One of those #52coffee networking meetings turned into a two-hour conversation that covered local and global topics in the shade of Lee Park trees at the Kiwanis Playground the other day. Ralph Celentano and I just couldn’t stop sharing community involvement tales and...
“When I talk to the cat, we don’t have long conversations.” My wife: “We??” “Sometimes I can’t get a word in edgewise.” She thinks I might be losing it, and that’s a distinct possibility, given that I’ve worked from my dining table for most of the past year or was it...
The Catholic Church needs to come clean with all its records pertaining to residential schools for Indigenous students in Canada. Same for the other religions involved in this shameful legacy. There’s no reconciliation without truth and knowing where they buried all...
Gypsy moth larvae, combined with extremely hot sun during a dry spring, have decimated all three of my 20-year-old red oaks. The realization prompted a close up exploration of my Corbeil property, specifically the 60-odd trees I've planted or encouraged to grow since...
There was an upswing in the long-promised and turtle-slow passenger rail service commitment by the Progressive Conservative government recently. The announcement of the Initial Business Case (IBC) for reinstating the Northlander triggered a political firestorm as the...
Back in the Bay Magazine's Summer Edition has a June 23 deadline and the print publication will begin circulation the first week of July. The inaugural Spring Edition had a successful Small Town Times Productions launch with just under 30 advertisers and sponsors...
Many of our older generation have begun drawing parallels between the Covid-19 pandemic and the Second World War, including having to queue or line up for food last year. In England, during the war, we found safety in the underground train stations or the bomb shelter...
I am not a hoarder. I want to make that perfectly clear, before anyone gets an image of stacks of old newspapers piled high in the basement, or a room full of dollar store impulse buys that I may someday be forced to part with after my kids get a court order. But I do...
At least Mike Harris knew enough to fall on his sword when it was clear the Common Sense Revolution had killed too many citizens and hamstrung the economy. Whether by OPP sniper fire, tainted municipal water or poor people falling through the shredded safety net,...
Erin Chassie still loves playing on a team but North Bay’s first female AAA hockey goalie ended up saving hearts as a dream career instead. Chassie, who played for Butch Turcotte’s Hal’s Marine Minor Bantams in 1988-89, has been an operating room nurse at the...