Ben Low-On - Jan 5, 2025 / 4:05 pm | Story: 525971
Photo: Bush Babes Trail Running
SilverStar Mountain Resort will be the host of multiple outdoor races.
On Jan. 11 2025, Bush Babes & Bros are holding an event filled with multiple snowshoe and fat bike races.
Adults can choose an 11km fat bike and/or 5.5km snowshoe course. There will also be a 2km snowshoe loop for kids to participate in.
“This event is all about encouraging kids to get outside, try something new, and experience the beauty of snowshoeing,” said Dawna Jodoin with Bush Babes Trail Running.
The event starts at 12:30 p.m. and you must bring your own snowshoes.
Volunteers with Vernon Search and Rescue were called upon to rescue two skiers lost on Silver Star Mountain Friday evening.
“Rescue teams on snowmobiles were able to locate the subjects - two young men from out of country - at the Vernon Snowmobile Association chalet. They were found to be safe, dry, uninjured and were reunited with their thankful family,” said a post on the VSAR Facebook page.
“Vernon SAR would like to thank the subjects for keeping calm, activating their SOS alarm on their cellphones when they realized they were lost, and for staying put while waiting for rescue. Also, thanks to the trail groomer operator who helped in the rescue.”
Outdoor enthusiasts are reminded to always be prepared to stay overnight when problems arise. They should also carry emergency equipment including GPS communication devices and backup power sources.
Search and rescue services are free and are ready to answer the call for help on a moment's notice.
Regional District of North Okanagan staff are looking for support from the board to apply for a $30,000 grant – the support will be considered by the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee later this month.
GVAC is an RDNO committee that brings its decisions to the district Board of Directors for final approval, both are made up of elected officials from RDNO member municipalities.
The $30,000 Water Conservation and Quality Improvement (WQCI) grant would come from the Okanagan Water Basin Board (OBWB). A total of $350,000 is available from the WQCI and individual projects can request a minimum of $3,000 to maximum of $30,000.
Each project must be endorsed by the applicable regional district.
The RDNO utilities department is hoping to use the $30k for a land and water quality impact assessment of the Coldstream Creek Watershed at the point of Noble Canyon Road to Kalamalka Lake.
Staff estimate the maximum cost for the project will be $60,000 but the final cost will be determined once the request for proposals is issued.
If successful, the OBWB WQCI grant would fund 50 per cent of the assessment and the remainder would come from the Greater Vernon Water (GVW) operations budget.
The need for the assessment stem from concerns over land use changes, particularly increasing algae blooms and bacterial counts at Coldstream beaches, and the impact to drinking water.
The assessment would identify potential impacts and develop policies and potentially update bylaws to reduce impacts to Coldstream Creek and Kalamalka Lake.
"GVW is seeking to update the risk assessment and move forward on actions identified by the Watershed Assessment Response Plan for the North Kalamalka Lake Intake/Coldstream Creek watershed to protect water quality and quantity," reads the report.
"Having a source water protection plan is a requirement of the GVW permit to operate issued by Interior Health and has been recently highlighted in the past few years, water quality in Coldstream Creek directly impacts the drinking water for most of the domestic uses in GVW."
The endorsement will be discussed at the Jan. 8 GVAC meeting.
Smoke may be visible near Eastside Road next week as brush pile burning is underway.
The City of Vernon says Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) and Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) will be conducting brush pile burns near the south end of Eastside Road.
The burns will take place in a controlled environment and will be part of ongoing wildland fire mitigation efforts.
Taking place as early as Jan. 8,tThe burns will also coincide with further SenseNet testing – the early wildland fire detection system.
The burns will take place in a controlled environment, starting as early as Wednesday, January 8, and will coincide with further testing of SenseNet, an early wildland fire detection system.
“Residents and visitors in the area are advised that smoke may be visible during this testing period,” said the City in a news release.
“The City appreciates the community’s understanding and cooperation as it continues to implement proactive measures to enhance wildfire resiliency and safety.”
For the second time this winter, scammers are attempting to use the Vernon Winter Carnival name to get money from people.
Reports on social media say the new scam used social media messenger to request money via etransfer for a balloon ride booking during the carnival. The VWC says rides are only booked through Okanagan Ballooning and they will never request payments through social media or from personal email addresses.
Following the reports, the Vernon Winter Carnival is once again advising people to call the VWC office at 250-545-2236, if in doubt.
“It seems Winter Carnival is the target of a few scams happening this year,” said the group on Facebook.
VWC is reminding people of the previous scam, which targeted food trucks and vendors in the community. Someone was claiming to be with VWC and asking vendors to fill out a google form and send $120/day to register as a vendor or food truck for all 10-days of Carnival. The person doing so was/is not involved with VWC.
Any communication about vendors or food trucks or any events associated with Vernon Winter Carnival come from the organization directly, not from personal email addresses.
“Please DO NOT send anyone money. They are NOT affiliated in ANY WAY with Vernon Winter Carnival,” reads the Facebook post.
Vehicles fully engulfed in flames spread to the apartment building above it before being put out by Vernon Fire Rescue Services, Friday morning.
At about 7 a.m. this morning, VFRS were sent to reports of a vehicle fire in a covered car park.
Crews arrived at a residential building in the 3600 block of 30th Ave, across from the Schubert centre, and found two vehicles fully engulfed in flames with the fire extending into the building above.
The vehicle was extinguished and the building evacuated as a precaution while firefighters worked to contain and extinguish the fire that had spread to three suites.
During the incident, residents told fire crews that not all occupants were accounted for. Firefighters conducted a thorough sweep of the building and safely assisted two residents out of the structure.
“Several suites sustained extensive fire, smoke, and water damage,” said a release from the city. “Vernon Emergency Support Services (ESS) has been activated to assist residents who have been temporarily displaced.”
There are no reports of injuries.
For the safety of crews and residents, 30th Avenue between 37th Street and 31st Avenue was closed for several hours.
BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), RCMP, and BC Hydro also attended the scene. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
ORIGINAL 9:49 a.m.
An unknown incident brought emergency crews to 30th Avenue near the Schubert Centre, Friday morning.
Castanet received multiple reports of Vernon Fire Rescue Service and police on scene. The reason for the presence is unclear at this time.
City spokesperson Josh Winquist said information will be released shortly, but the incident was not at the Schubert Centre.
Sources say an Enderby long-term care facility could nearly lose half of its care aides following a staffing restructure this month.
Interior Health confirmed it’s implementing a new staffing rotation for care aides at the Parkview Place long-term care facility as of Jan. 17.
Castanet spoke to two sources who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution – both say the changes could mean as many as half the care aides at the centre will be forced to find other jobs or retire early.
According to an inside source, care aides will soon have to work all kinds of shifts: morning, day and night. Previously, they were able to work shifts that fit their schedule.
IH says the shift is to provide the highest quality of care for the individuals who live in the care home.
“The change will increase direct care hours for residents by adding an additional full-time position to our current total staffing and foster consistent relationships between residents and caregivers,” said IH in an email.
But sources say the move could leave current, local, care aides out of work, providing less care to residents. One example of how: anyone with children is unable to work the morning shift as no daycares are open that early, but the new staffing model is expected to force staff to work all manner of shifts.
Some care aides already know they won’t be able to continue working under the new schedule, and the facility already struggles with staffing.
On top of that, January is a tough time for casual care aides as people don’t want to drive from Vernon or Salmon Arm.
When asked what kind of recourse staff have in regards to this change, IH said “all changes comply with collective agreements, with processes in place for union staff to raise concerns.”
The health authority also said it’s meeting with families to provide accurate information about the adjusted rotation.
An anonymous staff source says they’re not opposed to a schedule change, just the new one they’ve been given, which they believe will impact care residents receive.
The Upper Room Mission is highlighting the turn around of one of its clients turned volunteers.
In a post to its webpage, the group introduced Guy who’d been homeless and unable to access most social services in town.
“His mental health was declining rapidly, and The Mission was one of the only places left where he could find support,” reads the post. “That year was especially difficult for him—he was arrested multiple times for minor infractions and eventually spent two months in jail.
Guy returned to The Mission upon his release with a changed attitude. According to the group he was ready to step out of homelessness and reunite with his wife and child.
The Mission connected him to the services he needed and provided counselling to help him rebuild relationships.
Now, two-and-a-half years later the organization says Guy is thriving, sober and living independently with his wife and daughter.
He’s become the regular driver at the Upper Room Mission, picking up groceries and donations from our community partners.
“His journey is a testament to the power of hope, perseverance, and the transformative love that can emerge even in the toughest circumstances,” said the URM.
Upper Room said stories of transformation can often go untold.
The group aims to serve people during a “critical moment in their journey, connecting them with organizations that provide housing, mental health care, and other essential services to support their long-term well-being.”
Friends of the Library members packing books for sale on Jan. 17 and 18.
The Vernon Friends of the Library are holding a special fiction book sale this month.
The sale takes place Jan. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Jan. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Okanagan Regional Library Vernon Branch.
Books will cost $2 per book or 10 for $10.
This sale is an “after Christmas treat” outside of the group's normal book sales.
The Vernon Friends of the Library main event is a large annual book sale which happens the first weekend of May every year.
Proceeds of Friends of the Library sales go to the Okanagan Regional Library with a portion going directly to the Vernon branch. The money is used for non-budget items like specialized furniture, decorations for the kids department, plants and adult programming.
It was a busy year for the BX Swan Lake fire crew, but Fire Chief Bill Wacey says calls decreased slightly from a record-breaking year in 2023.
“Overall, we had a pretty busy year in the sense of all the different emergency calls that we attend to and the whole gambit everything for medical calls to motor vehicle incidences, wildfires, a couple of structure fires and everything else, all in between, carbon monoxide calls, a couple that were serious. It's been a busy year for us,” said Wacey.
BX Swan Lake firefighters helped out on wildfires throughout the province as part of the provincial apparatus program, or interagency agreement, where fire chiefs help support each other in times of need.
“We support the program by listing the apparatus that we can afford to leave our area to render assistance to any part of the province that's in an extreme level of fire behaviour or bad weather indices when it comes to heat and everything else,” said Wacey.
“We were deployed seven times throughout the province with our different types of wildfire engines along with crews, structure protection crews. Our structure protection trailer was also deployed out to Sheltand Creek area, the Ashcroft area for the first big event of the season.”
A challenge for BX Swan Lake crews was dealing with hazmat issues as some fires involved hazardous materials.
“A couple of homeless camps that we dealt with, which was certainly a lot less than the previous year, but there was some circumstances in which we always have to approach with more caution because it's the unknown quantity of hazardous materials.”
Wacey said the mutual aide agreement with surrounding fire departments like Coldstream, Spallumcheen, Vernon and Armstrong means crews can call each other for help when needed.
As for what to expect in 2025, Wacey said it’s hard to say but the North Okanagan is an extreme risk area and climate change is here, and the BX Swan Lake Crew is always taking training to ensure its prepared.
“We are always anticipating more challenges when it comes to wildfires, but at the same time, we’re set up pretty good in the North Okanagan with quick expectation,” said Wacey.
The crew hired five new recruits who’ve just completed their training. Wacey is expecting some retriments in the group and is looking to hire some more on-call firefighters.
“It's a large commitment, but at the end of the day it certainly is something that when people dial 911, they expect professional firefighters to show up. We make sure that we are successful with that,” said Wacey.
Vernon Fire Rescue declined to speak to Castanet and Coldstream Fire Department did not respond to request for comment.
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