It was less than two weeks ago that I was hoping against hope that the ice would be gone from the south arm of Rainy Lake. It had disappeared less than one week ago when the north arm of the lake disappeared on the night of the 11th. It wasn’t […]
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
Much is being written and spoken about artificial intelligence (AI) being developed in the world. Whether we realize it or not, we have been growing more dependent on such intelligence for the last two decades. In our home, Alexa will answer our questions about the weather, bring in news, update […]
In our home, we record many of the home renovation shows popular on HGTV. It is like a catalogue that tempts you with current ideas and colours for furniture and walls. Living in our home for over 40 years, we have from time to time, changed many things. Our kitchen […]
Earth Day occurred last Saturday. Folks in Fort Frances and the district were probably more concerned about digging out from the huge late April Snowstorm than taking steps to make our world a greener and more sustainable place to live. I was in Calgary on Earth Day and enjoyed a […]
The spring melt is full of surprises. As the snow recedes, six months of dust, sand and debris gradually sinks to the boulevards and lawns of the community. Our streets and sidewalks that have harboured ice throughout the winter suddenly return with all their imperfections erasing the packed snow that […]
It is a tradition of almost 60 years. From many… one. There is strength in numbers and when numbers come together wonderful things can happen. When members of Emo’s business community got together in the mid 1960’s and talked about the importance of working together on one weekend in the […]
This weekend Christians will celebrate Easter with the promise of hope that is ingrained in their religion. The promise of hope and a better life for each and every one of us has been fundamental to success as a nation. Successful politicians sell us on the promise of an improved […]
We are now at that season of provincial and federal budgets. For every group and every community it is like waiting for Christmas that the money that we hoped for our organizations would instantly appear and solve all of our financial and staffing worries. The Ontario budget was announced last […]
A former Fort Frances Times editor, Harry Vandetti, used to say on the first day of March; “March will come in either as a lion or a lamb and then leave either as a lamb or a lion.” He was often right, but when the weather did not follow the […]
It began with an announcement that a bank needed to raise $2.5 billion to meet a shortfall. Rumours grew and businesses and depositors rushed to the bank to remove their funds. But the bank by Friday realized that it did not have the cash available to meet the demand for […]
One of the recommendations I received on retirement was to start a new hobby and create new friends. For over forty years, I had not played a single hand of bridge before being encouraged by Walter Horban to again begin learning the game just before Covid struck. I just didn’t […]
Who is taking up the tourism development leadership in Fort Frances and across the district? Over a period of more than eight decades, various groups have organized to attract tourists to our side of Borderland. Reaching back to the late 1930’s the Fort Frances Jaycee began attending sport shows in […]






