It couldn’t have been clearer in a recent interview for Maclean’s magazine, that International Trade Minister Ed Fast viewed maintaining sovereign control over our public services, investments, intellectual property, environmental protection, government procurement and labour mobility as completely irrelevant in sweeping...

Dear Editor, This is a response to one of your readers expressing concerns regarding the Customer Choice program and the role of gas marketers. Since the launch of the Customer Choice program, British Columbians have been able to choose who supplies their natural gas. They can choose FortisBC’s variable rate or sign a fixed-term,...

Local Governments provide a broad range of services for their constituents and cannot continue to do so given the current funding formula of 8 cents on the dollar.  60 local government officials, from communities throughout southeastern BC, met with the Executive Board of the Association of Kootenay and Boundary Local Governments...

Often, when reviewing my scars, I wonder why I have them at all. If cells replicate every seven years or so, where do scars come from? Shouldn't they disappear with the next round of shedding? Maybe it's good they don't. Good to see that patch of skin burned white by molten zinc - remember to tuck the gloves in next time....

Alex Atamanenko, MP (BC Southern Interior) is slamming the Conservative government’s second mammoth Omnibus Budget Bill this year which amends over 40 separate Acts, guts a series of commissions that protect the public interest and concentrates even more power in Ministers’ hands. The BC MP denounced the government’s measures...

Dear editor, The nice friendly community power company that bought-out West Kootenay Power is showing us a different side. They are walking out on the City of Trail without even saying good bye. The city of Penticton is looking for alternate power sources as Fortis is too expensive. Their new rates are really putting it to ...

At Christmas this year we will be treated once again to a film adaptation of a fantasy by Tolkien, this time The Hobbit. I am gratified because this author and his works form one foundation of the kind of person I have become, insofar as a book of fiction is fundamental to how one understands the world. What is it about Tolkien...

To the Editor: A colorfully dressed man named Raad and his associate were making calls on people’s homes in the 7000 block of 18th Street in Grand Forks last week. When he called on my uncle he said that he was “with the Access people and was there to protect buyers from rising gas prices.” He said he could give him a guaranteed...

Concussions, of any kind, especially in young athletes, greatly concern Dale Donaldson at Mallard’s Source for Sports. Which is why the local sport store, with locations in both Nelson and Castlegar, is joining fellow stores across Canada to donate proceeds from all skate sharpening on (Saturday) October 20th to stopconcussions.com. “Personally I cringe when I […]

As Halloween approaches, bats with bloody teeth or scary green eyes become more common conjuring up images of blood-sucking, dirty, aggressive creatures. Educators trained by the Kootenay Community Bat Project (KCBP) are gearing up to dispel these myths to students in the Columbia Basin. “Bats are actually very shy, clean creatures” says Juliet Craig, Coordinating […]