I have been paying attention to the discussions around artificial intelligence (AI). It has taken me all the way back to 1971, when the Fort Frances Times began producing the newspaper electronically. It wasn’t a full-page layout, but it was the start of using computers. The newspaper had purchased a […]
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I hope everyone has been enjoying the incredible weather we’ve been experiencing. I certainly have been. I love the sunshine, heat and warm summer nights. Of course, the bugs ruin some of that enjoyment. When I was cutting grass the deer flies were biting and they seemed to have a way to […]
At first glance, you may think that the words ever-blooming and perennials would not occur in the same sentence. I assure you that there are some perennials that are considered ever-blooming, many of which will grow in Zone 4. For those who garden because they love flowers, they want their […]
Did you know? Drowning deaths in Canada are on the rise. The latest Canadian Drowning Report shows that the annual average climbed to 485 deaths (2017–2021), up from 444 in the preceding five years. Who is drowning? Males accounted for 78 per cent of drowning deaths, while females accounted for […]
Summer is coming, though it seems doubtful, judging by the temperatures here in Nova Scotia. My heat has been on all but one or two days for the entire month of May, and with those chilly temperatures, rain has tagged along. I will not complain about the rain since most […]
The Rainy River District Women’s Museum board met June 1. A heartfelt thank you was given to Annie Van Rosen for her years of dedication to the museum. The members wished Annie and husband Jan all the best on their move from Emo. The Emo Museum opens July 2 and […]
Seventy years after its publication, Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 can still be found holding on with white knuckles to the required reading list of some grade 10, mid-level English classes. The copies that are handed out would fail to spark a flame of interest under students, even if […]
Lately in the news, topics related to land ownership and title and who gets to leave and who gets to stay (among other things) have been consistent (and at times equally divisive). However, those debates are not where I’d like to play catch today (as I have my own personal […]
Did we just miss spring? I wonder as our timing of seasons continues to change. We still had snow and ice through the last weekend of April. For three weekends in May, the thermometer struggled to get into double digits. And last week we welcomed summer temperatures. They did not […]
Whoa…. June 1. The date makes me a bit nervous. Since we just got spring and summer simultaneously last week, there are many jobs to tick off. This last week of weather has been incredible, and I don’t mind it one bit. We did have to finally turn on the […]
Did you know? Natural Resources Canada developed the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) in 1994, which delivers the following: Hotter and drier conditions escalate As I mentioned in last week’s column, hotter and drier conditions continue to escalate the threat of wildland fires throughout Canada. Last month, that devastating […]
A friend of mine was recently trapped by a Telus impersonation scam. I don’t know all the details, but suffice to say, the scammers violated her security and sense of safety, having accessed her bank accounts and credit cards. I am amazed at the number of scams I receive via […]






