Tap tap tappity tap tap. One of the strongest memories I have from my childhood is my dad tapping away at the computer. It’s not my earliest memory, but it happened nightly, so it was burned into my head. It was a comforting sound. My room was across the hall from his office and he would be working steadily into the night, ...

The School District 20 annual elementary track and field meet has become the latest casualty of ongoing strife between the province and its teachers, as day two of rotating job action in the district unfolds. The following letter was issued to local parents yesterday by SD 20 Superintendent Greg Luterbach: Dear Parents, With...

Day two of the BC Teachers’ Federation rotating strike schedule Tuesday sees picket signs outside public elementary and high schools in Arrow Lakes (Nakusp/New Denver) and Kootenay-Columbia (Trail/Castlegar/Rossland/Fruitvale) School Districts 10 and 20, respectively. Teachers in Kootenay Lake School District 8 (Nelson/Creston)...

Former Nelsonite William Dove was pleased to see Nelson Hydro and Columbia Wireless joined forces to have a camera at the nest of an Kootenay Osprey family just off Highway 3A west of Nelson by Grohman Park. Dove, who got his start as a raptor rehabilitator, educator and falconer when I lived in Nelson about […]

I originally started to write this as a straight news story, then realized my personal opinions on the matter are too strong to allow me to be certain of balanced reporting, so instead I'm going for an opinion/editorial piece. The issue at hand is current BCTF job action, and the way teachers are getting blamed for greed and...

Becoming a Teacher is a many things, but I would hazard to say more a “Lifestyle choice” where you work desirable hours with weekends, long weekends, summers, and holidays all off. Any teacher knows what also comes with their chosen occupation, which is some work done at home, and also putting in time with the kids after...

Dear Parents and guardians: I regret to inform you that the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), the union representing teachers, has informed the school district that they will be engaged in rotating strikes and will be withdrawing teaching services in all SD20 sites on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. As of this time, this...

On the first weekend in May, the Nelson Police Department, in conjunction with the Nelson RCMP, Nelson Fire Rescue, Nelson Search and Rescue, and BC Ambulance held our first annual Emergency Services Camp for local high school students. The camp is based on our previous successful years of Police Camp in Nelson. This year...

Parents in the West Kootenay/Boundary school districts should make alternate daycare arrangements for next week after BCTF president Jim Iker announced Tuesday teachers will stage a rotating strike May 26-29. Iker said the job action is in response to the threat of rollbacks made last week by government negotiators. “Last...

Myler Wilkinson’s deep connection with one of the greatest short story writers in history has earned recognition and praise from a distinguished Canadian literary journal. In the Spring, 2014 edition of The Fiddlehead, the Selkirk College instructor was named the winner of the journal’s 23rd Annual Literary Contest for Best...