Top Stories – Apr 18 – Local Lotto Winners

Two cousins living in Kelowna scored a $5-million Lotto 6/49 jackpot prize earlier this month. Duc and Hoa Nguyen plan to travel to Vietnam to surprise other family members and pass along some of their good fortune. Living in Kelowna, they also plan to purchase a boat and one of the cousins will be hoping to buy a house.

A charge against a Vernon man accused of pointing a laser at a passing airplane has been stayed. Blake Everett Dergez had been accused under the Aeronautics Act of endangering the safety or security of an aircraft in flight. The BC Prosecution Service says the likelihood of a conviction was not enough to continue the case.

The country’s largest federal public service union says if a deal isn’t reached with the federal government by 6pm our time tonight, it will go on strike tomorrow. The Public Service Alliance of Canada says 155,000 employees are prepared to walk off the job, including 35,000 from Canada Revenue Agency. The biggest sticking point in the talks appears to be pay increases, as the union is calling for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Two men appeared in court yesterday after a wild incident involving a stolen truck where a police car was just about nailed during the pursuit. It started on Gemini Road near Springfield and involved a lot of erratic driving, curb hopping and near collisions with several other vehicles before ending in the median on Highway 97 by Pandosy. The driver, who was known to police was arrested immediately while the passenger ran off but was caught with the assistance of a police dog.

Rogers Communications is moving about 300 Shaw call centre jobs based overseas to Canada. They will be located in BC, Alberta and Manitoba. It’s part of Ottawa’s requirement that Rogers create 3,000 new jobs in Western Canada as part of its $26-billion purchase of Shaw.

Slovakia has joined Poland and Hungary in banning food imports from Ukraine. It comes in response to rising anger from farmers who say an abundant supply of grain in their countries is causing them economic hardship. The bans also deepen the challenge for the European Union as it works to help Ukraine transport its grain to world markets.

It’s Earth week and to celebrate, the Glenmore Landfill is giving every household with a green thumb one free yard of OgoGrow compost. Take a truck or trailer to the landfill between 8am and 4pm on Saturday. Need more than a yard? You can buy some, as well as GlenGrow compost.

Vancouver International Airport has released a 40 million dollar plan that hopefully will prevent future chaos due to snow storms. Over 1,300 flights were cancelled or delayed, and 180,000 people had their travel disrupted between Dec. 17 and 28. The action plan will add new staff, improve training, better leverage technology, increase communication and invest in additional equipment.

At least one public policy expert says CBC should leave Twitter after the social media giant labelled its main account as “government-funded media.” Vass Bednar, the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society at McMaster University says an exit from Twitter would be an opportunity for CBC to refresh the public’s understanding of how its funded. The corporation has not tweeted from its main account since the new label was applied.

Sports

The Calgary Flames and general manager Brad Treliving have agreed that he’s done. The Flames hired the 53-year-old in April 2014 and he had been the team’s senior vice president of hockey operations.

Cam Talbot’s time with the Ottawa Senators is all but over. GM Pierre Dorion says he offered the unrestricted free agent a one-year deal, but the netminder wanted two.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen Hurts agreed to a five-year extension. The deal is worth $255 million and will make the quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history.