I was privileged to attend the 41st General Council Meeting of the United Church of Canada, held in Ottawa in mid August of 2012. We dotted the “i”s and crossed the “t”s of years of work carried out by task groups and committees, congregations, and conferences. Responding to requests for assistance and change that came to us...

A good friend of mine just had her 40th birthday. Her birthday request – for a small group of friends to go on a three-day hiking excursion up Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. The kind of adventure where you pack EVERYTHING you will need to survive in the wilderness for several days into a ginormous 30-pound backpack and...

Recent comments by Coun. Cary Fisher and Coun. Jill Spearn—regarding Brenda Trenholme's appeal to subdivide her Happy Valley property—taste like a slice of logical swiss cheese on a slab of imagination tofu. And you'll need a pinch of salt for the cracker too. Sure, sure, everyone's in favour of local agriculture. Just not ...

More than 50 B.C. Government Employee Union members walked off the job Monday at the Nelson Ministry of Forests regional office on the North Shore to protest the lack of movement on current talks with the B.C. Government. “We’re off today trying to achieve a fair and acceptable agreement,” said Doug Kinna of the BCGEU provincial...

Sometimes, when I stand in front of others and relate my journey, I begin with my family and the communities I've lived in, and I recount a partial history of the jobs I've held. Sometimes I relive relationships I've had. Once in a long while I'll tell the story of the time I was buried alive up in Pass Creek in '98. Despite...

As we approach 2014 Canada will be preparing to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.  However, at the request of the US Pentagon, the Prime Minister has opened the door to leaving behind a contingent of Canadian Special Forces beyond the NATO withdrawal date to assist with Afghan Commando training. Our Special Forces have ...

The budget implementation act (Bill C-38), all 400 pages of it, was the latest in a long string of legislative initiatives to have debate limited by time allocation.  Like too many other bills that parliament has been forced to fast-track, C-38 was bloated, omnibus and strayed in too many directions.  New Democrats demanded...

Have you developed a  new or innovative product or service?  Implemented an innovative process or system?  Turned your idea into a new venture? Tell us all about it in your nomination for the Spirit of Innovation Awards. Join KAST in celebrating Regional Heroes of Innovation by nominating yourself, your company, or another,...

A sexual assault in downtown Trail in the middle of the afternoon this weekend saw police identify and arrest a suspect within hours of the incident, according to RCMP Sgt. Rob Hawton. “On Sunday …at approximately 1:50 p.m., a young lady in her late teens was sitting on a bench on Cedar Avenue in Trail, when she was approached...

Thanks to a recent Nelson council meeting, everyone is focused on the subject of drugs. Adrian Barnes‘ June 30 opinion piece is an example, and another is a letter in the Star. I quote that letter by K.M. Sykes: …it’s paramount to ask the right [questions}, the deeper ones, the ones that embrace a higher level of awareness…...