By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle Oliver has approved overarching plans to reduce the town’s energy and emissions, and will now create a work plan to be more green.  Two separate plans were presented to council on April 2: the Corporate Energy and Emissions Plan and the Community Energy and Emissions Plan.  The Town began developing these plans in 2022 with the help of the Community Energy Association (CEA). The plans provide background information to develop strategic priorities for the next five years when it comes to carving a path toward a low carbon future.  The Corpor ..read more

The annual Osoyoos Spring Festival returns this year for its third iteration with a mix of events including a play along with a varied musical lineup of paid concerts and afternoon concert at Gyro with admission by donation. Presented by the Osoyoos & District Arts Council (ODAC) the festival runs from May 15 to 19. The Festival starts kicks with the premier of an original play, Return to the Double D Diner, the third part of the Double D Diner story,  which has been written by Jim Dinwoodie of Osoyoos.   The play will be performed at the Osoyoos Community Theatre on Wednes ..read more

By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle Two local hockey stars are confident this will be the year they bring home a medal from the 2024 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. Preston Gabriel and Samera Gabriel, both from Oliver and representing the Osoyoos Indian Band and local communities as part of Team BC, were among the 20 girls chosen for the female hockey team from across the province. Team BC –  both girls and boys under 18 years of age – will compete at the national championship hosted on Treaty 8 territory in Grande Prairie, Alberta from May 5-11, 2024. A third girl on the team who ..read more

By Times Chronicle Staff Aimed at raising awareness of bats and the threats they are facing, April 17 is International Bat Appreciation Day which celebrates the diverse and fascinating world of bats. While there are over 1,400 species of bats globally on all continents except Antarctica, BC has the largest number of species in Canada with 15 species along with acoustic records of three other species. This variety of species is largely because of the wide range of ecosystems found in the province with bats inhabiting the desert and forests, the islands, lowlands and high elevation landscapes o ..read more

By Times Chronicle Staff An accident on Main St. at Harbour Key Drive in East Osoyoos sometime after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning saw two vehicles sustain significant damage but no serious injuries. It’s unclear how the accident occurred but the left rear wheel area of a Ford F150 was heavily damaged as was the front right quarter panel of a BMW SUV. Emergency services attended the scene. Two way traffic was maintained as the truck was on the side of the road and the SUV had pulled into a nearby motel parking lot ..read more

By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle Two years after quietly opening on backroad in Osoyoos and building a loyal clientele,  the team behind Portuguese Canadian deli market Rooster Mafia Foods is calling it quits . . . for now. In a post on local Facebook group Osoyoos Connect the duo of Jasmine and Marco Calisto gave an impassioned farewell that was clearly more até mais (see you soon) than adeus (good bye).  Thanking their customers for their continued support as they “transition this spring and explore new adventures this summer” they announced that their 89th St. storefront is now c ..read more

By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle Oliver shows unanimous support for drafting an anti-harassment bylaw.  Town council showed their support at the April 2, 2024 meeting following a presentation by Cherry Fernandez, executive director of the South Okanagan Immigrant and Community Services (SOICS) on their continued work on anti-racism initiatives and goal of exploring an anti-harassment bylaw for the town.  Fernandez began with a presentation on the work SOICS does in the South Okanagan, explaining that in 2023/2024 they supported over 3000 clients who collectively represent over ..read more

By Times Chronicle Staff The Osoyoos Wellness Fair this past Saturday (Apr. 6) at Sonora Community Centre was successful at bringing together a collective of wellness-minded businesses, entrepreneurs, organizations and community resources all in support of healthy living.    The event was a collaboration of several local wellness champions with the support of the Town of Osoyoos and Sonora Community Centre.     This was the second Wellness Event, with the first being held in June 2019 outside at the Desert Sun Counselling Centre on Main Street alongside the ..read more

By Sherani Theophilus, Times Chronicle The atmosphere in the Sage Pub in Osoyoos was all “hot and bothered” earlier this week as male exotic dance revue Body Heat turned up the heat for the sold out performance. Not only did it sell out, but it did it in a record three days and in an environment where ticket sales continue to slump across the board as budgets are under pressure. Sage owner Al Redekopp said “They were on a tour in the area and had some available dates that they were looking to fill.  They made me an offer that was too good to pass up and I thought it might be nice for peo ..read more

By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle Parking in Oliver’s downtown continues to be the main holdup for developing bylaws to comply with new provincial legislation.  The town’s attempt to remove the historic downtown parking area, and to reduce off-street parking requirements by 100 per cent in the entire town centre has been shut down by council.  Randy Houle, director of development services with the town of Oliver presented updated amendments to Zoning Bylaw 1380 and the Offical Community Plan (OCP) that must be completed before the implementation of provincial Small Scale Multi-U ..read more