St John Ambulance to close Trail branch, but will remain in region
After upwards of 70 years in Trail, SJA is closing its Trail branch and disbanding its local first-aid Brigade, citing a diminished volunteer-base as the primary reason for the branch closure – but never think that means they’re turning their backs on the Kootenays. “Of course we’ll still be delivering programs in the Kootenays with […]
ANALYSIS: Budge the Budget—DemocracySTORM returns!
Back over Christmas, I eagerly unwrapped the gift of enormously diverse input given by respondents to December's DemocracySTORM survey. Now we’re in the second, more exciting phase of the storm—we’re asking you to vote on your favourite Budge the Budget ideas. You need not have participated to jump in right now and vote, so...
DemocracySTORM: Big ideas YOU wanted council to hear about the budget
Below are 58 categories into which I put people’s responses to the question, What key points should council consider before passing the budget? Separate articles address the questions: What should Rossland spend MORE money on? What should Rossland spend LESS money on? And we also address concerns people have raised about ...
DemocracySTORM: What YOU thought Rossland should spend LESS money on
Below are 50 categories into which I put people’s responses to the question, What should Rossland spend LESS money on? Separate articles address the questions: What should Rossland spend MORE money on? What other key points should council consider before passing the budget? And we also address concerns people have raised about...
DemocracySTORM: What YOU thought Rossland should spend MORE money on
Below are 49 categories into which I put people’s responses to the question, What should Rossland spend MORE money on? Separate articles address the questions: What should Rossland spend LESS money on? What other key points should council consider before passing the budget? And we also address concerns people have raised about...
Downtown business owners respond to city's parking boot
There’s a mixed reaction from downtown business owners to city council’s decision, at its last regular meeting, to ‘boot’ (immobilize) prolific parking violators with unpaid fines in the city’s downtown core (until now, the only options were to either impound the vehicle or issue a violation ticket). A report issued by city staff indicated the […]
Teck charged for effluent disharge into Columbia River
Teck Trail Operations was officially charged Friday in relation to accidentally-discharged effluent with a higher-than-allowable pH-level, according to a press release issued by Teck representative Richard Deane. Deane said the incident occurred March 5, 2011, and the company is being charged under the Fisheries and Environmental Management Acts. He said the water used to clean […]
What Ontario Can Learn from Greece
By Livio Di Matteo, The Fraser Institute “Even Greece, the poster child for rampant debt, carried an Ontario-style debt load as recently as 1984” — Don Drummond (2012) Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services Greece is experiencing a massive fiscal crisis rooted in rampant debt with resulting cuts to its public spending and […]
Local activists voice displeasure over Enbridge to National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily Quoting UBC Kermode bear expert Kermitt Ritland, bear biologist Wayne McCrory said: “One thing is for sure, black oil will not look good on a white coat.” “What are we going to tell our children when we knew what was inevitable and approved it anyway?” McCrory was presenting a […]
The compensation gap; why it pays to be a government worker in BC
by Jason Clemens and Amela Karabegovic More than three years after the end of the recession and British Columbia’s provincial government continues to struggle with deficits, which as of the last quarterly update will likely exceed $1.5 billion. Relying on revenues to rebound enough to catch up with spending just doesn’t work as BC’s own […]