Construction began in 2024 on the new Fire Hall #32 in West Kelowna.
West Kelowna's fire hall project is continuing under budget, though the contingency fund is dwindling, according to an update from city staff.
"The city’s contingency has been reduced from $300,000 to $48,000 since council was last updated Jan. 28," a staff report headed to West Kelowna council Tuesday, reads.
"This will be carefully managed in the months ahead with a focus on maintaining the council-approved budget. Any unforeseen budget changes will be reported to council during future project updates."
A budget of $14.3 million has been set for the new 17,000-square-foot Fire Hall #32 in Lakeview Heights and changes in the contingency fund are said to be due to offsetting unexpected or increased costs.
"During the reporting period, the contractor provided several cash allowance estimates that were over budget and the team pushed back to obtain more favourable pricing."
Nonetheless, many cash allowances have been exhausted and, in some cases, have been insufficient resulting in impacts to the project contingency.
The reduced contingency is, however, mainly due to unforeseen costs to move BC Hydro power pole and overhead lines currently located in front of the fire hall.
Additional costs to complete this work is upwards of $200,000, the city report said.
Another unanticipated cost is related to new legislative requirements that mandate flushable toilets and hot water be in place for workers at job sites. These costs are anticipated to be an estimated $25,000 or more.
The city was also provided an updated appliance package that exceeds preliminary cash allowances. The impact is an additional $28,000.
"There are 19 small, medium and large cash allowances and change orders remaining to be fully priced and finalized," according to the report.
Cost overruns are a sensitive subject in West Kelowna. A new water treatment plant cost $25 million more than originally planned and the municipality’s first purpose-built city hall cost more than $24 million, $6.17 million over budget.
Mayor Gord Milsom and council urged the city to implement improved project management best practices and vowed improvements after the updated cost of city hall was made known.
“We have this wonderful, much-needed complex, which provides centralized government services and a bustling civic centre area for our community, yet it has been overshadowed by these overruns, and we must implement policies and best practices that will keep future projects on track," Mayor Gord Milsom said in a March media release.
The city is dedicated to budgeting using engineering standard protocols, such as fixed-price design/build or design/bid/build contracts and adequate contingency planning and budgeting.
That includes confirming scope before project startup; using industry standard project management best practices and trained professionals; establishing procedures for managing projects during unprecedented conditions such as high inflation, global supply chain disruptions and more frequent climate-related emergencies and regular reports to council and the public throughout the project.
The fire hall project consists of a three-level 17,000 square foot building with upgrades to the parking lot, playground, pickleball courts, sport court, public plaza, pathways, and accessibility.
Cindy White - Apr 21, 2025 / 4:00 am | Story: 545721
Photo: Jennifer Pont
A fight broke out during a Monday round of golf at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna on April 14, 2025.
The video has already gone viral, but now it keeps getting more attention.
Snoop Dogg recently shared footage of a fight that broke out between two players at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna, with the caption, “When the group in front won’t let you play through” and “wait for it”.
Snoop’s post has garnered over 66,000 likes and 6,000 comments.
Among the comments, “How are you this angry playing golf?”, “Stay away from the tennis court. They may have a shootout” and “Is this the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm?”
Several people also joked about the woman who took the video telling her partner Justin to “de-escalate” the situation and her later comment to “take it down a notch. We gotta play through”.
"I've been taking some heat, and validly so," said Jennifer Pont, who taped the encounter for evidence purposes because it looked like it would escalate, and it did.
Snoop Dogg joins the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, TMZ and The U.K. Sun in sharing the video.
"The fact that it's been splashed all over the universe... is very surprising," Pont said.
The City of West Kelowna says it buys 99.6% Canadian.
It turns out, West Kelowna was buying Canadian before it became the thing to do in light of U.S. tariffs.
According to the city, a review it conducted of its 2023 and 2024 purchasing showed 99.6% of its purchases were from Canadian suppliers, with only 0.4% from U.S. suppliers.
The city says it has also reviewed its capital budget for 2025 and 2026, as well as carry forward projects from previous years, and as a result is projecting less than a 7% risk of price escalation due to tariffs.
“In particular, considering recent budgetary fleet orders and two fire truck chassis under construction in the U.S., there are no retaliatory tariffs on trucks and there is no indication whether or not these may be applied in the future.”
In a report updating the impact of tariffs on West Kelowna, prepared by the city’s finance director Warren Everton, city council is told, “It’s important to note Canadian retaliatory tariffs are not a direct concern for municipalities as U.S. tariffs only affect U.S. buyers of foreign goods.”
But, it adds, it is also important to point out West Kelowna companies that export products to the U.S. are directly affected by U.S. tariffs.
“Any market loss would directly impact these businesses and their employees,” says Everton in the report.
West Kelowna's biggest employer, the Gorman Bros. mill, is now dealing with U.S. softwood lumber duties of nearly 35%.
In February, the U.S. applied tariffs to all Canadian non-US-Mexico-Canada Agreement products at 25%, as well as 10% on energy and potash. In April, it applied a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, following that up with a 25% tariff on all Canadian-made automobiles.
On March 4, Canada, in retaliation, applied 25% tariffs on many US consumer goods, including food, beverages, clothing and household electronic goods. Nine days later it expanded the retaliatory tariffs to include steel aluminum, gold, platinum, ceramics, piping, tools, appliances, heating, telephony and wireless network products among others.
Canada also imposed a 25% tariff on non-USMCA-compliant US-made vehicles and on non-Canadian, non-Mexican content of the USMCA-compliant US-made vehicles.
Rob Gibson - Apr 17, 2025 / 4:00 am | Story: 545023
Rob Gibson
This is a busy time of year for the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC as they cover the province re-stocking lakes and ponds before the water temperature gets too warm.
"We want to make B.C., the best freshwater fishery in North America," said Cameron Jope, a fish culturist with the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC in Summerland.
He and his colleagues released more than 400 rainbow trout into Shannon Lake on Wednesday.
"My job is to propagate, rear and eventually stock lakes with various types of trout, specifically rainbow trout is mostly what I work with," he explained. "But at some of our other facilities, there are a few other species, including cutthroats, brook trout and kokanee."
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC was created in 2003 as North America's only private, non-profit fisheries service funded by licence revenues.
"I'm growing these fish with the purpose of putting them in the lake, and then people can come out and enjoy these lakes and catch those fish," Jope says.
Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC operates six hatcheries across the province, and teams are working to raise and release trout, kokanee and steelhead for recreational fisheries and white sturgeon for conservation purposes.
Over the course of the spring and summer, they will release a little more than 2,000 rainbow trout in Shannon Lake alone.
"Hall Road Pond and Shannon Lake are great because they're really accessible for families," said Jodi Mousseau, admin and outreach clerk for the Summerland Trout Hatchery. "You don't need a boat. There's some great shore fishing here. So it's a great place to introduce the kids to fishing."
If you're looking to introduce the young people in your life to fishing, from the second week of May until Father's Day on June 15, staff will be set up at Hall Road Pond and Shannon Lake on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the Go Fish events.
Youth get a chance to borrow a rod and tackle and receive guidance as they cast their lines.
"Hopefully catch one of the big fish that we put into the lake," Mousseau said.
The fish released are sterile so they won't be able to reproduce or compete with any native fish, but that doesn't mean they don't get big.
"Depending on the productivity of the lake, how much space, how much food is available for the fish, we can have trout that grow in excess of 10 pounds," Jope said, adding he loves to fish himself and eats the fish he catches out of Shannon Lake.
"I can't wait for more days on the water this summer," he said.
Three of the six candidates running in the Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna riding attended the Greater Westside Board of Trade all-candidates forum Wednesday evening.
Conservative Party incumbent Dan Albas, NDP candidate Harpreet Badohal and Liberal Party candidate Juliette Sicotte all answered a number of questions, which were posed by Board of trade president Bryan Fitzpatrick.
Topics included housing, crime, homelessness, healthcare services, interprovincial trade barriers, tariffs, immigration and public transportation. The candidates were limited to one-minute answers to the questions.
Throughout the hour and a half event, Albas criticized the governing Liberal Party's record on crime, increasing housing costs and immigration.
He also said the federal government needs to hold the provinces to account when it comes to what's being done with federal mental healthcare funds.
“Are we getting full value for [the] money, is the province doing its full job?” Albas said. “
Badohal repeatedly hit at Albas' Conservative Party, warning those in attendance that Harper-era “austerity measures” are not the answer for the problems of the future.
Badohal was able to speak from experience when asked about his stance on transferring credentials from other countries for immigrants coming to Canada. Badohal, who immigrated from India in 2006, said it took him six years to get into Canada in the early days of the Harper government.
He had a masters degree in biology when he arrived from India, but was forced to work as a farm labourer and pizza delivery driver upon his arrival. He went on to receive another masters degree from UBC and now works as a registered occupational and environmental health professional.
Sicotte and Badohal both spoke about their interest in light rail through the Central Okanagan as an answer to the congestion problems on local roads.
And all three candidates talked a big game about standing up to the Americans in the form of reciprocal tariffs, with Sicotte advocating for “force against force” and Albas adding that diversifying Canada's trade will “show the Americans we don't need them.”
Placards were placed on the table at the forum for Louise Lecouffe of the Green Party, Debbie Robinson of the People’s Party and Gary Suddard of the Canadian Future Party but these candidates did not attend.
UPDATE: 6:10 p.m.
While all six candidates running in the Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna riding were invited to the Greater Westside Board of Trade all-candidates forum Wednesday evening, only three showed up.
The forum, which kicked off at 6 p.m. at West Kelowna's Emmanuel Church, has been attended by Conservative Party incumbent Dan Albas, NDP candidate Harpreet Badohal and Liberal Party candidate Juliette Sicotte.
While placards for Louise Lecouffe of the Green Party, Debbie Robinson of the People’s Party and Gary Suddard of the Canadian Future Party are on the table at the forum, they are not in attendance.
The forum is scheduled to run until 7:30 p.m.
ORIGINAL: 5:50 p.m.
The Greater Westside Board of Trade is hosting an all-candidates meeting for the Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna riding Wednesday evening.
The event is taking place at Emmanuel Church on West Kelowna's Hebert Road, and is expected to feature incumbent Dan Albas (Conservatives), Harpreet Badohal (NDP), Louise Lecouffe (Green), Debra Robinson (People’s Party) and Juliette Sicotte (Liberal).
The forum is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and Castanet will be live-streaming the event for those unable to attend in person.
The federal election takes place on Monday, April 28.
Video of now-infamous fight at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna has been picked up by numerous news organizations across Canada, golfing publications and now it's on the U.S. entertainment site TMZ.
The viral sensation and the behaviour at the heart of it all has, as expected, resulted in some repercussions.
Two Eagles is an Indigenous-owned course and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson said that this is the first incident of this kind in 20 years and will be dealt with the utmost severity. A full report from the RCMP is being requested.
"In acknowledgement of the videos and comments in the news today, we are deeply concerned and hope that this behaviour will not leave any lasting negative impression on our community and today's youth," Two Eagles owners said in a statement.
"We, as owners, demand and insist on the repair and restitution in situations such as these and will hold the people involved accountable."
Golf course officials said that anyone who fails to adhere to the course rules will be banned.
"We will hold all parties responsible in the desecration of our beautiful golf course and we will formally request the parties involved acknowledge the damage done to each other and we will be actively engaging in a restitution process."
That restitution may be in the form of a donation to an inclusive sport program, such as B.C.'s Golf Junior Program or Canadian Tire's Every Kid Sports.
Local condemnation mirrors what is being expressed further afield in the golf community.
Kris Jonasson, CEO of British Columbia Golf, has seen the video, like countless others, and described it as "utterly deplorable."
"This is not generally something that we see," he said. "We find it utterly deplorable and not something golfers should be engaged in in any way shape or form."
His organization is tasked with the promotion of golf in this province, and he said that it's not a normal occurrence.
"For every situation like this, we have people calling penalties on themselves and going out of their way to be nice to someone — it's a complete aberration."
The police confirmed that it's also an extremely unusual occurrence.
They are still investigating the "disturbance" that occurred on April 14 at around 6:45 p.m. at Two Eagles Golf Course.
All people involved have been identified, and the investigation is ongoing.
“We’ve viewed the cell phone video of the incident and it’s nothing short of unacceptable behaviour,” said Staff Sgt. Brendan Dolan."
FILE- Interior Health is named in a malpractice suit filed last week.
An Okanagan man is suing Interior Health and several doctors for malpractice after a cancer misdiagnosis delayed his care and allegedly put him at greater risk of a life-altering outcome.
According to a statement of claim filed April 10, Jeffrey James Keith embarked on a medical misadventure in 2023 when he went to the doctor to seek care for recent fatigue and a lump growing in his neck.
His first appointment to address the issue was at a West Kelowna walk-in clinic on Jan. 16, 2023. After a check-up, he was sent for an ultrasound and bloodwork. When those results came in another appointment was scheduled with a specialist for an ultrasound.
The claim said on Jan. 27, 2023 he was back at the walk in clinic to discuss the ultrasound results, and was referred to another neck and head specialist. That doctor also made a referral for a pelvis scan and further bloodwork.
Within a week, Feb. 3, 2023, Keith had the biopsy and a CT scan by the head and neck doctor and follow up appointment was scheduled.
On Feb. 7, 2023 a diagnostic radiologist reviewed the biopsy, Keith’s claim said.
“Reactive lymphocytes, macrophages and a few scattered reactive benign squamous cells,” the diagnosis said. “Negative for malignancy. Consistent with cyst with some of the features favouring brachial cleft cyst.”
When Keith had a tele-health appointment with the walk-in doctor he was reassured that the results were benign, the claim alleges.
The CT scan still went ahead on Feb 22, but that doctor found that the cyst “was highly concerning for malignancy," the lawsuit claims.
Regardless, a week later he was told he'd get a non-cancer surgery for removal.
He reached out to the doctor he was referred to and told that doctor was out of office for weeks.
Little is offered in the statement of claim to explain how Keith was faring in the meantime but the lawsuit indicates he wasn’t confident in his diagnosis and treatment plan.
He reached out to the Mayo Clinic March 29, 2023 and was scheduled for an appointment shortly thereafter, on April 10, 2023.
Within a day doctors at the Mayo Clinic reached conclusions that were much more dire than their Kelowna counterparts offered, the claim said.
The lump was suspicious for “cervical note metastatic left pharyngeal tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma.”
Another test, a day later, found that the lump was suspicious for metastatic disease and a biopsy was scheduled.
The specialist back in Kelowna who had found the mass to be not cancerous was then contacted. Results from the slate of tests Keith had undergone were sent to him and by April 25, 2023, a treatment plan was laid out — three months after he first walked into the clinic.
On May 23, 2023 Keith started chemotherapy and radiation treatment and that went on until July 11, 2023.
After all that, on July 2, 2023, Keith suffered a “cancer associated pulmonary embolism while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.”
After surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, Keith suffered a number of issues.
Some of this, according to the lawsuit, may have been alleviated by more timely treatment of the squamous carcinoma.
The delay, according to the claim, resulted in significant progression of the cancer and required “increased and expanded treatment, illness and injury.”
Keith will have more medical expenses in the future and the claim stated that he has lost present and future income as a result of the issue.
Interior Health has yet to respond to the claim.
* Correction, an earlier version of this story said the clinic was in New York, as per the court document. It was not.
Rose Valley Regional Park will be temporarily closed to the public from April 16 to April 30 as crews carry out wildfire recovery efforts.
The closure will allow for the safe hauling of trees that were harvested as part of the salvage process following previous wildfire damage.
All areas of the park, including the recently reopened Yellow Bell Loop, Bunchgrass Trail, and all parking lots, will be inaccessible during this time.
“Tree hauling is a critical step as we move toward parkland restoration,” said Wayne Darlington, manager of parks capital planning and asset management with the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO).
“Above average spring precipitation has delayed our progress. We very much appreciate the public’s understanding and cooperation as we complete this stage in the process. We remain committed to reopening the park as soon as possible.”
The RDCO is asking residents to respect all barricades and posted signage and to stay out of the park for safety reasons.
West Kelowna RCMP are investigating what they are calling a "disturbance" that occurred on April 14 at approximately 6:45 p.m. at Two Eagles Golf Course.
Police say all people involved have been identified, and the investigation is ongoing.
“We’ve viewed the cell phone video of the incident and it’s nothing short of unacceptable behaviour,” said Staff Sgt. Brendan Dolan."
“No further details will be provided while we continue to look into this matter.”
ORIGINAL: 1:13 p.m.
A routine round of golf at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna took an unexpected turn Monday night, transforming the fairway into a makeshift boxing ring.
The altercation, captured on video and posted to social media, shows a group of golfers in blue shirts arguing with a slower group ahead of them. The situation escalated, leading to a brief but intense confrontation.
Richard Sykes, director of Golf Operations at Two Eagles, confirmed the incident to Castanet, stating, "the RCMP was called promptly and handled the situation."
According to the Reddit post, the altercation lasted approximately two minutes, with one golfer suffering a broken jaw.
One witness was heard in the video saying, "Let's take it down a notch, guys... we gotta play through."
One witness says no charges were laid, but Kelowna RCMP have yet to respond to request for comment.
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West Kelowna 5:58pm - 19,357 views
