New year, new regulations for cell phone users
Welcome to 2010! The time of all things new is January of each year. For 2010 we have new cell phone regulations, new security measures at airports, and a new look for the Boundary Sentinel. At the Sentinel we started out with a heritage look and decided that we would move to a more modern stylized look for the new decade. ...
2009 a year of introspection
2009 has been a year of change across the Boundary region. For myself, although I left the Grand Forks Gazette with a heavy heart, my new venture into the Boundary Sentinel has been a huge learning experience and a fun adventure. While the site has not been active for long, as a journalist I have been writing through the year...
GUEST OPINION: Top executives 'banking' on bonuses
Alex Atamanenko is the member of Parliament for B.C. Southern InteriorChristmas has come early for the executives of Canada’s chartered banks, while some of their consumers are being left with nothing more than a lump of coal in their stockings.An article in the Dec. 10 edition of the Globe and Mail reported that “bonuses at...
Christmas greetings to one and all!
As you prepare to open presents or old family grievances, ski deep powder or skate on thin ice, visit or avoid family, schlep the local trails on skis or snowshoes or sled them, offer praise or gift giving advice, hoist a tankard of ale or down some eggnog (alarmingly, 'chicken milk' in French), sink into your armchair or a...
Petition to council doesn't hold any weight
There seems to be a grumbling about town that the petition presented to Grand Forks city council requesting they stop talking about medical marijuana has been ignored. Regardless of the topic, it surprises me that anyone would expect elected officials to act on this petition.First, protocol was severely ignored. If a person...
Canada needs to commit to climate change
The world is gathered at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen to discuss our children’s future on this planet, and the affect that climate change will have upon it. Campaigns have been mounting around the world, coincidentally timed, to discredit climate change scientists and their science.It is...
The right to be heard
This week saw some very passionate residents at meetings making their collective voices heard. Residents in the Mt. Baldy area came to the board of trustees of School District #51 to press them to change their decision on the re-routing of the school bus serving their children. At Grand Forks city council, residents attended...
So what?
Radioactive mussels in the Kettle River? Yeah, we know that there's uranium around here. City council is short $270,000. Oh, well there's some more taxes on the way. Rail line to the United States is being closed. They'll find another way to ship. So what.But that's just the point. We are getting used to the bad news. We take...
GUEST OPINION: Post-secondary students are an investment in Canada's future
Over the past years life has become more difficult for our post-secondary students. This past summer saw the second highest level of student unemployment since 1977. Those that found jobs faced lower wages and fewer hours. Most students need a part-time job while studying and often work long hours resulting in lower marks.Students...