• Sicamous will be safer from forest fires once a project it is partnering in with the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. on gets underway. The aim of the project, valued at almost $1 million, is to protect some of Sicamous’ important infrastructure and transportation networks from the threat of wildfire by thinning out forest fuels from an area on the eastern edge of the community.
• A man responsible for building some of Sicamous’ important community institutions did so after helping to liberate Europe from the cockpit of a fighter plane. Al Green lived next door to local historian Gord Mackie’s brother when he still resided in Sicamous. Mackie recalled stories the man told of his overseas service with the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF). Mackie said Green flew fighter cover helping aerial bombardments during the Battle of Monte Cassino, a pivotal part of the Allies’ Italian campaign.
• The Independent Investigations Office confirmed Kelowna man Clayton Donnelly died after he was taken to hospital suffering medical distress when a stun gun was used on him following a lengthy police pursuit ending in Malakwa.
• The District of Sicamous conducted a survey to better understand the way a shortage of child-care spaces is affecting families in Sicamous and Electoral Area E. The survey asked what type of child care respondents currently use and what they require. It also asked what people do when their regular child care is unavailable and if their solution is conveniently located.
• Happiness and relief were felt by Parkview students and staff when they returned to their normal routine following a temporary closure of the Sicamous elementary school. Classes at Parkview resumed on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and Principal Carla Schneider credits the work by the school’s staff for managing the challenging disruption of the school’s routine. “It was a long seven weeks but our staff really worked together to make it work, and all the people from the district did a really great job,” Schneider said.
• Malakwa’s Janet Letendre, aka Gramma Bears, was the only Canadian competing on the Holiday Baking Championship, a show on the U.S. Food Network.
• A Sicamous resident was seeking the return of her father’s cremated remains after they were stolen from a storage locker. Police said the thief or thieves may not have known what jewelry box contained, and that it can be returned to the Sicamous RCMP detachment’s front counter, no questions asked. Arrangements would be made for it to be returned to its rightful owner.
