Woman jailed for sex assault
Rescued after fall into river
Killer not happy with show
Facial recognition at border?
PM ups attacks on Poilievre
CRA will get the money: PM
Instagram fraudster jailed
11 Trump allies indicted
Ukraine uses new missiles
BoC officials split on rate cut
Big loss for Boeing 
Metro sales edged higher
Vees dominating Vipers
Warriors snakebitten in loss
Iginla off to Europe
Coachella fined $28K
Those are her nipples
Kanye to launch porn studio
UPDATE: 3:15 p.m.
RCMP are providing more details on this morning's balloon collision with power lines just south of Armstrong.
Const. Kelly Brett says the incident happened about 10 a.m., when the balloon is believed to have encountered an updraft, which forced it into a rock face adjacent to Highway 97, causing it to collide with high tension power lines.
Police have made contact with the pilot and six passengers on board at the time.
No one was injured, and there were no obvious signs of damage to the power lines. However, BC hydro has been notified, Brett added.
The investigation has been turned over to the Transportation Safety Board.
UPDATE: 2:10 p.m.
Capt. Chris Bridgeman with the Armstrong Fire Department says a balloon that struck power lines Friday morning wasn't moving quickly.
The balloon briefly hit the power lines and then coasted to the ground as it deflated.
He says there were four or five people in balloon's basket, and no one was hurt.
Bridgeman said there was no risk of fire.
– The Canadian Press
UPDATE 11:16 a.m.
There is no word yet on why a hot air balloon came down and was caught up in some powerlines near Armstrong, but an official with the Vernon Winter Carnival said the pilot and passengers are uninjured.
Deb White, carnival chairperson, said the balloon was damaged in the mishap, but the pilot has a second balloon and plans on flying again.
The balloons launched from a field in the Anderson Subdivision Friday morning and landed near Armstrong.
In it's 28 year history, this is the first incident the Balloon Fiesta has experienced.
UPDATE 10:33 a.m.
Castanet has learned that one of the balloons taking part in the Vernon Balloon Fiesta has crashed into a powerline.
Keith Nearing was driving near Gambrinus Malting in Armstrong and snapped a few photos of the balloon as it descended and hit power lines in the area.
"He saw the balloon coming down, and it had deflated and it hit the power line and it landed softly. And as far as he knows, no one was injured," Nearing's wife tells Castanet.
"I guess the balloon must have ripped when he hit the lines. I don't think power was interrupted."
The incident happened close to 10 a.m. Friday morning.
UPDATE: 9 a.m.
The balloons are flying today over Vernon.
Castanet will have more from the event from reporter Darren Handschuh.
ORIGINAL: 5 a.m.
With a little co-operation from Old Man Winter, hot air balloons could be flying over the North Okanagan for the next three days.
The 28th annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is supposed to kick off this morning – weather permitting.
Cindy Brassard, North Okanagan Hot Air Balloon Society secretary, said the balloons are scheduled for two flights today, two on Saturday and one Sunday.
But they cannot fly if it is raining, snowing heavily or if the cloud ceiling is too low.
The forecast is for showers and snow today, sunny Saturday and snow on Sunday.
If the weather co-operates, when and where the balloons fly from will be determined shortly before take off and announced on the group's Facebook page.
“We've got seven balloons this year,” said Brassard, adding there are usually 12 to 15 balloons at the event.
The Balloon Fiesta used to be under the umbrella of the Vernon Winter Carnival, but when there was talk of cancelling the event, the NOHABS was formed in an effort to keep it afloat.
However, the society has had a tough go of it and there is talk the fiesta may be in its final year.
