From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It’s the curling bonspiel season and I’ve been watching a lot of the games on television. Exciting to watch, but too much time in front of the TV…
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We’ve been depressed: HCSA trail closures
By Thomas Smith The Haliburton County Snowmobile Association has wrapped up their season. It lasted for eight weeks. “We’ve been depressed,” says Paul Wilson, treasurer of the Haliburton County Snowmobile Association (HCSA). “It’s a beautiful…
The bird warning us
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It’s been an odd winter and as it fades into spring it seems to be getting odder. One of this winter’s oddest things is the absence of birds.…
Local tattoo artists bring apprentice under their wings
By Thomas Smith Bronwin Ironside and Samina Khokhar opened their dream custom electric tattoo studio in Minden in October of 2022. Both artists operate their businesses at the 105 Bobcaygeon Road location under the names…
Minden considers new fire department dispatch service
By James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Minden Hills may single-source emergency fire dispatching from a Smith Falls service. Township council decided Feb. 29 to consider an agreement with the Smith Falls Fire Dispatch Centre.…
Health coalition says province starves public hospitals
By James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Allowing some medical procedures to be done at private facilities starves public hospitals, says the Ontario Health Coalition. A new report, entitled Robbing from the public to build…
A mean-spirited ministry
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’m in deep doo-doo with the Ontario government bureaucracy. I awoke today to a Ministry of Natural Resources email telling me I am being fined for not reporting…
Free income tax clinics remove barriers in the…
By Thomas Smith Central Food Network knows that filing your taxes can be a scary, complicated, and stressful process. In collaboration with the Canadian Revenue Agency, free income tax clinics will be offered in Wilberforce,…
Godfathers re-opening
By Thomas Smith “It took so long because we could not find staff,” explains Sydney Murphy, Office Admin and Corporate Trainer from Godfathers. “There’s been a big staffing issue with COVID-19, this store is busy…
Canoe FM welcomes community recordings
By Thomas Smith “It’s about giving people the opportunity who thought, ‘well, I’d really like to get recording’ and they just don’t know where to go,” says Laurie Sweig, volunteer for Canoe FM. The Canoe…
Local syrup producers take advantage of warm weather
By Thomas Smith “I retired 10 years ago, first it started off as a hobby, 80 trees on buckets, the second year it went to 225 trees on buckets, then it just kept going up…
Whither goes the Frost Centre?
From Shaman's Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It was roughly one year ago that I wrote about the dark, worried feelings I had about the Frost Centre on St. Nora Lake just south of Dorset.…
Baby’s first Snowball
By Thomas Smith This weekend marked my first ever Dorset Snowball. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed. Mother Nature luckily cooperated for my first ever Snowball and provided said snow to make said balls.…
A Valentine’s Day pondering
By Thomas Smith I am a hopeless romantic. Some may call me a sucker that falls for clever marketing. Jewelry, chocolates, flowers, cards. Do I get one of everything, or will they want one of…
1st Annual Student Art Exhibition a success
By Thomas Smith Archie Stouffer Elementary School and Agnes Jamieson Gallery were ecstatic to showcase local young artist’s talent this past weekend at the opening reception of the 1st Annual Student Art Exhibition. There was…
Ban dangerous hockey violence
From Shaman's Rock By Jim Poling Sr. The fighting in hockey debate is raging again, intensified by a recent ugly Pacific Junior Hockey League brawl. A player grabbed an opposing team’s goaltender in a guillotine…
MH looks into reduced household garbage bag limits
By James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Minden Hills township staff will investigate the possibility of reducing residents’ garbage bag limit. Council heard Feb. 8 during its regular meeting about possible changes to landfill site…
County pivots to a new way to ink…
By James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The first draft of Haliburton County’s capital and operating budget this year has a tax increase of almost eight per cent.The total levy required to maintain county services…
See you soon
By Emily Stonehouse I’ve been keeping a secret.Well, as much of a secret as you can when you have a very public-facing job and are active on social media. So really, not much of a…
Will rainbows replace the snow?
From Shaman's Rock By Jim Poling Sr. If you think this winter and last were strange, you “ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”Our winters are going to get warmer and wetter, the wet becoming more rain as…
Flood preparation underway
By Thomas Smith A public information session was held on Jan. 29 at the Minden Hills Community Centre in regards to flood preparation in the region. The session was presented in partnership by Haliburton County,…