By James Wilt.  This article originally appeared on Desmog Canada. For years environmental organizations have called on the federal government to do something about the leakage of  billions of litres of toxic chemicals from Alberta’s oilsands tailings ponds into the Athabasca River every year. And for years they’ve been ignored...

The opioid crisis is deeply troubling, for many reasons.  One reason is the tragic deaths of so many, so unnecessarily; another reason is the likelihood that those deaths were precipitated by pain, either physical or psychological, that caused a search for relief in the illicit drugs that were fatally used. Another reason is...

Are we entering a new Dark Age? Lately it seems so. News reports are enough to make anyone want to crawl into bed and hide under the covers. But it’s time to rise and shine. To resolve the crises humanity faces, good people must come together. It’s one lesson from Charlottesville, Virginia. It would be easy to dismiss the...

It's the prettiest crosswalk in town.  The lovely set of rainbow colours across Washington Street, by the Rossland Summit School, invites admiration.  And its message is admirable too:  it invites us to accept others without prejudice or intolerance ― without rejecting them on the basis of their appearance,  their religion,...

Wildfires are sweeping B.C. Close to 900 have burned through 600,000 hectares so far this year, blanketing western North America with smoke. Fighting them has cost more than $230 million — and the season is far from over. It’s not just B.C. Thousands of people from B.C. to California have fled homes as fires rage. Greenland...

How much alcohol should a person be allowed to have in her bloodstream while being in control of a  motor vehicle?  Is there a "safe" limit below which someone is not really impaired, or  not too impaired? Canada's Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, is considering lowering  the blood-alcohol content limit that constitutes...

During  Rossland's  Miners Hall renovation, I was disappointed to see that the new roof is a dark chocolate brown instead of a  more reflective, pale colour that would help to cool not only the building, but also our city.   The more of a building's  sky-facing surfaces that can reflect the sun's energy, rather than absorbing...

Scenario: the year is 2007 (or 1997). A political science class is presented with a hypothetical election outcome where parties A and B have each received 40% of the vote and party C the remaining 20%. The class is asked to write an essay: This is the Government the People have Elected. Many agree that, while possible in...

A message from the BC Southwest Fire Centre Information Officer: Effective at noon (Pacific time) on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017, the operation of any off-road vehicle for recreational purposes on Crown land will be prohibited throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre, Kamloops Fire Centre and Southeast Fire Centre. In addition, all...

A message from the City of Rossland: As of today, there are approximately 140 wildfires burning across the province of BC. In the Southeast Fire Centre, there are approximately 20 total wildfires burning  with 4 of them being fires of note (the closest to the City of Rossland is the Harrop Creek Fire, NE of Nelson). Further...