The ‘real’ story behind Convergys closing

Armchair Mayor column, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009
Kamloops will lose a good employer when Convergys phases out the last of its staff next April.
Though the call centre in the former K-Mart shopping centre in Valleyview was controversial when established nine years ago, it has provided many hundreds of jobs for local residents.
Working at a call centre [...]

Do not ask me to be your friend

You will not find me on Facebook. Do not ask me to be your Facebook friend, because I am scared spitless of going anywhere near it.
I am, when all is said and done, a private person. I don’t particularly want to share my innermost dreams and ambitions with people I don’t know. For those I [...]

Fires bring back memories of 1961

Many people are reminiscing about the terrible summer of 2003 when we had several mega-fires raging through our forests in the Kamloops region.
I remember that summer well, but the efficiency and professionalism with which forestry crews and other agencies are fighting the fires during this summer of 2009 have me also thinking about the summer [...]

Talk about your dog days of summer

Armchair Mayor column, The Kamloops Daily News, Aug. 1, 2009
“Dog Days of summer. . . the hottest, most sultry days of summer. . . . Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress.”
Boy, talk about your Dog Days. I don’t [...]