Kelowna Capital News, December 06, 2012

Page 1

WEST

KELOWNA’S Dawson Yates has signed a letter of intent to play college baseball in Texas next year.

MAXINE DEHART has the scoop on a new Middle East oriented bakery and restaurant that has opened in Rutland by a mother and daughter business partnership.

WEST KELOWNA comes to conclusion that to provide more parking along Gellatly Road as part of road upgrade project is not financially feasible.

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 6, 2012 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com

KGH does first open heart surgery Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR

to be taken to hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

▼ COURT

Surprise guilty plea brings an end to Mantler trial In a surprise move, the officer caught on video kicking Buddy Tavares in the head during an arrest has pleaded guilty. The change in plea came Wednesday afternoon, after a Kelowna courtroom had filled to hear the defence begin to call its case in the Const. Geoff Mantler trial. Instead, defence lawyer Neville McDougall asked for Mantler’s plea of not guilty to

be “expunged” and a plea of guilty entered to the charge of assault causing bodily harm. The charge stems from a Jan. 7, 2011, arrest where Mantler kicked Tavares in the head after ordering him out of his truck while investigating a shots fired complaint. The court heard that Tavares was complying with Mantler’s commands and was going down on all fours when the blow was delivered to his head. (Police were later told by Tavares that he had been firing shots

Geoff Mantler

to scare off geese at a local golf course). For Tavares, 53, the guilty plea means he won’t hear from Mantler why the officer decided to kick him that day. “I’ve been waiting a long time to hear why he did that. I’m not going to hear that,” said Tavares. “That’s why I’ve been hanging around.” And while the guilty plea was surprising, Tavares didn’t see how the case could have ended without Mantler, now 29, being held responsible for

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the kick. “How do you explain that? You can’t. You tread water as long as you can, but then you eventually drown,” Tavares said. “I think he was at the point he was drowning.” What frustratesTavares more is Mantler’s potential sentence. The Crown has indicated to the Tavares family that they will be seeking upwards of 18 months house arrest, said Tavar-

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PAINFUL ACCIDENT…One of the drivers involved in a five-car smashup at the intersection of Spall and Harvey in Kelowna on Wednesday afternoon had

the

It’s official. Kelowna General Hospital is now the fifth medical centre in B.C. to provide full cardiac care services, including open-heart surgery. Despite the fact construction of the new $364-million Interior Heart and Surgical Centre has yet to start—and won’t be complete until 2015—KGH medical staff performed their first open-heart surgery Monday night in one of the specially refitted operating rooms at the hospital. The operating rooms were refitted to handle cardiac surgery as part of the construction project that saw the new six-storey Centennial Building added at KGH. The Centennial Building contains a suite of new operating rooms. Monday’s operation was described as a complete success and was performed on a man. No details about the patient were released but he is believed to be recuperating well after the survey. The hospital is planning a ceremony with Health Minister Margaret

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