Further to my comments last week re: the recycling of building materials, in particular first-growth fir lumber, via controlled demolition rather than by pulverizing it with machines and adding it to the landfills…
Read MoreIt’s not often that I read the news these days and have a truly positive reaction, but today’s front page of the Times Colonist is a double-header.
Read MoreThere’s lots happening so let’s start with the most time-sensitive…
Read MoreIf someone were to challenge me today with that old canard, “History is dull,” I’d whip out this recent article from the Times Colonist.
Read MoreRecently, the Chronicles noted that B.C.’s fifth oldest municipality revised its crest to include the Cowichan Valley’s original inhabitants and this theme of Reconciliation will be integral to 2023 anniversary events.
Read MoreIf anyone really believes that history is about the past, the long ago, they’re not keeping up with current news.
Read MoreLast week, I complained that Nanaimo doesn’t really remember or honour its coal mining history when the 135th anniversary of the No. 1 Esplanade Mine disaster, the second worst in Canadian history, passed without a word in the NewsBulletin.
Read MoreLast week I wrote of various Remembrance services and historic anniversaries that all came within a week of the Chronicles going to press.
Read MoreIt was a week of remembrance ceremonies.
Read MoreLast week’s editorial reference to a nickel candy bar prompted reader Bill Irvine to write…
Read MoreIt’s a hard world out there, even for some of the giants. Latest to fall, or almost, is K-Mart, from a high of 2000 outlets now down to three stores in the continental U.S. What a far cry from decades ago.
Read MoreCoincidental to another anniversary of Vimy Ridge that has just come and gone, I’m reading The Madman and the Butcher by award-winning historical writer Tim Cook.
Read MoreOne of the downsides of being a one-man-band is the inability to do everything right every time; errors and omissions are inevitable, sometimes costly.
Read MoreThe unfolding horror and tragedy in Ukraine—thousands of deaths, millions of people who’ve lost everything and who are now refugees dependent upon the generosity of their European neighbours—is history in the making, history happening before our very eyes.
Read MoreIt’s not likely that any Chronicles readers knew Frank Clapp who died in Victoria several weeks ago.
Read MoreI can’t remember when Birks Jewellers on Yates Street wasn’t a Victoria landmark. But soon to be no more, it being reported that the “luxury” jeweller/retailer is closing its Victoria store.
Read MoreThis week’s Chronicle is the conclusion to a four-part series on the historically significant On-To-Ottawa-Trek of 1935. That’s when 1000s of frustrated unemployed single men ‘rode the rails’ from Vancouver, bound for the nation’s capital, determined to meet with Prime Minister R.B. Bennett.
Read MoreMake no mistake, the Chronicles are meant to entertain you. It’s also my wish to inform you—in an entertaining way, of course; this isn’t a classroom, I believe I have a responsibility to readers to walk that sometimes fine line between serving you lager lite and trying to force-feed you strong medicine.
Read MorePersonal tastes, I shouldn’t have to explain, vary. What’s fine with some, even most people, might be anathemic to another.
Read MoreI’ll begin this week with a personal blast from the past, courtesy of reader Daryl Friesen: “Just want to say hello... I have read your book [Lost Bonanzas of Western Canada] a few times over the years. My copy was purchased in Masset when I was 12 years old.
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