80 years
serving our community 1930 to 2010
NEW INDUCTEE
BUSINESS
ENTERTAINMENT
OPINION
KELOWNA ROCKETS president and general manager Bruce Hamilton was officially inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame last week. A17
THE TD Small Business Happiness Index survey scored high marks among Kelowna small business respondents, as 91 per cent said they loved doing business and living in the Okanagan.
THEATRE KELOWNA was a staunch fundraising supporter of the Rotary Centre for the Arts, but it’s only now that the long-time theatre group members are able to call the facility their home
WEST KELOWNA vet offers insight for when facing the most difficult of decisions for an aging pet dog or cat.
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WEDNESDAY July 28, 2010 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com Best in BC
▼ REGION
Heat raises fire fears Just in time for the August long weekend, campfires are being banned in the region in what the Kamloops Fire Centre calls a move to prevent human caused wildfires and protect public safety. Effective noon tomorrow (Thursday), all open burning, including campfires and fireworks, are prohibited in the region. Campfire bans will also exist in much of the rest of the province by Thursday. “We are heading into the peak fire season and the fire danger rating for most of the province is high to extreme,” said Forests Minister Pat Bell. “Rain isn’t expected in the immediate future so we are implementing these bans to limit the chance of human-caused fires.” In the Kamloops Fire Centre, the fire danger rating is high to extreme, making the risk of a campfire sparking a wildfire a concern to local forestry officials. Resources from the Kamloops Fire Centre have responded to 55 campfire related incidents See Fears A3
SIGN SAYS IT ALL…
Rescue workers bring up an injured woman from her Suzuki car that was struck and pushed over the embankment by a Toyota SUV that then subsequently crashed into a UPS truck at the intersection of Commonwealth Road and Highway 97 in Lake Country on Tuesday afternoon. The driver and passenger in the SUV, which had California license plates, were taken to hospital, as was the lone occupant of the Suzuki. A fourth vehicle was also involved in the collision. SEAN CONNOR /CAPITAL NEWS
▼ TOURISM KELOWNA
Marketing proposal drawing some opposition Kathy Michaels CONTRIBUTOR
A decision by Tourism Kelowna to get West Kelowna and Lake Country hotels to start paying up for services rendered, ap-
FINAL WEEK 84 months. Total paid $36,218. On approved credit.
pears to be dusting off old identity issues. The local organization wants hotels in the two communities to levy the two per cent room tax to their customers, but they want the funds to flow into
their marketing coffers. Those dollars would be used to continue marketing the Central Okanagan at-large, but the request to pay the piper is becoming a point of consternation among some
groups that would like the funds to be used for creating programs that define each community as something beyond Kelowna’s umbrella. “We advised those hotels six years ago, that
over time if they wanted to continue to participate with Tourism Kelowna programs, they would have to collect the hotel tax, and remit it to Tourism Kelowna,” said Roger Sellick, chair of the or-
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ganization. Sellick added that an interim plan of collecting $5 per room has been in effect since 2007. See Marketing A7
The Okanagan’s #1 Choice for new vehicle purchase, CHRYSLER DODGE voted by the JEEP Readers of Okanagan Life Magazine
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