Opinion

If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, then you will have no idea what I'm talking about in this column. I'll try to explain it the best I can, but really, it'll spoil a small portion of the best series you've never read.

We can probably agree that Wayne Gretzky is Canada's greatest hockey player, that Steve Nash is the best basketball player our country has produced and that Mike Weir is No. 1 in golf.

He said, she said

I've lived in Estevan for all but five of my 38 years and I am surprised daily by how rapidly our community is changing. Whether it's the people or landscape, it seems our city is morphing on a daily basis.

The bad news was that Estevan's non-violent and overall crime rate went up this past year compared with last. The good news is that the violent crime numbers are down. (Mercury, Aug.

The trend in Saskatchewan, and indeed throughout Canada, is towards restricting smoking in public places, to help reduce the presence of second-hand smoke and the dangers to the health of non-smokers.

The Editor: I watched the July 30, 2012 city council meeting on Access 7 and was glad to hear our city manager, Jim Puffalt, finally bring attention to members of council the issue with Westview playpark. I do, however, question a "winter park.

It's the dog days of summer and I've just learned that kids, even in the summer, spend almost eight hours a day facing into some type of screen (computer, pod, pad, phone app, et al) while spending less than a half-hour a day in physical exercise.

He said she said

Well you have to hand it to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. They have surprised us in each and every one of their first five games of the 2012 CFL season. The trouble is it hasn't always been a pleasant surprise.