The Crowsnest Pass Repair Cafe is set to return on Saturday, April 11, with organizers hoping a longer day and growing public awareness will bring more people through the doors.

District of Sparwood council scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, March 31 at 6 p.m. in council chambers at the municipal office on Spruce Avenue, with the published agenda showing little public business before a planned closed session.

Elk Valley Resources says a new socioeconomic analysis shows its operations remain a major driver of employment, wages and tax revenue across southeastern British Columbia and beyond, including in nearby Crowsnest Pass. The report, released April 1, was commissioned by EVR and prepared by KPMG using 2024 data.

A regional wildfire preparedness event returning to Jaffray on May 1 is being positioned as more than a family friendly spring outing. For residents across the Elk Valley and South Country, organizers say the third annual Ember Stomp is meant to provide practical, local information that could make a real difference when wildfire risk rises.

Crowsnest Pass council’s March 24 public input period brought a wide range of con-cerns to the table, from healthcare recruitment efforts to criticism over council conduct and an explanation from a landowner involved in logging near a local heron rookery.

The Oldman Watershed Council told Crowsnest Pass council on March 24 that water quality in the mountain headwaters remains strong, but drought on the land could still become a major concern in 2026.

Ever since I was a youngster I have had a fascination with caves. It has never left me and I find myself inevitably drawn to any dark shadow or interesting feature of any depth in a rock face. I guess that is why I didn’t “bat” an eye when I went to work 2 1/2  miles underground  in the Vicary Mine while in college. Spelunking is probably a in-bred after effect of my coal mining family history.

There is a map on the table in Edmonton that could soon change the political shape of southern Alberta.

If adopted, the Electoral Boundaries Commission’s final report will not eliminate Livingstone Macleod, but it will significantly redraw it. And this is not a minor adjustment. It is a real shift in which communities belong together and how this region is represented moving forward. 

Crowsnest Pass council, in a tie vote, defeated a motion that would have allowed administration to use up to $100,000 from the mill rate stabilization reserve to support hiring a municipal recruitment firm as the municipality continues efforts to fill two senior vacancies that have remained open, one for four months and one for up to six months.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada returned to Crowsnest Pass council on March 24 with an update on its local work, ranging from invasive species control to fire mitigation and wildlife connectivity monitoring along Highway 3.

Recently I posted an image on social media from a marvelous history book entitled “Michel Memories” that resonated really well within facebook land. That is to say; it drew out memories which people readily shared. I have discovered that this is a wonderful way to connect us all , on just about any subject.  A facebook post done on the old Crowsnest Lake dance hall (now gone) some time back drew almost a hundred responses and some lovely personal memories that I got to share in a column.

Sparwood council has awarded its 2026 paving program contract to Terrace Construction while also signalling it may skip a planned town hall later this spring as the current council nears the end of its term.

Sparwood council has adopted a zoning amendment that will formally allow farm animals on Michel Creek Road properties where that type of use has existed for years.

Sparwood’s planning and development department used a March 17 presentation to give council a closer look at the daily pressures facing the building department and the growing importance of geographic information systems, or GIS, across the municipality.

Sparwood council has approved the bylaw changes needed to launch its new district wide curbside recycling program and move ahead with a food waste diversion pilot this spring.

The decision by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) to eliminate seasonal time changes may look minor on paper. No more switching clocks twice a year. Problem solved.

Crowsnest Pass council gave first reading to a rewritten procedure bylaw March 10, but only after a prolonged debate over how the document had been drafted and whether it went beyond what council originally asked administration to do.

Crowsnest Pass council has approved second and third reading of a borrowing bylaw authorizing up to $2.5 million for office upgrades tied to the municipality’s future move into its new administrative space at Crowsnest Commons.

Crowsnest Pass council heard March 10 that the community has been identified by Alberta as one of nine communities needing additional harvest planning and consultation under the province’s Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction program.

Union president says staff came to chambers over concerns that comments from council are being directed at employees instead of the CAO