Thursdays are tough these days, but not in a bad way. It’s not like I’m a politician or own property in Florida. Mayor Peter Chirico, however, can see me eating a little crow on the Echo Essentials Podcast with co-host Scott Clark. It comes out later today at 2 p.m....
$36K integrity investigation raises questions about freedom of speech constraints
Small Town Times editor talks with former deputy mayor and veteran former councillor about North Bay City Council decision to punish member following integrity commissioner investigation. Sheldon Forgette, was 23 when his 2014 election success vaulted him into the...
Media literacy is vital
Journalism starts out subjective because humans make choices when telling a story. Objectivity is a choice in how you reflect pertinent points, with the economy of time and resources in mind. The Postmedia News article linked below provides a timely example of how...
UPDATED: Plastic concerns in North Bay growing
Worth a peek, I think. The big topic in North Bay last month was the "forever chemical" PFAS contamination that already exists and more threats coming. But what is the risk, exactly? And what replaces it? I interviewed resident Michael Taylor, a council candidate last...
Photography leads to politics on the hill
It's been a while since I've attended a North Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority board meeting. Quite a few years, actually, reporters at the Nugget stopped going regularly a few years before I left in 2018. I parachuted into the Feb. 22 meeting and it brought back...
Feels right dropping political ponder
The world looks and feels a little different now that I'm no longer pondering a political crossroad, a life path deke into North Bay city council chambers averted by logic and common sense. As outlined in my June 15 column at BayToday.ca, taking the leap from...
Rock’n the fedora vibe now
It was a busy week at the Hacienda in Corbeil as we pulled together a full package for the sixth episode of Small Town News & Views, lit a fire under a controversial issue in North Bay through the weekly BayToday column and juggled numerous aspects of the deadline...
5th ‘News & Views’ show finds its stride
The 5th episode of my "Small Town News & Views" show is closer to the style I'm looking to produce on a weekly basis. There's a bit of editorial commentary, a splattering of humour and short promos of the longer feature interviews posted to the YouTube channel....
Things are heating up … 3rd weekly news and opinion show published
The third news and opinion show was published on the Small Town Times YouTube channel and promoted through my Facebook and Twitter social media platforms. There are posted underneath this column for your viewing pleasure. I was going to announce the new concept for a...
Do immigration stories make you angry?
My first journalism instructor at Canadore College also writes columns for Village Media's BayToday and he mentioned me in a January 18 piece. Don Curry, an immigration consultant, highlighted a suggestion that Canada needs to triple its population and immigration is...