Fortunately for the bats of BC, it has been a quiet winter. The Kootenay Community Bat Project (KCBP), in collaboration with the Province of BC, is on the lookout for signs of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). WNS is a fungal disease harmless to humans but responsible for the deaths of millions of insect-eating bats in eastern North...

Join Robson Fire Fighters on March 25 as they hold out their boots in support of Muscular Dystrophy Canada. Be sure to look out for Fire Fighters with boot in hand and stop by to contribute to the cause at Johnny’s Grocery and Gas on Broadwater Road in Robson on March 25 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.   A portion of proceeds from fuel...

The Castlegar community has the opportunity this week to view the eye-opening and entertaining documentary film Merchants of Doubt. The film will be shown on March 16 at 7 p.m. at the Castlegar United Church (809 Merry Creek Rd.). Admission is by donation. Merchants of Doubt exposes the campaign to confuse the public and discredit climate science.

Many of the affordable housing units operated by non-profit organizations in the Columbia Basin need energy retrofits, such as replacing boilers and windows. A new Columbia Basin Trust program will provide funding and support to help make these improvements possible. “This new program will help ensure existing affordable...

Castlegar’s Columbia Avenue Complete Streets program got a major boost over the weekend, when two higher levels of government announced more than $3 million in grant funding toward the project. The federal and provincial governments have committed $1, 607,421 each to the project, with the City of Castlegar paying the remaining...

Teck Trail Operations has completed construction of the Groundwater Treatment Plant, a $46-million investment to address groundwater affected by the site’s historical activities. Commissioning of the plant is currently under way, and the plant is expected to be fully operational by summer 2017. “The Groundwater Treatment Plant...

This winter, over 3,000 elementary students throughout the Columbia Basin stepped out of their classrooms and into the magical world of Winter Wonder. In the Castlegar area, Winter Wonder educators Alyssa Belanger, Genna Lazier and Mary Searchfield took twenty Kindergarten to Grade 3 classes from Kinnaird Elementary, Fruitvale...

Scissors and Paste The academic supervisor for my post-grad thesis in history would not have approved of what I do in this edition of the Arc. He dismissed the method (with a curl of his lip) thus: “writing with scissors and paste, Charles.” I have looked over several pieces of writing recently, some of it my own, and I am ...

Avalanche Canada is asking the public to be extremely careful when venturing into the backcountry over the next few days as recent high elevation rain has created very dangerous avalanche conditions. "Very large natural avalanches are expected on Wednesday," said the Avalanche Canada website warning. "Now is an appropriate ...

In 2011, I travelled with my family down Yukon’s Hart River. It’s one of seven pure rivers in the Peel River watershed, a 68,000-square-kilometre wilderness that’s been at the centre of a legal dispute for many years and a land-use planning debate for more than a decade. For two weeks, we fished from the river’s vibrant green...