Columnist

Milo the bulldog cools down with a treat from the Big Scoop Saturday, July 18. (Sarah Simpson/Citizen)

Sarah Simpson Column: New fan beats the heat and catches the children

Unexpected consequence of heat wave on a whole other frequency

Milo the bulldog cools down with a treat from the Big Scoop Saturday, July 18. (Sarah Simpson/Citizen)
Sarah Simpson Column: Diving into Dahl with my darlings

Sarah Simpson Column: Diving into Dahl with my darlings

“Why don’t we pull out the Roald Dahl collection we got a couple years ago?”

Sarah Simpson Column: Diving into Dahl with my darlings
Commen-Terry: Why wearing a mask makes sense to me
Commen-Terry: Why wearing a mask makes sense to me
T.W. Paterson has launched a website for his popular Chronicles. (Scott Johnson/Toadhollow Photography)

Vancouver Island historian T.W. Paterson launches Chronicles website

“It’s the fulfillment of a career-long dream, to publish an historical magazine”

  • Jun 25, 2020
T.W. Paterson has launched a website for his popular Chronicles. (Scott Johnson/Toadhollow Photography)
Sarah Simpson: What happens when kids make the rules

Sarah Simpson: What happens when kids make the rules

The art of learning to be together starts at a young age

Sarah Simpson: What happens when kids make the rules
Sarah Simpson: On the merits of Donkey Kong

Sarah Simpson: On the merits of Donkey Kong

Yep, I wanted my nearly six-year-old, to play video games

Sarah Simpson: On the merits of Donkey Kong
Sarah Simpson: I’m becoming my mother!

Sarah Simpson: I’m becoming my mother!

Wielding a washcloth is a far more valuable skill than I ever realized

Sarah Simpson: I’m becoming my mother!
Sarah Simpson: This is a good time to plant seeds and see what grows

Sarah Simpson: This is a good time to plant seeds and see what grows

Time on your hands means to time for planting — both literally and figuratively

Sarah Simpson: This is a good time to plant seeds and see what grows
COLUMN: On the importance of wearing pants

COLUMN: On the importance of wearing pants

Having a sense of normalcy is critical while working from home during pandemic

COLUMN: On the importance of wearing pants
Wild Bill Hickok threatens the friend of Davis Tutt after defeating Tutt in a duel, in an illustration from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, February 1867. Even in the 1890s, Nanaimo wasn’t the Wild West. (submitted)

T.W. Paterson column: Friendly card game led to fatal shooting in Nanaimo

The final witness, Dr. L.T. Davis, refused to give testimony until he was paid in advance

  • Mar 29, 2020
Wild Bill Hickok threatens the friend of Davis Tutt after defeating Tutt in a duel, in an illustration from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, February 1867. Even in the 1890s, Nanaimo wasn’t the Wild West. (submitted)
One bean, two tiny hands. If only I hadn’t eaten that last black jellybean…

Sarah Simpson Column: Jelly beans the key to efficient family hikes

Have you ever hiked with small children? You wouldn’t believe how painful…

One bean, two tiny hands. If only I hadn’t eaten that last black jellybean…
Prices below $1 are a huge drops from highs of $1.70 in 2019. Canadian Press photo.

North Island Rising: Gouging me less than you gouged me before is still gouging

Oil at $26 a barrel does not legitimize the retail gas prices we are seeing at the local pump today.

  • Mar 26, 2020
Prices below $1 are a huge drops from highs of $1.70 in 2019. Canadian Press photo.
Future News Bulletin reporter Nicholas Pescod with his adoptive mother when he was young.

COLUMN: Adoption doesn’t need to be something to keep hidden

It took me many years to openly discuss this part of my life, says reporter Nicholas Pescod

Future News Bulletin reporter Nicholas Pescod with his adoptive mother when he was young.
Robin King made his 150th donation to Canadian Blood Services at the Duncan clinic on Feb. 18. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)
Robin King made his 150th donation to Canadian Blood Services at the Duncan clinic on Feb. 18. (Kevin Rothbauer/Citizen)
COLUMN: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy

COLUMN: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy

Our reactions to a forestry downturn reflect the past, not the present

COLUMN: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy
Painful Truth: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy

Painful Truth: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy

When the forestry industry caught a cold in the 1970s, it was enough to sicken the entire economy

Painful Truth: Forestry no longer close to top of B.C.’s economy
National Post reporter Christie Blatchford poses in Toronto on August 31, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/National Post - Peter J. Thompson

Longtime newspaper columnist Christie Blatchford dead at 68

Blatchford had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer in Toronto

National Post reporter Christie Blatchford poses in Toronto on August 31, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/National Post - Peter J. Thompson
Painful Truth: Common sense won’t save our politics

Painful Truth: Common sense won’t save our politics

We need to lower our expectations because there aren’t easy answers to hard problems

Painful Truth: Common sense won’t save our politics