OP/ED: On park ponds and parcel taxes
One of the arguments I’m hearing most in opposition to the city’s proposed parcel tax is criticism over city council spending money on the Millennium Park Ponds – the argument being that council self-indulgently bought a shiny new toy we can’t afford and now residents are footing huge tax bills as a result. Regardless whether […]
Trail buys property as part of Riverfront Centre development
The City of Trail has purchased the property at 1537 Bay Avenue, located on the lot adjacent to the future site of the proposed Trail Riverfront Centre (integrated library and museum) for $190,000. The City takes title of the property in early June, 2016 with plans of demolishing the existing structure in mid-July, 2016. The...
COLUMN: My Job as Your MLA
While travelling around my constituency of Kootenay West and the province I am often asked “what does a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) do?” I decided to share with constituents what my job has entailed since February and the start of the winter Legislative session. The days are long, sometimes difficult but it is ...
Parents create petition after SD 20 proposes $200/yr fee for school bussing
Parents of students in School District 20 (SD20) have reached such a level of frustration with ongoing and relentless cuts to education funding in the area that they've started a petition, according to Rebecca McDonnell, president of the District Parent Advisory Council. “This our sixth year of deficits approaching $1 million,...
Provincial health officer declares public health emergency due to rise in overdoses
A significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths has prompted provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall to declare a public health emergency. This is the first time the provincial health officer has served notice under the Public Health Act to exercise emergency powers. B.C. is the first province to take this...
Scholar to Discuss Violence and Islam at Selkirk College Mir Lecture Series Event
Beheadings, suicide bombings and civil war. Horrific attacks in Brussels and San Bernardino. There is no shortage of examples of the violence that rocks the Islamic world. Shocking pictures and gruesome acts done in the name of religion seem to appear daily on our news feeds. The media hammers the point home—that Muslim...
New collective agreement for City of Trail staff
The City of Trail and CUPE Local 2087 are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached following negotiations for the renewal of the Collective Agreement. The term of the renewed agreement, retroactive to March 1, 2015, is set for five years with wage increases of two per cent annually. The new agreement also […]
LETTER: Resident less-than-pleased with city's new garbage collection
So, what is everyone's honest opinion of Castlegar's new garbage bins and method of collection? I rent, so I don't even have my bin as of yet and garbage collection is this coming Wednesday. My landlords have requested one. I don't have anywhere to keep my garbage. If I put my old garbage can on the front patio, it is available...
Andrew Weaver's 'Bye Bye Jumbo Resort' Bill?
BC's lone Green Party MLA, Andrew Weaver, has been busy lately. He has proposed Bill M214 — Local Government Amendment Act, 2016, which would amend the Local Government Act by repealing parts of Section 8. Those parts were passed by the BC Legislature in 2012, apparently for the sole purpose of creating more favourable...
Local voter turn out bests provincial and national averages in 2015 federal election
A Community Voters Challenge, created to increase voter turn out in the area during last year’s October federal election has given local communities something to crow about, with local turn outs eclipsing both provincial and federal averages. “Two of our communities had a voter turnout of over 80 per cent. Given that the national level […]
