It’s been another busy year in the Central Okanagan.
From those cold winter days to the blazing heat of summer to winter once again, there was plenty of news being made in the area over the last 12 months.
When it came to residents in Kelowna, West Kelowna and Lake Country, six stories seemed to stick out more than others.
We’ll take a quick look back at those stories in our final Year in Review piece of 2019, the local stories.
*Stories are listed in chronological order*
Orchard Park Mall shooting
One of Kelowna’s busiest areas descended to chaos on Jan. 23.
Police were called to the northeast corner of the Orchard Park Mall parking lot where there was a reported shooting right outside CIBC.
Soon enough, the RCMP were joined by the tactical response team and eventually word came out that it was an officer-involved shooting.
The shooting had nothing to do with the bank, despite happening in close proximity, and occurred when police officers tried to the suspect for a number of violent criminal offenses.
When the suspect fled from police during an attempted tactical takedown, police resorted to firing their weapons after the man, who was considered armed and dangerous, reached into his pocket.
Another suspect was arrested during the altercation as well and the officers actions were recently confirmed as appropriate through an IIO BC investigation.
Photo Credit: NowMedia
Rockslide closes Hwy 97 for weeks
Although this story happened just outside of the Central Okanagan, it still heavily affected thousands of residents of the region.
After a minor rockslide on Jan. 31, the major event occurred between Summerland and Peachland on Feb. 2 and it left Hwy 97 closed for weeks.
As if the significant amount of rocks and debris on the road wasn’t enough, the slope was still moving and showing no signs of stability for a number of days.
Crews slowly picked away at the mess, but the main route between the South Okanagan and Central Okanagan showed no signs of opening as the days continued to pass.
For cars, that meant a 90 minute detour using forest service roads, while commercial vehicles had to rely on a much lengthier detour involving Hwy 3, Hwy 5A and Hwy 97C.
On Feb. 11, nine days after the highway closed, crews were able to open the Callan Road detour, offering motorists a short bypass around the slide.
Finally, on March 5, more than a month after the highway closed, crews gave the green light for traffic to flow on the highway once again.
Photo Credit: BC Ministry of Transportation
Stolen dog brings entire community together
Blue Rodeo sang about ‘5 Days in May’, but for Kelowna residents it was four days in March that the story of Atlas took over the region.
Although details regarding the theft and relationships between all involved remain a little “he said, she said,” the story began with a beautiful golden retriever named Atlas being stolen from a fenced yard in Kelowna.
From March 10-13, the story went viral and it seemed like the entire community was looking for this dog and trying to track down the woman who was caught on camera taking him.
Thanks to that public effort and numerous tips, police were able to track down and retrieve the stolen dog in Penticton, where he was reunited with his owner, Taylor Galt.
The reunion was beautiful and it seemed like the entire Central Okanagan exhaled when Atlas got back into the right hands.
Photo Credit: NowMediaAtlas gets reunited with Taylor and Ian Galt.
Jacob Forman sentenced
The entire Central Okanagan and beyond was shocked when the story about Jacob Forman’s actions in December 2017 came to light.
The Kelowna man was arrested for killing his wife, Clara, and two young daughters, Karina and Yesenia, in an act that no one could really explain.
On Sept. 16, 2019, those details came to light in court as Forman was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 35 years.
Crown prosecutors revealed the gruesome details of the triple murder in court, saying Forman killed his wife during an altercation about his alcohol consumption.
He then took his daughters to church and killed them upon returning to the house.
Forman stashed the bodies in the garage and went to work for two days before coworkers of Clara’s became concerned and contacted the police, leading to a search of the home, the terrible discovery and Forman’s arrest.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Tolko announces the shutdown of its Kelowna mill
The forestry industry has been one of the biggest news items in British Columbia this year, but it certainly hit close to home in November.
On Nov. 8, Tolko announced that it would cease operation at its Kelowna mill in January.
A fixture in Kelowna since 1932, the mill started reducing shifts in July before announcing a month-long downtime period in August.
That was followed by news that the Kelowna operation would remain closed for an indefinite amount of time and now, the permanent closure.
Mayor Colin Basran called the closure “awful,” while Tolko said it was a “difficult decision.”
The mill’s 127 employees were offered severance packages.
Photo Credit: Tolko
The homeless situation in Kelowna
This one was a year-long story and topic of conversation in Kelowna, but it really came to a head late in the year.
Complaints about the city’s homeless situation grew and Leon Avenue became almost impossible to navigate and petty theft started to run rampant throughout the city.
Finally, in November, the city told the city’s homeless population that they had to leave Leon and set up camp in one of two designated parks just north of downtown.
It was another decision that many residents found controversial for a number of varying reasons, especially as the temperatures plummeted.
On Dec. 16, the issue was brought to the forefront once again when Shane Bourdin died while staying at the homeless camp off Recreation Avenue.
In Rutland, pushback towards a pair of wet housing projects has had little success despite a petition with over 13,000 signatures being put together.
There’s no shortage of perspectives on this ongoing issue and it’s a certainly one that will continue to be a hot topic as we make our way into 2020.
Who knows, maybe it’ll be one of the biggest stories when we write next year’s Year in Review stories, but hopefully it’ll have some sort of positive angle or ending.
Photo Credit: NowMedia
