More action on single-use plastic bags? Rossland City Council has stated that it was waiting for the outcome of the court challenge against the City of Victoria’s bylaw to ban plastic “check-out” bags.  The Canadian Plastic Bag Association challenged the City of Victoria’s right to regulate plastic bags. Now the Supreme Court...

Knotweed is one of the scarier invasive plants.  It doesn't cause burns or blindness, like Giant Hogweed, but it does spread very fast and it causes expensive damage to things like the foundations of buildings – and property values. It can burst right through pavement, take over lawns and gardens, and we have it right […]

Editor’s Note:  Many people are not yet aware of the proposal to turn about 700 square kilometres of the southern Purcell  Range into a heli-playground, cutting new trails and building lodges, with helicopter flights carrying in skiers in the winter and hikers and mountain bikers in the summer.  The...

Volunteers are needed to help the flooded-out residents of Grand Forks. The Trail and District Chamber of Commerce is appealing to local businesses to send some employees to Grand Forks for a few hours to assist. Sandbagging efforts are winding down, but clean-up crews are needed. For people who would like to make a positive...

Last Friday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna declared an “imminent threat” to mountain caribou recovery, ordering the BC government to take immediate action to protect core mountain caribou habitat—or the federal government will step in and do it for them. Mountain caribou populations have been steadily declining since...

Nearly half of Canadian renter households are spending more than the recommended 30 per cent of their income on housing while nearly one in five are spending more than 50 per cent of their income on housing, putting a growing number of families and individuals at a crisis level of spending and at risk of homelessness. The...

British Columbia’s Chief Electoral Officer, Keith Archer, has granted approval in principle on an initiative petition application. The petition will be issued to proponent Ion Delsol Moruso on July 3, 2018. The title of the initiative is: “An initiative to cancel the Site C Dam project”. “This initiative petition application...

ROSSLAND -- The Government of British Columbia is working with the Columbia Basin Trust to build 167 new homes for people struggling to find housing they can afford, in ten Kootenay communities. Rossland will receive funding to develop 24 housing units, planned to be built on the western side of the land known as “the Emcon...

In a letter to the editor in the April 19 edition of the Castlegar News, Councillor Bruno Tassone explains his reasoning for voting against a council motion to support the upcoming Regional District Recreation Complex referendum. While I respect his right to support or oppose any motion, I do not accept his asserted reasoning....

The Canada  Revenue Agency wants us all to file out tax returns on time.  For good reason: even low-income people need to file tax returns in order to benefit from such things as lower Medical Services Plan premiums, and other benefits. And it makes life easier for taxpayers and the bureaucrats too.  Here's a press release ...