Kelowna News

From fires to logos to an improbable run toward hockey history, there was no shortage of major news stories in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan in 2009.

What follows is our list of the top five news stories from 2009 in order from number one, down to five.

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July 18 started out as your typical postcard Saturday in West Kelowna. The temperatures were well over 30 degrees Celsius and many of us were at the beach, in a park, lounging in the backyard or getting ready for a perfect summer barbecue.

The day would end as anything but.

About 2:30 that afternoon, a fire started on the hill above Gorman Brothers Mill in West Kelowna.

What was later described as a perfect storm of fire, heat and strong winds quickly whipped it from a small grass fire to a blaze which could be seen for miles around.

It quickly spread. Within a half hour, the Glenrosa Road was closed to regular traffic. Only those getting loved ones or evacuating were allowed in or out.

While Glenrosa evacuated, the fire would spread down the hill, threatening Gorman's mill before jumping Highway 97 and ripping through portions of Goat's Peak.

As local and forestry firefighters battled that blaze, a second fire was discovered in Rose Valley.

In all, 11,000 people would be forced to flee their homes with thousands more waiting just as nervously on evacuation alert.

While an entire community watched anxiously, firefighters and emergency crews eventually brought the blazes under control. No lives were lost and only three homes were destroyed.

Just 24 hours after the blaze broke out, West Kelowna Fire Chief Wayne Schnitzler was able to bring some good news to the community.

"As a fire chief and as part of a team, I'm really proud to be this successful in such a short period of time. All of our personnel and our assisting personnel, B.C. Ambulance, Ministry of Forests and RCMP have all been working to the max the past 24 hours and to get some sort of success is really rewarding for all of us," says Schnitzler.

As crews tried to get a handle on the two West Kelowna fires, a third blaze would soon grab everyone's attention. Just to the north, the Terrace Mountain Fire began inching its way east toward the communities of Fintry and Killarney Beach.

Thousands more would be evacuated, some on more than one occasion, before that fire was finally brought under control in early August.

The westside fires were the worst in the province since the Okanagan Mountain Park fires of 2003 where nearly 250 homes were destroyed.

The fires of West Kelowna and westside are Castanet's news maker of the year.

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Castanet's number two story began 16 years ago when the body of 19-year-old Jennifer Cusworth was discovered on Swamp Road.

That was October 17, 1993.

Cusworth was last seen leaving a house party on Richter Street early in the morning of the 17th.

Her parents, Jean and Terry Cusworth, came to Kelowna every year in hopes their story would help someone to remember something that could lead to their daughter's killer.

On the 16th anniversary of her death, police announced a major breakthrough in the case.

"Investigators have determined that the DNA found at the crime scene belongs to the person responsible for Jennifer's murder," lead investigator, Corporal Bill Parmar announced at a media briefing.

At the time he indicated confidence that, with the new evidence, RCMP were going to solve the case.

Just 10 days later, police arrested 43-year-old Kelowna resident Neil George Snelson.

Snelson, married with four children, has been charged with first degree murder.

Police say Snelson attended the house party on Richter. They also confirm he was a Kelowna resident in 1993.

Snelson is currently being held without bail in Kamloops.

He is scheduled to appear in court again early in the new year.

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Number three on our list is neither animal, vegetable or mineral. In fact, it has been described as everything a colossal waste of money to something which looks like a spirograph creation.

The new City of Kelowna logo was unveiled to the public July 16.

The $80,000 creation replaced the 14-year-old symbol depicting a family gathered at "The Sails."

The new logo features a circular design with stylized red, yellow, green and blue colours around the inside of the circle.

"Every citizen in Kelowna that has walked through the forest and picked up a pine cone and looked at the bottom - there's the logo," City Manager Ron Mattiussi said at the time of the logo unveiling.

"Now add the colours of the rainbow with a lake at the bottom and the sun at the top and that's the logo."

When questioned about public reaction, Mattiussi commented at the time that at least 10 per cent of the people would hate it and question the rationale for spending that kind of money.

Mattiussi may have underestimated public reaction, which seemed to be 90 per cent against the new design.

To make matters worse, a few weeks after the unveiling a second logo, which City officials admitted was 'eerily similar' to the new Kelowna logo, came to light.

The first logo was created by LandDesign, an American company, in 2007.

Phred Martin, the Kelowna designer responsible for the new logo, was out of the country when the second logo resurfaced.

When he returned, Martin stood by his assertion the new city logo was an original design.

"I was disheartened at seeing a logo that, admittedly, had some strong similarities to what I have created. One thing you have to consider is when you develop a logo based on geometric forms, the idea that other people might have done the same isn't that hard to think about," Martin said in his defence.

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When you're 19 and elected to public office, it's a big deal.

Kevin Craig did just that and comes in at number four.

Craig won a by-election against 12 other candidates for a seat left vacant on Kelowna Council following the death of long-time councillor Brian Given.

He is the youngest person ever elected to Kelowna Council and one of the youngest ever elected in B.C. and Canada.

Craig, who finished ninth and narrowly missed out on winning a seat during the 2008 elections, easily outdistanced the field, which included heavyweights Todd Sanderson and Vern Nielsen.

"I worked as hard as I could. I learned last election that every single vote counts. I knew that if I outworked the other candidates and I knocked on as many doors as I could, I'd be able to pull it out, and I did," said Craig after his victory.

"I think I was able to offer a skill set that's currently lacking on council. I think I've got an innovative approach to problem solving, and I think that I really showed that I've done my homework."

Of course, his age has provided his new council colleagues with some ammunition to 'light-heartedly' welcome Craig to the council ranks.

Councillor Graeme James adorned Craig's new office at City Hall with a booster seat, crayons, colouring book and a child's sippy cup.

Craig took it all in stride.

During the budget debate, Craig noted while arguing in favour of a Communications Audit, that he was three-years-old when the last audit was conducted. Councillor Luke Stack stated that must have been 10 years ago.

Kidding and needling aside, councillors have welcomed their young colleague with open arms.

"I think Kevin's going to do a great job. He's attended a lot of council meetings and he certainly knows what his future is going to be ... he knows what he's getting into," said Mayor Sharon Shepherd.

"With his age, he's certainly going to represent an age demographic of voters that haven't had representation on council."

Craig, who is a full time student at UBC Okanagan, has never been shy when talking about his future aspirations.

He says one day, he would like to be Prime Minister.

Right now, who could be against him?

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Every junior hockey team starts the season with aspirations of playing for the Memorial Cup.

The 2008-09 edition of the Kelowna Rockets were no different.

That they were able to realize that dream with an improbable stretch run and playoff drive makes the Rockets our number five story of 2009.

The season itself started with high expectations, however, those hopes seemed to hinge on the return of defenceman Luke Schenn.

With him, many pundits felt the Rockets were contenders, without him, only pretenders.

Schenn did not return -- the Toronto Maple Leafs believing he was good enough to crack their line-up as an 18-year-old.

The Rockets took the news in stride and played well enough over the first half of the season, posting a 22-14 record.

With an offence loaded with the likes of Benn, Long, Almond, McMillan and the Bloodoff brothers, the Rockets had no trouble scoring on most nights.

The problem was further back, in goal, where newly acquired Kris Lazaruk struggled to stop the puck and hold his job.

It was early January when things would do a complete 360.

At the trade deadline, the Rockets acquired net minder Mark Guggenberger and forwards Ryley Granthan and Ian Duval.

The biggest coup was the signing of Mikael Backlund, an offensively gifted Swedish forward whom the Rockets had taken in the European draft a year and a half before.

The Rockets would finish the season the hottest team in the WHL, going 19-1-0-1 over their final 21 games.

They would finish third in the west behind Vancouver and Tri-City.

After dispatching Kamloops in four straight, the Rockets drew the tough Americans in round two, knowing that without home ice advantage, they would have to win at least once in a building they had little to no success in.

They lost their first two, but roared back to take four in a row to advance to the Western Conference final against the favoured Vancouver Giants.

Again, the Rockets would need need just six games to dispatch the Giants.

After falling behind two games to one, the Rockets would ride the net minding of Guggenberger to 3-0, 1-0 and 5-4 overtime victories. Backlund would complete the hat-trick in the deciding game with the winner in overtime.

Up next, the heavily favoured and top ranked Calgary Hitmen.

Kelowna would jumped out to an impressive 3-0 series lead, shocking the pundits with 3-1 and 5-2 wins in Calgary before returning home for a 2-0 victory.

Calgary would roar back in games four and five, dominating the Rockets by 6-2 and 6-1 scores.

Back home, the Rockets didn't let the Hitmen even the series. Tyson Barrie scored the series clinching victory with a power-play goal in overtime sending the Rockets its fourth Memorial Cup tournament, this time in Rimouski, Quebec.

After winning the opening two games, Kelowna would stumble, losing 2-1 to Windsor in their final round robin game, then coming out flat in the Memorial Cup final, again losing to Windsor, 4-1.

While the ending was a disappointment for Rockets fans, the improbable ride was one for the ages.