I was privileged to attend the 41st General Council Meeting of the United Church of Canada, held in Ottawa in mid August of 2012. We dotted the “i”s and crossed the “t”s of years of work carried out by task groups and committees, congregations, and conferences. Responding to requests for assistance and change that came to us...

A good friend of mine just had her 40th birthday. Her birthday request – for a small group of friends to go on a three-day hiking excursion up Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. The kind of adventure where you pack EVERYTHING you will need to survive in the wilderness for several days into a ginormous 30-pound backpack and...

In which the author ponders if he has wasted time chasing political and historical facts, while other things worth knowing have gone unnoticed… Travel broadens the mind. Home is where the heart is. Every person can assert, I know my own truth and I originate my reality. Ideology does not include all possible realities. Politics […]

UPDATE: Following several reported sightings by Westbridge residents,  Wesley John Feist, missing since Monday, Aug. 20, was located on Christian Valley Road in Westbridge.  Feist had walked away from his Westbridge, B.C. home and was apparently staying in outbuildings in this area, said Staff Sgt. Dan Seibel of the Kootenay...

Grand Forks city council voted a resounding “no” to the idea of supporting the regulation and taxation of marijuana last night. As a follow up to previous conversations at the council table about the Stop the Violence BC campaign, started by a group of B.C. mayors and law enforcement authorities to pressure provincial and...

The Grand Forks airport is rated as one of the best in the Southern Interior of B.C. so volunteers are inviting the community to celebrate with them at the airport appreciation day next Saturday. The Grand Forks Flying Association is hosting this celebration of transportation. The day’s events including: fly-in, car and bike...

In most sports a good official is considered one who is not noticed by the spectators; who remains in the shadow of the players. The umpiring crew at the 2012 event in Grand Forks, put together by Crew Chief Steve Boutang, calls for recognition. Consider that for the first time a Major League Umpire will call balls and strikes...

The Grand Forks valley has been waking up to intense levels of smoke over the past week. The good news is there are no local fires, but the bad news is the poor air quality is from ongoing fires in Russia. The West Kootenays has three active fires, all believed to be caused by lightening strikes, said Fionna Tollovsen fire ...

The Grand Forks International (GFI) baseball tournament received word on Aug. 2 that the U.S. Military All-Stars will be unable to attend the 2012 Grand Forks International. Terry Allvord, general manager of the team, said in their announcement, “It is with our deepest regret that we must request to reschedule your event if...

Sometimes, when I stand in front of others and relate my journey, I begin with my family and the communities I've lived in, and I recount a partial history of the jobs I've held. Sometimes I relive relationships I've had. Once in a long while I'll tell the story of the time I was buried alive up in Pass Creek in '98. Despite...