Tragic loss of KBRH nurse sparks call for enhanced safety for workers – Trail News
Photo: City of Trail
The Trail Wildlife Association (TWA) has started a new project that has helped clean the shorelines of the Columbia River.
Following its launch in February 2024, the Columbia River Shoreline Clean Up Project is responsible for removing more than 30-tonnes of scrap metal, industrial waste, tires and other household materials from the surrounding riverbanks.
Each month, organizers participate in monthly clean-up events, partnering with local schools and community organizations to inform students and residents of the negative impacts that littering can have on wildlife and their habitats.
The work is typically completed during late winter and early spring. This allows volunteers to cover more ground as water levels are usually low during this time.
According to the City of Trail, the provincial government has also recently approved a cleanup permit that will allow participants to expand their efforts to tackle shorelines from south Trail to the U.S. border. This work will be allowed to continue until April 30, 2026, with the new permit.
The project couldn’t have come to be without the work of Dean and Suzann Self, the TWA, the City of Trail and the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.
The City also issued a special shout-out to other participants who helped the project come to fruition: They thanked Doug Jones, Richard Dewdney, Gordon Morrison, Don Nutini, Jay Mykietyn, Norm Koerber, Dennis Robinson, Dan Abenante, Dean and Suzann Self, Jim and Lindsay Partridge, Laurie Bursaw, Russ LaFreniere, Vernon Blair, Pat LaFreniere, Al Bressanutti, Clay Anderson, Corky Proulx, Dick Zaal, David George, Rob Hutchinson, Karen Trebitz, Keith Smyth as well as BV Rentals and LOCAL Industrial Partners for their hard work and dedication.
The TWA is a not-for-profit organization and is still actively accepting donations to help fund the cleanup project.
If you’re interested in donating to the cause, visit the TWA website, or you can e-transfer a donation with the words ‘Cleanup donation’ in a message to [email protected].
Photo: Regional District off Kootenay Boundary (RDKB)
An arrest has been made pertaining to an alleged assault at a KIJHL hockey game in March that left one man with severe injuries.
It’s been reported that a Grand Forks man was arrested in Fruitvale in connection with the alleged assault and has been released on conditions.
The arrest stemmed from a March 19 incident that allegedly occurred during a Grand Forks Border Bruins versus Beaver Valley Nitehawks playoff game at the Beaver Valley Arena.
Police reported that an argument turned into a physical fight after two men, one from Grand Forks, began to argue over the use of an air horn. Police reportedly received a report the next day from a man who claimed he was assaulted by another man at the game.
Sources have said that a 57-year-old suspect turned himself in after being requested to do so by police.
Castanet has reached out to the RCMP for comment, and no name has been released at this time.
“I am very relieved for the family,” said Ali Grieve, a director with the RDKB. “The family continues to be devastated, and the victim is struggling to figure out how he is going to provide for his family.”
Grieve is a member of the Beaver Valley recreation committee that oversees the arena’s operations and risk management. The committee is in the process of moving forward with establishing a ban on all noise makers following the assault.
“We have a draft policy ready to ban all noisemakers, our board unanimously supported that. We will be considering other options depending on what happens in court.”
Photo: Samantha Holomay
Rossland Museum’s ongoing speakers series will feature a buzzing new topic.
Richard McCrea: Honeybees & Other Pollinators seminar will be held on April 24 at 6 p.m at the Rossland Museum.
McCrea will be sharing some of the experiences he accumulated over his decade-long study of life sciences, including ecology, entomology, botany and paleontology.
In addition to being instrumental in the unearthing one the most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in B.C. years ago, McCrea also boasts a deep appreciation and personal passion for the pollinators that play a crucial role in our ecosystems.
McCrea, along with his partner Lisa, also continues to actively promote pollinator-friendly practices in their everyday lives.
The speech will focus on scientific insights and real-world applications for anyone looking to support some of the practices that he preaches about vital species.
- For more information, visit the Rossland Museum website.
Photo: Interior Health
The passing of a nurse employed at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) has her family advocating for changes in the healthcare system.
Thirty-three-year-old KBRH psychiatric nurse Rosanne Wallace took her own life last month.
Her family has attributed her passing to the impact that her job was having on her overall well-being, as she had reportedly sustained injuries from an altercation with a patient.
Her family accounts that the challenging environment in which she worked took a significant toll on her mental health.
Assault is a federal offence as defined by the Criminal Code of Canada. Wallace’s family has expressed to sources that they believe her death was preventable.
In 2024, Worksafe BC prevention officers conducted 1,970 inspections and issued 138 violence-related orders and seven warning letters in the health care and social services sub-sectors.
They provided the following data regarding claims for nurses and nurse’s aides within the health care and social services subsector, where the accident-claim type was due to an act of violence or force.
Photo: Provided by WorkSafe BC
According to WorkSafe B.C., there were 604 claims made by nurses aides, orderlies, and patient services associates in 2024, with 59 (10 per cent) of those coming from the Interior Health authority.
Photo: Provided by WorkSafe BC
Lannon de Best, executive director of clinical operations, oversees the Kootenay Boundary region’s medical services, including KBRH.
De Best said he and the hospital leadership at Interior Health (IH) are deeply sadden by Wallace’s death, and expressed his condolence to her family, friends and colleagues.
When asked about the support systems already in place to help protect nurses against violent patients on the job, he said that IH staff are required to take provincial violence prevention curriculum that involves online and in-person training that provides healthcare works the skillset to respond in violent situations.
“There is a suite of options that are available to them to support mental and physical wellbeing including counselling and other services.”
He said healthcare worker safety and incident prevention has continued to be a constant focus for IH, adding that they have been working with the staff in the unit Wallace worked in order to assess if there are any additional measures they should consider.
“We have installed more panic alarms, and moved some based on the recommendation of staff,” he said, explaining that the process of assessing safety concern is continuous.
The process of reporting a violent patient begins with an assessment of the patient to evaluate any signs of aggression. If a patient is considered to be high risk, that information is communicated internally and the patient is flagged on the system.
IH reports acts of violence to the police who are tasked with determining the next steps.
“We’re doing the best we can,” said de Best ” It’s dynamic and it’s going to require ongoing attention in order to manage situations as they change.”
The union representing B.C. nurses has also been calling for more action to be taken on enforcing safety in the workplace for nurses following a recent attack where a healthcare worker was strangled unconscious by a patient in Vancouver General Hospital.
In the wake of the tragic circumstances that led to a healthcare workers passing, IH representatives said that they are hoping to respond to the realties that many healthcare workers are facing to keep them safe.
Photo: Samantha Holomay
Trail RCMP received yet another call about a cryptocurrency scam on March 10. This is the fourth report of crypto fraud in the last month in the area.
Police said that a 66-year-old woman was defrauded out of $8,800 after being encouraged to invest in a publicly available website. Upon discovering that the money was locked up in her account, and that she was unable to retrieve her funds, she contacted the police.
However, the money was not recoverable.
A responding officer advised her not to send any more money and to follow the guidelines listed on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
Trail RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich has encouraged the public to continue coming forward with these instances.
“We hope others can learn from it and avoid investing in cryptocurrency. Greater oversight and regulation of cryptocurrency is believed to be needed to prevent this kind of fraud.”
Photo: Samantha Holomay
Trail RCMP have released their first quarter 2025 crime statistics, with a notable increase in motor vehicle calls.
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich said that the statistics are comparable to year’s previous, adding that he does anticipate an increase in drug trafficking cases due to the resurgence of the detachment’s Crime Reduction Unit.
The first quarter accounts for the first three months period in a fiscal year.
The results are as follows:
- 86 BC Motor Vehicle Act violations
- 27 assaults
- 4 sexual offences
- 1 theft of vehicles
- 6 break and enters
- 3 theft from motor vehicle
- 9 drug investigations
- 43 motor vehicle collisions
- 10 impaired driving incidents
- 8 domestic violence incidents
- 119 mental health-related incidents
- 108 check wellbeing incidents
- 132 suspicious Person/Vehicle/Occurrence incidents
- 77 unspecified assistance incidents
- Total of 53 persons and violence-related criminal code files
- Total of 143 property-related criminal code files
- Total of 274 criminal code-related files.
- Total of 1,176 calls for service
Motor vehicle calls increased the most from 30 in 2024 to 86 in 2025.
For comparison, last year’s first quarter statistics, call for service increased by around 66.6 per cent percent this year, as last year’s numbers were 784. Mental health calls also increased by 50 per cent.
In 2024, there were 81 drug or alcohol-related calls compared to 2025’s nine calls. There were only six impaired driving charges reported in 2024 and 10 in 2025.
Photo: Samantha Holomay
Trail RCMP are looking for a suspect or suspects who tried to break into parking meters on April 4.
Police said that City of Trail bylaw officers discovered two damaged parking meters in the 1500 block of Cedar Avenue in Trail. Police have reported that it appears that someone had attempted to retrieve the money inside.
“Trail RCMP and bylaw are asking the public to keep an eye out for anyone attempting to break into the parking meters downtown. The cost of the damage to the meters far outweighs the amount of money inside,” said Sgt. Mike Wicentowich of the Trail RCMP.
The matter remains under investigation.
Photo: Samantha Holomay
The City of Rossland has laid out and adopted the proposed 10 per cent annual tax increase, slated to occur over the next five years.
The city announced that Rosslanders could be looking at paying an extra $581 a year, or $48.44 a month, as part of the city’s proposed draft 2025-2029 Five-Year Financial Plan.
Since the bulk of the City of Rossland’s tax base is residential, the majority of the tax burden falls on the residential homeowners.
The increases are as follows:
Photo: City of Rossland
To maintain fiscal stability, the council has proposed a five-year plan to raise property taxes by 10 per cent each year, with half of the increase going towards covering inflation, infrastructure improvements and enhancing city services.
Photo: City of Rossland
Rossland city staff explained that the city has endured significant challenges over the years due to aging infrastructure, housing shortages, climate climate-related risks and an increase in service demands.
The infrastructure deficit alone is roughly $53 million, which is in part due to years and years of underinvestment.
This year, the city plans to focusing on projects that include a $50,000 asset management service level framework, which will be funded in part by grants. The goal of the project will be to help make more informed investment decisions.
Another $400,000 will be going toward Fire Smart initiatives.
They will also be putting $284,000 into stormwater sewer and water system planning to look into development cost charges.
The city will also be enabling a Community Reports Review to improve transparency on financial aid for local groups and non-profits.There will also be $50,000 put towards investing in a new communication strategy.
There are several other additional projects that the city is interested in investing in with revenue received from the increase of property taxes.
Photo: City of Rossland
According to the capital budget presentation, the city has proposed a capital budget of $5.6 million for 2025, The budget will be funded through a combination of property taxes, grants and reserves.
Some of the major projects are as follows:
- Improve access to and make the Centennial Trail an active transportation route- $855,000
- Upgrading facility infrastructure – $677,000
- Replacing a sand-plow truck that has reached the end of its useful life- $335,000
- Replacing a loaded mounted snow blower that has reached the end of its useful life -$240,000
- Adding intersection lights between Redstone Drive and Highway 3B- $120,000
- Upgrades to culverts identified as priorities in the Draft Utilities Master Plan- $500,000
- Facilitating the advancements detailed in the City’s Recreation Master Plan- $500,000
Photo: Samantha Holomay
The Neighbourhood Small Grants (NSG) initiative is back for 2025 with a little bit more funding to go around.
NSG has been around for 26 years and this is the third year the Phoenix Foundation will be putting up almost $10,000.
This year’s theme is kindness, and each project can receive up to $500 to help bring their community project to life.
Trudy Hallam, NSG coordinator at the Phoenix Foundation, said there is a little bit more funding available due to a small surplus from the previous year.
The grants seek to financially support members by helping them with their innovative project ideas for Kootenay Boundary residents from these municipalities: Castlegar; Rossland; Bridesville; Big White; Carmi; Westbridge; Beaverdell; Christian Valley; Rock Creek; Kettle Valley; Midway; Greenwood; Grand Forks; and Christina Lake.
Hallam said that the funds give organizers the opportunity to grow their idea without having to worry about financial barriers.
“It’s about fostering a sense of belonging, collaboration, and most importantly, kindness, within our communities,” said Hallam.
Last year, NSG recipients in the Kootenay Boundary region put their grants towards helping organize Pride events in Castlegar, Christina Lake and Grand Forks.
Grant applications will open until until May 9, and is only available for individuals rather than businesses or registered organizations. However you may apply on behalf of an informal group.
Hallam encourages applicants to review the grant restrictions before applying.
During an April 7 council meeting, executive director and chair of the Rossland Library, Stacey Boden and Doug Orr presented the results of their community engagement survey.
The result revealed the library users requested more space, programs, longer hours, more computers, and a larger collection of resources.
The Rossland Library currently has one circulation computer that patrons can look up books on, two desktop computers, and five laptops that can be checked out.
Library staff said that they are now actually down to four check-out laptops due to one of them having issues.
Libraries across the province have faced underfunding challenges for years, struggles that were deepened during the pandemic, which Boden said she expects not to come down anytime soon.
The presentation highlighted that main cause of financial hardships for Rossland Library was rising vendor and inflation costs brought on by the pandemic.
The request comes from concerns around the library’s current model. They are seeking to be removed from the grant-in-aid program to be able to widen their options to obtain more funding.
The Rossland Library is also suggesting there have been more frequent regular budget meetings between the library trustees and City of Rossland.
They are also seeking to add childcare facilities in addition to housing, a proposal that will be a part of their upcoming 2026 strategic plan.
The provincial government has dedicated $45 million for public libraries in recent years to help supplement operational costs for libraries across the province.
Although there have been occasional funding enhancements, the freeze on core funding led to municipal libraries struggling to meet the needs of their users.
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