KelownaNow

It’s looking like another gorgeous summer weekend in the Central Okanagan. The forecast for the Kelowna area is pretty simple over the next two days. You can expect plenty of blue skies and sunshine with highs around 30°C and overnight lows in the mid-teens. The forecaster also expects a bit of a breeze both days, which should provide a bit of relief from the heat. The one x-factor this weekend is wildfire smoke from the large fires burning in the Fraser Canyon.

At the nexus of nostalgia, vibe and good eats and drinks is an award-winning pub. That pub is Ellison Field Taphouse Kitchen & Bar at Kelowna International Airport -- this year's victor in the 'airport bar or pub of the year' category at the Airport Food & Beverage and Hospitality Awards in Bengaluru, India. As the accolade is international in nature, Ellison Field Taphouse beat out contending eateries from New Zealand, Edinburgh and the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.

Allison Young is ready to leave the non-profit sector after a career spanning over two decades. The last half of that career was 10 years of service to the KGH Foundation, which included the past five years as CEO. Interior Health announced this morning that Young will be retiring from the non-profit sector and leaving her role as KGH Foundation CEO on Feb. 1, 2027.

Synchromesh Wines in Okanagan Falls makes not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, but eight different Rieslings. Such a devotion to the 'king of grapes' is a natural for the owners of Synchromesh. The Dickinson family -- Alan and Amy and Alan's parents, John and Kirsty -- so love the varietal that when they started to look for land to start a winery in 2009 the overriding stipulation was that it would grow only the highest quality Riesling.

(UPDATE: July 17 @ 3:40 pm) - For the first time in a week, the RCMP has provided further information on the subjects of a since-cancelled Amber Alert that began in Alberta and spread to British Columbia last week. Police are now officially searching for two missing children – six-year-old Lanakai Morrison and four-year-old Karl Morrison. Lanakai was the subject of the original Amber Alert, while Karl was said to be in the travelling party at first.

Like many who win a massive lottery jackpot, the numbers just didn’t make sense to Wing Wah C. at first. The Burnaby resident was checking his ticket from the July 4 BC/49 draw on his tablet when his confusion began. “The first thing that came to my mind was maybe the tablet was wrong,” he explained. “Usually I see $1 or $10, so to see $2 million was new!” Once he made sense of the seven-digit number and confirmed he wasn’t imagining things, he told his wife the life-changing news.

There is plenty of concern for a mother and her newborn who have both been reported out of northern BC. Fort St. John RCMP say that 31-year-old Nicole Andrus and her one-month-old son Krew Gordon were reported missing on Thursday, July 16. However, the pair have not been seen in person since Thursday, July 9. “Police and family are concerned for their well-being, as it is out of character for Nicole to be out of contact with her family,” explained an RCMP release.

Eastbound traffic has stopped on the Okanagan Connector (Hwy 97C). According to DriveBC, it’s due to a “vehicle incident” at the Hwy 5A junction. ⛔️#BCHwy97C - Eastbound vehicle incident at the junction with #BCHwy5A has both lanes blocked. #MerrittBC #OkanaganConnector pic.twitter.com/PlDpInhg9B — DriveBC (@DriveBC) July 17, 2026 A motorist near the scene reports on social media that the incident involves a motorcycle. Both police and ambulance are currently on the scene.

The Kelowna RCMP says the death of an individual outside Capri Centre mall on Thursday is not believed to be suspicious or criminal in nature. The BC Coroners Service will conduct its own investigation into the person’s cause of death, but police say it’s “not believed to be related to the heat.” Emergency crews responded to the scene outside Earl of Sandwich and Anonymous Vapes at the northwest corner of the mall around 1:30 pm Thursday.

A structure fire near Gellatly Bay in West Kelowna thrust firefighters into action shortly before sunrise this morning. Around 4:50 am, West Kelowna Fire Rescue (WKFR) crews raced to the scene of a fire at the end of Harding Road. First-arriving crews found a workshop already engulfed in flames and set up for a defensive attack. They were able to extinguish the flames and prevent spread to the main home on the property. Crews remain at the scene this morning to monitor for hot spots.