After a potluck dinner at Andy Morel's house in Rossland on Tuesday—and after the diners had each expressed their concerns about the current Conservative leadership in Ottawa and Canada's lurch to the right—MP Alex Atamanenko offered some of his observations and experiences. "Thanks for all the food!" Atamanenko began, before...

Big stacks of large black lego—or so it looked—were installed last week along the south side of Columbia. The multifunctional blocks are "Stratacells" as assistant city planner Stacey Lightbourne explained. "I'm not the expert," she began, deferring to ISL engineers and landscape architects for the details, "but it's a fairly...

I have to admit, as the hot, humid summer days stretch out before us, I can’t seem to get myself worked into a lather over anything much more controversial than whether or not to put hard-boiled eggs in the potato salad for camping (I asked my Facebook friends and, 51 comments later, the consensus seems […]

Our report last week on “Li’l Cinnamon”—the black bear runt who’d learned to forage in human property and so was caught and killed by conservation officers—generated a lot of interesting discussion. Les Anderson’s comments struck a particularly harmonious chord for me: “Humans have no understanding of wild animals whatsoever,” he wrote, “so they turn to […]

Bookending three blocks of downtown Rossland, two massive brick and stone buildings, the courthouse and the edifice that once housed the Bank of Montreal, stand like sentinels on Columbia Avenue, having survived over a hundred years of drama, history, and devastating fires. The courthouse, on higher ground, commands a grand...

Having a local pool in Rossland has become increasingly important for our community, with the recent regional recreation dispute and increasingly warm summer weather. The pool is an important option for the children in the community to recreate in the summer but more importantly, to learn how to swim and to develop good...

Neil Diamond and Rod Stewart on the same weekend? And in Balfour, no less? The Nelson Grizzlies Rugby Club is sponsoring Hot . . . August Nights at Kootenay Lakeview Lodge in beautiful Balfour B.C. Friday, August 10, Nearly Neil kicks off the weekend with a tribute to Neil Diamond. Saturday, August 11, Dave Battah […]

Local officials anticipate some opposition to a temporary light industrial application near the Village of Ymir to construct the material necessary to resurface 16 kilometres of Highway 6. If approved by the Regional District of Central Kootenay board (RDCK), the 90-day temporary use permit will allow the government contractor, Selkirk Paving, to remove gravel from […]

It’s another busy week and the downtown streetscape will remain much the same for the next two weeks. Strata cells are being installed on the south side of Columbia Ave., starting at St. Paul. These strata cells contain the soil in which the trees will grow, as well as the tree irrigation piping, electrical conduit for...

Be Healthy Outdoors — Part 2 Problematically ·       Discourage those annoying mosquitoes and other biting insects by increasing garlic in your diet or by taking a supplement, such as a Vitamin B1 complex.  I usually have people take 1/d.  I often make up a homeopathic to minimize the reaction to bug bites.  Another useful tool […]