Vernon will be hosting an amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) and kickboxing event this summer.The Okanagan Fighting Championship will be held Saturday, July 6 at the Vernon Curling Club. The event will feature title fights involving local MMA fighters including Rylie "Coyote" Marchand (Unity MMA and Kickboxing ...

The Vernon Fish and Game Club invites the public to visit the club's shooting range as part of National Range Day on Saturday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be demonstrations of shooting sports and the opportunity to participate in archery and shooting pistols and rifles at a variety of interactive targets. ...

A wine bottle is believed to have been the item that killed a woman after a bloody altercation with another woman in a Vernon hotel room four years ago.Paige Courtney Howse, 30, was in B.C. Supreme Court in Vernon Friday for a sentencing hearing after she pled guilty last September to manslaughter in the death of 33-ye...

For the first time in league history, a player has been granted exceptional status in the BC Hockey League (BCHL) and will receive early eligibility in the league.Eli McKamey from Cowichan Bay, B.C., who was born in 2009, has committed to play for the Penticton Vees for the 2024-25 season.Without the exceptional status...

The City of Vernon and Tourism Vernon are working together with a goal of improving relationships between tourism staff and local attractions.As part of the annual Familiarization Tour Day, front-line staff will get first-hand experiences at local tourism attractions. This year's event will see participants, mainly mad...

Residents within the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) are encouraged to conserve water as the region prepares for another hot and dry summer.Greater Vernon Water's latest water supply update stated reservoir levels "are significantly below average for this time of year," pointing to a slower melt in...

A sentencing hearing is set for Friday in a Vernon manslaughter case.Paige Courtney Howse was originally charged with the second degree murder of Alishia Lemp after Howse was arrested in Surrey in September of 2021 after an 18-month police investigation.The victim's body was found in a Vernon hotel room in February 202...

The District of Coldstream has set the record straight about how much of the tax burden lakefront properties account for.District staff say at council's April 22, 2024 meeting, a member of the public had questions regarding the percentage of property taxes that lakefront properties pay to the district, having heard tha...

The B.C. government is taking steps to prevent invasive species from entering the province's waterways.Effective Friday, May 17, it will be illegal to transport watercraft across the borders and into British Columbia with the drain plug still in place."This order is part of our ongoing actions to contain and preve...

The Okanagan Basin is now ranked at Drought Level 2.The B.C. River Forecast Centre raised the valley's drought rating on Thursday, May 16.The Level 2, or "Very Dry" conditions, are defined as "not posing a likely adverse impact to the socio-economic or ecosystem values," but the provincial agency st...

Coldstream may see more mobile vendors after council approved a new high-profile site for that commercial activity on College Way, across from the Greater Vernon Athletics Park.District staff say a vendor had been operating a mobile fruit stand for several years in that parking lot/pull-out area near Reservoir Road, wi...

The agency that oversees police actions is investigating a death in the North Okanagan.The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) opened a probe into the death of a person in Lumby.The IIO only stated the incident occurred on Dec. 18, 2023, and allegedly involved the RCMP in Lumby.No other details were provide...

The Kelowna RCMP have reopened Highway 97 northbound at Edwards Road following a two-vehicle collision at around 9:15 a.m. Thursday. As of 10 a.m., police said traffic was moving again. No details on the incident were released. Crash closes northbound lanes on Highway 97 9:30 a.m. RCMP are on the scene of a two-vehicle...

A campaign aimed at attracting skilled workers and business-people to Vernon has landed the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce a provincial award.The British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) held its 2024 awards at the Penticton Lakeside Resort and Conference Centre.The Greater Vernon Chamber won the E...

A proposal by a Vernon councillor for municipal organizations to stop accepting fossil fuel sponsorships fell short at a local leaders convention, but that might not be the end of it.Councillor Brian Guy issued a proposal at the recent Southern Interior Local Government Association that called for fossil fuel industry ...

The mountain passes on area highways could get some spring snow.Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for several area highways, including the Okanagan Connector, Coquihalla, and Highway 1's Rogers Pass.The agency said a cool air mass could settle in higher elevations of the Interior, bringing precipita...

First responders were on the scene of a crash in the Vernon area this afternoon (May 15).Dispatch reports say a vehicle went off Pottery Road in the 1000-block and rolled just before 3 p.m., with one person taken for treatment by BC Ambulance."BC Emergency Health Services says it one of its primary care paramedic ...

There is labour peace at the District of Coldstream.The municipality and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have ratified a new three-year collective agreement that will be in effect from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026. CUPE Local 626 represents 37 inside and outside workers at the District of Coldstre...

A milestone has been celebrated for the North Okanagan Shuswap Rail Trail.A grand opening event was held May 10 to commemorate the completion of the Enderby-Splatsin pilot section of the trail at the new trailhead parking area in Enderby. The two-kilometre stretch marks the first fully constructed phase of the project,...

A range of social agencies and service providers in Vernon, Kelowna and the Okanagan are getting a financial boost thanks to some provincial grants.The province announced the recipients of the 2023-24 Civil Forfeiture Grants, with a total of $8.2-million going to service providers in B.C., with a focus on aiding progra...

The B.C. Wildfire Service is adding to its regional fire bans ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend.The provincial firefighting service will prohibit Category 2 burning in the Kamloops Fire Centre, which includes the Okanagan and Shuswap, effective noon Friday, May 17.Small campfires will still be allowed.The ban, add...

April was another slow month for new housing construction in Greater Vernon.Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported just 13 housing starts in Vernon in April of 2024. While up from the six starts in March, April's figure was less that a fifth of the 67 housing starts recorded locally in the same month i...

The City of Vernon will be taking action to reduce the risk of wildfires, and is encouraging others to do the same.FireSmart work is planned for city-owned lands, and members of the public are invited to an information session to learn about the process."By taking proactive measures now, we're not only protecting ...

Armstrong and Spallumcheen have both implemented Stage 2 water restrictions which take effect at 12 p.m. Wednesday (May 15)."These restrictions are in place as we switch our water source to our wells due to increased water turbidity in Fortune Creek due to spring run-off," a City of Armstrong news release sta...

Coldstream council deferred the irrigation project in Sovereign Park by reallocating the funding for the project to the irrigation works for the sports fields in Coldstream Park. When the Sovereign irrigation project is considered, additional trees in that park will be discussed. Council also decided to leave the curre...

Restorative Justice had a busy year mediating meetings and fostering agreements in 2023.The program, run through the Canadian Mental Health Association Vernon and District branch (CMHA Vernon), coordinates meetings between the victims and perpetrators of small local crimes, and tries to get the parties to come to an ag...

The curtain is about to go up on the next chapter for an iconic Vernon venue.The Towne Theatre on 30th Avenue holds its grand reopening event on Thursday, May 16, after a seven-week closure for a major renovation.The upgraded Towne Theatre reopens on May 16 after seven-week closure (Vernon Matters photo)"We are ve...

Expect to see more police vehicles and traffic enforcement on the roads for the Victoria Day long weekend, which is considered the unofficial start to the tourism season in the Okanagan.It's part of Canada Road Safety Week, a national campaign to encourage safe driving to save lives and reduce injuries on Canadian road...