To the Editor After what has to be one of the busiest snowmobiling weekends of the past few winters I wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate and thank the Halliburton County Snowmobile Association (HCSA)…
Letters to the EditorLetters to the EditorTo Prime…
To Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and MP Karina Gould Minister for Democratic Institutions I want to add my voice to what I hope is a clamor of disapproval for your decision to abandon electoral reform. …
Let Airbnb be
It would be a waste of time and resources for local townships to attempt to regulate or restrict private short-term cottage rentals in Haliburton County. Short-term rentals and the noise and other complaints they sometimes…
Making the forest great again
By Jim Poling Published Feb. 9 2017 A dark and heavy despondency had fallen over the forest. The creatures who worked and lived there brooded over their declining state of affairs. The beavers complained about jobs…
It's about the birds
By Jim Poling Published Feb. 2 2017 Canada is a country of great diversity so it is odd that we might still want to single out anything as especially special in identifying our nationality. Yes…
A return to 'normal' winter?
By Jim Poling Published Jan. 26 2017 So winter returns to normal this weekend. Sort of. Daytime temperatures are forecast to be below the “normal” of minus five starting this weekend. Overnight lows will drop…
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To the Editor Much has been reported about high-speed Internet lately. I thought the hospitals and medical centres were to be connected with the highest speed! Who is their provider? Last Friday I had a…
Fake news and alternative facts
Post-truth. That’s the era pundits and professors say we’ve now entered. A time with such an overwhelming excess of information much of it circulated through the digital tentacles of the Internet that finding information that…
Decreasingly rural
This weekend members of the Haliburton County Fair board will get together for their annual general meeting. Among the topics of conversation will be the future of the fair itself. With a need to replenish…
Extra! Trump's inauguration speech
You read it here first! Through fantastic reporting I have obtained Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration speech. Obviously I can’t reveal how I got it except to say that brilliant reporting was involved. So while the…
A losing trade
By Chad Ingram Published Jan. 12 2017 The Wynne government is starting 2017 with its promise to reduce Ontarians’ Hydro One bills but with the introduction of the province’s cap-and-trade system on Jan. 1 it…
Toilet tissue in a bonfire
By Jim Poling Published Jan. 12 2017 Few things hurt more than making a mistake that costs money. It hurts even more when the mistake is combined with being ripped off. I made a mistake…
The top 10
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The top 10
A s is an annual tradition around here here are the top 10 news stories of 2016 for Minden Hills and Algonquin Highlands. Originally scheduled for end-of-summer completion an expansion of the Algonquin Highlands township…
Better than the last?
By Jim Poling Published Jan. 5 2017 The hootin’ and hollerin’ over the passing of the old year has subsided as we move along trying to make this one better than the last. More folks…
A cash-for-access party
A courier arrived at my door and handed me an envelope embossed with the Canadian coat of Arms. You know the one with the scowling lion and a silly unicorn each holding a flag. I tore…
Live streaming done cheap
By Chad Ingram Published Dec. 22 2016 Minden Hills council recently made a decision to forgo the live streaming of council meetings to the Internet at least for now. While it’s true one could argue…
Ham-fisting it
Like a drunken Vaudeville performer the Trudeau government is doing a ham-fisted jig away from its promise to create a new federal voting system in this country. It’s awkward to watch. In the lead-up to…
Our drug overdose epidemic
Back in 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) arrived in Toronto from China. Roughly 400 people got it 43 died Ontario declared a public health emergency and the rest of the country lived in fear…
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To the Editor In reference to the editorial in the Times about Warden Moffatt making some suggestions in changes to the position of Warden for Haliburton County may I suggest that she did not include…
Deja vu all over again
By Jim Poling Published Dec. 8 2016 There are none so blind as those that cannot see. He didn’t say those words but that’s the real message delivered last week by Michael Ferguson the federal…