OUT OF LEFT FIELD: On the strike, random acts of kindness and family
I’ve been in a total funk for the past few weeks – all the negativity and rage surrounding the current city strike have been so disheartening and demoralizing. I keep thinking, What about after the strike? We’re all going to have to go back to working together, shopping in each other’s stores, attending our children’s hockey...
The Year-End Blues
“What rough beast … slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?” -- W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming “Americans still heralded the Enlightenment’s entry into history precisely because they’d all been uprooted from their several soils and ancestries and plunged together into one vortex, whirling irresistible in a space otherwise quite...
LETTER: Transparency vs. Secrecy of closed Meetings of School Board
Once again a visit to a school board meeting on Dec. 9… The new board is in place with only two newly elected trustees and five in by acclamation. In other words five with experience. It is a beautiful remodelled conference room where the board meets. Quite a change from the old days, and a good change. I might go to more...
CITY PUBLIC NOTICE V – RE CUPE STRIKE
The City wishes to advise Castlegar residents that City facilities remain open and City non-union staff will endeavor to provide prompt service to residents, businesses and visitors during the current labour strike. Your understanding and patience is appreciated. What’s Going On? The City has bargained in good faith for over...
How to stop making your English "ugly and inaccurate"--in case you were wondering!
“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have...
MP: Local politicians pan CP Rail's response to nighttime train upset
Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior, and Linda Worley, RDKB Area B Director, witnessed firsthand area residents’ dissatisfaction with CP’s response to their ongoing concerns with the recent addition of night trains on the local Castlegar to Trail run. In September, CP Rail implemented the decision to redeploy locomotives...
LETTER: There’s an elephant in the school’s parking lots
I am sure you have heard of the expression “an elephant in the room?” Well, the other day I was walking with two children in the school’s parking lot when I came to an abrupt halt. Right in the middle of the school’s parking lot was an accessibility sign with the words “handicap parking!” Why was this shocking? I will explain....
Op/Ed: The "War on Christmas;" It's a real thing
This Op/Ed video is by Derek Forgie. Some readers might recognize him because he travelled with Clara Hughes' Big Ride as she came through the Boundary and West Kootenays. Check out his stance on the "War on Christmas." Bio (NSB): Equality Advocate Actor, comedian and activist Derek Forgie is a remarkable plate-spinner....
COLUMN: Climate change and skeptics -- part II
In Part I of this column, I attempted to present over whelming evidence that human activities are affecting global climate. The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is composed of over 2,000 atmospheric scientists from every major country. In 2001, the IPCC stated unequivocally that human activities are having...
An open letter from CUPE to Castlegar
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF CASTLEGAR, MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL This is a call for calm. And a call for respect. Your city workers are on a legal strike – for the first time in 60 years. That’s a long relationship and one that needs to be protected and respected. Much has been said during this dispute and while most of the...
