Steve’s way
I didn’t know Steve Koning well—but the part I knew I admired, immensely. Steve was a collector of stamps and for years we had set aside incoming envelopes to feed his pastime. He would tell me about folks with whom he traded. Some aspired simply to acquire a stamp and post mark from every postal […]
Beyond repair
Closing all our libraries, museums, arenas, parks and town halls will not fix the financial problems this community and 114 others in eastern Ontario are facing. Erasing the history, the traditions and treasure trove of stories and records that tell us who we are and where we came from, will, in even the most optimistic […]
Up is down
There was an audible shudder of disbelief when Bev Campbell put up a graphic on the screen in the hall at Bloomfield purporting to show property taxes declining over the past four years. It couldn’t be true. Everyone in that room knew their property taxes had risen—and risen sharply over the past four years. So […]
Who’s listening?
Generally speaking we want to believe our government is trying to do the right thing. We want to believe they are listening. We may not always agree with their politics or choices, and we may wish they spent our tax dollars with a bit more regard, but most folks don’t expect their government to actively […]
Festering problem
How long will council tolerate the incompetence of the leadership of its Recreation, Parks and Culture department? How bad must things become before council concludes that enough is enough? Councillor Diane O’Brien and others suggest the County must look at selling the brand new Wellington and District Community Centre to spare ratepayers the outrageous amount […]
The tipping point
On the surface it was yet another gathering of folks increasingly anxious about industrial wind factories being erected in their midst. There were those sounding the alarm about the hazard wind turbines pose to migrating birds, bats and other animals. Those offended by the disregard shown for the variety of species and sheer quantity of […]
Senseless
It is a story of neighbours who didn’t like each other. One afternoon in May, tensions boiled to confrontation. One brought words to the fight—the other brought a 4,500 lb truck. Moments later Jeff Vader lay dying on Kelly Road. Now Eric Menard faces up to 14 years in jail charged with dangerous driving causing […]
Cowboys
Council ought to have taken the offer. It is about to grapple with some very hard choices about what this municipality does and what it can afford to do (see story page 3). Yet a majority of council has opted to ignore its senior manager’s advice to engage residents in the decision making. Instead these […]
Our daily bread
Did you know that if you live on a couple acres on Gilead, Royal or Doxsee Roads you can’t raise a chicken? Or a pig? Or a goat? You may not want to do any of these things—but does it make sense to bar folks from growing food in rural Prince Edward County? Growing up […]
Dark ages
A couple of Sundays ago, Ontario paid $1.46 million to Michigan to take excess electricity off our grid. The wind was blowing, temperatures were unseasonably warm and hydro turbines were spinning vigorously, pushed by the snow runoff in the northern reaches of the province. In one hour we spent $214,582 to our American neighbours to […]