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Friday, January 16, 2026

Opinion

The Turner Report: Worries build as Shaw clams up

"How will heavy construction be handled during the next three summers when Queen is shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists, cars are everywhere and festival season arrives?" writes Garth Turner.

Arch-i-text: NOTL needs apartment buildings — but, the right ones

"This simplistic design approach to apartment buildings has dominated the sector for decades and has resulted in a quasi-institutionalized environment within the resultant neighbourhoods," writes Brian Marshall.

The Forum: Future councils will inherit a colossal financial mess

"This fiscal irresponsibility this term kneecaps our future councils, leaving them little manoeuvring room going forward," writes Steve McGuinness.

Ross’s Ramblings: Some Winter Olympic levity to loosen up the world

"Are we getting better when compared to other nations? Perhaps, but there are so many more events now. Many more opportunities to grab a medal," writes Ross Robinson.

Dr. Brown: Intelligence, whether human or AI, evolves the same way

"AlphaFold2 was like a loyal grad student who learned under the tutelage of humans at Google — not human of course, but a student nontheless and perhaps deserving of a share in the prize," writes Dr. William Brown.

Letter: Education is solution to anti-development protests

"Sign up for a course and then seek to have your gratuitous grievances paraded. I simply don’t understand how somebody who occupies a property that once was a forest or an orchard or part of an Indigenous territory, can stand there proudly and cry foul," writes Peter Rusin.

Letter: At 17, family’s Westie is best companion ever

"This high-energy white fur ball has always been in great shape — loved long walks, swimming and running  These days, Heidi loves walking by the lake, which is where she can become like a puppy again," writes Raffaella Florio.

Letter: Pickleball club get most of the prime court hours

"I hope that when the courts finally open, the pickleball club relaxes its monopoly on the courts in prime morning times in favour of more public access," writes Mike Fox.

Growing Together: More from the world of hydrangeas

"Every year, growers are coming out with more and more varieties of hydrangeas," writes Joanne Young. "Just when you think that they can’t possibly come up with something different, they do."

Arch-i-text: Niagara-on-the-Lake needs to learn from the past

"To paraphrase the writer and philosopher George Santayana: one can either learn from the past or be condemned to repeat it," writes Brian Marshall in comparing the decline of NOTL's commercial fishing industry to its present-day development interests.

Dr. Brown: As leaders age, they should undergo cognitive testing

"Connect the dots and look back; it seems Biden obvious was suffering from some form of dementia, which affected his memory, speech, thought processes and planning — made worse by the bad news piling up on his desk and pressure at home and abroad to look 'in command,'" writes Dr. William Brown.

Dr. Brown: The nocebo effect — when pain becomes psychological

"The nocebo effect refers to the occurrence of harmful effects from consciously or unconsciously anticipating symptoms, one example of which was the June bug incident of 1962," writes Dr. William Brown.

Letter: Unfair to diagnose Biden without examining him

"How can any neurologist state unequivocally that someone is cognitively impaired without testing? This is especially true in Dr. Brown’s case because as a research scientist his results come from running tests," writes Prof. Merijean Morrissey from Brock University.

Letter: Promises were made but not honoured

"The leadership provided to staff by this lord mayor and council is sorely lacking," writes Bob Bader.

Letter: Council decisions are out of this world

"I trust that this council will wake up, return to Earth and heed some of the excellent advice that gets reported in our weekly newspaper," writes Buddy Andres.

Letter: Action needed to prevent destruction by wildfires

"One thing we learned from the Fort McMurray fire is that embers carried by strong winds can travel two to five kilometres before falling and maybe igniting," writes Tony Giordano.

Letter: 2021 report warned about Four Mile Creek drainage problems

Dear editor: The Four Mile Creek drainage area runs from about Mountain Road in Niagara Falls in the south to Lake Ontario in the north,...

Arch-i-text: Assault on heritage continues, but it’s not too late

"It is past time that we come together as one voice to save the cultural heritage landscapes of Niagara-on-the-Lake," writes Brian Marshall.

Editorial: Building a future for NOTL seniors

"Our seniors appreciate their current independent way of life. They’re committed to NOTL. They want to stay here as they age. But the existing housing stock may not be sufficiently diverse to accommodate their age-related needs. And this tension will only increase in the coming years," writes Kevin MacLean.

The Turner Report: Trump, Biden, a bullet and what future holds

"On this side of the river, we’ll have to deal with a situation new in our lifetimes. Religion, race, tribalism, patriotism and a battle between left and right make the coming presidential vote a rising risk to wealth," writes Garth Turner.

Letter of the Week: Town needs to step back, impose moratorium on building

"Residents have loudly voiced their objections — supported by well researched documentation — while ill-conceived decisions, based on weak and creative wordsmithing are pushing the developments through," write Jim and Erika Alexander.

Dr. Brown: With cognitive decline obvious, Biden made right decision

"The fact that Biden announced on July 21 he will not seek re-election is a relief for the U.S. and for him. That took courage but was the right decision given the trajectory of where his disease is headed in the next several years," writes Dr. William Brown.

Opinion: New development must respect NOTL’s past

"We cannot jeopardize what makes this town so unique with inappropriate development — and we must always hear the voices of residents before we move forward on big development projects," writes MPP Wayne Gates.

Letter: Agreed, we need more sound at Simcoe Park

"Give local musicians the stage. Put in a professional sound system. Let us celebrate and hear them," writes Aksana Kavaliova-Moussi.

Growing Together: The power of pollinators

"If we each add a couple pollinator-loving plants, it will make a positive difference. If we feed a pollinator, they will in turn provide us with the food we need to survive," writes Joanne Young.

Letter: Why are we ignoring smelly sludge at NOTL beach?

"For a visitor-dependent destination to allow such a disgusting display to recur in full public view year over year without abatement, or even evident intervention, calls its priorities seriously into question," writes Bruce Dickson.

Letter: Populist vs. independent approaches to local politics

"When I cast my votes in municipal elections, I do so for candidates who I believe will bring the best set of skills, experiences and judgments in dealing with the important issues facing our town even where I do not agree with everything that they stand for," writes Ron Fritz.

Letter: Some good news: Parks workers rescued my prized missing hat

"My sincere thanks to the three gentlemen who were successful at reuniting me with my special hat and restoring my faith in human kind," writes Dr. Fred Ross.

Letter: ‘Witness’ review missed Shaw director’s point

"I realize each theatre patron sees the world differently but in this case the great majority of the audience by the their response saw the play as the director intended," writes Michael Eagen.

Arch-i-text: Concerns and costs around town’s infrastructure and stormwater management

It has been reliably reported that Coun. Erwin Wiens has been heard suggesting he believes the council’s decision to rezone the Parliament Oak property...

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