Back in 1993, my father Robert Cumming wrote a column titled “Who can you believe?” In the column he discussed the value of oral history in many indigenous cultures around the world and the value of those histories in understanding indigenous cultures and the impact that European settlers had on […]
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
We passed the anniversary date of the Hamas Israel war. After one year we would have expected that sane governments would have come to the rescue of both Gaza residents and Israel hostages. We would have expected that the world would come together to prevent an ever expanding war across […]
“Remember the time when you could go to Thanksgiving with your relatives and not complain about politics the whole time?” That question was put forth by Tim Walz who is running for the Vice Presidency of the United States. It is often noted that families share eighty-five percent of common […]
I have been doing a lot of travelling in the past four weeks. The travel has brought me firsthand to gas stations and one of the differences when I fill up with octane 87 is the difference in price. Gasoline prices have dropped dramatically in Fort Frances from $1.639 per […]
I have been using a computer for over 30 years. Through that time, I my relationship with computers, cell phones and other computer systems have had many ups and downs, frustrations, and pleasant surprises. For most of those 30 years, I have relied on Macs. They have been reliable, great […]
Fall was in the air. The birch trees on Nowhere Island were showing their golden colors. Our lone birch tree in front of our sunroom had all its leaves turn golden, and the west winds of Saturday blew half of them away. The squirrels were dropping the green pinecones from […]
If you were listening to the Democratic convention, one of the commitments was to build three million new housing units in the next four years over the one million now planned. In addition, a $25,000 payment was being offered to first-time home buyers. It is all designed to meet the […]
Canadians living in towns and cities do not worry about sewer and water. It comes and goes neatly in the pipes that bring fresh safe drinking water to our homes from municipal systems and takes away our sewage in similar fashion to be processed at a sewage treatment facility. We […]
This weekend should have been the 125th anniversary of the Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society Fall Fair. That designation will hold off for one more year due to Covid. Similarly this should have been the 30th anniversary of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. It too was cancelled one year […]
Whether it is the Winter Olympic Games or the Summer Olympic Games, there is always someone or some country to cheer on. As I write this, at the halfway point of the 2024 games, Canada has a total of seventeen medals. And we have more Olympian’s reaching the semifinals in […]
I like to think that I have an attractive yard. In spring the flowering crab trees bloom with pink flowers followed quickly there after by the sweet-smelling purple lilacs. While they are blooming, so too are the Lilly of the valley with their own fragrance. Shortly after in mid to […]
Canada’s major papers, the Globe and Mail, The National Post and Post Media’s papers across Canada filled their front pages Monday with American politics. As national papers and regional provincial papers it was natural that the changes in US politics would be front and center. Both of our economies are […]
