DELEGATIONS Doctors & Nurses for Planetary Health – Kootenay Boundary and West Kootenay Climate Hub – Accelerating Zero Carbon Step Code Council received a presentation from Laura Sacks and Dr. Amy Rudkoski regarding accelerating the Zero Carbon Step Code (ZCSC) in Castlegar to support electrified new homes and buildings. The presentation highlighted the benefits of […]

I’m pleased to rise to speak about some valuable community assets in my riding and, indeed, every riding. (watch at (3) March 09 2026 Statements Steve Morissette – YouTube ). I recently had the opportunity to visit four of our libraries in Kootenay-Monashee, as well as visit the Cherryville Library last summer. I was struck […]

CUPE 2087 members have voted 100 percent in favour of strike action, in a vote held last Wednesday (March 4). “Our members are proud to provide public services in this community, and taking a strike vote is not a step we take lightly,” said CUPE 2087 Vice President Kevin Pii. “But like everyone else, our […]

These five beautiful puppies came to KAAP with their mama (Shai, included in photos and will be available for adoption after her spay) when they were just a few days old. They were homeless and rescued from -40 degrees in the dead of winter. They are truly just delightful, all of them. Shai is a […]

Long-time Castlegar resident and Canadian Red Cross volunteer Deborah Lynn Chmara has been awarded the Order of Red Cross, the organization’s highest honour, in recognition of her decades of exceptional humanitarian service. Her volunteer journey now spans more than 55 years and has taken her from British Columbia and the Yukon to crisis zones in […]

Local Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association (KERPA) has been featured in a book by national best-selling author Dr. Brian Goldman called The Casino Shift: Stories from an ER on the Edge. The book, to quote publisher Harper Collins, is, “an hour-by-hour account of what a Canadian emergency room is like in these turbulent times when […]

A new phase in British Columbia’s approach to mental health crisis response began on February 25 in the Southeast District, as RCMP detachments in Golden, Columbia Valley, Elk Valley Regional, Creston, Kimberley, and Cranbrook adopted HealthIM in collaboration with Interior Health. The system enhances real-time risk assessment and strengthens coordination with Interior Health emergency departments. HealthIM is […]

A $1.65 million investment through PacifiCan’s Regional Innovation Ecosystems program is driving a major expansion of Selkirk College’s Selkirk Technology Access Centre (STAC) in Trail, BC. On Monday, March 2, The Honourable Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), toured STAC and announced this federal investment. “British Columbia […]

Following two days of deliberations, City of Castlegar Council has released the proposed 2026–2030 Financial Plan and is now seeking feedback from residents. The proposed 2026 budget includes a preliminary 7.76 per cent tax increase for residential properties. Council will set the tax rates in April once the revised roll is available from BC Assessment. It’s […]

 “Just as ‘wars begin in the minds of men’, peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies with each of us.”                                             — Seville Statement on Violence, 1986 https://abolishwar.net/wp-content/uploads/Seville-Statement-on-Violence.pdf  “I was a conscious being reading the instructions for my own creation…    Had this […]