B.C.’s public sector is officially carbon neutral, a first for any province or state in North America. To kick-start carbon-neutral efforts, B.C. launched a $75-million public-sector energy conservation capital fund in 2008. It has funded 247 energy projects in schools, hospitals, colleges, universities and other government buildings across the province. Once complete, those projects are […]

Highway 31 near Coffee Creek is the latest section of Kootenay highway to join the televised ranks of DriveBC’s network of real-time coverage web cameras. Extreme weather and the congested nature of the area were the reasons the Ministry of Transportation elected to initiate a camera at that stretch of road, but anyone driving the […]

An attempt is underway to reverse a decline in honey bee colony populations. More than $244,000 in federal government money will be given to the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association to develop new strategies to help reverse the decline. The project aims to help beekeepers secure sustainable honey harvests and provide essential pollination services to the fruit […]

Premier Christy Clark and Solicitor General Shirley Bond offered condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ymir resident Sheilah Sweatman, the BC Volunteer Search and Rescue technician who lost her life in the course of her duties on Wednesday. “I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of this […]

Ymir resident Sheilah Sweatman’s body was recovered from the Goat River around noon Thursday, a day after she was swept down the river while the swift water rescue team she was on attended the scene of a submerged vehicle. Search and Rescue Swift Water Specialists at the Goat River Thursday morning at the submerged vehicle […]

West Kootenay police detachments are kicking off a summer CounterAttack campaign this weekend with a reminder to plan ahead and choose a designated driver to get home safely. “Police will be out in full force looking for impaired drivers at roadchecks across the province this summer,” said Chief Constable Jamie Graham, Traffic committee chair of […]

Burn, baby, burn, at least for a few more days. Starting this Monday (noon) the Southeast Fire Centre will begin prohibiting all open fires within the jurisdiction of the fire centre — essentially the entire West Kootenay-Boundary region — as the summer season begins to heat up (we hope). The restriction comes into effect to […]

Compliance and enforcement officers, conservation officers and recreation officers will be on patrol this Canada Day weekend in the West Kootenay-Boundary, ensuring people are following campfire safety regulations. The regulations, introduced last summer, state that campfires cannot be larger than 0.5 metres in height and 0.5 metres in diameter (approximately a foot-and-a-half by a foot-and-a-half) […]

No, it’s not a long weekend gouge, but expect to pay more at the pumps starting on Canada Day. Effective July 1 the carbon tax on gasoline rises by 1.11 cents per litre to 5.56 cents per litre. Other fuels see a similar increase. However, the Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit also increases by […]

I attended a public meeting Monday night, unveiling draft plans for Millennium Park.   I was very much impressed by the offerings – if I had any criticism to offer, it would be that I don’t believe linear thinkers will understand what they were seeing. When the city unveils a plan, we can generally expect […]