Normally, I disregard column ideas from friends and readers, even when they’re both. However, comma… “I expect to see a Wilbur Wood column next week,” texted one loyal reader. Wilbur Wood, who died at 84 last Saturday, was a major-league pitcher. He became famous with the Chicago White Sox when […]

Most writers, lyricists and poets can attest to this. There are nights when writing feels less like an activity and more like ceremony.  It is a returning pilgrimage across a portal into a room inside the soul where the air shifts. Where the light deepens. Where the world grows quiet […]

Did you know? Canada continues to face a critical and escalating shortage of firefighters; every year, we continue to lose 9,000 out of an estimated 126,000. This significant decline leaves numerous communities throughout our vast country dangerously understaffed, jeopardizing their ability to effectively respond to emergencies.  Staffing shortage widely documented […]

We’ve just come through another seasonal dump of heavy snow here in Nova Scotia as I write this. I managed to dig my way out this morning with snowblower and shovel. I only use my snowblower when desperate times call for desperate measures. I prefer my shovel, telling myself I’m in a fresh […]

It was a two-hour sports show on the radio every Sunday morning. Anybody who has worked in radio knows Sunday morning is typically a wasteland of listeners… unless the station is way down south and features a televangelist. After almost a year of being responsible for “Sunday Morning Sports Page” […]

By Robert Animikii Horton
Northern Reflections

This one is for teachers of civics as much as it is for everyday citizens breathing life into our democracy. Let’s roll. Teaching civics and democratic education faces a paradox in the 21st century. Learners (and those who teach them) have unprecedented access to massive amounts of information. The challenge […]

The world has changed. We have learned that under Donald Trump neither Canada nor Europe can any longer depend on our closest ally. We can watch as the American president flexes his economic and military power against nations in the western hemisphere that Mark Carney’s drive to create new trading […]

Did you know? The rapid aging of Canada’s population is a historic demographic shift that demands immediate attention. We are facing a projected spike in “unintentional injuries” and costly fall-related incidents, yet our core systems are unprepared. From healthcare to housing and employment, Canada currently lacks the people (workers) and […]

It seems as though winter had found us and is planning to stick around for a bit. I was planning to leave Lexi at home this morning but she insisted on going for our morning walk but she was very anxious to get in the house when we got back. […]

The Rainy River Valley Association Society is holding its meeting on Tuesday, January 27, at 7 p.m. The meeting takes place at the 4-H exhibition hall.  There are four positions to be filled. The next three projects to be completed on the fair grounds are the Borderland Racing concession, an addition […]

Children’s deaths become a statistic in the debate over gun control in the United States, their names and their short lives quickly forgotten, while there seems no restraint on providing details of the one wielding the weapon. It is a disturbing reality how the National Rifle Association (NRA), with its […]

Since the National Football League is always my personal second choice for this game’s entertainment, only rarely do I care who wins the Super Bowl or any of the games preceding it. Most years, I don’t watch “America’s game” until the playoffs. This time, I thought it would be cool […]