I was out and about in Castlegar, chatting with locals, being snoopy, asking questions and generally not minding my own business … you know, the usual … when I asked a fellow what he’s most excited about for 2010. “It’s not 2009,” he said. I take his point. Let’s face it, ’09 was not an […]

The final Castlegar police beat story for 2009 (bar any major calamity in the next 30-or-so hours, of course) includes an RCMP plea for public assistance and a heads-up for 2010. Police are asking the public to come forward if they have any information regarding the damage to – and possible theft from – mailboxes in the 2200...

The New Year will include a move toward pesticide- and herbicide-free parks as Castlegar city council joins forces with the Kootenay Food Services Society to launch a pilot project exploring the city’s lanscaping care options. Councillor Russ Hearne, outgoing chair fo the Transportation and Civic Works committee, said the partnership seem an almost … well, […]

Ed Note: The following was penned by the editor of our sister paper in Grand Forks, The Boundary Sentinel. A brand-new addition to the Lone Sheep family, The Sentinel, like The Source, has enjoyed a rapid uptake in reader awareness and has become a fundamental element of the media mix in its community. To track what's going...

For the second year in a row now, the B.C. Transit Service will be providing a New Year's vehicle to help discourage drinking and driving as Castlegar rings in 2010. Dubbed the “Russ Bus” by the press last year in honour of the city councillor who lobbied to have the service instituted, the New Year's Eve bus will run from ...

Zellstoff Celgar manager Al Hitzroth said it’s a relief for his organization to head into the New Year with some framework in place for resolving its tax dispute with the City of Castlegar – this, after Celgar, last night, made an almost-half-million-dollar payment to the city and committed to monthly payments to reduce the outstanding […]

The City of Castlegar got a stunning early Christmas present last night when they received the first real break in negotiations with the city’s primary rate payer, Celgar. The pulp mill has been in discussions with the city since July of this year, when Celgar declined to pay it’s $3.6-million municipal tax bill and filed […]

Environmental educators across the Columbia Basin are being given a special holiday gift courtesy of the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network (CBEEN) and the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT): the opportunity to apply for a professional development bursary of up to $500. A total of $5000 in bursaries will be available starting January 1, 2010 for […]

This reporter's annual interview with Mr. Santa Claus (AKA Kris Kringle, St, Nicolas, Pere Noel) took an unexpected turn when Claus ended up remaining silent for the bulk of the conversation. The interview began normally enough, with Claus fielding questions as to how the North Pole has weathered the previous year's global ...

As we enter into the final days before Christmas and prepare to spend time with our loved ones, it’s a great time for us to also look at the impact our holiday season has on our environment. We all expect to have extra waste during the holidays, but every year our nations have increases as […]