Starting Jan. 1, 2013, FortisBC residential electricity customers will see a 4.2 per cent increase on their electricity bills from the recent BC Utilities Commission revenue requirements decision, along with a 2.3 per cent increase from rate rebalancing. The cumulative rate adjustment for residential customers will mean an increase of 6.6 per cent. For the […]

A Trail man is dead after a collision last night on Highway 22 between Castlegar and Trail, in the Birchbank area. West Kootenay Traffic Services Cpl. John Ferguson said 53-year-old Franklin Murray Kotyk was heading northbound toward Castlegar when his 2000 Ford SUV crossed the centre line and hit an oncoming 1990 Chevy pickup. Kotyk […]

Rotating job action, with lab workers slated to reduce to essential levels Monday, has been cancelled. Interior Health issued a brief release Monday, indicating services will remain at normal levels. “Interior Health has just received notification that the job action planned for this week by the Health Sciences Professional Bargaining Association (HSPBA) has been withdrawn,” […]

Mid-season form? It’s a description media liaisons rarely use at the start of ski seasons. However, this season is totally different for Whitewater Ski Mountain. The resort, identified by Powder Magazine as “one of the best powder mountains on the continent” opened for the 2012-13 season with a 200 centimeter base — the best since […]

As more and more hikers, skiers and snowmobilers venture into the backcountry of B.C., it’s important to remember to play safe and be prepared. So the movers and shakers in the province urge backcountry enthusiasts to learn more about the necessary outdoor safety tools and techniques that could spare a life. Outdoor adventurers can help […]

Midnight Sunday will see the third day of rotating job action at KBRH – Thursday saw pharmacists strike, Friday was diagnostic imaging, and hospital lab services will be reduced to essential services on Monday, according to a union press release. Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) said there will be no picket lines during the […]

A job action at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) today may result in delays or postponements for patients, according to Interior Health Authority (IHA) spokesman Karl Hardt. Hardt said yesterday’s job action by hospital pharmacists had no impact on patients, but today will likely be a different story. “Some patients will be rescheduled today,” Hardt […]

A meeting will have to happen within the next 30 days to resolve a dispute between the city and two downtown business owners, after council’s regular meeting Monday night became contentious. According to councillor and Planning and Development Committee chair Kevin Chernoff, the issue arose as the result of the city sending ‘unsightly premises’ notification […]

This story is an excerpt from the City of Trail’s quarterly newsletter. Watch The Champion for other local newsletter lore. Trail’s Historic rocks walls and covered staircases offer one of B.C.’s best walking tours Local Trail resident Eileen Truant Pedersen has produced Set in Stone: A History of Trail’s Rock Walls, a coffee-table book that […]

I’d like to share with you my past few weeks – it is a time in my life that I would like to leave behind and never re-visit again. EVER.  It all started when my two sons came down with the chicken pox. Both were pretty nasty cases; they were itchy, sore, feverish, spotty, oozy, […]