OP/ED: Interior Health year in review: Message from Board Chair Erwin Malzer
As I mark my first anniversary as Board Chair of Interior Health, I’m looking back on the highlights and challenges of 2015. From wildfires that blazed through much of our region, to major investments in surgical care, and a change in leadership within our organization, it has been quite a year. We saw the departure of Dr. ...
(Not) holding the line: council deliberates on tax increase for 2016
A tax rise of over six per cent could hit Nelson taxpayers when the 2016 bill comes due, as city council grapples with the initial numbers in its deliberations on the next budget. Although the budget process will not be complete until late winter, city council is currently embroiled in dismantling all aspects of the budget,...
Paris Climate Summit — New Deal Signals Fossil Fuel Era Coming To An End
The world is watching to see what comes out of the Paris climate summit. Montana Burgess is the West Kootenay EcoSociety's Community Organizer. She's attending the Paris UN climate summit with the Climate Action Network delegation and is reporting back to the West Kootenays on developments at the negotiations and what they ...
Montana Burgess — Faith in the Paris climate summit
The world is watching to see what comes out of the Paris climate summit. Montana Burgess is the West Kootenay EcoSociety's Community Organizer. She's attending the Paris UN climate summit with the Climate Action Network delegation and is reporting back to the West Kootenays on developments at the negotiations and what they ...
Decision delayed on police budget request
Although a decision on the Nelson Police Department board budget request had been scheduled for the end of the month, the deadline has passed and no word has come from the province. And there is no hint of when that decision will come, before the end of the year or early in the new year, said Mayor Deb Kozak, also the chair...
Public input required on preserving the Pend d'Oreille
Comments and feedback are being sought on a proposed new Access Management Area in the Pend d'Oreille Valley in the Kootenay Boundary region as part of an update to the spring 2016 edition of the B.C. Hunting and Trapping Synopsis. The proposed change, under the Wildlife Act's motor vehicle prohibition regulation, would reduce...
Financial plan amendments cost city nearly $1.5 million
Several “unforseen costs" have forced the city to crack open its existing financial plan and incorporate amendments to account for the cash. Topping the list of four items that have to be added into the budget are the clean-up costs of the June 29 storm that pelted the city, racking up over $850,000 in damages to Nelson Hydro...
Premier Christy Clark issues statement regarding one of British Columbia’s most iconic leaders
Premier Christy Clark issued the following statement on the death of former Premier William (Bill) Bennett after it was announced that the former BC Premier died Thursday night in Kelowna at age 83. Bennett had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. Bennett succeeded his father, former premier W.A.C. Bennett...
Recreation master plan creates confusion
Some confusion is plaguing residents after the Castlegar and District Recreation Commission unveiled a draft master plan at two open houses on Monday. The plan (which can be viewed in its entirety online by clicking here ) is a weighty document of 212 pages, and includes the majority of the options on the Castlegar wish-list...
New IHA CEO visits Nelson but leaves laundry services question in spring spin cycle, with social fabric softener now added in
The social equation will factor into the recommendation given to the Interior Health Authority board in March when they are called upon to decide the future of laundry services — and 17 fulltime jobs — at Nelson’s Kootenay Lake Hospital, claims the IHA’s new president and chief executive officer. Chris Mazurkewich said Monday...