The age-old adage of “April Showers, Brings May Flowers” was not the norm in April according to Ron Lakeman of the Southeast Fire Centre in Castlegar. Lakeman said in his monthly weather bulletin “dominant high pressure” made for a drier month of April. “Not typical of April was the more dominant area of high pressure which...

The earthquake in Nepal hit a little too close to home for a former Nelson couple now living in Chilliwack. The son of Dean and Val Monty, Shaun, was visiting the Nepalese City of Pokhara when a 7.6 earthquake struck the region Saturday. Thankfully, Shaun and two friends, Robertson Mackenzie and Ashleigh Brooks managed to get...

In the last dozen years, eight out of nine commissions or citizen assemblies created by governments in Canada have not only advocated getting rid of our first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system but have recommended adopting MMP, or mixed-member-proportional representation. In the upcoming 2015 federal election, Tom Mulcair...

Milkweed is a monarch’s best defence By David Suzuki The monarch butterfly is a wonderful creature with an amazing story. In late summer, monarchs in southern Canada and the U.S. northeast take flight, travelling over 5,000 kilometres to alpine forests in central Mexico. The overwintering butterflies cling to fir trees there in masses so dense […]

The Junior Dragons’ Den live show is happening this Friday, May 1, at the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail and students and judges got together on Wednesday for a final run-through before the event. A  Greater Trail Community Futures initiative, Junior Dragons’ Den is modeled after CBC’s popular show in which budding entrepreneurs...

Rumours that the West Kootenay BC SPCA, located in Trail, is closing its doors are unfounded and untrue, according to branch manager Danielle Jackman. “The facility we are currently in needs a lot of upgrades,” she said, adding it is unsuitable for other reasons as well. “We’re next to the water treatment plant – for safety...

Andrew Zacharias Stevenson, who robbed several West Kootenay businesses, pleaded guilty in Nelson Provincial Court Tuesday to a laundry list of charges. The charges include robbery using a restricted prohibited firearm, unlawful use of a firearm, using an imitation firearm and breaking and entering. Stevenson, appearing via...

Supporters to “Keep Jumbo Wild” are lining up to applaud the recent BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) decision that said the builder of the ski hill in the heart of the Jumbo Glacier was not compliant with the condition of its certificate. “We’re happy to see another nail go into the coffin of this dangerous […]

To the Editor: Honourable Peter Fassbender, Minister of Education PO Box 9045, Stn Prov Govt   Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2   Dear Minister Fassbender:   Re: Bill 11, The Education Statutes Amendment Act   We write to you as representatives of the parents of almost 5,000 students in the Kootenay Lake School District who are gravely...

In his media release on the recent federal budget, the Conservative candidate seems proud of his party’s “balanced” budget.  This budget was only balanced by raiding the EI fund (which belongs to the workers who paid dues into it) for $1.8 billion, taking $2 billion out of the $3-billion contingency fund (good fiscal managers should […]