"Although this level of government has the greatest impact on citizens’ daily lives, it is weak, ineffectual, rudderless and dominated by special interests," writes Garth Turner.
Over the last five centuries, says Frank Lloyd Wright, what humanity has called architecture has been "phony": "It was not innate, it wasn’t organic and it didn’t have the character of nature.”
More than 40 years after the debut of this British farce on the Shaw Festival stage, "One for the Pot" returns with excellent performances that contain the elements needed to make this for-the-masses comedy a laugh riot, writes Penny-Lynn Cookson.
"As a pretentious British boss of mine said many years ago ... 'I have found that around the world, one can get on with two languages: English, and loud English,'" writes Ross Robinson.
"I provided you with an opportunity to do the right thing, which you have obviously declined to do. Please be advised that I intend to pursue this in the appropriate forum(s)," writes Derek Collins.
"As a member of an election team that spent long hours, walking endless miles, at no small cost, to reach out to the NOTL electorate only to have the practice tossed away as irrelevant ... I find (that) infuriating and disheartening to say the least," writes Carol Williams.
"There can be no good excuse for not reading books here in our Niagara," writes Ross Robinson, beginning this week's Ross' Ramblings with a shout-out to Old Niagara Bookshop on Regent Street.
"The lord mayor just missed a golden opportunity to change the tone and build trust," writes Paul Kirkconnell, following up his Aug. 8 letter about the municipality's response to the July protest held outside NOTL town hall.
"By not following the precedent established by previous councils ... (council) has, in my view, turned away from democracy and fairness. And, it has yet to justify or explain the rationale for its decision," writes Terry Davis.
"Why was this done in-camera? What criteria did council use to select Andrew Niven? Where is the transparency? Why does council seem to not listen to voters opinions?" writes Sandra Hardy.
"Of the numerous benefits offered by mature trees, the one most valued by me is the mental and spiritual well-being that I experience when in the presence of these silent members of our community," writes Win Laar.
"In my book, this tribunal decision must count as a 'win' and flies in the face of an often-repeated suggestion voiced by certain members of the town council that costs associated with going before the tribunal are a waste of money because we’re going to lose," writes Brian Marshall.
"Nobel committees don’t always get things right, but this time they made a spectacular, if controversial, choice," writes Dr. Brown of this fall's Nobel Prize wins in physics and chemistry.
Besides knowing they are good for pies and carving for Halloween, how are you with pumpkin trivia? Joanne Young shares a bounty of fun facts about the fall-time gourd and how it became a part of celebrating spooky season.
"If everyone is given permission to remove their mature native trees with such carelessness, then we will continue to see a decline in Niagara’s limited canopies," writes Sean Parkinson.
"In the last 90 days, virtually nothing sold for more than $1.5 million. The average house takes over 100 days to get an offer — and six in ten are conditional on the buyer being able to sell," writes Garth Turner.
"The formation of stars, galaxies and the natural elements combines the dominant themes of physics in the first half of the 20th century: General relativity ... and quantum physics," writes Dr. William Brown.
"I have argued for several years that weeknight Halloween is unduly stressful for parents, grandparents and school teachers. And oh yes, young children and students too," writes Ross Robinson.
"It should be perfectly clear to the town’s residents where our priorities lie, without the need for another survey to obfuscate the issue," writes Paul and Elizabeth Masson.
"It appeared that town council was in a rush to quietly pass as many approvals for developments by amending the official plan, rezoning, completely ignoring the parking and traffic challenges and the availability of services," writes Luba Fraser.
"It is cheaper and easier for a developer to do the cookie-cutter thing, creating a series of isolated dwellings ... that do not embrace community but are inwardly focused on the individual occupying family," writes Brian Marshall.
"In a world where misinformation travels faster than truth, newspapers and their websites keep Canadians informed, connected and engaged in communities from coast to coast," writes Paul Deegan.
"Nobody wants to wake up to their home and possessions being destroyed," writes Richard Harley. "Even if canoeing in your lawn does sound like a good time, we need to start fixing what's broken."
"One fear is Trump will ultimately tank our dollar, stall the economy and add almost 2 per cent to mortgage rates. But there’s no guarantee, of course, he’d govern with the same machismo as he campaigns. Let’s hope so," writes Garth Turner.
"The good people of the NOTL Legion work so diligently and enthusiastically to organize social events and fundraising projects. I quickly learned that the activities and social events are almost never-ending," writes Ross Robinson, the newest member of Legion Branch 124.
Gene editing once held "the promise of fixing mutant genes responsible for the mutant proteins that cause hundreds of other protein-related diseases," writes Dr. Brown. "Unfortunately, transforming theory into practice is difficult."
"For more than 50 years, from the 1830s to the 1880s, the Gothic Revival style of architecture dominated the Ontario marketplace and continued its popularity in the province into the early 20th century," writes Brian Marshall.
