Top Stories – Nov 23 – City Says No

Kelowna Council did not approve a housing agreement for a 25-storey high-rise being built on the old RCMP detachment site at 350 Doyle. The project is a purpose-built rental, and the agreement suggested an ‘attainable rental rate’ of $2,000 per month for 26 studio apartments of the 259 total. Council unanimously told the developer to come back to with a revised rate.

The Central Okanagan Journey Home’s Shelter Dashboard is now online. It shows beds available at each emergency shelter in Kelowna and lists key info about available outreach services. The joint project with the city can be found on Journey Home Kelowna’s website on the drop down menu.

Retail sales fell 0.5 percent to $61.1 billion in September led by drops at gas stations and food and beverage stores. However, Stats Can said its initial estimate for October pointed to a gain of 1.5 percent, but cautioned it could be revised. Sales for the third quarter were down 1 percent, the first quarterly drop since they fell 11.9 percent in Q-2 of 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Kelowna-Mission’s Renee Merrifield says there are unacceptably long and sometimes tragic wait times for cancer patients in BC. The Liberal MLA says about only one in five patients received their first consultation within the recommended two weeks. She’s calling on the NDP government to fix things along with increased support for oncologists, who she said are forced to leave the province due to a lack of resources as they deal with burnout.

RCMP say the two people who died in a shooting at a Prince Rupert office mall on Monday morning knew each other. They say a woman, who was an employee of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, was killed before the man turned the gun on himself. Police haven’t said what the relationship was between those involved.

BC’s homicide rate jumped nearly 24 percent last year over 2020. Stats Canada says 125 homicides were recorded in the province last year… 39 of them were gang-related.

After being shut down for a month because of annual maintenance, the H20 pool facility in Kelowna is open. Everything, including the indoor waterpark is set to get you wet. All the info you need, including winter camps for kids, is on the H20 website.

Housing will become its own standalone ministry as part of Premier David Eby’s plan to address the housing crisis. Earlier, the government introduced new laws to build the homes people need, make it possible for homes that are vacant to be rented, and remove discriminatory age and rental restrictions in stratas that hurt young families.

A report from the Auditor General flags key areas of concern about the Province’s financial statements. It highlights the accounting of funds from other governments, incomplete disclosures of future contractual obligations and the accounting of a revenue-sharing agreement between the Lotteries Corporation and First Nations. It also provides information such as rising wildfire, flood and landslide costs of $5 billion in 2021- more than the previous 19 years combined.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets are on the road in Seattle tonight looking to extend their 2 game winning streak. Faceoff is at 7:05 with the pregame show at 6:35 on 1047 the Lizard and rocketfan.ca

The Vancouver Canucks are also on the road tonight taking on the Avalanche in Colorado.

Canada has it’s first men’s World Cup soccer game since 1986 at 11 this morning in Qatar against Belgium.

The Toronto Argonauts are hosting a Grey Cup championship rally tomorrow at Maple Leaf Square, just behind Scotiabank Arena.