Cold climate and chill bills: power rates rise as temperature drops
As the temperature continues to drop in the West Kootenay region the electrical rates are rising from one of the area’s largest energy providers. FortisBC will be tacking a 6.74 per cent general rate increase — as approved by the B.C. Utilities Commission — as of Jan. 1 on to all customer bills, a rate […]
Hot cash: regional volunteer fire departments receive boost from the Province
The region is expected to heat up with almost $700,000 in grants from the Province for several volunteer fire departments. Through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) the volunteer fire departments — as well as Nelson’s composite professional department — will receive the money to enhance their capabilities by funding new training and equipment. “These […]
Real estate listings, sales drop across Kootenay-Boundary region
The real estate market in the Kootenay-Boundary region continued to drop at the end of 2023, according to the Association of Interior Realtors. In the Kootenay and Boundary region, unit sales saw a 13.6 per cent decrease (November 2023) compared to sales activity in November 2022 with 171 sales recorded, down from 203 units sold […]
Kootenay unemployment rate climbs to one of highest in Canada
The Kootenay region’s economy is heading into unenviable territory. Only three other economic regions in the country — outside of the Maritimes and the territories — had a higher unemployment rate than the Kootenay region in December, 2023, which now sports a 7.1 per cent rate (December, 2023, Statistics Canada). One year ago the region […]
Police Beat: flipped tractor-trailer, stop & go driver
Tractor-trailer slips off the highway On Thursday, January 4, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. frontline Trail and Greater District officers responded to a single vehicle incident on Highway 3B near the intersection of Ross Spur Road, in Fruitvale, BC. When officers arrived, they discovered a tractor-trailer unit had slid into the ditch and flipped onto its […]
COUNCIL MATTERS: Rossland City Council meeting, January 8, 2024
A contentious draft bylaw on STRs and a packed public gallery; that first F-bomb; encroachments on City property; Strategic Plan Update; Winter Carnival getting some snow – keep your fingers crossed for more! PRESENT: Mayor Andy Morel and Councillors Maya Provençal, Lisa Kwiatkowski, Stuart Spooner (via Zoom), Jeff Weaver, Craig Humpherys, and Eliza Boyce. Staff: […]
Region braces for slower economy in 2024 and faces similar challenges: chamber executive director
The other shoe is expected to drop this year for the provincial economy as slower economic growth is predicted but the West Kootenay region could still find its glass slipper. Like many jurisdictions in Canada, B.C. is experiencing the impacts of a slowing global economy and high interest rates, with the real gross domestic product […]
Winter Rescue Near Rossland
On Saturday, December 30, 2023, at 5:20 p.m., Trail and Greater District RCMP, Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue, BC EHS, and Rossland Search and Rescue responded to a report of a 41-year-old Rossland woman who had injured her knee near the Igloo Cabin, in the Rossland Range Recreation Site near Rossland. RCMP said the woman […]
EDITORIAL: SOS about crime?
A media release arrived in my inbox, to publicize the message of a coalition of communities and businesses urging government to take more effective action to reduce crime. The coalition calls itself “Save Our Streets” — SOS. Their message is a call “for all levels of government to coordinate their efforts and put an end […]
Rossland Winter Carnival 2024: will we have (enough) snow?
Rossland Winter Carnival 2024 is fast approaching, with the event scheduled in Rossland January 26 – 28. The Rossland Winter Carnival Society Board of Directors have exciting news…. The Sonny Samuelson Bobsled Race is back! The Committee has had a busy off-season working hard to obtain event insurance so the Bobsled event can return, in […]
