To the Editor, As waterfront property owners and business owners we have reviewed the proposed shoreline protection bylaw as well as materials prepared by the Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations (CHA), the…
Lessons from the SARS epidemic
By Jim Poling Sr. The bad boy virus COVID-19 is on Canada’s doorstep, trying to smash down the door. The betting is that it will break through and spread into communities across the country.…
Fox for the 'fiver'
By Jim Poling Sr. I can’t think of a better person to put on future $5 bills than Terry Fox the most inspirational Canadian of the last half century. The Bank of Canada is redesigning the…
Shoreline tightrope
By Chad Ingram Haliburton County councillors are in the midst of making a decision wherein they’re essentially tasked with weighing environmental benefits against economic ones amid what for the county is a backdrop of public…
Join the teachers on Feb. 21
To the Editor In 1997 Barbara Ehrenreich published an essay titled Spinning the Poor into Gold: How corporations seek to profit from welfare reform based on her experience attending a conference billed as an opportunity…
A clear and present danger
By Jim Poling Sr. The hit movie Parasite winner of this year’s best picture Oscar may be fiction but it reflects what is happening in real life today. Parasite tells a story of class prejudices…
Call for clarity
By Chad Ingram "As much as this is transparent it’s almost not understandable without a great deal of study which makes it pretty opaque.” That’s what Minden Hills Councillor Bob Carter had to say during…
February is heart month
I know that February is Heart Month. Given the business that I’m in I feel every month should be heart month. As one website stated February is the month for the world to celebrate the heart.…
A night at the movies
Perusing news from the U.S.A. I learn that people now go to a library more often than a movie theatre. A Gallup poll taken just before Christmas found that people visit a library on average…
How would you like your eggs?
By Laurie Sweig There’s a bunch of confusing information around whether eggs are good or bad for our health. I love eggs. Scrambled sunny side up or in a sandwich. While I don’t eat meat…
Release the names
Last week the OPP released information about a large operation it had carried out the week before arresting 16 people allegedly involved in a drug trafficking operation with drugs weapons and/or theft charges. Thirteen of…
Incentives
By Chad Ingram Next week the County of Haliburton and the City of Kawartha Lakeswill host information sessions regarding incentive programs availablefor those who commit to building affordable housing in the region. These sessions will…
A lesson for America
By Jim Poling Sr. The first week of February is a time of reflection for me. A time to remember a shocking – yet inspiring – tragedy that occurred on the North Atlantic a lifetime…
Blackhawk finds a home
By Jim Poling Sr. Amazing news! The Blackhawk is alive and skating. No not Blackhawk as in the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. They appear to be dead for this season drifting between…
Mental health crisis
By Chad Ingram Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day an annual fundraising campaign by the telecommunications leviathan where five cents is donated to mental health programming each time someone makes a social media post using…
Jackfruit
By Laurie Sweig I recently had the opportunity to try jackfruit. It is the chicken alternative in a butter chicken dish. I haven’t eaten chicken (or any other meat) for years. It sure tasted good…
The problem with pigs
As if we didn’t have enough worries about the environment here’s a new one: wild pigs. These beasts considered one of the world’s most destructive invasive species are well established in the Prairie provinces and…
The toll of roads
By Chad Ingram I t’s budget season which means local politicians and municipal staff are doing an annual dance of attempting to complete as much work as possible while keeping property tax increases as palatable…
A winter cold and wet
By Jim Poling Sr. My first glimpse of the bird has my mouth watering. It looks plump and juicy and I imagine it sitting in a roast pan plucked and sprinkled with rosemary needles and…
Any change
By Chad Ingram "Any change is better than doing nothing” the county’s planning director said last week as councillors grappled with choosing a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target that will help lay the groundwork for…
2020
By Chad Ingram Well it’s 2020. The future is now even though there are noflying cars or robot maids or anything which frankly feels like a bitof a ripoff. We do have TikTok though. Whatever…