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Friday, October 24, 2025

Opinion

Arch-i-text: Takeaways from Brian MacKay-Lyon’s lecture on good and bad design

"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 Turner Report: NOTL rebels target ‘worst council ever’

"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.

Letter: What happens to the old hospital will define NOTL’s future

"Do we plan for the few, or do we plan for everyone — families, seniors, artists, educators, and the millions who come here to experience Niagara’s beauty and culture?" writes Syreeta Larkan.

Ross’s Ramblings: A short drive to Elora, but a total change of attitude

"Here in Niagara, we seem to be impatient, unhappy and often down on each other. Often a bit mean," writes Ross Robinson.

Dr. Brown: Upcoming Nobel series at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Library

"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.

Dr. Brown: The tiny and the gargantuan in the universe

"Heisenberg was right in his day — there were no methods for 'seeing' atoms, never mind, electrons. But these days the first fussy pictures of atoms have been seen and electrons tracked," writes Dr. William Brown, covering two scientific objects of recent fascination for him: A giant red star and a photon of light.

Editorial: Stop trying to hide public information

"It’s not up to politicians to police people’s thoughts or actions. It’s people’s right to view these documents, whether they are planning experts or not. Public documents are public documents and should be easily and readily available," writes editor-in-chief Richard Harley.

Ross’ Ramblings: Miracle of the decade happened in Paris

"I am not a betting man, but my numerous trips to France, and my year living in Strasbourg in 1979, made me confident that the rebuilding of Notre Dame would take decades," writes Ross Robinson, commenting on the official reopening of the historic cathedral in Paris this past weekend, after its five-year closure.

Ross’ Ramblings: Swiftie positivity unlike grating negativity here in NOTL

"Unlike the sea of crankiness that we seem to live in, Swifties have the best attitudes and rizz," writes Ross Robinson.

The Turner Report: When ‘affordable’ really means ‘worse’

"The changes to increase affordability are costly, cash-flow punishing, increase indebtedness and trick the financially illiterate (like the finance minister, apparently) into a false conclusion," writes Garth Turner.

Arch-i-text: Good financial management needs transparency

"While it wouldn’t make the pain of increased property taxes any less, a process dedicated to 'transparency, fiscal responsibility and effective communication with our residents' would certainly go some distance to increasing the confidence of NOTL’s voters," writes Brian Marshall.

Opinion: We need to fix the home care supply crisis

"Forcing people already dealing with an out-of-control affordability crisis to pay out of pocket for needed medical supplies is outrageous," writes MPP Wayne Gates.

Letter: Here’s how council can avoid the 14.4 tax hike

"I’m not sure that council provided appropriate guidance before the budget process began. I don’t think we would be looking at a 14.4 per cent increase had they done so," writes Jonathan Household.

Letter: Thanks for supporting animals in need

"We’d also like to thank all the NOTL homeowners who granted us permission to cut boughs and greens from your properties for the planters. Your kindness added to the success of the fundraiser," writes Carolyn Greenfield.

Letter: Roundabout is another bad traffic decision

"I despair when I see the collision of voices regarding the St. Davids proposed roundabout as opposed to simple stop lights," writes Gail Benjafield.

Editorial: Concealing documents is not openness

"It’s a sad state of affairs when our town lets this kind of thing slide by — when only one or two politicians stand up against withholding information and fight for what’s right," writes editor-in-chief Richard Harley.

Arts review: Shaw’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ remains fun time for everyone

"The delight of this production owes much to its buoyant, genuine performances, fine direction, imaginative minimalist staging, creepy sounds and lively puppets," writes Penny-Lynn Cookson.

Dr. Brown: Biology, physics, artificial intelligence and complexity

"We created AI and now AI helps us understand ourselves, our world and our universe. That’s why AI, biology and physics have so much in common," writes Dr. William Brown.

Editorial: Celebrate for a myriad of reasons

"Can you believe it? Another year has almost passed and it’s now settling into the season of Christmas trees, holiday lights and comfort foods," writes editor-in-chief Richard Harley, with a full calendar of what's going on in town for the holiday season.

Dr. Brown: How working with worms lead to eight Nobel laureates

"In the sciences where teamwork often makes the difference between success and failure, Brenner and Bertozzi stand out," writes Dr. William Brown.

Arch-i-text: The games local governments play with infrastructure

"After decades of chronic under-investment by local governments, they will not be able to address the investment necessary to bring Niagara’s water and wastewater systems up to date," writes Brian Marshall.

The Turner Report: Living rough in the time of Trump

"In weeks, Trump will take office. His aggressive cabinet picks suggest what he said in the campaign is what he’s going to do. That has a bunch of economists losing their lunch. The consensus is his agenda will end up whacking Canada," writes Garth Turner.

Ross’ Ramblings: Our big chance to make people feel good about their hometown

"Yes, we are lucky to live in Canada’s prettiest town, but let them know they are lucky to call their hometown home, too," writes Ross Robinson. "You will have made a random person feel better. You will have been kind, which is a very good thing."

Letter: Mary Street condo a ‘totally dysfunctional project’

"Council should appreciate that the official plan, land-use zoning and bylaws were developed by experts and are not an arbitrary set of rules that they can change on a whim," writes Wayne Murray.

Letter: Niagara Foundation deserves our respect

"As a fourth-generation resident of this town, I find it disturbing to see all the changes that are happening," writes Hope Bradley.

Letter: Time to call up the posse

"The corral has been breached, guardrails ignored, and the rustlers are making off with prize stock. And no amount of sunny press releases negate that evidence," writes Terry Mactaggart.

Letter: Roundabout is not top priority for St. Davids

"I ask the Niagara Region why it feels spending $4 to $10 million on a roundabout in St. Davids is more important ... than using that money to repair its water infrastructure," writes Bob Wheatley.

Opinion: Niagara’s hospital system is in crisis

After reading Kevin MacLean's article on his experience in the emergency room at the St. Catharines hospital, Wendy Cheropita shares the trials of her own "waiting game": "What I didn’t know was what lay ahead of me. This was my first visit in 10 years."

Editorial: ‘Round and ’round we go

"There is no compelling need we can see that merits spending $10 million — or more — of taxpayers’ money to fix a problem that does not exist," writes editor emeritus Kevin MacLean.

Letter: Old Hospital needs to be housing for seniors

"I can’t understand why our town is ignoring this population while they own the old hospital property which would be ideal," writes Karen Gansel.

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