Top Stories – May 8 – Casorso Work

Starting today, construction will begin for the Casorso Active Transportation Corridor extension between KLO and Barrera. Expected work hours are 7am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and Casorso will be closed during those times starting between KLO and Lanfranco. Construction should be completed by the end of September.

BC deployed more than 200-thousand sandbags to communities including Grand Forks and Cache Creek as water flows through homes and businesses. Grand Forks has been faring better thanks to a new dyke system. Rain on Friday and Saturday following a week of record-setting temperatures that melted the snowpack left rivers and creeks swollen while triggering mudslides.

A concert celebrating Gordon Lightfoot was held Saturday in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario. It was initially planned months ago as a tribute to a living legend, but served as a celebration of a life well lived. Lightfoot died a week ago in a Toronto hospital at the age of 84.

A good portion of West Kelowna is now under a water quality advisory due to turbidity in Okanagan Lake. Sunnyside/Pritchard, along with Lakeview, all on the Rose Valley system, will stay on the advisory until further notice. The bulk filling station at Shannon Lake and Asquith Roads provides a safe, alternative source of drinking water. Take clean bottles for filling.

The City of Kelowna took in more money than it spent last year ending with a surplus of 12 million dollars. The audit committee is recommending it be put into different reserves to support upcoming projects. In the end, it will be up to council to decide to do with the windfall.

Get ready for a change in Canada’s $20 bill. The government says the image of Queen Elizabeth II will be replaced with one of King Charles III during the next design process, although it wasn’t announced when that would be. The government has also tasked the Mint to design and place an effigy of the King on coins.

After peaking on Friday and Saturday, water discharge in Mission Creek eased a bit yesterday. A flood watch for the Okanagan remains in place, but the situation is not as threatening as it is in places like Grand Forks in the Boundary area. A flood warning remained in place for Whiteman Creek, west of Killiney Beach.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the safety of Albertans is a priority as the province deals with dozens of wildfires that have forced thousands from their homes. Smith said she’s hoping to schedule a call with the Prime Minister soon after a state of emergency was declared. More than 24-thousand people have been forced from their homes by more than 110 wildfires burning across Alberta.

It was a deadly weekend in Texas. On Saturday, a 33 year old gunman who used an AR-15 style rifle and wore combat gear, opened fire on people at a shopping mall near Dallas, killing 8 and injuring more before he was shot and killed by police. Then yesterday, down south in Brownsville, a driver plowed through immigrants near a migrant shelter, killing 8 and injuring at least 10. The driver was taken into custody.

Sports

The Vegas/Oilers NHL playoff series which is tied at 1 win each, moves to Edmonton for game 3 today at 5:30. On Saturday Edmonton won 5-1. And yesterday in Florida, the Panthers beat Toronto 3-2 in OT to take a 3 games to none lead. Next game isn’t until Wednesday.

BC Lions rookies will be arriving in Kamloops over the next couple of days. Their training camp begins on Wednesday with the main camp for the 2023 season starting Sunday.

The Blue Jays are off today after winning all 3 games in Pittsburgh on the weekend.