Santa Claus is on the hot seat, literally, after receiving some gentle criticism from local fire officials. Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue deputy chief Dan Derby said they felt a warning was due, given an incident last year involving a singed beard, soot stains, and a not-fully-extinguished fireplace. “We could have issued a violation ticket, […]

I’ve been in a total funk for the past few weeks – all the negativity and rage surrounding the current city strike have been so disheartening and demoralizing. I keep thinking, What about after the strike? We’re all going to have to go back to working together, shopping in each other’s stores, attending our children’s hockey...

“What rough beast … slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?” -- W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming “Americans still heralded the Enlightenment’s entry into history precisely because they’d all been uprooted from their several soils and ancestries and plunged together into one vortex, whirling irresistible in a space otherwise quite...

The City wishes to advise Castlegar residents that City facilities remain open and City non-union staff will endeavor to provide prompt service to residents, businesses and visitors during the current labour strike. Your understanding and patience is appreciated. What’s Going On? The City has bargained in good faith for over...

“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have...

Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior, and Linda Worley, RDKB Area B Director, witnessed firsthand area residents’ dissatisfaction with CP’s response to their ongoing concerns with the recent addition of night trains on the local Castlegar to Trail run. In September, CP Rail implemented the decision to redeploy locomotives...

What is a thinking person to make of the new landscape of sexual consent? Since October 26, when Jian Ghomeshi left the CBC under a cloud of uncertain meaning, things have moved very fast indeed. On Parliament Hill, two NDP women have brought messages to the Liberal leader about two of his MPs and he has suspended said MPs,...

This Op/Ed video is by Derek Forgie. Some readers might recognize him because he travelled with Clara Hughes' Big Ride as she came through the Boundary and West Kootenays. Check out his stance on the "War on Christmas."  Bio (NSB): Equality Advocate Actor, comedian and activist Derek Forgie is a remarkable plate-spinner....

In Part I of this column, I attempted to present over whelming evidence that human activities are affecting global climate.  The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is composed of over 2,000 atmospheric scientists from every major country.  In 2001, the IPCC stated unequivocally that human activities are having...

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF CASTLEGAR, MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL This is a call for calm. And a call for respect.  Your city workers are on a legal strike – for the first time in 60 years. That’s a long relationship and one that needs to be protected and respected. Much has been said during this dispute and while most of the...