Every Saturday afternoon, the Capital News/Lake Country Calendar will highlight popular stories from the week to give you a recap.
1. Braden Matejka narrowly escaped the worst mass shooting in US history, and now he’s weathering another threat.
The Okanagan man recently shut down all of his online accounts as the only way to gird himself against conspiracy theorists and internet trolls who are harassing him, said his older brother Brock Matejkae.
Braden has been called a “crisis actor” and a meme circulating in the days after he went public with his ordeal had the words “I’m a lying c***t!” under his image. The vitriol ramped up in the days and weeks that followed and comments like ” I hope you really get shot in the head” became increasingly common.
2. Transit workers across the Central Okanagan will participate in a minute of silence Monday to remember Caesar Rosales, a local man who was randomly killed October 30, 2014, during his commute home.
It’s been three years since Rosales was fatally stabbed in the neck, and Scott Lovell, president of Local 1722 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said drivers pay their respects to Rosales on the anniversary of his death by wearing a black ribbon and holding a moment of silence.
3. Efforts to deal with the ongoing opioid crisis in Kelowna seem to be falling flat.
In a presentation expected to go before council Monday, Silvina Mema, a Medical Health Officer for Interior Health Authority, will lay out the current situation with some bleak statistics.
4. A Lake Country business continues to operate despite not having a licence.
Because of health and safety issues, the District of Lake Country council voted to not renew the motel’s business licence last February.
According to motel owner Raif Fleihan, the business is operating as usual on Petrie Road, with its services including the motel and airport shuttle.
“Everyone has their own motive to prove,” he said. “Our city can’t repair the road, clean up the water.”
Fleihan said the inn has been busy, but he no longer advertises. “The licence only says you are in business,” he said.
Coun. Rob Geier, of Winfield, said if the business is still in operation it is operating illegally.
