Regional News
By Mona Mattei on Sunday Dec 13 2009
Angry parents from the Mt. Baldy area forced the school district to reconsider its decision to cancel a segment of a school bus run serving their children. The group of 10 parents traveled over 3 hours to attend the district’s Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 8 in Grand Forks to pressure the board to reverse its November decision to cancel the segment of the bus route from Highway #3 up to Alden Road – the road leading to Mt. Baldy from the Boundary region side.
By Mona Mattei on Thursday Dec 10 2009
With a near full gallery at the meeting of Grand Forks city council, people gathered to bring forward different concerns. One of the most pressing topics of the week was medical marijuana. Two motions by Councillor Gene Robert at the Dec.7 meeting forced council to a vote on the issue when it was introduced by an item of correspondence.
By Kyra Hoggan on Wednesday Dec 09 2009
A request, by the City of Castlegar, for the B.C. Supreme Court to expedite the case filed against the city by Celgar for “unreasonable” tax rates has been refused.
Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff said he found out in a meeting Monday that Celgar said “no” to a January court date and, since Celgar's approval was required, city hopes for a January court appearance have been dashed.
By Contributor on Wednesday Dec 09 2009
The Green Party of Canada congratulates the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP for straight talk in Tuesday's report on the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport.
Commission Chair Paul Kennedy wrote plainly and strongly in the report, expressing criticisms regarding the way the Taser was used on Dziekanski and suggesting that the RCMP needs to return to a way of dealing with situations by using the least amount of force possible.
By Kyra Hoggan on Thursday Dec 03 2009
Castlegar police are cautioning against the kind of Good Samaritan-ship that saw an alleged jewelry thief chased down and captured yesterday.
“An RCMP member was on routine patrol in the 1900 block of Columbia Avenue, around 11 a.m. when he came across a male holding another male down on the ground,” explained Sgt. Laurel Mathew. “The officer stopped to see what was going on and learned the male on the ground had been chased from Simone's jewelry store after (allegedly) having stolen more than $10,000 worth of jewelry, and had been chased and caught by witnesses.”
By Mona Mattei on Thursday Dec 03 2009
Politics has always made for strange bedfellows they say, but the way that the government decisions can shift in short periods of time truly does wreck havoc on citizens and businesses alike. We'd all like to have influence on decisions made at the higher levels and many advocates for different causes invest a great deal of time and money into impacting those decisions, but at what point does it cause more harm than good to reverse a decision?
By Mona Mattei on Wednesday Dec 02 2009
Long time Grand Forks resident Gary Gilbert and his partner Tani Schwartz are reaching out for help. Help to save Tani’s daughter Rose in her continuing struggle with a little known condition called gastroparesis.
By Rob Leggett on Wednesday Dec 02 2009
The Olympic Games are always a favourite venue for disgruntled demonstrators, and 2010 promises to be a pivotal time for activists in B.C.
We have a loose coalition of anti-Olympic, anti-global, anti-poverty and anti-capitalist advocates who have been organizing protests to take place during the Games but, mixed in with the activists who may have legitimate concerns and convictions, can be found extremists - those who believe violence, intimidation and vandalism are legitimate forms of protest.
By Contributor on Wednesday Dec 02 2009
The fourth of a series of peaceful sit-ins targeting elected officials, tar sands financiers, and the coal and tar sands industries began at Canadian Minister for Sport Gary Lunn’s Sidney constituency office (9843 Second Street) today. 10 people entered the office just after 10:00 AM this morning. They are calling for the Harper government and all parties to immediately commit to world-leading cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
By Kyra Hoggan on Sunday Nov 29 2009
The following is a press release issued by NDP MLA Katrine Conroy:
Over a thousand signatures from people in the West Kootenays opposing the B.C. Liberals’ HST were introduced in the legislature by Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy.
“The people of the Kootenays were lied to by the B.C. Liberals about the HST, and if it is brought in they will have to pay more for everything in their day to day life. The HST is a $1.9 billion tax shift on to consumers,” said Conroy who submitted the petitions last week.
