Finding something good in everything takes work. For instance it requires a colossal imagination stretch to find positives in the forest tent caterpillar onslaught chewing parts of Ontario. There are no reports of wide scale…
Dealing with Doug
By Chad Ingram Published June 14, 2018 Despite the troubles facing it earlier this year, the Ontario PC party quickly and easily swept its way to a majority government last week. In a…
Time for body slams
We Canadians are just too polite. There are times when we need to swap our signature friendly sometimes phoney body language with genuine Canadian hockey body slams. We acted far too nice last week when…
Dead weight
Kathleen Wynne shocked Ontarians last weekend by admitting a blunt truth; after Thursday the day this column is published in the paper she will no longer be premier of the province. It was an unusual…
Let them eat horses
It’s amazing what you learn when you open a book. I thought I had a solid grasp of North American history until I picked up Wild Horse Country by David Philipps. I got the book…
Provincial election municipal concerns
By Chad Ingram Published May 31 2018 While we often refer to and perhaps think of the three levels of government as distinct and separate they are inextricably interconnected. What happens at one level can…
What if no one voted?
I’m trying to figure out whether it was a wishful dream or a nasty nightmare. Whichever it was I know what prompted it. Before bedtime I had been reading opinion columns on what might happen…
The joy of living in a small town
To the Editor I was at the Minden laundromat this afternoon. I have not had to do this in years but washer breakdown made it a necessity. Put all the wash in set it going…
The painful magic of foam rollers
By Laurie Sweig Published May 24 2018 When I hear the word foam I think of something comfortable. Foam mattress foam pillow the foam that forms on the top of a beer sometimes. Foam rollers…
The cottage
My great-grandfather bought a lot on the eastern shore of Halls Lake in 1932 for five bucks. He’d been coming to the property for a few years to go fishing. At that time the car…
What's killing our grouse?
At first it sounds like the muffled booming of a distant jet. Or perhaps a moose thumping through the open forest over the next hill. It starts slowly a muted thump thump thump then increases…
District energy
The wood-fuelled heating systems being proposed for downtown Minden Haliburton Wilberforce and Cardiff by Torchlight Bioresources Inc. are a great idea for numerous reasons. The company has been visiting local municipal councils in recent months…
We are the change
By Jim Poling Published May 17 2018 Most visitors to the San Francisco Bay area take in the usual popular sights: Fisherman’s Wharf Golden Gate Bridge Alcatraz. Not me. I am in Moraga a small…
Gardening is exercise!
By Laurie Sweig Practical Fitness Published May 10 2018 I’ve been inspired to help out with our garden this year. Over the past couple of days I’ve been out cultivating the soil with one of…
A month
By Chad Ingram Published May 10 2018 The provincial election campaign is officially underway and in just less than a month’s time we’ll know who Ontario’s next premier will be. While many of us may…
In the stockyards of the sky
By Jim Poling Published May 10 2018 I am boot-horned into seat 37B at 31000 feet massaging numbness from my legs when I taste a wetness at the corners of my mouth. It is a…
Reviving reserves
By Chad Ingram Published May 3 2018 The financial reserves of the County of Haliburton are too low an auditor told members of council last week. By the end of this year the county is…
Burning hot and crazy
By Jim Poling Published April 26 2018 I think I am going to be ill. My stomach is gurgling starting to roll and its contents are about to take flight. I’ve been researching what people…
Letters to the EditorLetters to the Editor
To the Editor The Highland Storm would like to take this opportunity to thank our large group of dedicated volunteers. Over 100 adults from our community volunteer their time from coaching trainers managing teams running…
The man in the van
By Chad Ingram Published April 26 2018 It was mid-afternoon Monday when I realized something terrible had taken place in Toronto. A journalist whom I follow on Twitter was urging people not to jump to…
Rethinking housing
By Chad Ingram Published April 19 2018 Imagine a bustling downtown Minden buzzing with activity residents coming in and out of apartments perched atop the shops of the main drag. Imagine down say Bobcaygeon Road…