Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER – The pandemic will either kill newspapers or save them

April 4, 2020 // 0 Comments

THE LAST NAIL IN THE COFFIN of the community newspaper industry has a name — COVID-19. Or, the virus might prove to be its salvation. It could go either way. Several [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Who knew grocery cashiers would be an essential service?

March 28, 2020 // 0 Comments

AS I SIT HERE pouting in self isolation, I’m cheered, even inspired, by the heroes of the pandemic. We always think of doctors and nurses as the heroes, and they certainly [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Behind every ‘Temporarily Closed’ sign is someone’s fragile dream

March 21, 2020 // 1 Comment

VICTORIA STREET AT 11 A.M. should be bustling with activity — busy sidewalks, stores and coffee shops, crowded, slow-moving traffic. But not this week, not on this day. At [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – We must unite against COVID-19 – from a distance

March 14, 2020 // 4 Comments

WHAT ARE THE THREE main symptoms of corona virus? Answer: Sore throat, fever and an irrational urge to buy toilet paper. Why should we stay away from Kelowna? Answer: [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Documents reveal behind-the-scenes tension inside council during pipeline issue

March 7, 2020 // 3 Comments

WHEN CITY COUNCILLORS DISAGREE with each other in public, it’s usually pretty benign. They have different opinions during debates at their meetings, for example, but there [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Some questions from a white dude about the death of reconciliation

February 29, 2020 // 8 Comments

THIS MOSTLY WHITE DUDE has some questions about the death of reconciliation. I ask these questions of those putting up the “Reconciliation is Dead” signs at the [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – If you were king or queen of Kamloops, what would you do?

February 22, 2020 // 3 Comments

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING BETTER to spend money on than what it’s actually being spent on. Each and every day, somebody is demanding that more money be spent on something [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – How PAC 2.0 has made downtown parking issue vanish

February 15, 2020 // 2 Comments

THE MESSAGING ON the PAC parking issue continues to impress. After years of studies, delegations and failed attempts to build parkades, parking in downtown Kamloops is [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – The time has come to put away anti-pipeline protests

February 8, 2020 // 10 Comments

AT WHAT POINT IS IT TIME to stop protesting and accept reality? I have the feeling that even after the last length of pipe of the Trans Mountain expansion is in the ground, [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – North Shore still struggles with weak-sister image

February 1, 2020 // 1 Comment

TWO EVENTS THIS WEEK highlight the seemingly rigid dichotomy between the South Shore and the North Shore. A major new commercial development called The Kamloops Hive was [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – When municipal politicians think they’re worth too much

January 25, 2020 // 2 Comments

HOW MUCH IS a municipal politician worth? A common answer among taxpayers is likely to be, less than they’re getting. It’s a serious question, though, and a [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER: ‘Just plain evil’ columnist contemplates his fan mail

January 18, 2020 // 1 Comment

MY FRIEND Jack Knox, a best-selling author and award-winning newspaper columnist, has a January tradition of collecting some of his favourite insults from among those [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Crapstorm blowing in City Hall over Westsyde pipeline issue

January 11, 2020 // 7 Comments

HERE’S A straight-forward question. Supposing, five or 10 years from now, the oil pipeline that runs through Westsyde splits a seam or whatever it is pipeiines do when they [Continue]

ROTHENBURGER – Let’s stand up and say what we mean, not just sort of

January 5, 2020 // 2 Comments

THE FOLLOWING QUOTE, not a word of a lie, is verbatim from an on-air media interview in which a guest is being asked about a political issue: “So, you know, can sort of [Continue]