As transient population spikes, be aware of available resources
City councillor and food bank/drop-in centre manager Deb McIntosh is saying a recent increase in the city's transient population is our cue to ensure residents have adequate information about the resources available in terms of social safety nets here in town. "We seem to have an influx of 'transients' in the Castlegar...
COMMENT: Cluster Munitions and Bill S-10
The federal government has tabled legislation, Bill S-10, An Act to Implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions. My party opposes this Bill because it does not signify an attempt to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions but in fact, proposes to make an exception to it. Cluster munitions can release hundreds of explosives...
BC government announces skills training program for the Kootenays
The following is a press release issued by the B.C. governement: The Kootenay Regional Workforce Table has completed a skills training plan that will help ensure communities in the region have skilled workers to fill both current and future jobs. The Kootenay Regional Workforce Table (RWT) is the third in B.C. to create a...
More than $1 million owed to city for parking fines
The City of Nelson is owed $1,045,000 in unpaid parking tickets and penalties going back to 2005 ($130,000 per year on average), and nothing is being done to collect it. The city does not enforce payment of parking tickets. Since 2005, bylaw officers have issued 121,000 tickets for parking violations, according to chief...
UPDATE: Remediation work under way; public meeting slated
Updated release as of 12:25 p.m. July 29: Extensive sampling of water courses in the Slocan Valley continues following the fuel spill in Lemon Creek on Friday, July 26, 2013. Visual inspection of the Slocan, Columbia and Kootenay rivers and Lemon Creek has occurred from the air and by boat. Little evidence of fuel was visible...
Kootenay Co-op will start pre-selling housing units in September
In September the Kootenay Co-op will begin pre-selling residences in its planned Nelson Commons development. At its July 22 meeting, Nelson City Council heard a presentation from Nelson Commons project manager Russell Precious and Kootenay Co-op general manager Deirdrie Lang. Precious explained that they were there to keep ...
When lives are lost, have we taken deregulation too far?
The history of regulations goes back to the early civilizations of Greece and Egypt. Their purpose then as it is now is to protect society from the negative consequences of risks and hazards. Regulations, backed by the power of laws, govern what we wear, what we eat, where and how we live, and all but the most benign of our...
The Crisis of Extreme Capitalism
Our current incarnation of capitalism — variously referred to as savage capitalism, extreme capitalism or euphemistically as the “free market” (free of any constraints) — is in one of its periodic crises. For years many assumed that the smart people who ran the system and benefitted from it would find a practical way to fix...
Pay a fine, walk to school, build a new co-op store, and more: City Council July 22
Every second meeting of Nelson City Council is a Committee of the Whole, at which public groups and city staff may present information about their activities, sometimes with a view to having Council decide something in the future. But no decisions are made at Committee of the Whole meetings. The following is a summary of...
Justin Trudeau to visit Trail and Nelson within the week
Prime ministerial hopeful Justin Trudeau and his family will be in Nelson and Trail for informal meet-and-greets in less than a week, according to Southern Interior Liberal Riding Association president Dan Ashman. Ashman said Trudeau will be in Lakeside Park in Nelson on Sunday at around 5 p.m. and in Trail's Gyro Park at 2...
