The Canadian Gazette was honoured earlier this week with a plaque to mark 30 years of work with Welcome Wagon in Almonte and Carleton Place. Photo by Katie Mulligan
Feb 26, 2010
Welcome Wagon
The Canadian Gazette was honoured earlier this week with a plaque to mark 30 years of work with Welcome Wagon in Almonte and Carleton Place. Photo by Katie Mulligan
Home game
Here's a bit of video from the Canadians vs. Hawks Family Day game. Carleton Place won the match 6-1. They play tonight against Nepean. The Canadians' last game of the season is March 6 at home.
Do or die
Tonight could be the last night for Jr. B hockey in Almonte for the season. The Thunder play the Blue Wings tonight in playoff action. Perth leads the series 3-0.
Feb 25, 2010
Digging into a good book
We like to publish cute photos of local kids.
But something tells me we shouldn't have this one go to print.
Canadian Gazette reporter Erin Fitzgerald captured this moment today at R. Tait McKenzie Public School in Almonte.
A matter of principle
One of the changes I've made since I came on board here in September was to remove the names of people accused of crimes from our police briefs.
I know it's not a popular idea, but there's reasoning behind it.
The police regularly send us press releases saying a person was arrested for, let's say, drunk driving. They outline the basic details, name the person and then say if there's a court date coming.
Here's the problem.
While many small Canadian newspapers readily print the name of the accused, they don't necessarily follow the case to court. So while we tell readers someone has been accused of a crime, we don't say if they've been found guilty or innocent before a judge months later.
Sure, we could devote more resources to court coverage. But for small papers, it's difficult.
Many times we go to court and spend a good part of the day waiting for our local case only to learn it's been put off a month. As an editor, I'm not pleased that my reporter just wasted a whole day and is returning without a story.
So here's our compromise.
We tell readers the details of an arrest and don't print the name of the accused. However, if the story is of importance, we print the name and then dedicate a reporter to follow the case through the courts.
We're doing that now involving a Carleton Place man who's facing Internet luring charges. He had a court date in Perth earlier this month, which resulted only in getting yet another court date.
While it may not satisfy all readers, it's the responsible thing to do. I think it also avoids the very real possibility of publicly accusing a resident of a misdeed and not telling the public he was later found innocent.
That would be a crime.
I know it's not a popular idea, but there's reasoning behind it.
The police regularly send us press releases saying a person was arrested for, let's say, drunk driving. They outline the basic details, name the person and then say if there's a court date coming.
Here's the problem.
While many small Canadian newspapers readily print the name of the accused, they don't necessarily follow the case to court. So while we tell readers someone has been accused of a crime, we don't say if they've been found guilty or innocent before a judge months later.
Sure, we could devote more resources to court coverage. But for small papers, it's difficult.
Many times we go to court and spend a good part of the day waiting for our local case only to learn it's been put off a month. As an editor, I'm not pleased that my reporter just wasted a whole day and is returning without a story.
So here's our compromise.
We tell readers the details of an arrest and don't print the name of the accused. However, if the story is of importance, we print the name and then dedicate a reporter to follow the case through the courts.
We're doing that now involving a Carleton Place man who's facing Internet luring charges. He had a court date in Perth earlier this month, which resulted only in getting yet another court date.
While it may not satisfy all readers, it's the responsible thing to do. I think it also avoids the very real possibility of publicly accusing a resident of a misdeed and not telling the public he was later found innocent.
That would be a crime.
Feb 23, 2010
Hearts and minds
Here's the Feb. 25 editorial:
Judging by the turnout at a recent sewage treatment plant meeting, residents of Mississippi Mills are not happy.
More than 100 people gathered at Almonte’s Old Town Hall to get the latest news about the proposed plant.
The new plant will replace the lagoon system the town presently relies on and is projected to be running by 2012.
At a cost of $27 million, the municipality will need to find more than $5.1 million to fund its portion of the project.
While no one likes increased fees or higher taxes, it’s clear the town has not been able to win the hearts and minds of residents on this issue.
With infrastructure funding being offered now – thanks in no small part to the state of the economy – politicians are worried if they don’t act, they’ll have to fund a much higher portion later.
“If we turn this money back, we’ll never get it again,” Mayor Al Lunney warned the crowd. “We’ve got the money. We’re ahead of the curve.”
And there’s the question of growth. For the municipality to accommodate new growth there has to be treatment capacity there, the crowd was told.
Both are good arguments.
But we’re worried on a couple of fronts.
We hoped the town would be able to convince residents to get on board a decision of this magnitude; a decision that will hit the pocket books of many.
If it really is the right time and right move, why aren’t the hearts and minds being won?
We are also worried the plant proposal could become a wedge issue in the fall election. Will voters cast their ballots based on where candidates stand on the plant? While accountability is a corner stone of our electoral process, we have some concern the election could become a quasi-referendum after the fact.
Hopefully the many other issues of the day will not be lost in the shadow of the treatment plant debate.
Our hope is the town will be able to either convince residents this is the right thing, or reevaluate its plans altogether.
Have your say. Write a letter to the editor via e-mail at roger.leblanc@metroland.com or via post at the address below.
Judging by the turnout at a recent sewage treatment plant meeting, residents of Mississippi Mills are not happy.
More than 100 people gathered at Almonte’s Old Town Hall to get the latest news about the proposed plant.
The new plant will replace the lagoon system the town presently relies on and is projected to be running by 2012.
At a cost of $27 million, the municipality will need to find more than $5.1 million to fund its portion of the project.
While no one likes increased fees or higher taxes, it’s clear the town has not been able to win the hearts and minds of residents on this issue.
With infrastructure funding being offered now – thanks in no small part to the state of the economy – politicians are worried if they don’t act, they’ll have to fund a much higher portion later.
“If we turn this money back, we’ll never get it again,” Mayor Al Lunney warned the crowd. “We’ve got the money. We’re ahead of the curve.”
And there’s the question of growth. For the municipality to accommodate new growth there has to be treatment capacity there, the crowd was told.
Both are good arguments.
But we’re worried on a couple of fronts.
We hoped the town would be able to convince residents to get on board a decision of this magnitude; a decision that will hit the pocket books of many.
If it really is the right time and right move, why aren’t the hearts and minds being won?
We are also worried the plant proposal could become a wedge issue in the fall election. Will voters cast their ballots based on where candidates stand on the plant? While accountability is a corner stone of our electoral process, we have some concern the election could become a quasi-referendum after the fact.
Hopefully the many other issues of the day will not be lost in the shadow of the treatment plant debate.
Our hope is the town will be able to either convince residents this is the right thing, or reevaluate its plans altogether.
Have your say. Write a letter to the editor via e-mail at roger.leblanc@metroland.com or via post at the address below.
Feb 22, 2010
Septage meeting
I was just editing a story about the recent public meeting in Almonte about the plans for a new sewage treatment plant.
More than 100 people showed up and they weren't happy.
While we'll be writing a story that talks about news from the engineers, I think it's just as interesting that people are still fuming about this.
The Town of Mississippi Mills is not winning hearts and minds on this one.
I wonder if this could become a wedge issue in the upcoming municipal election?
Tell us what you think with a letter to the editor. E-mail me at roger.leblanc@metroland.com.
Game plan huddle
The Lanark OPP vs. NHL Alumni game was a good night. It was good to see the stands of Carleton Place arena three-quarters full for the fundraiser.
We'll have a photo in the paper and I put more shots online.
Feb 18, 2010
New student reporter
Our new co-op student, Michael Murchison, started work today.
I asked him to write a brief column to introduce himself to our readers for the Feb. 25 edition. Here's a sneak peak:
Growing up in
I was born in late December, 1993, the youngest of my family and the youngest in all my school classes.
I made long-lasting friendships with as many people as I could when I was young, despite the fact that I was the shiest and quietest boy you would ever meet.
I grew up and I began my high school years at
It’s something that I’ve aspired to become for almost my entire life.
Strangely enough, several years after deciding copywriting was what I wanted to do, I discovered my uncle did that exact job. I guess it runs in the family.
I’ve also, been offered an exciting and unique opportunity to work here at the Canadian Gazette as part of my high schools co-operative education program.
I hope to gain writing and work experience that will help me in my short-term and long-term career goals. I expect to have a lot of fun writing here and I hope that I can bring you, the reader something interesting to read with every article.
Michael Murchison is a
More zombie dancers
You can see more of our "zombies in Almonte" photos here:
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/photozone
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/photozone
Feb 17, 2010
Olympic news
Almonte's Perianne Jones finishes 41st and fails to qualify for the individual sprint quarterfinals.
We'll be following Perianne's progress through the games.
We'll be following Perianne's progress through the games.
Feb 15, 2010
Zombie ball
I missed getting the shots of the kids getting their makeup put on, but managed to get a few photos of undead revellers at the dance in Almonte.
You called it
I posted this poll question last week to get a sense of how optimistic people were about the Olympics;
"Will Canada break its streak and win a gold medal on home turf at the 2010 Games?"
Nearly 90% answered yes. And then I grabbed today's paper to see Canada did in fact finally win gold on home soil.
So this week's question stays on topic...
Given a choice, would you rather Canada:
Lead the Olympic medal standings, or Win hockey gold?
Cast your vote today
"Will Canada break its streak and win a gold medal on home turf at the 2010 Games?"
Nearly 90% answered yes. And then I grabbed today's paper to see Canada did in fact finally win gold on home soil.
So this week's question stays on topic...
Given a choice, would you rather Canada:
Lead the Olympic medal standings, or Win hockey gold?
Cast your vote today
Feb 11, 2010
Undying love
I'm looking forward to covering this event for the paper ...
Valentine's Day Zombie Ball
If you are looking for something fun to do on Friday February 12th, come join us at The Almonte Community Centre for our Valentine's Day Zombie Ball.Zombie Make-Up provided at TYPS (79 Bridge Street) from 4 p.m - 7 p.m by donation.
Proceeds from our canteen will go towards the Almonte Skatepark project.
This event is brought to you by TYPS (Almonte's Youth Centre) and The Town of Mississippi Mills.
For more information please contact TYPS at 613-256-8485 or Calvin Murphy at 613-256-1077 Ext: 24.
Photo: danhollisterduck/Flickr
Coyote cull
I haven't heard of any recent sightings here, but it sounds like neighbouring areas are having quite a time with coyotes.
As expected, people are pretty divided on what should be done, if anything. Check out some of the letters on our website.
Have you seen coyotes in the CP/Almonte/Beckwith area? If so, let us know.
roger.leblanc@metroland.com
(Photo by Todd Spurrell)
Feb 8, 2010
On ice
One of the great things about online newspapers is it gives photographers a bit more exposure (pardon the pun). Only a few years ago, we might get one shot from an event in the paper, with the others never seeing the light of day.
But now photographers can upload multiple images for readers to see.
You can see my Carleton Place Canadians photos in our gallery section.
Feb 5, 2010
What's on
I'm working with some technical people today to work out the kinks in our website's events listing.
When all is well, the system will allow readers to upload their events directly to the site, which sounds great to those of us who spend not a small amount of time entering this stuff for the paper.
When all is well, the system will allow readers to upload their events directly to the site, which sounds great to those of us who spend not a small amount of time entering this stuff for the paper.
Feb 4, 2010
Missing woman
We were surprised to hear this week the OPP called off a search for a missing Pakenham woman. Tina Smithson disappeared on Jan. 26.
We called the police to confirm the search was over and learned they believed she fell through the ice of a nearby stream and was swept away.
We called the mayor of Mississippi Mills to learn how the community was dealing with this tragedy. We encountered a second surprise.
Al Lunney reacted with some hostility when our reporter reached him. To be fair, the mayor may know this family and was acting out of grief.
He felt we should not delve into the story.
I had hoped he would act as a spokesperson for his residents who undoubtedly are trying to come to grips with this loss.
Given we reported the OPP were looking for a missing local woman, we felt it prudent to tell our readers the search was over. And as I'm sure readers have many questions about this incident, we feel it's our role to try to find the answers.
We had a reporter visit Pakenham yesterday to talk to residents.
I hope to post a story online early next week.
We called the police to confirm the search was over and learned they believed she fell through the ice of a nearby stream and was swept away.
We called the mayor of Mississippi Mills to learn how the community was dealing with this tragedy. We encountered a second surprise.
Al Lunney reacted with some hostility when our reporter reached him. To be fair, the mayor may know this family and was acting out of grief.
He felt we should not delve into the story.
I had hoped he would act as a spokesperson for his residents who undoubtedly are trying to come to grips with this loss.
Given we reported the OPP were looking for a missing local woman, we felt it prudent to tell our readers the search was over. And as I'm sure readers have many questions about this incident, we feel it's our role to try to find the answers.
We had a reporter visit Pakenham yesterday to talk to residents.
I hope to post a story online early next week.
Feb 3, 2010
In his father's footsteps
We have a short feature in the paper this week that I think will be well read.
Well-known Almonte businessman Reg Gamble is passing the reigns of his funeral home business to his son Josh.
Read the online version
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