As many countries move away from big hydro projects, B.C.’s government must decide whether to continue work on the Site C dam. The controversial megaproject would flood a 100-kilometre stretch of the Peace River Valley and provide enough power for the equivalent of about 500,000 homes. The BC Utilities Commission, an independent...

 Living Lakes Canada, Columbia Basin Trust, the Columbia Basin Watershed Network and Selkirk College are inviting everyone and anyone in the Columbia Basin with an interest in the region’s water resources to join a dialogue that has the potential to protect communities from water challenges in the face of climate change. The...

Experts agree the fentanyl crisis in British Columbia is an unprecedented multi-faceted societal catastrophe that’s not going away anytime soon. Those on the frontlines are also united in recognizing that solutions will only be possible through education and conversation. As health care professionals, emergency responders, ...

“The West is the best. /  Get here, and we’ll do the rest.”                                                 -- Jim Morrison, the Doors, Blue Bus In the beginning, two words I do not often fare into the waters of moral judgements, but in this column I do. My morals and ethics, or “values” as the modern vocabulary seems to...

The ongoing conflict over open-net fin-fish aquaculture in our coastal waters has not received much local press. After all, it's a coastal issue; we no  longer have salmon runs in our neighbourhood, thanks to a series of dams on the  Columbia River.  But I notice that we eat  salmon from the coast anyway, brought to us by the...

To The Editor: Accountability. Local city councils in the Kootenays should follow the examples of  Victoria, Saanich and the District of the Highlands, who voted nearly unanimously to send a "Climate Accountability Letter" to 20 of the world's largest fossil fuel companies, asking the companies to pay their share of the...

West High Yield Resources Ltd. and the Record Ridge claims:  Rosslanders have been hearing from representatives of West High Yield  ("WHY") about mineral claims on and around Record Ridge that could be developed into a magnesium mine for some years now.  Some residents have been excited about the...

You have to hand it to the rich in dealing with the tax reforms proposed by the Liberals. They didn’t even have to put pen to paper or pick up the phone to protest the taxman messing with their ill-gotten wealth. They got the poor besotted small businessperson to fight on their behalf. In this newly fact-free world it didn’t...

First, the cannabis news:  as readers of the "Council Matters" column already know, the provincial government is seeking input from municipal governments to help guide provincial policy on the decriminalization of cannabis.  The federal government is preparing to pass Bill C-45 and Bill C-46.  There are questions to be...

The Sustainability Commission’s annual Energy Crawl takes place this Saturday October 21st between noon and 4:00 pm. Rosslanders are invited to visit Energy Crawl homes or drop by Energy Crawl Headquarters (Rossland Public Library) and take in the electric car show.   Homeowners and vehicle owners will give you a brief tour,...