March 2016

Dusk seems to bring a mystic atmosphere to an otherwise ordinary shopping experience so the City of Kelowna is going to give it a try.

The first Leon Night Market took place earlier in March, following a trend that seems to work in plenty of other cities.

Twilight markets in Australia’s costal tourist meccas are bustling with vendors offering their wares under twinkling strings of lights and a gentle evening breeze.  Kelowna’s a pretty cool place when the sun slides behind the mountains, so what better backdrop for shopping under the stars.

Leon Night Market was recently attended by about 2,000 people and organizers hope to make it a once a month event from now to October, weather permitting.

Leon has a reputation of being a place where

It’s a complicated topic and in all honesty, there are no right and wrong answers to this one.  It all depends on how large your mortgage is, how big your monthly or bi-monthly payments are, how much you have in RRSPs and other investments, how much income you expect to have once you hang up the gloves.

One thing is for certain.  You should put everything down on paper and do some calculations especially if you’re over 50.  Then when everything is taken into consideration, go with your gut.  In the meantime, here are some interesting tidbits from a variety of industry experts to help you make this very important decision.

A Paid-For Home

Let’s assume the answer to the question is yes.  You should pay off your mortgage before you quit work for

Applications are now being accepted by the City of Kelowna from residents with great ideas to help the city build stronger neighbourhoods.This is the second year that Neighbourhood Grants will be awarded to deserving citizens who could use funding to help enhance the quality of life in the Kelowna neighbourhoods in which they live.

Neighbourhood Grants

The Neighbourhood Grant, first implemented in 2015, supports residents with matching grants of up to $1,000 to fund neighbour-building projects in the summer.  Deadline for this is April 1.  An example from last year would be the transformation of a boulevard in Kelowna’s downtown Knox Mountain community into a colourful, drought-resistant eco-garden, also known as an xeriscape.  Spirits were

It would seem that while its neighbouring province to the east is struggling to stay afloat, British Columbia in general is experiencing a bit of a boom. That is, if climbing home sales in Kelowna and throughout the Okanagan are any indication.

Real estate statistics from last month are out and again, residential sales for February 2016 are nearly 25% higher than recorded one year previously.  The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) says that 572 sales were recorded last month, the most number of residential homes that have sold since February 2008 when that number was 575.  That is throughout the Okanagan.

In Kelowna and area specifically, real estate activity continues to be robust with sales up by 19.7% over February 2015.  That

Its curtains for Kelowna’s historic landmark theatre. The Paramount Theatre, which opened on Bernard Avenue just after the Second World War, will spin the final reel before the arrival of summer.

When the lease expires May 31, theatre-owner Landmark Cinemas Canada will close the doors and the landlord will likely move forward with redevelopment plans.  A spokesman has said that lack of downtown parking was problematic for the theatre and subsequent competition from other theatres in Kelowna and West Kelowna.

There are still two other theatres, so Kelowna residents won’t be entirely without the movie part of the dinner and a movie combo.  And Landmark has stated that some Paramount employees will still have jobs within the organization.

It’s