US reduces claim against alleged B.C. Softwood timber violations
Madison's Lumber Reporter has learned that the United States' claim against Canada, for alleged subsidies on British Columbia's timber stumpage rates, has been reduced from US$499 to US$303.6 million. In the American rebuttal of Canada's defense, which was filed on Dec. 23, 2011 but only made public this week, the U.S. Trade...
United States: How the stimulus revived the electric car
By Michael Grabell in ProPublica. A common criticism of President Obama's $800 billion stimulus package has been that it failed to produce anything – that while the New Deal built bridges and dams, all the stimulus did was fill some potholes and create temporary jobs. Don't tell that to Annette Herrera. She was 50 when the ...
Lions Club calls on Chamber of Commerce to explain eviction
Letter to the Editor: Last Thursday, four of the Lions executive waited for our turn to visit the Chamber of Commerce board meeting. In the closed meeting of the chamber board, a discussion of how to proceed with the eviction of the Lions Club. For 41 years, the Castlegar-Selkirk Lions have been involved in Castlegar. Shopping...
$2.3-million Phase Two to service airport lands sent out to tender
The City of Castlegar is putting out an early tender for the roughly $2.3-million Phase Two of the airport-lands-servicing project, after an unanimous vote at council’s regular meeting Monday evening. “This is where we connect the pipe (recently installed spanning Kinnaird bridge during Phase One) at either end – on one end...
Shop Local campaign kicks off across Castlegar
Castlegarians will be hearing “Shop Local” a great deal in the coming months, as all four of the city’s major media outlets embark on a shop local campaign spear-headed by the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce (CoC), and funded by the Heritage Credit Union. The campaign, according to CoC executive director Pam McLeod,...
Wireless innovations driving BC economy
We are fortunate in our lifetimes to have seen technology’s amazing ability to “amplify human potential,” as Microsoft founder Bill Gates said so aptly.In the last century, we saw how the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, and electricity transformed our society. In the 21st century, the wireless revolution is transforming...
Housing continues to play a key role in economy
Housing-related spending accounts for more than 20 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, contributing about $330 billion to the Canadian economy in 2010 — up 7.1 per cent from $308 billion in 2009. This and other key findings are in the ninth annual Canadian Housing Observer, released today by Canada Mortgage and...
Tax assessments don't reflect any major changes in Castlegar property values
More than 8,000 property owners in the Castlegar area can expect to receive their 2012 assessment notices in the next few days. “Most homes in Castlegar and its surrounding rural area have changed only marginally from last year‟s assessment roll,” said Dennis Hickson, deputy assessor. “For example, a typical single...
Castlegar debt-free after paying out loan 2.5 years early
It's a black day for the City of Castlegar - black ink, that is, according to a report offered at Monday’s regular city council meeting. In the report, city director of finance Andre Buss told council that the city’s only remaining long-term loan (issue 58, which the city undertook to build the RCMP detachment as well as...
Want change? So you can whine ... or wine
Making the switch to online media two-and-a-half years ago was like a crack in the dam – the changes in my life have been coming fast and furious ever since. <?xml:namespace prefix = o /> This is a good thing, and largely something I’ve chosen – Gandhi wasn’t blowing smoke when he said, “Be the change you want to see...
