RCMP seized 50 marijuana plants last week in two separate busts on Slocan Valley residences.Slocan Lake and Nakusp RCMP executed warrants on two residences on Springer Creek Road on Thursday and Friday and uncovered the plants, along with a loaded handgun.  Four people were arrested and are charged with production of marijuana...

A further measure of relief from residential property taxes for rural West Kootenay homeowners takes effect in 2011, with the start of the Northern and Rural Area Homeowner Benefit. This benefit provides up to $200 for homeowners living outside of the Capital, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts, such as those residing in the […]

PART II: This past year, my staff and I had the privilege of assisting constituents faced with federal bureaucratic problems – unfair treatment, misinterpretations or just plain despair at not seeing any hope in their particular plight.  For the most part, I find the federal public service is exceptionally professional, knowledgeable and helpful, and should not be […]

I took it upon myself to start a detox last week. Just a short one, three days. I know what you’re all thinking: A detox around Christmas? You’re nuts! But truthfully, I eat fairly healthy most of the time, and I’m not one to indulge on holiday treats regardless. I had high hopes. This would be easy! But as […]

Selkirk College’s Mir Centre for Peace will be opening its doors to the general public on a weekly basis starting January 2011 to increase awareness of the Centre and assure participation in events hosted by the Peace Café. A display entitled 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe will be available for onlookers to view and Peace […]

One of the hallmarks of a democratic state is its commitment to free, public and political expression. Indeed, no society can call itself truly democratic if it does not guarantee its citizens the inalienable rights to gather, communicate their opinion and demonstrate their support for or against any political position they wish. If these assertions […]

In his essay “Propaganda and Demotic Speech” (1944) George Orwell lamented “the bloodless dialect of Government” and the “inflated bombastic style” with which newspapers report on governments. Orwell held out the hope that “someday we may have a genuinely democratic government, a government which will want to tell people what is happening, and what must […]

Food Banks Canada released its HungerCount 2010 survey in November. The report paints a grim picture of poverty in Canada and the continued growth in the need for services like food banks and other charitable food providers in our communities.  This snapshot from thousands of hungry Canadians and from hundreds of food banks across the […]

Aboriginal students at Selkirk College and College of the Rockies will find support and a place to gather once construction is complete on the colleges’ newly announced Aboriginal Gathering Places. The two spaces, valued together at nearly $2.5 million, will be built thanks in part to a $400,000 contribution from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT).   […]

 Castlegar fire crews were called out at just after 8 p.m., to a fire on Lynnwood Crescent in the Oglow subdivision. Fire Chief Gerry Rempel said the fire started in the chimney, but spread into at least one wall.   “We'll have to get in there and have a look – obviously, there was something wrong there that allowed the fire...