Interior Health is alerting residents throughout the region that surging COVID-19 activity has become a concern. Due to higher rates of COVID-19 being detected, Interior Health is concerned by the upward trend and frequency of new clusters in the region. The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has issued regional...

The BC RCMP has notified the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) of an incident which has resulted in injury to a man and a woman. Just before 5 p.m. on Nov. 9, frontline officers of the Cranbrook RCMP responded to firearm complaint at a residence in 200-block of 16 Ave N, in Cranbrook. Officers...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on enrolment numbers at Selkirk College is less than expected as the regional post-secondary moves towards the completion of the first full semester under strict health and safety protocols.   Following the direction of the BC Provincial Health Officer and considered an essential service,...

Interior Health is expanding booking options for lab patients throughout the region. Effective Nov. 9, lab appointments can be booked online or by phone in Castlegar, Trail, Williams Lake, Cranbrook and Merritt. The online booking tool can be found at https://www.labonlinebooking.ca/login Booking appointments online enhances...

Castlegar RCMP Const. Jason Tait has been acquitted of manslaughter and dangerous driving in Nelson court, nearly six years after the shooting death of Waylon Edey ( for previous coverage, see https://castlegarsource.com/news/manslaughter-trial-castlegar-officer-scheduled-early-september ), and after only a very brief jury ...

 Five British Columbians and an Alberta man are facing numerous charges in relation to the illicit production of synthetic drugs. On Oct. 19, 2018, several RCMP units executed a search warrant on a property on Trinity Valley Road in Lumby, BC. Federal Serious and Organized Crime (FSOC) members from Kelowna and Osoyoos, with...

The global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis will include local voices through a series of TEDx talks being presented virtually by Selkirk College to the entire community over three Sundays in November. Sustainable Selkirk and the Mir Centre for Peace are partnering with the West Kootenay...

I have been honoured to represent the West Kootenays as MLA since 2005 and for the last three years as British Columbia’s Minister of Children and Family Development, as well as Minister Responsible for the Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power Corporation and the Columbia River Treaty. I have had a variety of jobs which have...

I don’t usually go into the “inside baseball” minutiae of backroom politics on Parliament Hill—the battles over make-up of committees, opposition motions with poison pills, and filibusters—because, frankly, most Canadians aren’t concerned about these details.  They just want parliament to work for them, especially when so...

The BC Coroners Service has published updated reports on illicit drug toxicity deaths to the end of September 2020. The following are the key preliminary findings of these reports (data is subject to change): In September 2020, there were 127 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths. This represents a 112% increase over the...