Just as darkness creeps up on us in November, daylight slowly and imperceptibly extends itself morning and evening. I hated going to work in darkness and leaving work for home in darkness. It came as a surprise that leaving the newspaper after five in the evening daylight remained and then […]
Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen
Jim is the former publisher of the Fort Frances Times Ltd. He writes a weekly column and can be contacted at jcumming@fortfrances.com
The sky is a refreshing blue. The frost that hung in the air this morning is clinging to the trees. The white against the black branches makes the whole day wonderful. The cloudless skies has the sun adding sparkles to the new fallen snow. It is a beautiful January day […]
Do you remember being upset in January 2020 when you could not motor to the United States, but you could fly from designated airports and return to those airports and then use the ArriveCan app on your phone to return safely to Canada? Do you recall that many of your […]
When politics gets in the way, our military often suffers. One only must be reminded of the cancellation of the Mulroney Government purchase of 50 Cormorant EH-101 helicopters made in 1992 that was cancelled the following year with $470 million in penalties by the Chretien government. It wasn’t until 2010 […]
On Sunday, we woke to a wonderful winter wonderland as the fog of Saturday night painted the branches of trees with a white furry hoarfrost. We often forget about the beauty of our urban forest in winter. But Sunday morning with a brilliant blue clear sunlit sky, the white trees […]
We often forget how dependent we are on weather when travelling. After many trips across the prairies, my wife and I discovered just how fearsome the weather can be. The ugly winter weather of Alberta and Saskatchewan just before Christmas made driving hazardous across those two provinces. Driving rain made […]
Like everyone else in the Rainy River District, I have been shovelling snow for six days. On Monday I looked out and was surprised that the town crew had been busy overnight. My driveway had the remains of Second Street being scraped and the town attempting to move the snowbanks […]
Following up on the column of November 30, many different comments have come my way regarding creating subdivisions and building affordable housing. I have received more information about the growing list of job vacancies across the district. And the question remains, what attracts people to an area? I remember listening […]
We have a tradition in our household, and it reflects back to the home in which I grew up. Back then, my mother would put a stack of vinyl Christmas albums on the record player that would fill the living room with the sounds of Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Dean […]
The Globe and Mail on Saturday noted that Canada is adding a major city each year to our population. In the past 12 months over 700,000 new residents are now in Canada. Internally we add almost 300,000 per year through births. The balance comes from immigration. We can expect 500,000 […]
Santa officially arrives in Fort Frances this Saturday. The rich history of Santa Claus parades in Fort Frances continues under the development and organization of the Fort Frances Kiwanis Club. Growing up I remember sitting on a float as one of the princes of Good King Wenceslas bundled up for […]
Does it almost feel like “Ground Hog Day” again? Ontario’s top doctor is recommending that residents wear masks when they are out in public. Didn’t we hear the same thing two years ago? This year, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer recommended on Monday that Ontario residents wear masks […]






