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No Small Town Mayor
 Posted
5/22/2013 4:05:00 AM
I grew up in small town, Alberta. I heard the old folks lamenting that so many of the next generation were moving away, because there were no opportunities for them. Things were better in the city. That’s why Mayor Mandel’s comments about building Edmonton for the next generations hit home with me.
Over the years, you’ve told me what you thought of the mayor and our current council.
Most of you think there was far too much time and money lost on ideas like Indy and Expo, and not enough consideration given to potholes and snow removal. You like the expanded LRT and help for the homeless. You like the arena complex, but not the risk to taxpayers. You are split on the loss of the City Centre Airport. I’m with you on all of the above, and the airport was a personal convenience for me.
One thing Mayor Mandel ...
Bob Layton
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Questions, Questions...
Posted
5/21/2013 4:40:00 AM
We live in a time of questions that may never get answered to anyone’s satisfaction.
Three years from now, when the contractors and the accountants are done, how much will the new arena actually cost?
What kind of a mayor does Edmonton prefer, one with vision and grand ideas for the future or one who concentrates more on roads and things the ordinary taxpayer can appreciate on a daily basis?
Will the polls in October telling you who will be the next mayor, mean anything to you?
Did Nigel Wright really give Senator Mike Duffy $90,000 out of the goodness of his Tory heart, or was he prompted to do so, and by whom? Why do some senators not understand the term, “principal residence”? Do we really need this senate?
Was Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford, smoking crack cocaine? Will he offer more of an explanation than just saying, ...
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Bob Layton
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Bereaved Boating
Posted
5/20/2013 1:49:00 AM
So, how many families will be heart-broken by the end of summer, because someone out in a boat drowned? Every newsroom knows we will soon, sadly, be announcing the first one.
We have a ridiculous law that says you have to have enough life jackets in a boat for each passenger, but they don’t have to be wearing them. What? We are ordered to wear seat belts and bike helmets but not life jackets.
I remember reporting how a person riding on the bow of a speedboat fell off and drowned, her lifejacket safely tucked away in the boat. Mounties looking for a body at one of a lake got a call that someone else was under water at the other end of the lake. No life jackets on.
I went for a ride in a friend’s boat. We were jacketed. The friend at the controls pointed out all ...
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Bob Layton
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Your Comments
Posted
5/17/2013 1:15:00 AM
It’s Friday, let’s have a look in the mailbag.
About the arena deal: Richard doesn’t like it but it’s a done deal so he’ll take his frustrations out at the ballot box. Lorne says the arena will be fantastic for Edmonton and area.
About the election pollsters being so wrong, again, Bill says maybe they can only get in touch with people like him and his friends who make sport of telephone surveys. NewDivide says pollsters are as annoying as telemarketers. Wendy says she never tells them the truth. Paul says people tend to speak ideologically but vote pragmatically.
About the forced teachers’ contract, Mike says the government obviously has its own agenda. He thinks this will be their last term and he voted for them. David says school budgets are way too big and there are too many fiefdoms. Matt doesn’t like the way the education minister undermines elected ...
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Bob Layton
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Spending and Sweating
Posted
5/16/2013 3:46:00 AM
A couple of decades ago I started a small DJ service. Not having much money, I bought the least expensive speakers I could get. Once out of the store and set up in public they looked cheap and I soon discovered they didn’t have much range. Half-way through a dance one side blew out, and I was left with moving one speaker to the middle of the stage.
Embarrassed, I bought the most expensive speakers on the market. They were big. A thousand watts. When I got home I felt sick. I now owed payments and interest that were not justified with the few bookings I had.
I set up for the next dance. They sure looked good on stage. Before I had even started the music, a man came up to book me for his event. “But, you haven’t even seen my show, “I said. “Don’t need to,” he ...
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Bob Layton
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