Stephen Vance, Editor
Most of us have a healthy appreciation for local volunteers and service clubs, but it can be easy to take their contribution to the community for granted, and to forget just how much these folks actually do.
I was reminded of this after Monday's council meeting, when I was handed a piece of paper listing some 31 projects,...
Stephen Vance, Editor
I frequently hear people comment about the lack of affordable housing in Meaford, and there's no doubt that if you're trying to find an affordable apartment or house to rent in this town, you've got your work cut out for you.
To address the problem, we must first understand the problem, and if you talk to people about...
Stephen Vance, Editor
As much as I focus a lot of my time (and ink) on infrastructure issues, like many, in spite of the fact that my feet tromp on them each and every day, I often overlook sidewalk infrastructure.
Like much of our infrastructure, many of our sidewalks were installed decades ago, and some of those old sidewalks are now...
Stephen Vance, Editor
“It's a short agenda, should be a quick meeting,” my friend from the Express said to me as we were setting up at the media table prior to Monday's council meeting.
“Well, the first intake of the community grants is on the agenda so...” I responded.
Face palm. “Oh right, I forgot.”Monday's council meeting lasted three hours and 15...
Stephen Vance, Editor
With the winter snow and chilly temperatures gone, the month of May is traditionally the month when we Ontarians escape our winter cocoons and get outside to reconnect with the natural world around us, and hiking some trails is a fantastic way to do just that.
This year is the 50th birthday of Ontario's mother of all trails,...
Stephen Vance, Editor
It's that time of year again. The snow is gone, the birds are chirping, and the first dashes of colourful spring blooms have shown themselves – and that means it's time for the annual Memorial Park Earth Week clean-up.
For all of our advancements as a species, we humans are unfortunately still prone to discarding unwanted items in...
Stephen Vance, Editor
Five years ago I wrote an article entitled 'Bridge Blues on the Way'. Meaford's council of the day had received a staff report advising that nearly $20 million would need to be spent on bridges and culverts in the municipality over the next ten years. It was a report that was a wake up call for council...
Stephen Vance, Editor
I've always been a bit of a history buff, but not much of a war buff, and though a pacifist I might be, I think it important to recognize some of the battles of the past if only so we can avoid the horrors of war in the future.
History buff or not, if you're Canadian, you're sure...
Stephen Vance, Editor
In recent years rural municipalities in Ontario have been, well, let's just be blunt, they've been getting screwed by upper levels of government, particularly the province.
It's no secret, we've all seen it happening before our eyes. Rural schools are being closed, long-term care beds are in jeopardy, and as we are all very well aware in this...
Stephen Vance, Editor
Distracted driving is a topic that you will no doubt hear in the media with greater frequency in the coming weeks, months, and I suspect, years, and for good reason. Distracted driving kills. Distracted driving is this generation's impaired driving, and we have to stop.
Readers of this page are no strangers to my once (sometimes twice) every...
