Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff is publicly calling for province-wide tax reform in response to a range of issues facing B.C. municipalities, including Castlegar. Chernoff said the systems by which taxes are collected and distributed were created based on obsolete criteria – what made sense decades, or even centuries, ago does not serve the modern province’s […]

Castlegar police, while encouraging Olympic enthusiasm, are cautioning residents against overdoing it. RCMP Cpl. Mike Mysko, in charge of the city’s new Crime Reduction Unit, had an illustrative example of what not to do while celebrating the Olympic spirit. “(On the evening of Jan. 21), I was working one of our very first evening shifts […]

The following is a press release issued by the provincial government: As B.C. prepares to welcome the world to the 2010 Winter Games, the B.C. Government, Better Business Bureau and Consumer Protection BC are reminding both International visitors and Canadian residents to be careful and do their homework before booking vacation rentals. Online classified advertisements have […]

Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid joined Kootenay-Columbia board of education chair Gordon Smith, parents, caregivers and district staff today at the official opening of the StrongStart BC early learning centre at Robson Community school. “This new StrongStart BC centre in Robson will mean that more children and families can receive support as they build the early […]

The limelight at city council’s first meeting of 2010 was focussed, not on city issues, but on the School District 20 (SD 20) instead. The SD 20 board has been seeking public input on its plans to cope with an anticipated $4-million budget shortfall, due to declining enrolment, in its document Planning for the Future. […]

Youth groups from all across the West Kootenays are sharing their compassion and concern for disaster stricken Haiti by banding together to hold a fundraising event at the Brilliant Cultural Centre on Jan.30 at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but donations will be collected and passed on to the Canadian Red Cross for the Haitian […]

Photo by Carrie Voysey: Nursing student Erika Hayton (left) participated in andco-facilitated a Mom’s Support Group, a volunteer program of Castlegar Community Services, to gain hands on knowledge and support for her Influencing Change project at Selkirk College. Sandi McCreight of Castlegar Community Services (left), along with Diana Lunde, a local Public Health Nurse (missing), were […]

The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) is issuing a Special Avalanche Warning for the Northern Rockies, the Cariboos, Eastern Monashees, the Selkirk Mountains and the Purcell Range. This widespread warning applies to many popular backcountry destinations, including those accessed from Tumbler Ridge, Grande Cache, McBride and Valemount, Blue River, Wells and Williams Lake, Clearwater, Revelstoke, Nakusp […]

University of Victoria students at Selkirk College are influencing change with regards to health care practices in our local communities. Towards the end of last semester, the fourth year Nursing students held a Mini Conference at the college showcasing twenty “Influencing Change” projects. The students worked with community...

Some Castlegar residents are shaking their heads at B.C. Assessment notices that indicate residential properties increased in value by an average 4.79 per cent last year, despite the global economic downturn. Deputy Assessor Dennis Hickson says this is because the province froze assessment levels in 2008. Assessments of value as of July 1, 2009 would […]