Top Stories – Jan 16 – Hwy 97 Closure

There will be a one hour closure today on Highway 97 North of Summerland. Blasting is planned between Bridgeman Road and North Beach Road for 4.5 kilometres between 1 and 2pm. It’s more preventative work that goes back to a large slide 3 years ago and a smaller one in November.

Anyone who’s been trying to sell a house already knows this. The market correction ended 2022 with the first year-over-year decline for quarterly home prices in more than a decade. Royal LePage says that since last March, rising interest rates have rapidly cooled housing markets across the country.

The record rainfall in California has soaked its steep hillsides, causing hundreds of landslides and heightening the threat to communities. So far the state has not seen another tragedy like the one in 2018 when mudslides roared through Montecito, killing 23 people and wiping out 130 homes.

Supersized growth could lead to a supersized property tax increase for Lake Country taxpayers. RCMP cost increases were triggered when the population passed 15,000. Rising inflation rates are also resulting in escalated cost of services, contracts, and wages throughout the District. Council says the 2023 property tax increase will range somewhere between 10 and 19%.

BC’s top doctor says respiratory illnesses are nearing their peak, but the province isn’t out of the woods yet. Dr. Bonnie Henry said recent lab testing has shown cases of influenza have started to decrease, RSV cases remain high but are starting to plateau, and COVID cases are staying relatively flat. However, Henry said there likely won’t be significant decreases until late February at the earliest.

At least 30 people have died, with dozens injured, amid a Russian missile attack on the city of Dnipro (din-EE-pro) in southeastern Ukraine. A multi-storey residential building, is the site of the worst casualties from a barrage of Russian strikes Saturday. As Moscow’s invasion nears the one year mark, the U.K. prime minister has pledged to give tanks and artillery systems to Ukraine.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said they’re thinking about making vaccination against COVID-19 a part of routine regulations for working in healthcare. The comment came when she said unvaccinated health care workers will not be allowed to return to the job. All that’s needed are the initial 2 doses.

A House of Commons committee plans to take another look at the updated Rogers-Shaw deal. The industry and technology committee plans to meet next week to review the proposed $26 Billion transaction. The day before, the Federal Court of Appeal will hear the Competition Bureau’s appeal of a decision that cleared the way for the Rogers takeover.

Canada’s premiers are calling on Ottawa to take action to strengthen the country’s bail system. It comes amid calls for reform after the killing of a 28-year-old Ontario police Constable. Court documents show that Randall McKenzie had been initially denied bail in a separate case involving assault and weapons charges but was released after a review.

Sports

You mention the name Gino around Canucks fans and they immediately knew who you were talking about. Gino Odjick died on the weekend at 52. In 2014 he was diagnosed with a condition where proteins form deposits on the heart, which eventually leads to the organ ceasing to function.

The Canucks wrapped up their 5 game road trip in Carolina yesterday with a 4-3 shoot out win.

The Kelowna Rockets were in Victoria for two games and lost both of them to drop to 13 wins, 23 losses and 3 overtime losses.

BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke says he’s moving across the continent. It’s believed to be a 3 year contract with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.