COMMENT: Free Range! Organic! Local! Or none of the above...
Are you jaded yet? When you pick up a box at the store and read "natural," does that roll-the-eyes impulse tickle your oculomotor nerves? Sure does mine, a right twitch. "Natural" hardly means natural anymore, just like "free range" seems to allow, "We left the door open to their patch of poor pasture," and "organic" means,...
Resident group garnering signatures to oppose pesticide use in city parks/play spaces
A group of local residents is using three Facebook pages, an online petition, and several hard copy petitions to try to pressure the City of Castlegar to ban pesticide use in city parks and play areas. Elise Bourgeois, a mother of three who lives right next to Millennium Park, said she opposes any kind of […]
UPDATE: CFIA responds to reasons for changing the meaning of 'local'
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency responded to a story in The Nelson Daily Tuesday regarding changes made to the meaning of “local food” in labeling in grocery stores. Elena Koutsavakis Media Relations for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency apologized for not confirming The Nelson Daily received an email from the federal agency Tuesday afternoon. Concerns […]
RCMP urge parents to drop off prescriptions
The BC RCMP is asking parents and grandparents to be aware of a growing problem of prescription drug abuse among youth. According to a 2009 study, one fifth of students in grades 7-12 have used at least one prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription. Oftentimes these medications were stolen from a medicine cabinet or a […]
RDCK issues 'boil water advisory' for Fauquier
Recent tests showing poor water quality has forced the Regional District Central Kootenay (RDCK) to issue a Boil Water Notice for users on the Fauquier Water System. Recent testing shows that current water quality is now poor due to increased seasonal turbidity (cloudiness). “The RDCK and Interior Health recommend that all customers drink boiled water […]
HE SAID SHE SAID: Public outcry pushes for sustainability, but council digs in its core service heels
Following council’s five hour debate on the entire budget on May 1, council was forced to pause the financial plan blitz for twenty minutes on May 6 to hear nine members of the public oppose the only major cut: approximately $20,000 axed from the Sustainability Commission (SC), terminating their paid coordinator with no...
Three of four provincial parties break silence on health
The BC Heart and Stroke Foundation announced results from a survey of the four provincials parties on the eve of the Tuesday, May 14 vote. In March 2013, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, BC & Yukon sent a survey to British Columbia’s major political parties and incumbent Independent MLAs on 10 key policy priorities and […]
Sustainability Commission funding in flames as museum budget nearly doubles for 2013
Funding to community groups was cut by four per cent (about $14,000) relative to 2012 levels overall at Wednesday evening's committee of the whole (COW), with the Sustainability Commission taking the main hit as funding for the SC manager disappeared—ostensibly to bring the role "in house" to the city—while the city granted...
Nanaimo cuts place patients at risk says BCNU
Nurses on Vancouver Island are demanding an immediate halt to a plan to cut nurses at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital because it puts patients’ safety at risk. The Vancouver Island Health Authority scheme would eliminate a total of 26 nurses – both Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses – from teams providing bedside care […]
Protect yourself, protect others, get immunized
In the last 50 years, immunization has saved more lives in Canada than any other health intervention. April 20 to 27 isNational Immunization Awareness Week, and this year, Interior Health would like to remind you that we can all play an important role in stopping the spread of vaccine preventable diseases. When most people...
