Rural Media, Kootenay Style

In the summer of 2018, Angela Long embarked on a 22,000-kilometre journey, traversing eight provinces and a territory – from Dawson City, Yukon, to Cape Breton, N.S. – to learn from residents, reporters and experts about journalism’s importance in rural communities. In the resultant series, she tells the stories of local news survivors and the roles they play in bolstering their communities. In this article, she visits the tiny West Kootenay village of New Denver, the home of the Valley Voice newspaper. First published by J-Source: the Canadian Journalism Project, a collective of Canadian journalism schools and organizations led by the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

You can read all about the Valley Voice newspaper, here:

A rural-mountain-valley newspaper that doesn’t fit into the box

by Sharon Butler

Rural Evidence Health Care Review project

Local evidence for health service planning through a rural lens

The RER aims to collaborate with rural citizens to provide robust, comprehensive and rural-relevant evidence to inform rural health service planning in British Columbia. The activities involved to achieve this goal include: (1) engaging rural communities to identify their rural health service priorities, (2) synthesizing the international evidence on the stated priorities, and (3) promoting the uptake and use of the evidence into policy and planning discussions in the province.

Take our survey. The RER Team has developed a brief and anonymous survey to learn about rural citizen and community priorities for health services – which can be completed in 10 minutes or less! The survey is available at the following link.

Contact us. The project’s Coordinator, Christine Carthew, can be contacted at any time to discuss the health service issues and priorities that are most important to rural citizens and communities in B.C. Christine can be reached via email atchristine.carthew@ubc.ca or telephone at 1 (604) 827-2193.

by Sharon Butler

RDI Community Profiles 2018

Selkirk College's Rural Development Institute (RDI) has updated and published comprehensive community profiles for the Slocan Valley region.

http://cbrdi.ca/Communities/Central-Kootenay/Slocan-Valley

by Sharon Butler

Proposed broadband from Playmor junction to Nakusp: update

Aimee Ambrosone, Director, Delivery of Benefits for Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) who also works on broadband and  high-speed connectivity projects told Nakusp council that the CBT is setting up and supporting a broadband backbone in  the region.

The “last mile” that connects homes  and businesses to the backbone would then be provided by an internet service provider (ISP).
The application that the CBT submitted for funding to the provincial Connecting BC program to bring fibre from  Playmor Junction to Nakusp is currently under review. Nakusp, New Denver, Silverton, Slocan, RDCK Areas H and K, and CBT all committed money to the project as part of the application.
If the funding is secured, then the work begins, said Ambrosone, and it will take a year to a year-and-a-half after the backbone is in to connect people to the internet.
As reported in the Valley Voice, Jan. 17/ 19

by Sharon Butler

Film festival calls for submissions

The 13th annual North Valley Mountain Film Festival returns to Silverton Memorial Hall March 2.
Short ski and snowboard films produced by local youth to professionally produced adventure films and environmental documentaries.
This year it is once again offering a People’s Choice Award and thanks Valhalla Mountain Touring, Ambler Mountain Works, and Ice Creek Lodge for their continued support of this award.
Cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded respectively to the best three films voted by the audience at this year’s event.
Submissions for the 2019 North Valley Mountain Film Festival will be accepted until the January 31 deadline. The NVMFF is looking for films or slideshows that showcase passion for the outdoors or the environment, preferably with a Kootenay connection. For submission guidelines and event information, please visit the festival website at  www.northvalleyfilmfestival.com or direct inquiries to northvalleyfilmfest@gmail.com
as reported in the Valley Voice, Jan. 17/ 19

by Sharon Butler