ROTHENBURGER- Armchair Mayor’s Top 10 ‘small stories’ of the year that was
(Image: Cameron Whitcomb, Instagram)
THE BIGGEST NEWS of the year is very much in the eyes of the beholder. According to the Canadian Press, the Number One news event of 2022 was the trucker siege of downtown Ottawa, and nobody can argue with that.
Local media peg the October civic election and the surprise ascendency of Reid Hamer-Jackson to the mayor’s chair as the biggest local news, and they, too, are correct.
But there were lots of smaller stories that didn’t make national headlines or, often, even much in the way of Kamloops headlines that were, nevertheless, important to the life of the community.
I’ve picked my own Top 10 list from among the roughly 240 editorials and columns published under the Armchair Mayor’s musings from last January until now. Several of them garnered more discussion than the traditional news stuff.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops, former TNRD director and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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Number One news event of 2022 was the trucker siege of downtown Ottawa, and nobody can argue with that. Yes Mel, with bouncy castles, giving away food, families with children & grandparents lined up on overpasses & the sides of highways in -20c degrees cheering them on, encouraging all of us who were told by our prime minister a year ago that; “those who have not been vaccinated are very often Misogynists and Racists”,“They don’t believe in science/progress”, a “Fringe Minority”. Finally, Mr. Trudeau went on to make the statement, “This leads us, as a leader and as a country, to make a choice, do we Tolerate these People?” and “that They Take Up Some Space.” We are differing in our senior years, Happy New Year.
Those were all good stories keeping the willing locals engaged, outraged and perpetually hopeful. Keep writing stories.