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Opinion
ARCHER: Can you have your event and quiet weekend too?
There are always going to be people who don't approve of noise, location or some other detail of an event. Even events like Challenge that are very well accepted by the community and city officials get some negative remarks, such as blocked off roads, congested traffic and loud fireworks. Following social media this week, it...
HELSTON: Why Vernon teachers weren’t picketing outside schools this week
Earlier this week, I went out to cover strike action on the local front. The problem was, I couldn’t find any teachers. There was little sign of them in the city; no sound of car horns being honked in support, no thumbs being wagged in the air, no protest signs, no chanting, no teachers. In...
GOG: Hello? Computer? Can you hear me in there?
Computers are stupid. The simplest of tasks, tasks that they were specifically designed to perform, can befuddle them completely. Last night I tried printing something. It said it was printing. I waited in growing frustration while it didn’t print. I tried talking nicely to it. Nothing. Eventually one of those annoying little boxes popped up...
LOEWEN: Whither the church?
What was once a weekly source of spiritual succour and a place for meditative reflection has been hi-jacked and turned into a turd. The church of my childhood has disappeared and returned as a big box store. Casting back the old eye-glass on the last half century, I understand the rot to have begun even...
PARKER: Daring to throw it on the line
Two weeks ago, closing the bar for the fourth night in a row, I blew a hole through the sole in my Converse sneakers. I’ve had them since I was 15, so I wasn’t devastated like I would have been if they were my polka-dot Kate Spade “walking shoes,” but I was disappointed. Those sneakers...
JONESIE: Do you even know what you are supporting?
WARNING: This column contains some graphic language I was born in a small Alberta town that wasn’t known for much and still isn’t and I remember when the little burgh made the news for the first time I was aware of. The TV station caught B roll of my cousin and his little dog running...
ARCHER: A lot of talk, how about some action?
The group TimeForChangePenticton has become a sort of phenomenon over the last few weeks. I “liked” the page early on and my Facebook feed has been blowing up with notifications of posts and pictures and comments. People are talking about issues that many argue were not being talked about (enough) before. All the talk is...
STAHN: Casino relocation shows the power we hold
Let’s not fool ourselves about who holds the power when it comes to politics, especially at the municipal level. The casino debate at City Hall recently makes clear it's not city staff, it's not city councillors but you—the vocal voting public—who has the power. On Tuesday, I watched a procession of nearly 30 people take...
HELSTON: Suspects walk without charges in high profile cases—what’s going on?
Over the course of a week, police let the suspects in two separate, serious incidents walk without charges. The first incident was a shooting in Polson Park Aug. 12. Police said multiple people were involved and several shots were fired. Later that day, one person was arrested in Vernon and three in Kelowna. The next...
GOG: How to reclaim the pub from the nannies and kiddies
I have been going to pubs since before I was born. I like pubs, or at least I used to. But there has been a slow erosion of everything pubs stand for, which culminated this week in a catastrophic sign appearing outside my favourite local watering hole. It read: “New! Childrens Menu.” Given the missing...
LOEWEN: Matroyshkas and news from Ukraine
We live amidst a seemingly endless stream of “news” sources, Info News among them. Their challenge is the same as it ever was: To present as factually as possible the irregular lurchings of a world resembling Harry Houdini attempting an escape from the ties that bind. Over the course of recent decades, many have come...
PARKER: Friends before selfies
The first picture of the four of us was taken by the front door in her house. We didn’t have to beckon for her mother to come and take it either. Two gothic Disney princesses, an alien dressed like sporty spice, and a cowgirl before they wore short shorts stood, arms around each other, smiling....
