MP: 2015 elections are Canada's best bet for electoral reform
In the last dozen years, eight out of nine commissions or citizen assemblies created by governments in Canada have not only advocated getting rid of our first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system but have recommended adopting MMP, or mixed-member-proportional representation. In the upcoming 2015 federal election, Tom Mulcair...
Junior Dragon's' Den live at the Charles Bailey Friday
The Junior Dragons’ Den live show is happening this Friday, May 1, at the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail and students and judges got together on Wednesday for a final run-through before the event. A Greater Trail Community Futures initiative, Junior Dragons’ Den is modeled after CBC’s popular show in which budding entrepreneurs...
LETTER: Event to showcase teens with talent
Dear Editor, Castlegar and District Community Services Society’s (CDCSS) new and emerging Youth Program and Youth Council Advisory group are very excited to invite you to attend and/or participate in the First Annual Castlegar Youth Arts and Talent Event on May 30. The month of May celebrates National...
Trail/West Kootenay SPCA NOT closing its doors, despite rumours
Rumours that the West Kootenay BC SPCA, located in Trail, is closing its doors are unfounded and untrue, according to branch manager Danielle Jackman. “The facility we are currently in needs a lot of upgrades,” she said, adding it is unsuitable for other reasons as well. “We’re next to the water treatment plant – for safety...
End of boil-water advisory for Robson not good news for all
Not all Robson/Raspberry residents are delighted to see an almost-two-decades-long boil-water advisory finally lifted and a $3.2-million water treatment facility in place. The back story is that, 18 years ago, the Interior Health Authority found E.Coli in Robson/Raspberry water samples and levied the boil water advisory,...
Accused bank robber Andrew Stevenson pleads guilty in Nelson Court
Andrew Zacharias Stevenson, who robbed several West Kootenay businesses, pleaded guilty in Nelson Provincial Court Tuesday to a laundry list of charges. The charges include robbery using a restricted prohibited firearm, unlawful use of a firearm, using an imitation firearm and breaking and entering. Stevenson, appearing via...
Letter: Kootenay Lake District parents concerned about ramifications of Bill 11
To the Editor: Honourable Peter Fassbender, Minister of Education PO Box 9045, Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2 Dear Minister Fassbender: Re: Bill 11, The Education Statutes Amendment Act We write to you as representatives of the parents of almost 5,000 students in the Kootenay Lake School District who are gravely...
Council designates $89,686 in CBT grant funding for local organizations
A wide range of community organizations – 28 of them, to be exact – had a very good night last night, as city council offered its recommendations for the disbursement of $89,686 in Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Funding for 2015. These recommendations will then be forwarded to the Regional District of Central...
Cadets participate in leadership/bush weekend
Cadets from the West Kootenay Air Cadet Squadrons participated in a Leadership/Bush Weekend, April 24 to 26. The exercise was conducted on land operated by the 44th Field Engineer Squadron near Trail. Approximately 60 cadets, and seven Officers from squadrons in Grand Forks, Nelson, Castlegar and Trail were at the exercise....
Two fires near Trail this afternoon prompt public warning
The regional fire chief is reminding residents to exercise extreme caution when engaging in outdoor recreation after two blazes in the Trail area this afternoon. Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue Chief Terry Martin said 22 firefighters from three communities (Trail, Montrose and Warfield) were dispatched today. “The first...