Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) is partnering with BC Ideas to provide five $10,000 cash awards to reward innovative solutions addressing issues which will improve the lives of residents in the Columbia Basin region. BC Ideas: Solutions for Stronger Communities is an online competition seeking to identify solutions to deal with challenges facing BC communities now […]

Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff said letters are coming in fast and furious from across the region in support of the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s bid to entice WestJet to Castlegar … with some glaring omissions. “We’ve received letters from most communities – not all, but most – and we’re getting them from residents, businesses, everyone. […]

Contention between Castlegar city councillors that was once about poultry is now about process, after a motion was passed Monday night to end the debate about allowing chicken husbandry within city limits ... and ruffling more than a few feathers along the way. The divide, in this case, runs along gender lines, with councillors...

Ed Note: The following is a press release issued by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure: This summer, key sections of provincial highway and local side roads in the West Kootenay region will be resurfaced to improve safety and travel for local residents, tourists and commercial vehicles.  A $1.7-million contract has been awarded to Interoute […]

A $1.2-million water infrastructure project is well under way after council approved the hiring of Castlegar’s Venture Mechanical Systems Ltd. to undertake the upgrading and retrofitting of the city’s water treatment centre. City director of transportation and civic works Chris Barlow said the $1.2-million price tag will be...

Rossland will send a letter to support the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s (WKRA) pitch to get West Jet service into Castlegar. Coun. Kathy Wallace raised the motion as a late addition to the agenda at last week’s regular council meeting on June 11. “Part of the time constraint is that this [issue] is coming to […]

  Candace Batycki doesn’t want more flights or more airlines at the Castlegar airport because the increase in traffic would lead to greater carbon emissions.  At the June 11 Nelson City Council meeting, Councillor Batycki spoke against a motion that would support an effort by municipal leaders in the West Kootenay to lobby WestJet to […]

A Trail man is facing five criminal charges stemming from a recent shoplifting/resisting arrest incident in Castlegar, according to Castlegar RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew. “On June 15, RCMP received a report that an adult male had stolen a bottle of liquor from the Uptown Liquor Store,” she said. “The suspect was not identified or located […]

Four area chambers of commerce have offered regional airport representatives their endorsement in a bid to encourage WestJet to come to the Kootenays – meanwhile the Castlegar chamber is being flooded with letters of support from local businesses. Just last week, WestJet invited members of the West Kootenay Regional Airport Advisory Committee (including Castlegar Mayor […]

The construction of a bigger, better ferry for the Shelter Bay to Galena Bay crossing on Upper Arrow Lake is set to begin this year. The building contract for the new $26.5 million boat was awarded to WaterBridge Steel Inc. of Prince George who will be constructing the open-decked vessel in Nakusp. The boat will […]