Kelowna News

The road leading to the summit of Knox Mountain Park will re-open to vehicle traffic Saturday, March 20.

The park will be open to vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Knox Mountain Road has been closed to vehicles since Dec. 7, when weather conditions made driving on the steep, winding road hazardous.

For more information about Knox Mountain and other municipal parks, go online to the City of Kelowna website.

The Kelowna Community Food Bank was the big winner during the Detroit Red Wings visit to the Central Okanagan.

Two practices at Prospera Place Wednesday and Thursday netted nearly $40,000 worth of food and another $3,700 in cash donations for the food bank.

About 10,000 fans stopped by Prospera Place to watch the NHL go through a series of brisk practices over the two days.

The Wings spent three days in Kelowna during a four day break in the NHL schedule.

They left for Edmonton immediately following Thursday's practice.

“We’re very proud of the way Kelowna responded to the Red Wings time here in Kelowna,” says vice president of business development Gavin Hamilton.

“To be able to help the food bank out at this time is really special. We thank everyone who donated food or cash. The visit by Detroit was outstanding.

“This was a team effort by everyone involved,” said Hamilton. "The Red Wings were very happy with their stay."

Open burning will continue within the City of Kelowna despite a decision in West Kelowna to bring an end to the burning season.

The decision by fire officials in West Kelowna comes just a day after fire crews fought two small brush fires, both believed to have been started when strong winds whipped up legal burning piles.

Regional fire chiefs met to discuss the matter Thursday morning.

For the moment, Kelowna Fire Chief Rene Blanleil says the status quo will be maintained, however, he says fire officials will keep a close eye on some of the more than 100 burning permits that are still active within city boundaries.

"If they are existing problem open burns, if they are new permits or if they are outside of agricultural burning for prunings only, those piles are getting inspected," says Blanleil.

"We are trying to balance allowing people to be able to remove the hazard when it is safe to do so, without obviously getting into a situation where one of the open burns gets out of control. As we sit right now, we haven't had one of our open burns get away."

Blanleil says most of the permits are agricultural in nature while other are for beetle kill and bug kill burns scheduled.

He says those piles are being inspected.

"We will be monitoring it because we don't want to have a situation get out of control at our open burns and the public needs to be very aware of that."

As long as people follow the guidelines pertaining to open burning, Blanleil feels there will be no problems.

While conditions in the forests are dry, Blanleil says conditions are different depending where you happen to be.

"There was snow in some parts of Joe Rich this morning, so you can see the westside of the lake is drier than normal and we've got snow in some of the elevations of Joe Rich, so that's the balance and the trade off that we will see."

The Canadian Cancer Society is hoping daffodils will do for them what poppies have done for the Legion.

Thursday, officials with the CCS's Interior Region unveiled their newest marketing tool which they hope will help the fight against cancer: a simple lapel pin shaped like a daffodil.

The pretty white and yellow pin is part of the CCS's Daffodil Campaign which runs Canada-wide from March 18 to April 30.

Coordinator for the CCS Interior Region, Aidan Cole, says B.C. is the first province to use a pin campaign in the fight against cancer.

“We are the first provincial office to do this, we are hoping it will have a similar effect as the yearly poppy campaign done by the Legion. We will have the pins available by little donation boxes, people just drop in some change and take a pin to show that they support people who are fighting this disease,” says Cole.

She says they have 35,000 pins to be distributed throughout the Interior region.

“We want them on as many lapels as possible. When someone who is fighting cancer sees them, we want them to know that they are not going through their struggles alone.”

Kelowna deputy mayor Charlie Hodge was a part of Thursday morning's unveiling as a representative of the City.

On behalf of Mayor Sharon Shepherd, he read a proclamation declaring April 2010 as Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month in Kelowna.

“I know it sounds cliché, but I am really honoured to be a part of this. Like so many Canadians, cancer has affected my life. My mother fought it and I had a struggle with it several years ago,” says Hodge.

He says there can never be enough done to get on top of cancer.

Upcoming events in support of the Canadian Cancer Society include:

March 27 and 28 - Volunteers will be at various locations in the Kelowna area accepting donations for cut daffodils. Locations: Save on Foods, Extra Foods, and Mission Mall.

April 1 - The beginning of the Door to Door residential campaign. Volunteer canvassers will be wearing the daffodil pin as they make their way through neighbourhoods requesting donations. This campaign will run until April 30.

April 10 - The 6th annual Gala of Hope will be held at the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort.

The School District 23 Board of Education knew they would face a shortfall in their 2010-2011 budget.

Now, they know the extent of the damage.

The province has announced it will provide the district with about $167.1M in operating capital for the coming school year, an increase of $2.9M over last year.

They are also picking up the tab for teacher salary increases and full day kindergarten, however, board chair Rolli Cacchioni says there are additional costs the district has to incur.

"For instance, there is the teacher pension cost increase of 1.04%, there is an increased cost to health and dental benefits, an increased cost to the municipal pension plan for CUPE workers and increased cost to MSP premiums," says Cacchioni.

"There were a number of things that weren't covered when they gave us the money for full time kindergarten and the teacher increase."

This is the third straight year provincial funding has been short of operating requirements.

In the two previous years, SD23 has faced budget shortfalls of $4.4 million and $3 million. That amounts to $11.9M over three years.

Last year, in an effort to maintain core programs in the classroom, the district asked parents to shell out $20 per student per month for busing as one way to make up the $3 million shortfall in the 2009-2010 budget.

Cacchioni says the board will look at everything from ways to become even more efficient to ways of raising money.

"The provincial government told us we need to do some entrepreneurial things and one of the biggest things we have thought about is the International Education program -- attracting students from overseas and charging them fees in the neighbourhood of $10,000 to $12,000. We are also looking at increasing our rentals of facilities, things like that."

The board chair says, while he and the board are grateful the government has increased funding by $2.9M, funded the teacher increases and full day kindergarten and reinstated the Annual Facilities Grant, he is frustrated more cuts may need to be made.

"It's frustrating in the fact that the government has said they want us to be the most educated jurisdiction in Canada. The school boards keep working trying to increase our graduation rates, trying to increase our literacy and then we don't get enough money to do the job we need to do."

Cacchioni says the Finance and Legal Committee will be looking at ways to make up the $4.5M shortfall.

He says the board is also looking for input from partner groups as well.

"We've asked the teacher's union, the CUPE union, Central Okanagan Parent's Advisory Council and the Principal and Vice-Principal Association to give us some suggestions. Give us what you think needs to be done, we'll take that, get recommendations from administration and the committee will make a final decision to recommend to the board."

The board is expected to approve a final budget in late April.

This year marks the second year of the City’s pesticide use regulation bylaw and its 'Be Pesticide Free' education campaign.

“The ‘Be Pesticide Free’ campaign continues to help residents learn how to create healthy yards without the use of pesticides,” says Summer Bracey, Marketing and Communications Coordinator.

“The education campaign is designed to help with the implementation of the pesticide bylaw that regulates use of cosmetic, non-essential pesticides on residential properties. The bylaw came into effect on January 1, 2009.”

City staff will attend a combination of events and retailers throughout the spring and summer to provide information directly to residents.

The City’s website will also host a number of different information brochures and fact sheets, plus helpful external links.

Topics include managing pests, weeds, aphids, powdery mildew and fruit pests in residential yards.

Another pamphlet explains how to read a pesticide label and determine which pesticides are permitted by the bylaw.

“Residents can apply for a one-time exemption to deal with infestations they cannot get under control using natural measures by calling 250-469-8470,” says Bracey. “However, we will want to ensure people have done everything they can before resorting to pesticides.”

Other exemptions from the bylaw include certified pesticide applicators, backyard fruit trees, pests that transmit human diseases, noxious weeds, noxious insects, City of Kelowna lands and exempted pesticides such as acetic acid, dormant oil and safer soaps.

The City of Kelowna Parks Department has reduced its pesticide use by 90 per cent over the last 10 years and in 2008 was the first municipality to become PlantHealthBC accredited.

Playgrounds are not sprayed and most park areas receive no spraying at all.

The majority of pest management activity is now done through the use of proper design and horticultural practices, as well as through mechanical, biological and cultural controls.

Provincial regulations currently allow cosmetic pesticides to be sold by retailers.

However, some local retailers have opted to voluntarily take them off their shelves to support the numerous pesticide bylaws in Canada.

The City is hopeful that new provincial legislation will further restrict the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides.

Year round disposal of pesticides with a PCP number and Poison Symbol is available at the Battery Doctors at 1972 Windsor Road.

Products with a PCP number and Corrosive Symbol can be disposed of at the annual Household Hazardous Waste Roundup.

For more information, visit the “Pesticide” webpage at the City website or call (250)469-8500.

B.C.'s attorney general thinks it's high time media cameras were allowed into the province's courtrooms.

Mike DeJong has told local station CHBC he'll push for routine access for cameras to cover B.C. court proceedings.

The AG says the public has the right to see how the courts operate, and having camera coverage would be a good way to de-mystify the court process.

"It may have been fine in 1850 or 1930 to close that big oak door" says DeJong, referring to B.C.'s historic court procedures "to pretend it was a different universe, but it's not."

DeJong says the public has a right to know what happens in courtrooms, so the procedures can be better understood.

Cameras are traditionally banned from active courtrooms in this province, except for formal occasions like the introduction of a new judge.

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Kelowna RCMP are looking for a man who attempted to break into a second floor home early Tuesday morning.

Constable Steve Holmes says a man climbed onto the second floor balcony of a fourplex on Wyndham Crescent in Glenmore shortly before 1 a.m.

"He tried to open the door, the woman woke up, turned on the light and he jumps down and runs away," says Holmes.

He says the woman described the man as Caucasian, medium build wearing black.

She didn't get a look at his face.

Holmes says police dogs were unable to pick up a scent, however, police did interview a man who was across the street at the time.

He says police consider the man, who lives in the area, a person of interest but have no evidence to make an arrest.

The man accused of luring teen-aged girls on the Internet has pleaded guilty.

Eric Raymond Morneau, who was set to stand trial on charges of trying to lure a child over the Internet, pled guilty earlier this week.

No date has been set for sentencing.

Morneau, 33, was arrested in the fall of 2008 after attempting to lure a 14-year-old he met on the social networking website Facebook.

He used the on-line alias 'Doc Raymond.'

The victim's parents first alerted police after discovering dialogue on their computer between their daughter and 'Doc Raymond.'

He had been passing himself off as a 22-year-old man.

The mother of the victim went so far as to pretend she was her daughter in order to obtain information, including Morneau's picture.

Link: Accused Facebook predator in court Link: Alleged Internet perv charged

The Kelowna Fire Department responded to a fire on a second story balcony of a four story apartment building on Sutton Crescent in Glenmore at about 6:45 Tuesday night.

The fire appears to have been caused by carelessly discarded smoking materials.

Assistant fire chief Lou Wilde says the fire damaged some belongings on the deck but firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before there was damage to the interior of the building.

Damage is estimated at $8,000.

The fire department would like to remind the public to ensure all smoking materials are extinguished before discarding.