LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Woody Harrelson is putting his paper where his passions are.

The 51-year-old actor is the co-founder of Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc., which launched its brand of environmentally friendly paper Wednesday.

The company spent 15 years researching and developing its Step Forward Paper. It's made of wheat-straw waste and wood fiber rather than virgin trees.

The company says replacing two packs of traditional copy paper with their product saves one tree.

Harrelson says half the world's forests are cut down to make paper, and his company's new paper is "going to be great for our future."

VICTORIA - Premier Christy Clark says she made a mistake and has rescinded post-election pay increases for the government's top political staff.

Clark says the raises send the wrong message to British Columbians who heard during the recent election campaign that the Liberals want to rein in government spending and balance the budget.

A June 3 cabinet order boosted the maximum salary of her chief of staff by 18 per cent up to $230,000 a year and some ministerial assistants saw their annual salaries increase from $94,000 to $105,000.

Despite the earlier raises, the Liberals insisted total budget for staff in ministerial offices decreased with restructuring to $5.711 million from $5.741 million.

Opposition New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix says the raises revealed how out-of-touch the Liberals are with ordinary British Columbians.

The NDP used government documents to make the salary issue public.

POLICE SUSPECT PHOTOS WERE TAKEN

KAMLOOPS - Mounties are looking to parents and teens to expose evidence—photographs—of a sexual assault at a 1,000-person bush party at Tree Flats in Barnhartvale last night.

Dealing with the partiers was job enough, according to RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush, but a far more serious allegation of a sexual assault in public has police more concerned this morning.

"A 17-year-old female had gone home from the party and reported the incident to her parents," Bush said. "It was reported that she had become separated from her friends and was approached by a male unknown to her, who eventually took her into the bush area and sexually assaulted her."

RCMP are reaching out to potential witnesses, expecting that photos were taken. They worry the photos will end up on the Internet, further victimizing the girl. 

"The victim indicates there were several people around," she said. "We've seen cases similar to this in the past.... We really want to see this case develop differently."

Police believe someone saw something. While Bush revealed no details as to a suspect, they believe him to be a 'teenage male' unknown to the victim.

"Police are following up on all information that's come up at this point," Bush said.

She urges anyone with information—not just photographs—to contact local RCMP at 250-828-3000.

"Do the right thing," Bush said. "Talk to your peers, come forward to police."

And for those who have evidence of the crime and wrongfully distribute it, police are saying they've been warned of charges that may include possession and distribution of child pornography.

"We can trace those photos," Bush said.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.

VICTORIA - Garde Gardom, the 26th lieutenant governor of British Columbia, has died.

In a statement, Premier Christy Clark says Gardom embraced life's challenges and opportunities with equal gusto and led a life that B.C. residents could be proud to aspire to.

Gardom was an MLA, former attorney general and B.C.'s representative in London before he took on the job as lieutenant governor in April 1995.

While in government, he initiated the CounterAttack program against drinking and driving in 1978 and promoted a peaceful resolution of Doukhobor issues.

Clark says Gardom was an inspiration to a generation of people and B.C. is a richer place because of his service.

Gardom married Helen Mackenzie in 1956 and they had five children and 11 grandchildren.

KAMLOOPS – A group of goats best known for their work at Kenna Cartwright Park last year have approval to continue living in Kamloops for the next three years — they're just waiting for the weeds to reach the ideal stage before getting to work in the park this summer.

City integrated pest management coordinator Karla Hoffman says a three year facility use permit was issued for the Tournament Capital Ranch site for Conrad Lindblom of Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control but exactly where and how much his goats will work over those three years is still up for negotiation.

Hoffman is very pleased by the results so far and looks forward to seeing the progress that can be made this year.

“I'm amazed. We haven't even had a full growing season, and the results so far... It's amazing.” She says of the improvements at the ranch site.

Last year the goats spent about 11 days working on about 30 hectares at Kenna Cartwright Park before spending a few weeks at a couple other locations around the province and then settling in at the Tournament Capital Ranch north of Kamloops for the winter. The goats spent the entire winter at the ranch eating and living on the grounds south of the baseball diamonds.

As with any weed treatment program it will take several years to see the anticipated results but Hoffman is pleased with the results so far and hopes to identify several other sites in the city Conrad Lindblom and his herd of goats can safely work on.

The goats will return to Kenna Cartwright later this month or early July and will resume working in the same area as last year along the east side of the park where the many south facing slopes see a concentration of invasive species. Hoffman expects the city will let the public know when and where the goats are working before they actually start.

The cost of using the goats as weed control is about $300 per hectare. The city also uses mulch and hand pulling to control weeds in other parts of the city but will also use spray when necessary.

Concerns over the composting of dead goats at the Tournament Capital Ranch site last month have not altered plans for the goats Hoffman says, adding it did not become as much of an issue as she initially expected. Lindblom is complying with regulations and will no longer be composting at the site and there do not appear to be any environmental issues. All the necessary ministries got involved as well and none seem to have a problem with how the issue was handled, she adds.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. - A First Nations grandmother living on B.C.'s north coast is literally diving into the fight against cancer, with a 60 kilometre swim through frigid ocean waters between Prince Rupert and her village of Lax Kw'alaams (lacks-qwah-lambs).

Dayna McKay is no stranger to the challenging currents, powerful tides and unpredictable swells of the North Pacific, because she swam the route last summer, but in reverse.

She's dubbed this leg of her Into The Sea Cancer Free trek as The Journey Home, reflecting her commitment to the battle against all cancers and her support for her uncle, Bill Sampson, who is diagnosed with the disease.

McKay's original journey from Lax Kw'alaams south to Prince Rupert spanned two days and required a dedicated support crew, and she expects her return swim will also be a nearly 24 hour marathon.

The mother of four and grandmother of two intends to dive into waters off Prince Rupert at 6 p.m. on June 28, and — with the help of a 7mm full body wet suit, fins and a support crew of five boats — plans to reach her home shore by 1 p.m. on June 29.

McKay hopes her journey will not only raise awareness about cancer but will also help First Nations youth understand that anything can be accomplished through hard work and desire.

Update: 11:05 a.m. June 19, 2013

The province has issued a high streamflow advisory for many of the rivers in the Interior. Due to the forecast for heavy rainfall it is expected rivers will rise rapidly over the next two days. Rivers in the Thompson, Okanagan, Boundary, West and East Kootenay, Upper Columbia and Lower Columbia are all under advisory.

While all watersheds including the North Thompson, Salmon River, Shuswap River, Eagle River and Mission Creek are included in the advisory small to medium sized watersheds will see the most significant rises.

Environment Canada is also warning the development of severe thunderstorms with large hail, damaging winds and intense lightening will be possible with the system later today.

Update: 8:55 a.m. June 19, 2013

A system expected to bring between 40-60 millimetres of rain over the next two days has started hitting areas of the Interior this morning as Environment Canada continues a rainfall warning for much of the southern region of province.

The first part of the system is moving up through the Kootenays to the Okanagan and North Thompson areas with rain being reported in cities such as Kelowna and Penticton as of 8 a.m.

Most Southern Interior cities can expect between 10-15 mm of rain during the day with another 15-30 mm expected overnight. Forecasts for Thursday and Friday also call for more periods of rain. 

Record precipitation amounts for many of the cities in the Thompson Okanagan are well below the 15 mm mark and if the forecast is correct records could be broken before the end of the day.

- Penticton, 14.2 mm in 1956 (1941-2011)

- Kelowna Airport, 2.5 mm in 2006 (2005-2009)

- Vernon, 9.4 mm in 2006 (1991-2007)

- Salmon Arm, 20.8 mm in 1997 (1991-2012)

- Kamloops, 14.4 mm in 1986 (1951-2012)

Update: 4:15 p.m. June 18, 2013

After issuing a special weather statement early this morning Environment Canada has now issued a heavy rainfall warning for most of the B.C. Interior.

A total of 40-60 millimetres of rain is expected to fall beginning early Wednesday and lasting through Thursday for the Fraser Canyon and Chicoltin areas and almost all regions east to the Alberta border. Higher amounts or rainfall can be expected in some localized areas.

Conditions remain favourable for the development of thunderstorms which could bring large hail, damaging winds and intense lightening as well with the potential for severe thunderstorms this evening.

7:23 a.m. June 18, 2013

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement today calling for heavy rain, thunder and lightning throughout the B.C. Interior developing today and tomorrow.

The forecast says the weather system is expected to develop today and bring the rain tomorrow and continue to Thursday.

According to forecasters, the challenge is pinpointing where exactly the heaviest amounts will fall. Currently the heaviest amounts are possible in an area stretching from the Central Rockies west to the Chilcotin and south to the U.S. border. Widespread rainfall totals of 40 to 60 mm is expected over a two-day period with locally higher amounts possible especially where rain is enhanced by local topography.

Stay with us as we watch this developing story.

VICTORIA - British Columbia's government says hikers can put away their fold-up maps and depend on their mobile devices when heading out into the back country now that high-resolution topographical maps can be downloaded for free.

But the B.C. Search and Rescue Association is worried the government's new map message tells hikers they can wander off into the wilderness and depend on technology to get them home.

Search and Rescue Association president Don Bindon says he's concerned the new maps will give hikers a false sense of security when preparation is what is needed prior to any outdoor adventure.

Bindon says he's old-school and always carries fold-out maps along with communication devices.

The Forests, Lands and Resource Operations Ministry says the maps are especially designed to provide high-resolution images on mobile devices and allow users to zoom into areas without compromising the images.

The ministry says the new generation of maps can be downloaded and installed onto mobile devices.