Top Stories – March 6 – Local Complaints

RCMP in Kelowna and in West Kelowna are under investigation by the province’s police oversight agency for two serious harm complaints. The Independent Investigations Office is looking at the Kelowna RCMP for an incident that happened Feb. 16, 2022, and an incident involving the West Kelowna police last Wednesday. No details were released.

The leader of the BC Conservative party is stepping aside. Trevor Bolin is a Fort St. John city councillor as well as a business man. He has been the leader of the party for almost 4 years.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was as surprised as BC Premier David Eby after a firm received Health Canada licence amendments to produce and sell cocaine. He said Adastra Labs in Langley did not have permission to sell cocaine on the “open market,” while Health Canada said it could only sell to other licence holders.

The provincial government has revealed how much money cities and regional districts will receive from the Growing Communities Fund. Locally, Kelowna will get just over 26 Million dollars, West Kelowna will receive about 10 Million and Peachland is slated for 2.7 Million dollars. The Regional District will get just under 7 Million and can it be used for infrastructure projects or to upgrade community facilities and parks.

BC saw a nearly 10 point decline in building permit values on a monthly basis in January. Stats Can says there was a a total value of $1.75-billion, down 9.6% from December but up 26% from a year ago.

BC is getting a boost to train, recruit and keep French teachers, including supports for local education opportunities. There will be $13.5-million in total from Victoria and Ottawa and half-a-million of that will go to UBCO. It will allow components of the Bachelor of Education to be taught in French, and language development support to students in the program.

A 23 year old woman from Dawson Creek has been killed at a resort near Cancun. The family of Kiara Agnew says it was supposed to be a “dream birthday vacation” to Mexico with her boyfriend. He is in custody and charges are being considered.

Interior Health is urging people to be prepared and extremely cautious in the backcountry, with continued high and considerable avalanche danger forecast in many areas of the Interior. The agency urges everyone thinking of venturing into the backcountry to check avalanche.ca and make conservative choices, avoid dangerous terrain, and consider delaying a trip until conditions are safer.

Automakers know electric vehicles don’t perform as well in cold weather and they are looking to do something about it as EVs become more popular. Traditional heaters drain the batteries a lot faster so scientists are working on battery chemistries that don’t lose as much energy in cold weather as lithium-ion systems. EVs can lose anywhere from 10 to 36% of their range in cold spells.

Sports

The Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers had a home and home series on the weekend and it was not great for the locals as they were outscored 15-3. Prince George is in town on Wednesday.

It’s a later start at Rogers arena tonight. The Canucks host Nashville with the faceoff at 7:30. On Saturday, 2 short-handed goals in the third period lifted Vancouver to a 4-1 win over Toronto.

The Formula 1 season roared into 2023 yesterday with the Bahrain Grand Prix, and the race went pretty much the same as last year did. Max Verstappen took the checkered flag, 12 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.