Chicken issue to fly again at council meeting
A hugely contentious issue is once again going to take wing in an open city council meeting Sept. 6 – whether to allow urban poultry and bee-keeping within city limits. The issue has come up in years past and drawn near-record crowds of community members to council chambers, both in support of, and opposition to, such a change...
RDCK director pushes for rural fire insurance change
A director of the Regional District of the Central Kootenays says rural residents will soon face huge increases to their fire insurance premiums- and many won’t be able to get insurance protection at all. Andy Davidoff made the comment at Thursday’s monthly RDCK Board meeting in Nelson, telling his fellow directors he would like the […]
Byelection dates and nomination deadlines announced
Public Notice is given to the electors of the City of Castlegar that nominations for the offices of: Councillor – 1 position, for a two-year term (November 2016 to October 2018), will be received by the Chief Election Officer or a designated person, as follows: By hand, mail or other delivery service at: Castlegar City Hall,...
Trail to get new private practice/ER doc
More than a year after its inception, the province’s Practice Ready Assessment BC (PRA-BC) program continues to benefit residents in Interior Health (IH) by linking rural and remote communities in need with family physicians. Interior Health is pleased to welcome five new family physicians in August and September, one in...
MP to host Town Hall on electoral reform in Castlegar
Richard Cannings, MP (South Okanagan – West Kootenay) is hosting two town hall discussions in September, seeking views and ideas from area residents on electoral reform as part of the government’s consultations on that issue. “I’ve heard from a lot of constituents already about electoral reform and it is clearly a very important...
City Abandons Boundary Extension Initiative
Following several years of discussions and negotiations, Trail City Council is abandoning the boundary extension initiative that would have seen the City of Trail’s southern boundary extended into Electoral Area ‘A’, including land from the city’s existing southern boundary through to the Columbia Gardens Industrial Park and...
COLUMN: From the Hill -- Site C and Treaty 8
On February 18th of this year a group of First Nations activists came to Ottawa to speak to the government about the Site C dam project on the Peace River. They met with myself and other MPs in the BC NDP caucus to discuss their attempts to delay construction of the dam until the concerns of their people were heard in federal...
LETTER: Local postal workers union frustrated over flawed negotiations
Dear Editor On behalf of the women and men who process and deliver your mail and serve you at the Castlegar Post Office, I want to thank the public for your participation in the postal review and especially for your ongoing support during our difficult negotiations with Canada Post. You may remember that on July 2nd, Canada...
B.C. Human Rights Code to include explicit protection for gender identity, expression
Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton introduced legislation Monday to make B.C.'s Human Rights Code more explicit in the protections it affords transgender persons in British Columbia. Bill 27, Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2016, was passed to include "gender identity or expression" among the protected ...
OUT OF LEFT FIELD: This is why
I try not to make the news about me, I just report it. But honesty compels me to write this. Sometimes, HOW I report it is relevant. I've had several people ask me why I was so strident in my refusal to write a recent story without police confirmation. I was accused of trying to be morally superior (I DO try to do that, but...
