It’s now been 13 years since 9-11, and I’ve never once written a single word about it. I’ve been asked many times, why not? I always said it was because I only cover local news – which was sort of true – but what a cop out. The real reason I never wrote about it was because I felt guilty. Like most people I know, I remember...

An open letter to Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larsen Ms. Larson, I am disappointed that I have not received any reply from you to the email I sent last week regarding the dispute between the BC Government and the BCTF. While it is true that I expressed a viewpoint which conflicts with that of the BC Liberal Party, I had ...

Okay, time to stick my head in the lion’s mouth again. I posted a photo back on Aug. 26 about the city’s new banners reading , “YOLO” and “XOXO” (neither one of which is as bad – or as funny – as the ones with goofy cartoon faces that read, “A Great Place to Grow”, here in marijuana central. Those still make me giggle every...

No more future, just the past With this column, I intend to start writing only about historical topics that interest me. I have read over my columns from this year and I see a pattern in my writing, tending toward prediction rather than observation. I would rather not go on trying to be a prophet. In this column, I have been...

Letter to the Editor: The continuing battle between the BCTF and the Provincial Ministry of Education should be of grave concern to families across B.C., and should be incredibly frightening to parents and caregivers in the Boundary and West Kootenay Region. Most conversations are about laying blame: “It’s the teacher’s fault”;...

Two members of my family are teachers; I will therefore limit my comments on the dispute between the teachers and the government to its constitutional aspect. Through the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act of 2002 the government had attempted to curtail the B.C. health workers’ rights to collective bargaining....

Taken aback by complete strangers walking up to you this summer to shake hands? Well, that's because they're back. Candidates on the hustings for a city hall near you. And despite their enthusiasm, it's not a passion shared by most voters if past elections are any indication. Even though local governments in B.C. oversee more...

It appears that in the recent referendum about 27% of Trail’s eligible voters voted in favour of a combined pedestrian / pipe-bridge. It also appears that 64% didn’t bother to vote at all, maybe because they had been told by their Council that it would not cost them anything in additional taxes… so why bother. But what about...

The buzz in the media is that because of a rapidly increasing cougar population 117 cougar were killed by the conservation service last year. The reality is that the cougar population is not increasing, a fact every veteran cougar hunter will quickly validate. Cougar sightings and complaints have increased dramatically because...

I confess. I have been binge-watching TV series. Lately I have narrowed my watching mostly to The West Wing an old favourite about a Democratic president, Jed Bartlet, portraying the manic, day-to-day crisis management of the White House. But in my defence I am doing so in part as an antidote to another series which I quit ...