I can't say I am a person that normally gets into the habit of defending people, especially those who I don't usually agree with; but I found myself doing exactly that over the weekend after Calvin Daniels posted a review on his Facebook page about his experience at a local restaurant. To my amazement, I couldn't believe how people who disagreed with him managed to drag into the debate his personal life as well as his journalistic qualities.
Let me say that Calvin and I, usually, are polar opposites in the world of offering an opinion; and he doesn't need me to defend things he says or does; but this newspaper and community are lucky to have someone like Calvin contributing with his writing, especially when it comes to the agriculture pieces. In this day and age of rotating reporters in an out of newsrooms, the quality of what you are able to read when it comes to agriculture would go so far south you would likely pass the birds migrating for the winter.
This is where my defense of Calvin comes to an end, but the topic which raised the ire of some of his Facebook 'friends' has motivated me to write most of my column about it. For years, I have heard the people of Yorkton complain about the lack of dining options in our city. Well, almost overnight, that changed with the construction of a few new eateries. In fact, I would say Yorkton is better equipped with restaurants and bars now than a lot of other cities of equal size.
I can recall, not that long ago, there was a movement around the water cooler talking about how well a sports bar would do at the Gallagher Centre. Yorkton didn't have a cozy little place for young people to gather and be laid back. Well, when a sports bar arrived, the complaint of the day was that there was no salad on the menu and there appears to be complete confusion by residents who don't seem to understand that it is supposed to be fun to go out and watch a game on a big screen with some buddies and chow down on wings, ribs, and drinks.
The other common beef (pardon the pun) was that there were very limited options when it came to family dining. Well, now we have it; yet there are still plenty of evenings where the parking lots aren't exactly overflowing with customers.
Pretty soon, there will be (what I would call) a restaurant in town that offers a more upper scale eating experience. If what I have seen in the last few months is any indication, then this will be a short lived venture. Yorkton tends to be a city that does not easily support those who try to make a living by being innovative and offering big city services to the folks who live here. I feel this city is at a crossroads where we can move forward and be more of a major factor when it comes to offering retail services, or we can continue to sit on our hands and wait for that once a month trip to Regina or Saskatoon and spend the dollars there.
To finish up this week, here are some quick hits:
I have no use for people that torture animals. I saw something really disturbing involving a couple of Yorkton residents and a cat this week. I don't know if anything was done, but folks like that should never be allowed to own pets. The same goes for morons who feed rat poison to dogs who are minding their own business in their own back yards. I wonder if the person doing that has ever sampled the stuff. And, the senseless killing of three dogs south of Melfort over the weekend is heart breaking. It's easy to lose all faith in human kind.
Don't get too excited about the federal government suggesting they will 'unbundle' your cable package. While it's true nobody likes to pay for channels they don't watch, just look for the channels you do watch to cost more.
Mike Duffy is at it again. The embattled senator has filed for sick leave, I assume, in an effort to circumvent the government's attempt to suspend him from duty without pay. Time will tell if he's successful. Some people just have no shame. Oh, and don't give the Conservatives any points for taking this action with Duffy, Pamela Wallin, and Mac Harb. It's way too little too late, in my opinion.
There have been some bad hits in the CFL, NFL, and NHL as of late and that, once again, has people calling for tighter legislation to prevent athletes from hurting themselves. The one thing nobody in the national media has ever talked about, that I can uncover, is why does Mixed Martial Arts get off without any criticism? It has to be far more dangerous than a hockey fight.
Nice person mentions this week to Fred Schrader (odds on favorite for Nice Person Of The Year, I'm told), Dick Onslow, Ken Penner, Sandy Zielinski, and Melissa Grona.
