By Richard G. Stevens; from Aeon Light pollution is often characterized as a soft issue in environmentalism. This perception needs to change. Light at night constitutes a massive assault on the ecology of the planet, including us. It also has indirect impacts because, while 20 per cent of electricity is used for lighting...

Mark your calendars.  On Aug. 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., the Columbia Basin Culture Tour allows you to explore artists' studios, museums, art galleries and heritage sites during this free, self-guided event. Travel to studios and archives that aren't normally open, see demonstrations, new exhibitions and collections ...

Last Thursday, Rosslanders may have seen a pedal-powered “trishaw” demonstrating its ability to carry a couple of passengers at a time – and, with the help of the electric “pedal-assist” motor, make it all the way to the top of town.  Thanks to the volunteers who are powering this age-friendly...

“Maim”isn’t a word we often hear these days, but it’s what fireworks too often do – cause blindness, blow people’s hands off, or maybe just a finger or two … add “maim” to your vocabulary, kids, especially if you like playing with fireworks.  They can maim you. On ...

This month, Mrs. Barrie’s Grade 5 Class at Webster Elementary School completed a field guide on a local Warfield trail system, through a Wildsight EcoStewards project. The field guide is helping students, teachers and the community to get outside and learn. Behind Webster Elementary is an amazing trail system but it...

Do you love (or fear) bears and want to know more about them? Did you know we share this area with wolves and cougars? And what do you know about the elusive Mountain Caribou? Join Touchstones Museum Indigenous Educator and Wildlife Technician Toni Appleby as she shares stories from years studying, tracking, and reporting on...

Neighbourhood book exchanges have been a feature of some European cities for years.  These are small collections of donated books, free for anyone to take or trade, that have been established by a book-loving resident and are available for needy readers 24/7.  (A “needy reader” is anyone who needs something...

Claire Dibble has a passion for people and places and it comes through in two projects that she is undertaking that will be exhibited in the Kootenay Gallery of Art from June 20 to Aug. 29. The first is the Hidden Hero Project and the second is Watershed Moments: From Source to Sea. The Hidden Hero Projectgot underway in the...

By Daniel Callcut, for Aeon Imagine you work at a latex glove factory. One night, you type ‘latex’ into Google: you’re searching for competitors’ products, but you find other things too. Some of what you find turns you on. But some of it you wish you could unsee: prior to the search, it was morally unthinkable.  It’s easy to...

By George Estreich, for Aeon Most people remember the emperor: a vain ruler, swindled into paying for a nonexistent magical garment, parades in public, only to be embarrassed by a little boy. To me, the story is really about the swindling tailors. Audacious, imaginative, their true product is a persuasive illusion, one keyed...