Opinion

It can seem like such asinine advice, but it’s advice we all get all the time. Every time you leave someone’s place, especially in the winter months, chances are they’ll suggest you drive safely, or drive carefully.

Parents and residents of Fort Assiniboine have found themselves at odds with Pembina Hills Regional Division No. 7 over the proposed closure of the senior high school program at the school.

You’ve heard of the ‘elephant in the room’ … euphemism for an uncomfortable topic that everyone’s aware of, but no one wants to address? Well, at last week’s Athabasca County council meeting, Fred Martin exposed the elephant in the intersection.

Honestly, I thought that when I left Northern Ontario and headed west to Barrhead, I would see less snow than I was used to. Alas, that is not the case.

While some people may look at every expense the town runs up with concern for the taxpayer’s dime, there are some costs that cannot be avoided.

It’s interesting to hear Jan Bridal, human resource coordinator for the Boyle Employment Centre, admit that she didn’t have high hopes when the facility first opened up last July.

Full credit goes to Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) for recognizing their need to diversify their business, and to the federal government for backing them up with last week’s $62.9 million investment.

It’s evident that this much snow in Alberta is indeed an oddity. That does not detract from the fact this area has been hard hit by winter over the past two months.

It all started about four years ago while I was at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont. I was sitting with about 90 nervous students in a packed lecture hall when a short, silver-haired woman approached the podium.

Dear Editor, What is happening around Barrhead lately? What are our lawmakers thinking? In reading the paper, it seems they really want to hit our businesses hard.