Regional News
By Contributor on Wednesday Oct 10 2012
As Halloween approaches, bats with bloody teeth or scary green eyes become more common conjuring up images of blood-sucking, dirty, aggressive creatures. Educators trained by the Kootenay Community Bat Project (KCBP) are gearing up to dispel these myths to students in the Columbia Basin.
“Bats are actually very shy, clean creatures” says Juliet Craig, Coordinating Biologist for the KCBP. “They are extremely beneficial in eating nocturnal flying insects including mosquitoes, and cycling nutrients from wetlands to upland forests”.
By Christine Esovoloff on Thursday Oct 04 2012
Since I am a lover of the written word (at least the writing part of it), it may not come as a surprise to you to hear that I am also a bit of a bookworm. Not a bookworm in the usual sense, though. I can go months without finding a novel that interests me and then, all of a sudden … BAM! I find one that I can’t keep my nose out of. But the thing is, it’s become a bit of a problem. I become so entrenched that I neglect my children, ignore my husband, and sometimes forget to eat. Seriously. I think I am addicted. I might even need a support group.
By Kyra Hoggan on Thursday Oct 04 2012
RCMP Cpl. Phil Mager (ironically, pronounced ‘Major’) just came to the Koots in July, and drug users will want to know about him – he’s a drug recognition expert.
Mager is the non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of the West Kootenay Integrated Road Safety Unit, and part of his mandate is to ensure drug-impaired drivers face the same stiff penalties as do their alcohol-impaired brethren.
By Kyra Hoggan on Thursday Oct 04 2012
Parents may be wondering why there was a police presence outside Warfield’s Webster Elementary School this morning – Trail RCMP Cpl. Dave Johnson said the issue was a trio of bears.
“We actually got a call at 6:45 a.m. from a concerned citizen, saying there was a cougar in a tree near the school,” he said, adding police attended and found the tree in question, which in fact was housing a momma bear and two cubs at the time. “It was near a walking path frequented by children.”
By Mona Mattei on Wednesday Oct 03 2012
Update: (5:00 p.m.)
The roads around the Grand Forks Credit Union are open again after RCMP determined that the briefcase left on the bank's doorstep did not contain explosives.
Boundary Detachment investigators reviewed the situation with the RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit throughout the day and requested the assistance of a special trained dog unit for bomb detection from Kelowna.
By Contributor on Sunday Sep 30 2012
Someone, please! Tell Dan Albas what to think.
Westbank First Nations (WFN) plans to open a private hospital, but the rookie MP for the area, Okanagan-Coquihalla, doesn’t know what his opinion should be.
He has no problem throwing public money around. Albas supports upgrading the Merritt Civic Centre with your tax money, and he threw a cool quarter of a million to some local food activists in Grand Forks to set up a mobile abattoir to replace the private companies that had operated profitably for decades who were forced out by regulation changes.
By Kyra Hoggan on Friday Sep 28 2012
Prophylactic policing has taken the spotlight in Trail this week, with three men arrested and sent to court for breach of conditions, according to RCMP Cpl. Darryl Orr.
By Mona Mattei on Thursday Sep 27 2012
With rumours growing about a deadline for Marshall Lake’s ultimate demise activists, politicians and land owners continue to meet with key provincial staff to save the lake.
Greenwood resident Christopher Stevenson, one of the key people leading the charge to protect the small lake which lies between Grand Forks and Greenwood above Phoenix Ski Hill, is setting off an alarm floating Oct. 15 as the date they will decommission the dam at the lake.
By Erin Perkins on Monday Sep 24 2012
A 17 year-old woman was found suffering from a gunshot wound on Canning Road in Grand Forks, Saturday, Sept. 22.
The teen, who is not from Grand Forks, called 911 from her cell phone requesting an ambulance at 12:10 a.m. When the ambulance and Grand Forks RCMP arrived on scene, they found the woman lying on the road with a gunshot wound to an undisclosed part of her body.
Grand Forks RCMP staff sergeant Jim Harrison said that this was not a random shooting, but was specifically directed at the victim.
By Castlegar Source on Friday Sep 21 2012
Two young Castlegar men have been sentenced to jail time after being convicted or drug charges, according to RCMP Sgt. Laurel Mathew.
"On Sept. 19, at just after midnight, a routine traffic stop in Castlegar led to several charges being laid against a 22-year-old Castlegar man," she said.
"An officer on patrol noted a vehicle at a four-way stop that was sitting for a long period of time watching the officer, even though he had the right-of-way to proceed.
