Top Stories – Jan 5 – Deep Snowpack

In many cases, you have to look no further than your front yard. The Okanagan has experienced a snowier than normal start to the winter, according to the BC River Forecast Centre. The regions with the highest average snow pack are Boundary at 147 per cent above normal, and Okanagan at 125 per cent.

Each year the 9-1-1 call centre releases its Top 10 list of calls that should not have been made to 9-1-1. Some of them last year included: someone cut in line at the car wash, kids were drawing with chalk at a playground, they had a broken windshield wiper, and the gas pump nozzle wasn’t working. They remind us that 9-1-1 is for actual emergencies.

European Union regulators hit Facebook parent Meta with a 390 Million Euro, or 558 Million Canadian dollar fine for privacy violations. It also banned the company from forcing users in the 27-nation bloc to agree to personalized ads based on their online activity. A decision in a third case involving Meta’s WhatsApp is expected later this month.

An off duty Kelowna RCMP officer in his own car, is credited with helping a bylaw officer take down a guy in a stolen car. The cop saw the bylaw guy running after the vehicle and picked him up and followed the car. It stopped in a lane behind the library where the suspect got out and ran off, but was chased down by the off-duty officer and arrested. He faces charges of impaired driving and theft.

The past year saw fewer criminal cases in Interior courts but the time to process those cases rose. The Provincial Court Annual Report shows 44,264 cases in 2021-22, down about 2,500 from the previous year. 91 percent of rulings were issued within 540 days compared to the 5 year average of 95 percent.

Twitter says it will ease up on its 3-year-old ban on political advertising. It’s the latest change by Elon Musk as he tries to pump up revenue after purchasing the platform last year. Twitter banned all political advertising in 2019, reacting to growing concern about misinformation spreading on social media.

The guardian of a two year old who stuck her arm through a chain link fence into the bear enclosure at the Vancouver Zoo in Langley is suing the zoo and the company that owns it. The suit claims the girl’s arm was mauled and she lost part of a finger. It alleges negligence and that the defendants knew prior to the attack that the bears had been “vicious” toward people.

The chair of the House of Commons transport committee called for Sunwing and Via Rail to publicly explain what caused the travel nightmare for thousands of Canadians over the holidays. Via was a big deal back east. Hundreds of people were stranded in Mexico after Sunwing cancelled their flights, leaving passengers scrambling and accusing the company of not communicating well.

Some folks in Seattle won’t be too thrilled with this name. BC health officials are monitoring the new, highly-contagious “Kraken” strain of COVID-19. It’s causing a spike in global infections, especially south of the border. However while it has been detected in BC, experts in the U.S. say there is no indication that this variant causes more severe illness.

Sports

Today is medal day at the world junior hockey championships in Halifax. Conner Bedard and Canada will play Kelowna Rocket Gabriel Szturc and Czechia for gold at 3:30. Canada beat the U-S 6-2 yesterday. The States will be playing Sweden for bronze at 11:30.

The Vancouver Canucks will try and break a 3 game losing streak tonight when they host Colorado.

Damar Hamlin’s recovery is moving in “a positive direction” according to a family spokesperson. The news comes after the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati.