It’s time to raise a glass when the renowned New York Magazine writes about your “exploding wine region,” and one of your ski resorts (Sun Peaks Resort) is recommended by the Ski Club of Great Britain as one of its top recommended resorts worldwide.

Slope repair and drainage improvements are now complete at the Highway 1 Peterson Creek Bridge in Kamloops, improving the overall safety of the structure and reopening the trail network underneath the bridge to hikers.

The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) unveiled plans for its new Community Animals Centre in Kamloops at a special event on Nov. 25 at the Kamloops Art Gallery.

School District 73 will receive $30,000 in funding for the Youth Work in Trades program to boost trades training for young people in the province.

Wildfires are rare in B.C. at this time of year, but the smoke from legal, registered open burns is often mistaken for smoke from a wildfire. This is especially true in late fall when such fires are often lit to dispose of vegetation and wood debris.

Kamloops will benefit from one-time targeted funding of $256,732 for Thompson Rivers University to support adult-literacy programs.

The Skeetchestn Indian Band will explore clean energy generation and turning compost into income with support from British Columbia’s First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund.

The BC Wildfire Service is planning to burn about 75 piles of wood debris in the Mount Kobau area, about 15 kilometres northwest of Osoyoos. These burns are scheduled to start on Monday, Nov. 7 and will be concluded by the end of December 2016.

Students, teachers and staff at Brocklehurst Middle school in the Kamloops/Thompson school district will benefit from $200,000 in provincial School Enhancement Program funding.