This open letter to Mayor Brian Taylor was submitted by Grand Forks resident Julia Butler.  Dear Mayor Taylor At the council meeting on March 10, I presented council with a letter from Coralee Oakes, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development stating, “I assure you that the Province of British Columbia does not...

While new regulations around medical marijuana production came into effect on April 1, a court injunction (recently appealed by the federal government) has granted growers with licenses under the own system to keep producing their own medicine until a legal challenge against the federal government’s new law is heard The move...

Columbia Basin Trust’s new Environment Strategic Plan is now completed and will guide the Trust’s water and environment initiatives from 2014 to 2019. It sets goals in five areas: water, ecosystems, climate change, environmental education, and helping to strengthen organizations that focus on the environment. The plan is now...

In 2012, readers were introduced to Bern Fortin in Deryn Collier’s breakout novel, CONFINED SPACE, which was nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award and was the One Book One Kootenay selection for 2013. The second in the series, OPEN SECRET, hits bookstore shelves next week, and to celebrate Bern’s return, fans can attend several...

The Nelson Police Department is advocating for the introduction of a Restorative Justice program as an option to laying criminal charges when a crime has been committed.  The program, spearheaded by NPD Sergeant Dino Falcone and coordinated by Restorative Justice Program Coordinator Gerry Sobie, is looking for volunteers....

According to BC Hydro, in Earth Hour 2014 their customers accrued less than half the savings achieved in 2013. Is this because the lights people turned off were more efficient lights or is it because fewer lights were turned off? Maybe it’s a combination of both; however, it’s my belief that climate change has almost disappeared...

April is National Poetry Month and Selkirk College writing instructor Almeda Glenn Miller and Business Administration student Melissa McCready are combining efforts to create a delicious metaphor. Miller is currently promoting her new book, a volume of poetry titled Begin with the Corners. On Friday night at Nelson’s Kootenay...

Cutting edge design, art, illustration and ideas will be on display in Nelson’s downtown starting Friday when the Selkirk College Digital Arts & New Media Program presents its year end student show. Students in the Tenth Street Campus-based program are getting set to unveil the best they have to offer in a new downtown ...

Dear Minister, My constituents are very concerned about the future of health care in our country.  They are asking the federal government to commit to a renewed Health Accord in 2014 and to work with the provinces and territories on health care innovation so Canadians can continue to receive the care they need. Health care ...

Proposed changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve that would affect ALR regulations in the Kootenays are being met with mixed reaction. On Thursday the provincial government introduced changes that would divide BC’s agricultural farmland into two zones. “I feel like I just got thrown out of BC,” said former NDP Agriculture ...