That title comes to mind when I think about the narrow mindedness of the businesses in the downtown core. Why would they think that having a youth center in the downtown core would be bad for business? For what ever reason the people of Medicine Hat that have any status feel everything that happens in our city is great as long as it does not effect them directly. I remember some years ago that a special needs group home was trying to set up in the subdivision of Turner. WOW… The hoops that the organization had to jump through, and the public pressure they had to get involved in to just get a residence set up in our city. Now you drive by that residence, and would never know that it is just not another residence of the block… Go figure! Now it starts again with the youth center. What is up with that!! ?? As Alderman Kelly so eloquently put it at the last counsel meeting these people were very instrumental in getting the smoking bylaw in place, and they were considered heroes. Now that they need to relocate they are being treated like drug addicts and thugs. I personally have no children, but I feel that the youth of our society deserve just as much as we adults do, so why is it so hard to allow that to happen in our fair city? The last time I looked the kids were the ones with the most disposable income. You would think that our down town core would welcome these people in to their shops just in order to make the sales. We all know that the down town core is starting to becoming a thing of the past. With this type of attitude of the business core I can see why!!! Well all I can say is I am glad that the kids fought for their rights, and were able to succeed. Food for thought:  these kids are going to be running our country in the next 5 to 10 years … what message are we sending to them as adults?

That is just my opinion, and I may be wrong!

Regards The Suburban Gorilla

http://madmonkeymediaservices.blogspot.com

I enjoy adding my vote to your various web polls and then reading the results when revealed. My question though, is when the results are revealed is it possible to say how many votes you received?

Three weeks in to the triple murder trial of a local twelve year old, and the gawkers have finally starting coming out in force.

Don’t get me wrong. They’ve been here since day one. But till now they’ve been few and far between.

No longer.

On Monday the courthouse was nearly full with people who have no obvious connection to the case. Including one man who drove in from Calgary…”just to take a look.”

There were also kids present.

Unless I miss my guess, their families and teachers likely have no idea where they’re spending their free time. Listening to autopsy reports at a murder trial probably wouldn’t occur to them as worth skipping class for.

Not that I’m opposed to people coming out. Far from it. It’s a great learning opportunity. In fact, at least two area teachers brought their entire class to the courtroom for a few hours to see the justice system at work (though I suspect they phoned ahead to make sure the testimony on that day wouldn’t be too graphic).

But wanting to see how a murder trial works, attending the proceedings to support a friend, or just needing closure after the horror of last year’s killings, is very different from what we’re seeing now.

The latest group of attendees are clearly looking for gore. Two of them actually had the gall to ask the court clerk if they could have a private viewing of the crime scene photos. They looked like they should have been in grade school.

Sorry to burst your bubble parents, but the days when you only had to worry about what your kids were doing at night are long over. �

I will never again complain about Medicine Hat drivers.  I am currently visiting in the Detroit area.  Motor City.  Home to the North American automobile industry.  If nothing else, people here should represent the epitome of motor vehicle handling.  The acme of roadway manoeuvering.

Right? 

Hah!!!  Not even close.  Drivers here are among the worst I have ever experienced … and I have driven in some of the world’s major cities.  Hat drivers are saints by comparison.  Insane speeding -passing on the right - weaving in and out of traffic - bumper riding - cutting off on purpose - forcing cars on access lanes onto the shoulder so they cannot get into traffic flow - no use of signals - talking on the cell phone and performing other non-related duties while trying to steer through 75 mile an hour bumper to bumper traffic and wandering into other lanes as they do so - turning into incorrect lanes - the list could go on and on.  Don’t get me wrong– I like to drive fast, and I am comfortable squeezing my vehicle into a space just large enough to hold it while traveling at high speeds.  That doesn’t constitute bad driving in a big city.   But all this other stuff?  It’s a wonder insurance companies can afford to pay out all the claims here.

So never again will I complain about Hat drivers.  And if I do, just say one word to me.  Detroit.

So there will no “leniency” for those who violate the new non-smoking bylaw.

Too bad Crittenden and his keystone cops wouldn’t do the same for other by-laws.

Like ticketing vehicles that park in fire lanes at our supermarkets/malls.

Or ticketing the cyclists who think that they are entitled to use either the street, or pedestrian sidewalks, and crosswalks.

Maybe doing a bit of enforcement of the animal bylaws, like maybe getting some of the roaming felines off the streets, and cutting back on the cats predations on our birds.

I grow tried of hearing the pap that issues from Crittendens, and councils pie-holes.

Get off your duff, and do your job! There are many by-laws, not just the non-smoking B/L and parking meter violations!

It’s a story that we have reported dozens, and dozens, and dozens, of times before…

-”…WITNESSES CALLED IN AFTER SEEING PEOPLE FIGHTING…”
-”…ONE PERSON WAS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER AN ALTERCATION…”
-”…CHARGES ARE PENDING FOLLOWING A VIOLENT INCIDENT…”

The list of “fights”, “altercations”, and “violent incidents” we have reported on in just the past year is staggering.   And whether it’s a bar fight, domestic dispute, road rage, or brawling teenagers…the story pretty much reads the same way.   Two people disagree.   Disagreement turns violent.   Others get involved.   Bad ending for everyone.

You can argue it’s tragic.   You can argue it’s routine.   Most just ignore it.

But this time ignoring it didn’t seem to be an option.   This time…there were pictures.   And a picture is worth a thousand words.   Instead of TELLING people what our kids were doing…we SHOWED them.   Put them right in the middle of it.   And they reacted.

The footage, and the school’s response to it, brought out a public reaction like we never imagined.   Everything from intelligent observations, to horrified shock, to personal threats.   Were the student’s actions justified?   Did the school respond appropriately?   What, if anything, should be done now?   The phone calls and e-mails were nearly non-stop.

Good.   Debate and discussion like this is healthy…regardless of the outcome.

If this becomes just another fight in a long line of fights…so be it.

If this becomes the trigger for parents, teachers, and others to step in and take action…so be it.

Either way…it’s not something that’s going to be ignored any longer.

No new highway projects.   No new schools.   And no expansion to hospitals.

Small wonder there isn’t much enthusiasm around here for the Alberta government’s 2007 budget.   Our April 27th web poll shows a whopping 84% of respondents aren’t pleased with it.   And it’s the lack of money to expand our hospitals that seems to really sting.

Especially when you don’t have to look far to see what we could have had.

Even as I write this, Swift Current, Saskatchewan is in the process of opening the doors on it’s brand new regional health centre.   A new, larger building to replace the old one, and serve as a regional hub for providing health care.

You can almost hear residents of Brooks and Medicine Hat groaning.

Health officials in Brooks and Medicine Hat have been begging for new, larger hospitals for years.   And despite the booming economy.   Despite the government’s surplus.   Despite the large, loyal, Conservative Party following around here.   And despite 2007 being the biggest spending budget in memory.   Southeastern Alberta was the ONLY part of the province not to get any new money to expand its hospitals.

Swift Current somehow managed to get a new hospital in a province where the population is actually shrinking.   Residents have consistently elected a pair of opposition M.L.A.’s.   And the Saskatchewan government is only just barely avoiding a deficit…cutting much of its spending in rural areas.

From the corridors of power, to the local coffee shop…there are a lot of people in Alberta’s southeast wondering…where did we go wrong?

Has anyone noticed how secretive our city counsellors and committee members have become? Our reporters are finding that more and more meetings they are covering have portions in camera. Now there is a very real place for in camera meetings: They are necessary where confidentiality is of utmost importance and where such secrecy outweighs the public interest—for example in labour relations, where negotiations and matters pertaining to collective bargaining, terms of employment of individual employees or management, as well as discipline are on the table. Obviously, too, whenever a committee must discuss any individual’s personal information it must be done privately. Secrecy is often required when discussing legal matters such as specific litigation and information subject to solicitor-client privilege. And, finally, there is also a necessity for meeting in camera when discussing protected information such as trade secrets or the commercial, financial, labour relations, scientific or technical information of an individual or company.

But city committee members now seem to have adopted the view that it is best to meet in camera to protect themselves from public criticism. How else to explain the barring of the public (and its representatives, the media) from attending such discussions as consideration of the City Solicitor’s proposal for an adult materials bylaw and whether to recommend it? Or the appeal of a decision to allow a pub to open in a Southridge mall? If we cannot hear whom it is who is speaking for or against an issue, but only receive the committee’s final decision on the matter, we are unable to form judgements about where individual committee members’ interests lie. And that is information vital to our ability to judge who is—and who is not—able to represent our specific interests. In other words, information that is critical at election time.

And that has me wondering whether the apparent increase in in camera sessions may be related to that last fact, considering that we will be electing the next City Council almost exactly six short months from now?

It’s become an unexpected theme of my stories of late. Everytime I turn around Medicine Hat is running out of something new.

Water?
Let’s just say we’d all better start conserving.

Natural Gas?
Windmills might be a better investment.

Affordable Housing?
Good luck.

Now I do realize it’s all just a predictable symptom of a fast growing economy…and even faster growing city. But it’s also increasingly clear that some decisions are going to have to be made. We are quickly approaching a crossroads where some very new…even revolutionary…approaches may have to be considered.

Even our politicians are coming around. Water and natural gas have been high on city council’s agenda for a few months now. But so far it’s only talk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwe786nPNbI

It will be interesting to see if any action is taken before “election fever” hits, and politics overcomes any possible policy decisions.

So now we know.

Four months of speculating on what the proposed Adult Materials Bylaw will say are finally behind us.   Four months of bickering, personal insults, frothing at the mouth, wild and outlandish claims (and lord knows what else) ended this week with……a surprisingly docile compromise.

At least on the surface.

The bylaw (as proposed) will only deal with magazines.   Nothing else.   And the rules?   Keep magazines that include sexual activities or nudity up high, partially covered, or in rooms where kids are not allowed.

It actually sounds pretty tame.

Still.   I’m not so gullible as to assume this is over.

There’s still plenty of wiggle room for interpretation.   While “nudity” is clearly defined…”sexual” is not.   Guess that one’s up to the bylaw enforcement officers to decide.

And there could still be changes.   Any alderman who wants tougher, all encompassing rules could put them forward Monday night.   Similarly any alderman who wants complete freedom could still shoot this thing down Monday night.

Promises to be a council meeting full of…uh…hmm…

Maybe I should check my dictionary.