At Christmas this year we will be treated once again to a film adaptation of a fantasy by Tolkien, this time The Hobbit. I am gratified because this author and his works form one foundation of the kind of person I have become, insofar as a book of fiction is fundamental to how one understands the world. What is it about Tolkien...

Stories about crumbling public infrastructure are being reported right across the country.  As the federal government continues to download more of its responsibilities onto the provinces, and the provinces onto municipalities, it is inevitable that the next generation will be the ones forced to foot the growing bills. This...

The West Kootenay-Boundary region is full of innovative entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations who have the passion to dream, the courage to pursue those dreams and the dogged determination and willingness to sacrifice what many would not to drive those dream into reality. Now is our chance to recognize and thank those...

Some readers might have stopped reading already, having seen the headline. The message is an insult; it is patronizing and arrogant and stinks with superior attitude. Who does Jeanes think he is? I could not agree more. The trouble is, everywhere I turn to find people thinking about the evolution of “more conscious humans”,...

The world’s in rough shape and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. At the turn of the millennium, I stormed out of university in anger at a global system of economic injustice, environmental pillage, and—in North America at least—social impotence and apathy.This attitude began to change when my tortuous path wound its way to a...

A local man is facing several months in jail after two thefts and a breach of Probation conviction in court this week, according to Castlegar RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew.   "Thirty-four-year-old Trevor Isenor was sentenced to three months in jail for a theft from Total Pet on Sept. 20, and three months jail for a theft from Safeway...

FortisBC received 72-hour notice from the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) Local 378 today. FortisBC will be applying to the BC Labour Relations Board to have some electricity work functions designated as essential. No job action can take place until an approved essential services order is in place. The...

A damning new peer reviewed study, ‘Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize ‘is calling into question not only the safety of genetically modified (GM) food but the stringency of government regulations and assessments.  For the first time, a long term and comprehensive study...

Talks have been replaced with information pickets after bargaining between the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) and CUPE Local 2262 broke down Friday. Unionized staff at the Nelson and District Community Complex set up information picket lines outside the entrance to the pool entrance Friday at 4 p.m. As this was...

School District No. 8 administration has decided to reduce the number of staff at the board office on Johnstone Road by eliminating the Assistant Secretary Treasurer position, effective Wednesday. “This particular (decision) aligns with our intent that all of our resources as much as possible go directly to the classroom,...