BUSINESS
WEST
CODY FOWLIE is one of three 20 year olds who have made a major contribution to the Kelowna Rockets success this season.
IT’S A MILESTONE this year for the Koutsantonis family, who have operated the longest running restaurant in Kelowna dating back 40 years, says columnist Maxine DeHart.
THE NEW owner of the Fintry Queen is making a pitch to the District of West Kelowna to allow his iconic paddlewheeler to dock in Gellatly Bay.
A19
83 serving our community 1930 to 2013
A27
Wash Winter Away
Pressure Washer
27995
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SALES
B5
SINCE 1965
SPORTS
SERVICE
PARTS
SAVOY EQUIPMENT
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RE 108
1892 Spall Rd, Kelowna
250-868-1010
THURSDAY February 28, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
▼ COURT
Hells Angels affiliation troubles judge Cheryl Wierda CONTRIBUTOR
the
ONLY
Cadillac Dealer IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY SINCE 1977
THE JOY OF READING…Award winning author George Bowering is teaming up with the Okanagan Regional Library to celebrate Okanagan Reads, an initiative to help promote literacy. Bowering will be in Kelowna on Saturday to give a reading at the downtown library branch, 1380 Ellis St., starting at 2 p.m.
▼ WEST KELOWNA
Testing taxpayer appetite for new city hall STAFF REPORTER
A brand new City Hall in West Kelowna may be years away, but the district took one step closer Tuesday. Jonathan Huggett, a consultant with more than 40 years of experience
working with municipal, provincial and federal governments on various infrastructure projects, spoke to council at Tuesday’s meeting. Huggett mentioned some of the challenges the district will face regarding the development of a new city hall, including
‘2013 NORTH AMERICAN CAR OF THE YEAR’ THE ALL NEW CADILLAC ATS LEASE FROM ONLY
location, funding and economic development. He recommended the district create a market sounding document to seek out ideas and potential site opportunities for a new city hall. The purpose of the non-binding document is to gather information
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from key stakeholders so the district can develop an effective strategy. Huggett said the market sounding will explain the district’s vision, ask questions and give space for additional input. “It outlines where we might go with this, but there’s no commitment to
proceed forward with this if we don’t get satisfactory answers,” said Huggett, adding it’s “a means of engaging the business community and the community at large, about what the issues are proceeding with this.”
See Appetite A11
N 7N
Wade Paterson
WITH 3,000 BONUS AIR MILES
JACOBSEN EXCELLENCE
McCurdy Rd.
Y9
See Judge A7
CONTRIBUTED
HW
Whether the Hells Angels are just a group of motorcycle enthusiasts or a criminal organization capable of “horrible things” was at issue in a Kelowna courtroom Tuesday as a justice struggled to determine how to factor in Joseph Bruce Skreptak’s membership in the club while considering his sentence for punching a father in the face while trying to extract a confession from the man’s son. Late on Nov. 1, 2010, Skreptak, 47, went to the home of a Kelowna teenager to confront him about approximately $10,000 in jewelry that had gone missing from his home. While in the one-room apartment, Skreptak punched the youth’s father four to five times, the court heard. As a result, the man’s left side of his face was pushed in and he suffered fractures to the bones around his eye that required surgery to insert plates, said Crown counsel Catherine Fedder. And while the justice was told it is not known whether Skreptak punched the man out of intimidation or because he was frustrated the father was “lipping” him off, the Crown said the two teens present for the assault were intimidated by the knowledge that Skreptak was a member of the Hells Angels. “This case is…about a grown man who chooses to use his position as a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang to bully two teenagers and a defenceless man,” said Fedder. Rather than go to police about the missing items, he resorted to “extreme violence” to get the information he wanted, she said. But defence lawyer Brian Jackson said Skreptak didn’t go to the police because he didn’t want to get the kids, who apparently sold the stolen jewelry for marijuana, in trouble. “He’s the first one to admit he approached this in the wrong way,” said Jackson. “He’s embarrassed by it.” “(But) whatever happened that night had nothing to do with the Hells Angels,” he added. Fedder, however, argued the teens couldn’t strip away their knowledge of Skreptak’s membership and their perception of the group.
★ Leathead Rd. Hwy 33w
Sale Price $36,126, $3,970 down payment, 36 month lease at 20,000 kms per year. Residual $22,537. Total payments $14,689 plus taxes and fees. OAC