From the upcoming FIFA World Cup and the recent disheartening outcome for the Montreal Canadiens, to cherishing Niagara's homegrown corner store chain and an overlooked park in NOTL, Ross Robinson's Ramblings run the gamut this week.
Ahead of this fall's municipal election, Coun. Gary Burroughs says Niagara-on-the-Lake’s next council needs to start by asking why some residents no longer trust town hall.
"Canadians have the right to access diverse ideas, literature and viewpoints without censorship, allowing libraries, schools, bookstores and readers to explore both popular and controversial works," write Susan Elliott and Dr. Robin Williams Foster.
"There are suddenly more reasons to talk about Mr. Hummel as he uses social media this week to eviscerate your reporter. Ad hominem arguments are always exciting. He does it well," writes Garth Turner.
"Transmissible prion is extremely stable and very hard to destroy with chemical disinfectants or heat — far more so than for the case of viruses and bacteria," writes Dr. William Brown.
"It is a cash grab, sure," writes Kevin MacLean of the speed camera program. "But so what? It’s a penalty earned for not obeying the law, in a school zone, amid warning signs."
"Here, many billions of years later, was evidence of the radiation created in the Big Bang, now cooled to a few degrees above zero Kelvin and stretched by the expanding universe into the microwave range — what became known as the cosmic background radiation," writes Dr. William Brown.
"Do our political party leaders think we believe they have a great big pot filled with money that they dip into to pay for their projects and programs?" writes Ross Robinson.
"Babe Ruth, among his many quoted phrases, said, 'It ain’t over till it’s over.'
That amazing team of Blue Jays players has proven what we already knew: it’s never over, we’re just occasionally between innings," writes Keith McNenly.
"Some people believe our little lovenest of a town is lurching toward surveillance, confinement and control. Look at the official, shiny new draft official plan, they say," writes Garth Turner.
"Businesses in sectors like oil and gas (and specifically producers of liquid natural gas) are especially favoured ... Sometimes the squeaky wheel attracts the grease," writes Steve McGuinness.
"Connecting with nature and connecting in nature both have solid benefits: little hands in sand and water and soil, bring the principles of science and math and literacy alive," write Dr. Robin Williams and Dr. Richa Agnihotri
"As I write this there are six (seriously, just six) rentals listed with realtors in the Old Town. The average rent being asked is $3,000 a month," writes Garth Turner.
"Growth and change in any town may be inevitable. However, those forces must be thoughtfully and consistently managed in order to preserve its unique character and cultural landscapes while evolving into a greater version of itself," writes Brian Marshall.
"Under the Canada Health Act, provinces are required to maintain universal health plans offering their residents medical coverage. The provinces receive significant social transfer amounts from the feds in return," writes Steve McGuinness.
"This is a very solid story of science at its best, expressed in the imagination and dogged persistence of the three laureates," writes Dr. William Brown, on this year's winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine and their discoveries concerning how the immune system is kept in check.
"Around NOTL, so many residents and visitors proudly wearing Blue Jays merchandise. People smiling and saying hello to strangers. In our world today, any positive news is welcome, and this World Series run is definitely good news," writes Ross Robinson.
"It’s telling that MacKay-Lyons, whose main body of work is unabashedly contemporary, adheres strictly to this sense of place as derived from understanding its existing (or historic) vernacular materials, building culture and forms," writes Brian Marshall.
"The NOTL rebels’ plan is to have candidates identified and in place well before the race. There may be a slate. There will certainly be public engagements — forums, Q&As, debates. There will be money, as well as passion," writes Garth Turner.
"The Nobel Prizes in the sciences began in 1901, and despite the emergence of a host of other worthy prizes in mathematics, engineering and recently the computer sciences, it remains the gold standard," writes Dr. William Brown.
"These core principles are neglected, ignored or improperly applied by far too many practicing architects and results in poor designs which, if constructed, assault the public's senses with inferior built architecture," writes Brian Marshall.
"Urbanites may not get this, but in much of Canada, the post office is Canada. The sole, identifiable, enduring and working link to the federal government. Once that is shuttered, the bond dies," writes Garth Turner.
The following column was written by the late Joanne Young, garden expert and coach, and was originally published in the Sept. 8, 2022 edition of The Lake Report.
"The lord mayor and some councillors defend this padding as prudent to redress a perceived infrastructure deficit. But what will these reserves actually be spent on?" writes Steve McGuinness.
"Even in State College on a very busy weekend, our driver didn’t once ask me for directions. It was out of character for me, but I just sat in the back seat with my mouth shut. He would just glance at his GPS screen and implicitly trust the computers," writes Ross Robinson.
"In 2024, it was obvious just how powerful these computational programs could be for determining the 3D structure of a protein," writes Dr. William Brown.
"Council has made unpopular development decisions before, but it appears to be playing this one more carefully. Let’s hope they’re listening," writes David Israelson.
"We are being asked to accept the partial destruction of the Queen-Picton heritage district’s place identity on the very questionable altar of a cultural institution’s ask," writes Brian Marshall.
