General

All Students and Parents: 

* Ensure your children always wear a helmet and other protective gear 
when playing sports, riding their bikes, using scooters or 
skateboarding. Ensure helmets fit properly and that your children secure 
the chin strap every time they go for a ride. 

* Drivers are reminded to watch their speed in school zones to ensure 
safe pedestrian traffic.

 On Sept. 1, the Castlegar RCMP detachment received a complaint that a 24-year-old Castlegar male had taken photos of a 14-year-old female and sent them to her Facebook account.

 Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff will be setting the record straight this month, when federal Minister of Transportation Chuck Strahl comes to town.

 What possible cause would bring St. John Ambulance, Castlegar and District Health Watch, the Rebels and Robusters together in one room?

The Castlegar and District Community Harvest Food Bank is about more than just food – in fact, food bank volunteers are currently finding their days filled with school supplies.

Food bank coordinator Deb McIntosh said the venue is kind of a one-stop shop for local families in need, as they try to help whomever they can; however they can.

“It's not just about food – it's about addressing needs in our community,” she said.

Fifty-nine bears have been destroyed in the region so far this year; a year Conservation Officer Ben Beetlestone says has been a record-breaking one for bears in Castlegar (15 have been destroyed in the greater Castlegar area).

 Castlegar fire chief and airport manager Gerry Rempel is just drinking in all the community support – literally.

RCMP are again calling for the public's assistance in locating Owen Kiernan Rooney last seen in Grand Forks, B.C. Rooney has been missing since Saturday, Aug. 14, and his family has added their plea for help. Family members have flown in from Australia to assist in the search.

For 3,794 people who are linked into the ‘Help save the B.C. Black bears’ Facebook site, and Allen Piche, the man responsible for feeding them, word that the bears at Christina Lake are not facing imminent destruction will be a relief. Barry Penner, Minister of the Environment for B.C., said the suspects who were feeding the bears will need to ween them off their cushy lifestyle by winter.

By: Julie Fortier and Kim Covert, Postmedia News

Expect to see home sales and prices fall in Canada the second half of 2010, while housing starts moderate, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's second quarter Housing Market Outlook released Tuesday.