My craving for a great science fiction / alien thriller was thoroughly satiated this weekend after an intense ride with director Ridley Scott aboard the spaceship Prometheus. Scott's classic original Alien set the bar high for every alien from space film for the past   three decades. As a co-owner of the Alien trilogy, I have...

With the sun shining and no severe weather warnings pending, it’s perhaps acceptable to begin hoping the worst of the rain is over, after a month that shattered precipitation records by a 68-per-cent margin (although showers are predicted for Sunday).  As of Wednesday, the Southeast Fire Centre recorded 204.9 mm of rain, as...

Castlegar’s ‘Million-dollar alley’ was the site of yet another crash yesterday, this time sending six people to hospital. According to Castlegar RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew, it was roughly 3 p.m. when two vehicles collided head-on while travelling Highway 22 near Trowelex. “A grey pick-up truck being driven by a 55-year-old man...

Ed Note: See bottom of letter for information about Facebook group supporting urban chickens in Castlegar. I'm baffled by the arguments Castlegar City Council is using to prohibit backyard chickens in small numbers. If the concerns really relate to noise, excrement, and attraction of pests - then why do we allow citizens to...

What has 34 legs, speaks Russian but has no teacher?  The soon-to-be Grade 3 Russian Bilingual (RB) class.   Unfortunately, it is the intention of school administration to split this class between two schools: 13 children will remain at Castlegar Primary in a split Grade 2-3 RB class, while four children will be sent to a...

United Nations trade and climate change advisor Aaron Cosbey—a Rossland resident—attended the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and he was back again last week for the glitz, fanfare, and "complete failure" of the Rio +20 anniversary conference."It was a very predictable thing," Cosbey said, listing many reasons...

Anya Soroka is a local actress with a Russian flare. The 28 year-old was raised in Grand Forks but has a distinct overseas connection: her mom is from Russia and Soroka also has a degree from there. After graduating from the Victoria Motion Picture School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in acting from the Boris Shukin...

Partners in the Waneta Expansion Project - Fortis Inc., Columbia Power Corporation and Columbia Basin Trust – and the Community Impact Management Committee invite you to visit the project’s viewing area this summer. The viewing area and platform, constructed by the contractor, provide a place across Highway 22A to safely watch...

Following Vermont’s ban on hydraulic fracturing last month, the Council of Canadians has written to the premiers of the provinces and territories across Canada asking that they follow suit. “Last month, the state of Vermont took action to protect water sources and to curb demands on fossil fuels. Provincial governments should...

Not even the weather experts are able to remain blase about the prodigious precipitation plaguing our region - Chris Cowan at the Southeast Fire Centre says rainfall levels are, "astronomical". He said the area usually averages roughly 60 mm of rainfall in June, compared to this month's ballpark of 180 mm ... and the rain is...