Editorial – We’re all too rich
Jeff Burgar In early spring last year, a group of about a dozen snowmobilers had paused for a break. It was on the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake. They were stopped, deciding if they should take a run out…
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Commentary – A short hop to happiness
Jeff Burgar If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? It is an interesting question for both young and old alike. In the end, most of us are just sort of leaves in the wind, happy…
Editorial – The PR Airport vote
Jeff Burgar The Peace River Airport future is far from an open and shut case. So now, Feb. 5, Peace River citizens can vote on a possible way forward. Peace River town councillors are looking, maybe with good reason, to…
Commentary – Remembering Mr. Peanut
Chris Clegg Another iconic mascot has bit the dust! Mr. Peanut met his fate in a blaze of glory, saving two other people Jan. 22. Why they are Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it’s to make…
Human activity biggest reason for loss of wetlands habitat
Feb. 2, World Wetlands Day, forces all of us to come to terms with an environmental crisis happening right in our own backyard. It’s a crisis just as damaging as those being experienced by rain forests, coral reefs and the…
Editorial – Slamming doors on the future
Jeff Burgar The Alberta government says the number of doctors across Alberta doubled in the past 20 years. Also, even though the population of Alberta has grown, the number of doctors per 100,000 grew even more. In 2001, there were…
Commentary – The most tedious topic of all
Joe McWilliams What’s the most tedious topic of all? The weather! It’s a safe one, though. Maybe not as safe as it once was, what with that pesky climate change thing going around. But at least it’s something we still…
Editorial – We are all so happy
Jeff Burgar Philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote in his mid-1800s book, Walden, that “97 per cent of businesses will fail.” He didn’t elaborate on any timeline for this failure statistic. A few months? A few years? Perhaps, like buggy whip…
Commentary – Will we have plenty in 2020?
Richard Froese Here it is, the start of a new year, a new decade. Will we have plenty in 2020? One thing is certain. The price of fuel went up, thanks to the new federal carbon tax imposed by Prime…
Editorial – 2020 and Five Pillars
Jeff Burgar Usually at this time, columns and air space is filled with predictions for the coming 12 months. It’s often an easy task. We would like to predict things will be much improved in 2020. Energy prices will rebound.…
Commentary – Summer is only a hemisphere away
Jeff Burgar I look out my window at a frozen field, bare trees, and an ice covered roadway now being cloaked by falling powdery snow. My outside thermometre says the temperature is -2C. Hardly a blistering cold winter day. The…
Editorial – Farewell to 2019
Justin Trudeau, at a NATO summit, giggles like an 11-year-old school boy as he shares a story how “jaws dropped.” Why do so many feel that is the world today? Leaders tell us solemnly how things are. Then they loosen…
Commentary – Popcorn balls and puzzles don’t mix
Commentary by Pearl Lorentzen As a child, one of my favourite Christmas goodies was popcorn balls. One of my favourite pastimes was building jigsaw puzzles. The physical makeup of the two don’t mix. Popcorn balls are simple to make. Pop…
Editorial – Hatred skews award
Jeff Burgar American President Donald Trump isn’t Time Magazine’s choice for Person-of-the-Year for 2019. Sixteen-year-old environment crusader Greta Thunberg now wears that crown. The Swedish youngster, sailing around the world with her father, is chastising adults everywhere for their lack…
Commentary – Any old wives’ cures out there?
Chris Clegg As of this writing, I am in the midst of feeling very, very sorry for myself. I am fighting the very type of cold I hate the worst. I have all the symptoms of a doozy: scratchy throat,…