in Peachland on Monday. A man went into the lake about 2 in the afternoon and disappeared. The on-duty lifeguard was able to locate and get him out, but despite the best efforts of the guard and first responders, he could not be revived.

BC is increasing funding incentives for businesses to $10 million to develop products to reduce plastic pollution. The projects to be selected for the funding will be based on their ability to reduce the use of new plastic or increase the use of post-consumer recycled plastic. Plascon Plastics says earlier funding helped it create the first child-safe cannabis container made from 100 percent recycled plastic.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is working hard to meet its year-end deadline to deliver dental care coverage to kids, but says that providing new services is ‘complicated.’ Some groups say the Liberals are working on a temporary solution to give money directly to qualifying families. Ottawa set aside 5.3 Billion dollars over five years in the last budget to pay for the program.

Sports

Canada has the first of its 4 preliminary round games today at the World Junior Hockey Tournament in Edmonton. Face off against Latvia at Rogers Place is at 3. Yesterday in their first game against Finland, Latvia lost 6-1. Quarter and semi-finals begin next week with the medal games on the 20th.

Meantime, Hockey Canada named Andrea Skinner interim chair of its board of directors. The Cornell alumna and former athlete is a partner at a Toronto law firm where she serves as the chair of its diversity and inclusion committee. She’ll preside until the end of the current board’s term in November.

The Carolina Hurricanes will be without one of their prized offseason acquisitions until around midseason. Winger Max Pacioretty will undergo surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon today and is expected to be sidelined for six months.

Serena Williams says she’s ready to retire from tennis at the end of the summer. In an essay for Vogue Magazine, the 40 year old who has won 23 Grand Slam titles and 4 Olympic Gold Medals, says she’ll wrap things up after the US Open in September.

The home of the Cincinnati Bengals will no longer carry the name of team founder and NFL pioneer Paul Brown. Paycor, a Cincinnati-based provider of human resources software, has bought the rights. Team owner Mike Brown, the 86-year-old son of Paul said it was necessary for the Bengals to be able to compete as a small-market team.