Candace Batycki doesn’t want more flights or more airlines at the Castlegar airport because the increase in traffic would lead to greater carbon emissions.  At the June 11 Nelson City Council meeting, Councillor Batycki spoke against a motion that would support an effort by municipal leaders in the West Kootenay to lobby WestJet to […]

With no other explanation, other than to dismiss the legislation as “unnecessary red tape”, one deeply buried line of Bill C-38, the Conservative government’s 2012 Budget Bill states:  “The Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act is repealed”.  And with these 10 words the Conservatives ‘Trojan Horse’ bill, as it has come to be called, […]

A campaign to decriminalize marijuana in B.C. is putting local politicians on the spot – including Castlegar’s Mayor Lawrence Chernoff. A coalition of eight B.C. mayors, through Stop the Violence BC campaign, sent a letter in April urging provincial leaders to “support the regulation and taxation of marijuana”, citing public heath concerns and crime reduction […]

Four area chambers of commerce have offered regional airport representatives their endorsement in a bid to encourage WestJet to come to the Kootenays – meanwhile the Castlegar chamber is being flooded with letters of support from local businesses. Just last week, WestJet invited members of the West Kootenay Regional Airport Advisory Committee (including Castlegar Mayor […]

I will agree completely with anyone who claims the issues we untangle below are petty, but we at the Telegraph feel obliged to defend ourselves against a number of unsubstantiated attacks leveled against our news coverage and editorials—specifically mine—by certain members of council who dislike what we’ve written.Two weeks...

In light of the Mayor Greg Granstrom's vehement public letter—attached below—charging me and the Telegraph with "defamatory" comments, I contacted Rollie Rose, executive director of the BC Press Council, for comments he might offer on the matter.Rose said he had received the city's complaint and had written a response—also ...

Council has adopted a zoning amendment bylaw to give small lots outside the Infill Zone the same parcel coverage and floor area ratios as small lots within the Infill Zone. “Small lots” are defined as less than 550 square metres or 5920 square feet. No residents chose to speak at the public hearing held on Monday evening prior...

Council agreed on Monday evening to sell Tim Manke, owner of 2213 Fourth Ave, a roughly 16-inch by 100-foot strip of city boulevard so his lot will meet the minimum size required for subdivision. The strip runs along the western edge of his lot—the St. Paul side. In return, the city would receive a 3-metre wide snow storage...

Nelson City Council, normally quite an amiable group, descended into a tense stalemate Monday during a long discussion about the legalization and regulation of marijuana. The discussion included some acrimonious exchanges between Mayor John Dooley and Councillor Donna Macdonald.   Council was debating a motion that, if passed, would have had the mayor sign a […]

The vision of a unified transit system covering both the Kootenay Boundary and Central Kootenay regions is a step closer to reality, according to Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff. Chernoff is also chair of the newly-formed West Kootenay Transit Committee, which had its first meeting Wednesday. “We met yesterday with BC Transit, and that’s when it […]