Marijuana and bears and raccoons, oh my! Only in the Kootenays.   I see the humour in the story – who wouldn’t, when a cop watches a massive bear crawl onto his squad car and refers to it as a “big Kootenay hood ornament”? (Although I feel compelled to point out my heroic restraint in […]

 The new arena roof is pretty stellar.  You’ve probably seen it from the outside by now, all metal sheathed, sleek, smooth and buttoned up tight.  It’s gorgeous. The inside is great, too, and it was the ceiling I found myself studying last night (Tuesday, Aug. 17) as our local Rossland roller derby team, “Gnarlies’ Angels”, and […]

 Fifty-year-old Castlegar woman Robin Mackay appearing in court today facing the charge of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her 73-year-old father repeatedly with a kitchen knife Sunday morning.  Mackay was remanded in custody until Aug. 31, and will appear via ‘video link’ at Provincial Court in Nelson.   “At (about) 12:15 a.m., Castlegar RCMP received […]

A group of officers from the RCMP Integrated Road Safety Unit say nothing surprises them anymore – except this story.  In a true Kootenay interpretation of Jurassic Park meets Jellystone Park meets NYPD Blue, officers from the RCMP and Nelson Police Department executed a search warrant on a rural property near Christina Lake, and were […]

 The City of Castlegar will be undertaking a traffic study for the stretch of Columbia Avenue near First Street after an application for a temporary work permit opened a largely-unrelated can of worms. City councillor Kirk Duff said visibility issues along that thoroughfare have long been problematic, but the permit application...

 Airport manager (and fire chief) Gerry Rempel said residents need not be alarmed if they see flashing red lights on the mountainsides surrounding Castlegar. He said the lights will indicate the testing of the airport's new beacons, a million-dollar project that will soon, hopefully, allow for nighttime departures from the ...

It’s a rare thing to gain exclusive, invite-only access to the world premiere of a film. Almost as rare for this writer is an impromptu trip through Vancouver and the Sea to Sky Corridor to bear witness to such an event: I don’t like leaving my house. Even more rare (and now we’re talking almost […]

Since April 28 of this year, Trail has been inundated with a rash of vandalism to vehicles that involved a chemical being sprayed on them that stripped the paint. The areas hit included Glenmerry along with East and West Trail. In the early hours of August 13, a General Duty member noted a suspicious person on Topping Street […]

 The saga of the City Centre Motel continues, as city council last night approved a recommendation that the city ask the B.C. Supreme Court for a stop-work order to prevent the motel owners from undertaking work without appropriate permits. City director of planning and development Phil Markin said the owners have apparently...

A backpack on a picnic table is all the RCMP have to go on in locating 24-year-old Australian Owen Kiernan Rooney. Rooney was last seen at the Boundary Hospital at 7649 – 22 St. in Grand Forks on  Aug. 14 at about 8 p.m. Rooney left the hospital, leaving behind his backpack on a picnic table on […]