Festival founders Kris Hargrave and Kia Zahrabi confirmed today that while BC’s largest interface fire of 2015 caused the cancellation of their third installment, Ponderosa Arts & Music Festival will return in 2016, August 19 to 21, in Rock Creek, BC. The festival, called off due to safety concerns just two days before ...

It was a dark period in the forging of the United States, one of many for a nation aspiring to greatness. The fostering of paranoia in order to expunge enemies, imagined or real, is an unfortunate device employed by those with distorted dreams. The victims, in this case, included folk musician Pete Seeger, writer Dashiell...

I am now back in Victoria at the Legislature until the end of May. While there are many events and meeting requests that come across my desk, I am only in the constituency on Fridays and Saturdays and quite often that time is limited by weather and other unforeseen issues. I depend on my very resourceful and knowledgeable...

As the NDP critic for post-secondary education, I’ve met with a number of groups over the past weeks and months to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing universities, colleges and technical institutions, as well as with the students who are working hard to better their futures.  And the benefits to post-secondary ...

I am sending you a news release from the Wildlife Stewardship Council that is a reminder to all British Columbians that First Nations have the leverage to demand their constitutional right to harvest a fair share of the province’s wildlife resource! How many BC First Nations bands are going to ask in the immediate future the...

Trail police have been very busy of late with a stolen vehicle and grow-up bust, according to RCMP Cpl. Darryl Orr. "On Feb. 11, Trail & Greater District RCMP members responded to a report of a stolen vehicle at the Red Mountain Ski Hill in Rossland," Orr said. "The owner of the vehicle had returned to the parking lot...

The Midway (BC) RCMP is requesting the public's assistance in locating a missing Rock Creek resident. Colleen Sylvia Smith was last seen Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. Colleen Smith is described as:  Caucasian female; 50 years old; 5 ft 5 in (165 cm); 145 lbs (66 kg); blonde hair; blue eyes; wears glasses. Colleen Smith owns ...

Twenty-eight projects that support social well-being have been approved to receive over $1 million in funding through Columbia Basin Trust’s Social Grants. “Through these grants, we’re able to help social service organizations meet the needs of Basin communities and residents,” said Liz Gillis, Columbia Basin Trust Manager,...

Castlegar Search and Rescue (SAR) were kept on their toes this past weekend, when a training exercise morphed into a rescue call-out. Hayden Fetterly is a SAR member who, along with 17 others from Castlegar, Rossland, South Columbia and Grand Forks SARs, was at DAM Helicopters at the West Kootenay Regional Airport, practising...

Local leaders are divided in their reaction to the Provincial Liberals' 2016 budget. City councillor Deb McIntosh pulled no punches in a critique she posted on Facebook. “Balanced budgets are fantastic, but not when we allow a high level of child poverty and no changes to income assistance rates,” McIntosh wrote. “Fantastic...