I cannot decide if I should laugh or cry in response to the Provincial government’s exasperating effort to come up with lock-out terms for teachers. The government’s objective is to entice teachers to accept its conditions for a new contract. How can restricting the teachers’ hours at work, reducing their income by an arbitrary...

This is a report on the Rossland City Council meeting held on May 26, 2014.  For those who haven't read this column in the past, your reporter's intention is to give you a realistic idea of what happens in council meetings, and where the various council members stand on different issues -- not to report only on particularly ...

Tap tap tappity tap tap. One of the strongest memories I have from my childhood is my dad tapping away at the computer. It’s not my earliest memory, but it happened nightly, so it was burned into my head. It was a comforting sound. My room was across the hall from his office and he would be working steadily into the night, ...

When I sing about love and war I don’t really know what I’m sayin’ I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war I’ve seen a lot of people prayin’ --- and mostly they pray about love and war. Neil Young, “Love and War”   “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.                  Jesus,...

In 2012, local governments across B.C. spent more than $8 billion and it's a pretty safe bet that a good chunk of it was spent on infrastructure projects. Most of the projects flew under the provincial radar. Out of sight, out of mind. Cost overruns rarely made a media ripple outside of the affected community. Yet, through ...

I originally started to write this as a straight news story, then realized my personal opinions on the matter are too strong to allow me to be certain of balanced reporting, so instead I'm going for an opinion/editorial piece. The issue at hand is current BCTF job action, and the way teachers are getting blamed for greed and...

Becoming a Teacher is a many things, but I would hazard to say more a “Lifestyle choice” where you work desirable hours with weekends, long weekends, summers, and holidays all off. Any teacher knows what also comes with their chosen occupation, which is some work done at home, and also putting in time with the kids after...

Dear Parents and guardians: I regret to inform you that the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), the union representing teachers, has informed the school district that they will be engaged in rotating strikes and will be withdrawing teaching services in all SD20 sites on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. As of this time, this...

The federal government--that is, Stephen Harper--is expected to announce its long anticipated decision on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline sometime in June. The decision could well determine whether or not the Conservatives can win the 2015 election. The momentum of opposition to the pipeline — and perhaps more importantly...

Troubling questions arise out of the Auditor General’s report: Are Rossland’s management and procedural shortcomings limited to the seven capital projects examined? Have these problems infected the overall management and administration of the municipality? The place to start looking for answers to these questions is the...