I WILL TELL YOU WITHOUT HESITATION that I am a huge Swiftie. I have followed the career of Taylor Swift since she was a young teenager going door to door trying to get a deal so her songs would get some airplay. Since her early material was country and I am a big country music fan, I saw many of her videos many times o...

IF A PERSON IN KAMLOOPS CALLS 9-1-1 because they feel like they're having a heart attack, but it turns out to be a bad case of indigestion, they are not penalized.It could be argued that it's a waste of our emergency responders' time but that's kind of built into our system.Likewise, if someone smells smoke coming from...

PEOPLE OFTEN MISUNDERSTAND what I do for work. When I tell people I work for the Kamloops Food Policy Council (KFPC), they ask if that's a food bank. Although frontline services like the food bank have goals similar to those of the KFPC, like relieving hunger and reducing poverty, we act on these goals differently.Fron...

SOME POLITICIANS transcend the party they represent. John Horgan, who passed away this week, was such a person. I liked the way be could portray someone you could trust. I have no idea if you could trust him, but that's the feeling I got. Carole James was another leader I felt I could trust. I always enjoyed talking to...

TOURISM KAMLOOPS IS IN THE PROCESS of hiring a consultant to help develop an "iconic attraction" in Kamloops - an initiative that aims to "enhance the city's appeal as a premier tourism destination in British Columbia". The consultant will develop draft concepts for potential attractions tailored to...

GOVERNMENTS CAN EASILY MAKE MISSTEPS when they're desperate for approval. Immigration has been a significant topic of discussion for some time now. Some well-intentioned policymakers in Ottawa decided that by reducing the number of foreign students, we could create more housing spaces for 'normal' people. However, thos...

THE KAMLOOPS-THOMPSON SCHOOL DISTRICT has been working hard to try to rebalance its budget after being put in a $2 million hole earlier this year. The mistake, which originated with a line in the budget being counted twice, resulted in a $2 million shortfall that has caused the district to totally reevaluate its budget...

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL FALL AFTERNOON, with sunlight filtering through a stained-glass window, casting a rainbow of colors on the art-covered walls at the Art We Are Cafe. With my little pot of coffee close by, I studied the tarot cards laid out on the black tablecloth in front of me. My client, seated across from me, lean...

THIS PAST THURSDAY WAS HALLOWEEN and kids young and old around the world enjoyed trick-or-treating. And while treats were most definitely enjoyed, there were also tricks - some more traumatic than others. For instance, a friend of mine in the Lower Mainland is one of the nicest people you could ever want to meet. He's ...

"JUST UNDER TWO-IN-FIVE British Columbians think the introduction of the carbon tax has led people to be more mindful of their carbon consumption and change their behaviour", a new ResearchCo Poll finds. Yet, at the same time, more than 52 per cent of British Columbians think that if the federal government sc...

THE NUMBER OF CRIMINAL CASES where mental problems play a part seems to be increasing at a breakneck pace. Shootings attributed to people with a long history of mental issues pervade the daily news cycle. Sometimes inner violence is hidden until a moment in time when a trigger causes a flareup that leads to an outbreak...

IT'S SIMPLE. Do you want to continue living with the status quo? Or do you want a change to the right? Or is there another alternative? Do you know what any of the parties stand for? I bet you don't. I see David Eby as an arrogant leader who runs a "my way or the highway" style of leadership. The NDP has typi...

Business Intelligence for B.C. recently reported that AI-powered robots are helping boost B.C.'s construction industry. On Mitchell Island, for instance, new AI-powered robots were seen moving concrete blocks, demonstrating how this technology can step in when the sector suffers labour shortages. These robots can perfo...

THE KAMLOOPS FOOD POLICY COUNCIL (KFPC) has been working on our relaunch of Food and the City, a citizen-led policy research initiative aimed at addressing key community concerns regarding food security in Kamloops. This project was originally introduced in 2022 before the municipal election, and resulted in the creati...

THE REAL ISSUE in any political campaign is the ability to control the news cycle. In the United States right now, much of the news has been controlled by Donald Trump. How does he do it? By lying. By taking a statement and hammering it over and over again. And half of America believes what he says. Even though in many...

IF IT'S TUESDAY, this must be Kamloops. I'm paraphrasing an old 1969 movie that starred Suzanne Pleshette and a whole host of actors just getting started in the business. It's a mixture of comedy, adventure and romance. But while Belgium might have been the fun place in 1969, in 2024 the fun place on a Tuesday is at Ka...

TWO FRIENDS OF MINE lost tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and tools in the past few weeks. It's getting to be ludicrous, and a weak justice system is at least partially to blame. In one instance, a man lost $25,000 to $30,0000 worth of tools when his trailer was broken into. He has security video, and he can m...

BIG SHOUT-OUT today to the governor of California. Gavin Newsom last week signed into law a bill that would ban all plastic bags in the state starting in 2026. While some states and some places in Canada, have some limited, flimsy rules regarding plastics, California's move is a big step forward. Many of the current la...

MENTAL ILLNESS HAS BECOME one of the major crises facing the world today. That, coupled with the drug crisis, is on everyone's lips. There are all sorts of ideas being put forward, but there is little consensus on what solution works best. Treatment centres can be effective for some, but if an addict is going to get a ...

TURNS OUT the Red Bridge could be brought back to life stronger, wider and better than ever, and keep its historic look. A man who knows how to do it will be in town today.Randy Ludwar lives in the Okanagan and works for a company called Timber Restoration Services. It specializes in the use of mass timber, an engineer...

I HAVE ALL MY FAVOURITE news sites bookmarked and ready to catch all the big stories that could happen this week. From the city to the province to the country to the worldwide scene, you will find it hard to ignore all these stories even if you're not a newshound.This list is certainly not complete - it's more about th...

FOR MANY YEARS, Canada has had the reputation for having the toughest combat forces on the planet. You still hear that said, but the shine is wearing off and our abysmal level of sound military planning has clouded over anything positive we've ever accomplished.Our screwups go back a long way, but we have enough recent...

It's mid-September and, as any gardener knows, this means it's harvest season. Gardens are being overrun - in a good way - with squash, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and more. It's the season of leaving a zucchini on your neighbour's doorstep. I love the abundance gardening brings and the many opportunities to share tha...

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS this Sunday after another crazy week in politics. Is it just me, or are you surprised, too, that so much has focused on Harris-versus-Trump and little on anything in Canada? No question that Kamala Harris won Tuesday's debate. She had The Donald off his game, and he was clearly rattled. He talked hi...

THE MAJORITY OF CANADIAN ORGANIZATIONS report a need for workers with digital skills, while at least 55 per cent of Canadian tech entrepreneurs can't find the talent they need in order to grow. While this highlights a significant skills shortage across the country, there can be immense value in initiatives that aim to ...

YOU'VE ALL HEARD THE PHRASE, "a double-edged sword." Essentially it refers to a situation that can have either a positive or negative result. For some years now, when young people commit a crime, those on the sidelines ask, "Where were the parents in all this? They should have seen this coming and done s...

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW why health care is suffering? Because none of the so-called experts know what the hell they're doing. And workers throughout the system are getting tired and fed up. The government tries to solve the problem by throwing more money into creating spaces in various programs like nursing schools. But th...

DEAR KAMLOOPS CITIZENS, I am writing in response to Garry Davies' comments on September 4 about the AAP process. I want to clarify his assumptions with facts and provide clarification. He said the AAP is undemocratic and not fair. The AAP process is not meant for emergency situations and is commonly used for recreation...