Scott Tibballs

City of Fernie city hall. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

‘I’m so excited to be out of this room’: Departing BC councillor laments experience as elected official

Morgan Pulsifer said he was disappointed by the way city staff, elected officials and service workers were treated in Fernie

City of Fernie city hall. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
The Elkview SRF is right in the middle of Teck’s Elkview operations near Sparwood, B.C., which is fully operational. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

Teck’s Elk Valley coal mines make bank in Q2

The company’s coal division accounted for $2.5 billion of Teck’s $3.2 billion in quarterly gross profits

The Elkview SRF is right in the middle of Teck’s Elkview operations near Sparwood, B.C., which is fully operational. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Category 3 fires are banned in the Southeast Fire Centre from noon, Thursday June 23. Campfires remain permitted. (Image courtesy of BC Wildfire)

Category 3 fires banned in Southeast B.C., campfires still permitted

The ban on large fires was announced ahead of the provinces first warm spell of 2022

Category 3 fires are banned in the Southeast Fire Centre from noon, Thursday June 23. Campfires remain permitted. (Image courtesy of BC Wildfire)
The snow was sticking in Elkford on midday, June 13th, only a week out from the beginning of summer 2022. (Image courtesy of Tathlina Lovlin)

Snow sticks in Elkford, a week out from summer

Summer has never felt so far away for the Elk Valley

The snow was sticking in Elkford on midday, June 13th, only a week out from the beginning of summer 2022. (Image courtesy of Tathlina Lovlin)
Thomas Bravais at his property in Cokato, which was flooded in November last year and is now underneath feet of silt left behind. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

Cokato landowner points finger at CP Rail after being left high and dry from historic flooding

CP are denying responsibility for silt left behind by floodwaters diverted by blocked CP culverts last year

Thomas Bravais at his property in Cokato, which was flooded in November last year and is now underneath feet of silt left behind. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Fernie local Jay Carter doesn’t let opening a business or delivering kids to school stop him from skiing every day. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

On a mission: Fernie man skis every day of season to prove a point

Jay Carter has skied every day of the 2021-2022 season so far just to prove that you can

Fernie local Jay Carter doesn’t let opening a business or delivering kids to school stop him from skiing every day. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Lily Bowers with her Ukraine flag-style quilt, made to help raise funds to support those displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

Sparwood woman raises over $2K for Ukraine with special handmade blanket

Lily Bowers donated $2,210 raised through ticket sales to the Red Cross

Lily Bowers with her Ukraine flag-style quilt, made to help raise funds to support those displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Lily Bowers of Sparwood is creating a quilt made with Ukrainian flag colours to help raise funds to support refugees. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

Sparwood local creates quilt for Ukraine

Any funds raised from the quilt’s sale will go towards helping refugees escaping the war in Ukraine

Lily Bowers of Sparwood is creating a quilt made with Ukrainian flag colours to help raise funds to support refugees. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Fernie Alpine Resort turnoff on Hwy. 3. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

Man dies after skiing accident at B.C.’s Fernie Alpine Resort

A man died from injuries sustained while skiing at Fernie Alpine Resort over the weekend

Fernie Alpine Resort turnoff on Hwy. 3. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Fernie local Dave Richards with his latest carving creation - an ice bear carved from ice from Crowsnest Pass Lake. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

(Ice) bear spotted in Fernie

Local wood carver in training Dave Richards is the artist behind the ice sculpture

Fernie local Dave Richards with his latest carving creation - an ice bear carved from ice from Crowsnest Pass Lake. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Skiers on the Boomerang Chair at Fernie Alpine Resort. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

High elevation, high numbers: B.C. resort towns report COVID spikes

Resort communities are at more risk, according to Dr. Karin Goodison of Interior Health

Skiers on the Boomerang Chair at Fernie Alpine Resort. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Sparwood mayor David Wilks. (File photo)

‘We don’t have the capacity’: East Kootenay Mayor takes aim at COVID health orders

With limited resources, local governments and private businesses are under too much strain from public health orders according to Sparwood Mayor David Wilks

Sparwood mayor David Wilks. (File photo)
A Salmon Arm artist worked with talented local fabricators to create an enormous set of steel bighorn sheep horns to greet visitors to Radium Hot Springs. (Village of Radium Hot Springs image)

Radium collisions causing dwindling bighorn sheep population; overpass urged by expert

The Radium herd has been declining for years, and was reduced by 19 just from traffic last year

A Salmon Arm artist worked with talented local fabricators to create an enormous set of steel bighorn sheep horns to greet visitors to Radium Hot Springs. (Village of Radium Hot Springs image)
Elko Provincial Park contributes minimally to local conservation, with noxious weeds having overrun most of the grasslands. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

The little park that’s causing concern in the Elko Overhead bridge upgrade project

The Elko Provincial Park needs to be intruded on to replace the Elko Overhead

Elko Provincial Park contributes minimally to local conservation, with noxious weeds having overrun most of the grasslands. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
Catherine Crewe of Fernie with the card that she and Nancy Nester of Invermere have been sending back and forth to each other since 1964. Pictured here in 2021. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

60 years of good wishes: Two long-time Kootenay penpals keep a Christmas tradition alive

Catherine Crewe of Fernie, and Nancy Nester of Invermere have been sending the same card back and forth to each other since they were both five years old

Catherine Crewe of Fernie with the card that she and Nancy Nester of Invermere have been sending back and forth to each other since 1964. Pictured here in 2021. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
It has been a brutal year for bears in the Elk Valley, with dozens destroyed by Conservation Officers and more killed by traffic and trains. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

31 bears euthanized in the Elk Valley

Conservation Officers have been forced to destroy 31 bears in the Elk Valley so far

It has been a brutal year for bears in the Elk Valley, with dozens destroyed by Conservation Officers and more killed by traffic and trains. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)
(Contributed by Michelle Malan)

Sparwood seniors pose as firefighters in fundraising calendar

Funds raised will go towards the supported living facility

(Contributed by Michelle Malan)
(Twitter/BC Conservation Officer Service)

Conservation officer kills black bear previously shot with rifle in Kootenay town

Officers are searching for whoever shot a mother bear within district limits

(Twitter/BC Conservation Officer Service)
Three grizzly bear cubs killed after being hit by a train near Elko, B.C. on October 6 2021. Their deceased mother was found further down the tracks. (Contributed by Dr. Clayton Lamb)

Mother grizzly bear, 3 cubs killed by train in Kootenays

A female grizzly and her three cubs died on train tracks on October 6

Three grizzly bear cubs killed after being hit by a train near Elko, B.C. on October 6 2021. Their deceased mother was found further down the tracks. (Contributed by Dr. Clayton Lamb)
A fully-loaded logging truck plunged into the Elk River on Monday, October 18 2021. (Contributed by James Kirk)
A fully-loaded logging truck plunged into the Elk River on Monday, October 18 2021. (Contributed by James Kirk)