April,29,2010

The Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club is one of the most unique clubs in the world and it is located in Summerside.

It has six sheets of curling ice, a fully equipped marina, banquet and meeting facility, a restaurant, lounge and entertainment centre.

The club was first established in 1926 and at that time was located on St. Stephen Street before it moved to Notre Dame Street in 1949.

The yacht club and the curling club joined forces in 1981 and moved to its current location.

The curling club has a full-time ice technician who is responsible for the instelation and day-to-day upkeep of the ice.

Carl Delaney has been a honourable life member of the club since 1991.

The club has definitely expanded, he said.

“There used to be around 160 members and now there are between 400 and 500.”

The Silver Fox Curling and Yacht club is unique in the sense that it is one of a kind and has six sheets of ice, and six months of the year curling takes place and the other six are dedicated to the yacht club and boating.

The two clubs joined together after having problems, Delaney said.

“The yacht club was having financial problems and the curling club couldn’t maintain their ice because the amonia plant was condemned, so they joined together in 1981 to help each other.”

Elmer Williams,  club president from 1982-1983, was one of the people who helped raise money to build the building where the club is currently located.

It’s a place for everyone, he said.

“It teaches young ones a lot of skills. It’s wonderful for youth and young people.”

The curling part of the club has its own executives with a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and directors, as does the Yacht Club and there is also a management board.

Delaney said he believes curling is a wonderful sport.

“It’s a competitive sport and it’s easy to do. There is a distinct social aspect between teams. Anyone can curl.”

He curls as well, Delaney said.

“I curl three of four times a week and I’m 72 years-old.”

April, 28,2010

Problems with the crows earlier this spring is dying down at this time, a city councilor said.

Mitchell Tweel, Charlottetown city councilor said he  hopes the city will have a better handle on the crow problem this fall.

“We used the wrong approach. We should have brought in professionals to deal with the problem.”

The pilot project didn’t go as well as planned, Tweel said.

“We rented wailers and gave them to residences who wanted to use them. By doing so we created another problem because the crows moved to a different community.”

This upcoming fall the issue will be looked into again, Tweel said.

“It is hoped that a professional will be hired to relocate the birds outside the city. We hope to have a better strategy and plan things out more, which wasn’t done the first time.”

Many people were unhappy, Tweel said.

“A lot of residences had to clean their cars four to five times a week because of the crow droppings.”

City councilor Rob Lantz said this is the only crow problem in Charlottetown.

“It’s just a large group of crows with eight to 10,000 brids.”

There have been complaints, Lantz said.

“Where ever the crows go, we get complaints from that area.”

April, 20,2010

Spectators watched in awe and horror as flames engulfed the Opera House in Miramichi, New Brunswick.

Even as firefighters fought to control the rapidly growing flames, the flames won out and the popular club disappeared.

This event was first seen, not on a news site, but on Facebook and You Tube, posted by everyday people.

A couple of spectators who had their cellphones handy captured video of the building burning  and posted it on the popular social sites.

The Opera House housed a large number of film and entertainment memorabilia, such as a dress Marilyn Monroe had worn, a whip similar to the one used in the Indiana Jones movies, and a life-size mannequin of the alien from the movie Alien.

Alexandra MacLean of Miramichi was one of those who found out about the fire through a video posted on Facebook by a friend.

“I wasn’t surprised to find out about the fire on Facebook first.”

Things are always appearing on Facebook or Twitter first, MacLean said.

“A girl got hit by a car and it appeared on Facebook first.”

With social sites like Facebook becoming so popular, it is becoming more and more common for people to cover big news items before news outlets even know about them.

How does the media deal with it when their biggest competition is their customers? It’s not easy.

The Opera House fire appeared on Facebook first.

Images the media then used were from people who posted them on Facebook.

The local newspaper, the Miramichi Leader, ran a front page picture for the story of the Opera House from Facebook.

Papers like the Leader encourage people to submit pictures and story ideas because it engages the community and gives the media ideas on what people want to see in their paper.

Miramichi Leader editor Gail Savoy said the newspapers are still the source for news.

“People want the correct news and a lot of people go to papers for the whole story.”

But newspapers must adapt to the changes, Savoy said.

Facebook is actually a valuable tool, Savoy said.

“We all have a Facebook account up and running and often times that’s how people contact us. In the past we have done memorial pages using Facebook for contacts and pictures and we continue to do so.”

She encourages people to come forward.

“We get people who come in with community activities, with stories about someone donating money to a cause, sports pictures of small games, things we would not have otherwise.”

Most people won’t touch major stories themselves, she said.

“We don’t encourage people to write stories themselves and a lot of times they don’t, but on the rare occasion they are insistent on it, we try to get them to see it would be better for the paper to do the story instead.”

Still, sometimes people do write the story themselves, she said.

“Usually it’s people who have small stories, like a card party. Other than that it, doesn’t happen often with big stories though.”

Papers like the Journal Pioneer in Summerside, P.E.I., don’t see citizen journalism  happen too much. When something happens in the community, residents often take it to the Journal to cover instead of taking it into their own hands, said acting manager editor Darlene Shea.

“We often get quite a few pictures submitted by residents and a lot of people do come in, or call in with stories, or about things that are going on.”

Many times people come in and report major accidents and that is how the paper finds out about them, Shea said.

“There was a house fire there in Miscouche that was called in and we were able to send one of our reporters out and she covered it and came back with a story.”

The media takes tips and ideas from citizens seriously, Shea said.

“We take the ideas from readers because it’s their paper and we listen to what they want to see included in the paper.”

Citizen journalism could very well help the media, Shea said.

“When people offer tips or ideas, it makes our job a bit easier and helps us do our jobs better because it offers insight into smaller communities we normally wouldn’t hear about.”

Websites for papers also help reporters, Shea said.

“It is a means to comment on stories, offer tips and give us feedback on how the readers believe the story was and what could have been changed.”

As technology advances, more and more citizen journalism will happen, Shea said.

“With digital cameras, you can develop pictures in five minutes, take videos and upload them to websites.”

In the long run, citizen journalism seems to offer help to the media instead of hurting it, depending on the situation.

In reality, citizen journalism isn’t all that bad when it helps the media out instead of tearing them apart.

As technology advances, so will citizen journalism, which means media outlets must adapt. Some are well on their way, Savoy said.

“Right now, we are going through some major changes. We hope to get a website up and we hope to have reporters learn to shoot video so that we can have the videos on the site.”

April, 8,2010

Imagine a young boy no older then seven going into a library and asking for the seventh Harry Potter book and finishing the entire series before he turns eight.

That scene took place at the Kensington Public Library. Stephenie Campbell works there and she saw it happen.

The popularity of series like Harry Potter and Twilight target different age groups, but Twilight seems to draw in teenagers who, in the era of Facebook, barely read for pleasure anymore, Campbell said.

“I see a lot of high school kids come in and ask specifically for Twilight. It brings the teenage generation back into reading for fun.”

It seems a lot of young people see the movie first, Campbell said.

“They see the movie and they think wow, that was good, you know maybe I’ll go read the series now. Twilight seems to attract those who wouldn’t normally read.”

There were some things in the book that would suggest it was meant for an older audience, Campbell said.

“I do find some themes wouldn’t be appropriate for younger kids.”

Rebecca Boulter, from the Summerside Rotary Library, said the Twilight series is still very popular.

“Twilight is still in high demand. A lot of first-time library users come in for the Twilight series specifically.”

She hopes people will continue to read once they finished the series.

“We certainly hope Twilight’s popularity continues for a long time, and right now there is no sign of it letting up any time soon.”

Peter Wynne is a Grade 9 music and English teacher at Kinkora Regional High School. He has also seen a increase in reading in his class because of Twilight.

“It’s mostly the girls who read it in my class.”

The age group for Twilight varies, Wynne said.

“It has gotten picked up by adults. Parents get interested because their kid is reading it and enjoying it. It’s mostly aimed at teens, but it covers a number of age groups.”

Lisa Johnston of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is an officer in the Facebook group Addicted to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

Johnston said she came across Twilight through her daughter.

“My then 13-year-old daughter brought it home from school, having borrowed it from a friend. My daughter said “You have to read this, it’s awesome.”

I started reading it, finished it two days later, went out and bought my own copy and was bugging her friend for her copy of New Moon.”

So what are people saying about these books that have captured so much attention and new readers?

Johnston enjoyed the books.

“I like the nuances of the book, the overtones without the explicitness. I used to read historical romances, but found they were becoming trashier and trashier. Twilight was a very refreshing romance.”

The book was wonderful, Johnston said.

“It was perfect.”

She likes the mystery of love that floats around the books, Johnston said.

“The fact that so much is left to the imagination. Nothing kills a book more than overly descriptive explicitness of attraction between a man and a woman.”

Her favourite character isn’t the star of the book, Johnston said.

“I think I would have to say Alice is my favourite character, just because of her bubbliness, her tenacity and her utter belief in the love of Edward and Bella.”

Her favourite part is a well-known scene, Johnston said,

“My favourite part of Twilight is the meadow scene, but if we’re talking about the series, then my favourite part would be the island scene with Edward and Bella’s honeymoon.”

In the meadow scene, Edward first let Bella see him in the sunlight and he revealed he was a vampire.

The island scene centre’s around Bella’s marriage and honeymoon with Edward, which they spend on a private island off the coast of Brazil.

Sarah Quigley of Borden Carelton P.E.I. became a Twilight fan before the popular craze started. She bought the book and was almost immediately drawn into it.

“It captures you and makes you feel like your apart of it. It sucks you in majorly.”

While she wasn’t a die-hard fan, she was still a big fan, she said.

“I have all the books, two posters and an Edward shirt. I’m neutral when it comes to Team Edward and Team Jacob, but the Edward shirt was all they had.”

Team Edward and Team Jacob are fan clubs, one is made up of people who love Edward and one is made up of people who love Jacob.

As is common for many crazes, there are those who dislike Twilight.

Marisol Gore is a officer in the Facebook group Twilight Sucks. Gore

disliked the Twilight series.

The books were OK, Gore said in an email interview.

“I found the first two books to be some sort of fan-fiction in a way. I couldn’t take that literature seriously, but it wasn’t bad either. A well done fan-fiction if you will, but no more.”

There are several things she would change in Twilight, Gore said.

“I’d love to see a higher quality love story. Something deeper than ‘he is hot’  ‘she smells good’ kind of thing. Bella is sadly a role model for teens, so if the love story is so superficial, then we’ll have next generation of teens believing that Twilight love is the right kind of love.”

The relationship needs to be explained more, Gore said.

“It’s so superficial and pointless and it makes no sense. It never gets explained why they fall in love. It just happens randomly even.”

The author degrades women, Gore said.

“I would so change how the author makes girls think that they can’t do anything without their man. Come on. She pushed us women like 200 years backwards in history.”

There is constant contradiction, Gore said,

“The author keeps constantly writing down how Edward is so cool and perfect and awesome and flawless, yet there is nothing that Edward does that makes him perfect or flawless.”

Edward is not even keeping to character, Gore said.

“Edward is a manipulative, controlling stalker that can’t even match his own description. It’s also lousy how we have to be reminded on every freaking page about his supposed awesomeness and his good looks. That’s just tacky.”

The characters are poorly done, Gore said.

“Bella is a Mary-Sue. Meyer made her so that she is flawless and her only downside is that she trips a lot, which doesn’t happen all that much. I find it disgusting how Bella says she’s so plain and what not and how everyone falls for her out of the blue.”

Jacob was an alright character, Gore said.

“He is pretty cool in New Moon, then in Eclipse he gets a personality transplant because he was cooler then Eddie, I assume, and decides to force a kiss on Bella. The result? Bella falls for him also.”

The characters were dull, Gore said.

“It’s all ridiculously lame and the characters are all flat, there is no character development at all.”

She does like one thing about Twilight, Gore said.

“I like that it’s done from a teen’s point of view. That’s another insight, so it’s kind of refreshing, in a way. So I guess the intent is what I like.”

When the fan base started growing  it started to bother her, Gore said.

“The obsessiveness over a mediocre series brings to mind how teens have no criteria when it comes to choosing their books.”

Teen grammar, for instance, is a problem, Gore said.

“That would be because they don’t read. And when they do, it’s sad that the only pick trashy books. Like Twilight.”

She has read better books, Gore said.

“I joined the group to protest against the obsessiveness over bad literature and poorly written characters. Like I said before, I’ve read worse, but Twilight doesn’t deserve the kind of recognition the fans keep so vehemently giving it.”

Mallory MacDonald of P.E.I. also isn’t fond of the Twilight series.

MacDonald said she would change parts in the book if she could.

“I’d make the battle at the end a real battle and I’d make Bella a stronger person who could handle being alone for a while in New Moon. I’d make Jacob not imprint and I’d make Edward less creepy.”

MacDonald said she thought the characters were poorly done.

“Edward is a creeper and Bella is a spineless wimp who is willing to kill herself in order to hear Edward’s voice. She has an obsession, not love.”

She does like one character, MacDonald said.

“Jacob is all right. He seems like the only real character in the story, cause he has flaws that he acknowledges, as well as assets.”

Some parts she dislikes more than others, MacDonald said.

“Really, I think Bella should be able to spend a day without seeing her boyfriend, that knowing a guy for a day shouldn’t make him centre of the universe.”

The whole Team Jacob and Team Edward thing is way out of hand, MacDonald said.

“I think that every person has a right to choose a side. I, myself, am on Team Jacob, but I don’t go broadcasting that to everyone and I don’t automatically hate others that are on Team Edward. It’s their right to choose Edward, even if I don’t agree with it.”

Because of its popularity there should be no surprise that fan groups have set up.

The ones you see most often are Team Edward and Team Jacob, also known as vampire fans and werewolf fans.

Brooke Boverhof of Grand Valley State in Michigan, is one of the administrators of one of the many Facebook groups called Team Edward. These groups are for fans of the vampire.

One of the biggest reasons she believes Edward is better is because Jacob never imprinted on Bella, Boverhof said in a email interview.

“That means that even if she were to chose him, there was still always the chance that he may imprint on someone else and then what?”

Edward was strongly devoted to Bella, Boverhof said.

“He lived for Bella. He would die for Bella. Jacob would get over it, but Edward never would. He literally loved her more than himself.”

Natasha Kendall, from the network Chatsworth International School in Singapore, is an administrator and the creator for one of the groups called Team Jacob, a group that adores Jacob Black, the werewolf.

“Jacob is a werewolf and it’s much more appealing being with someone who can morph into a beast that is six feet tall than it is being with someone who has to refrain from eating you.”

Jacob isn’t flawless, Kendal said.

“Jacob is so much more human and realistic because of the mistakes he makes. Whereas Edward is portrayed as this perfect, beautiful creature. Sure, that may be attractive to some people, but if you’re going to be with someone without flaws, you’re going to feel unworthy and self-conscious.”

Edward is boring compared to Jacob, Kendall said.

“All he ever does is romance with Bella. At least Jacob can construct motorcycles and has other attractive werewolf friends.”

Edward is more mature, Kendall said.

“Jacob’s personality makes him fun.”

The love between Edward and Bella is a real turnoff, Kendall said.

“His unadultrated love for her doesn’t make sense to me, because in the book she is pathetic, too dependent on Edward and unappreciative. Yes, Jacob loves her too, but it’s a more human love because they were childhood friends and he’s just a boy.”

Such debate play a rule in drawing teens to books, who, with Facebook, Twitter and You Tube, don’t read as much anymore.

Today’s teenagers have so many distractions, Stephenie Campbell said.

“Twilight pulls them in and gets them hooked on a series. It pulled in a whole new audience.”

The hope is teenagers will continue reading, Campbell said.

“I would hope they go on to read other things and spend time reading, because any reading they do is a good thing, and it builds skills.”

April,27,2010

The New Democratic Party of P.E.I. put forward a new resolution at their annual meeting last Sat. in St. Eleanors that involved eliminating Provincial Sales Tax.

Party leader James Rodd hoped to adopt the resolution but it was deferred to the executive committee for more research.

The PST is a tax everyone has to pay, Rodd said.

“It’s a 10 per cent sales tax that comes on things like furniture and you have to pay the extra 10 per cent.”

The resolution would help people, Rodd said.

“We want to get rid of the PST and instead have a more progressive income tax system that would be based on their ability to pay.”

Instead of having everyone pay the same,  some would pay less, Rodd said.

“The taxes would be based on the concept of their ability to pay.”

The resolution is not ready yet, Rodd said.

“We need to look at the income tax figures,  and how much the PST is. We need to do some number-crunching.”

The committee was concerned with one issue in particular, Rodd said.

“They were concenered about money because we are not in government and we don’t have access to funds to do more research into this project.”

Gil Germain, associate professor and chair of Political Studies at UPEI, believes eliminating PST is not quite the right thing to do.

“Why would you get rid of it? Lower it maybe to make up for the shortfall.”

NDP does mean well, Germain said.

“The NDP are small and mostly for the little people, the working people. So it seems a bit odd that they aren’t getting a lot of support.”

April,27,2010

The ash and dust from the erupting volcano in Iceland may affect the weather on P.E.I.  a learning manager from Holland College said.

Brian O’Neill from the Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology program believes that by the time the dust cloud from Iceland does get to the Island it will be dispersed enough so that it won’t harm P.E.I.

There maybe a few weather changes, O’Neill said.

“We may see a lot of rainy weather coming in the future.”

But the cloud will eventually end up here, he said.

“The jetstream goes west to east, so it’s going to end up here at some point. It is physically impossible for the cloud to go from Iceland right to the Island.”

However a few people will be severally effected by the cloud, O’Neill said.

“People with asthma and people who are hypersensitive to it would have some discomfort.”

Because of the eruption, many of Europe’s airports were shut down and planes weren’t able to fly, causing passengers who were trying to fly out to be stuck for quite a while.

Jackie Arsenault, a senior travel agent from the Summerside branch of the Travel Store said the volcano did have some effects last week.

“A few of our customers had to wait to get home. Some of them changed their flights and some received  a refund if they decided they wouldn’t go.”

This is a first time thing, Arsenault said.

“It was in spring and that’s not our busy time, and a lot of people don’t travel yet.”

According to the news site CBC, the volcano erupted underneath the glacier Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland.

The volcano has been dormant for nearly 200 years.

April,27,2010

Water pours through the gaping hole where the Scales Pond dam stood  just 24 hours before.                              Several trees along the bank are uprooted and the banks are covered with mud and soil.  Fish that had been nesting in the pond have all been caught in the erruption of water. The once full pond is now reduced to a small stream, and the waterfall that proudly flowed now is standing still.                                                                        That was a year ago at the Childrens Memorial Place located in South Freetown.                                                     Alie MacLean from the Department of Environment said no decision has been made yet about the dam.                                                                                                                                                                                                              “We want to measure the interest that the community has in re-building the dam.”                                                   There is a estimate on how much rebuilding would cost, MacLean said.                                                                     “It depends on the concrete and the amount of materials needed. The range is from $400,000 and up, $400,000 being the minimum.”

The dam wouldn’t take too long to rebuild, MacLean said.

“I would say it would take from two to three months depending on the design they go buy, and whether the site is stable.”

Spokesman for the fish and wildlife department, Gerald MacDougall said because of the dam breaking many of the habitats that were there were altered.

“The change in the habitat will benefit other wildlife.”

MacDougall said before the decision is made on whether or not to rebuild the dam steps will have to be taken.

“We want to get the community involved. We’ll hold public meetings, and maybe even have some studies done. It’s not a matter of just putting it back in.”

Bill MacLean, International Children’s Memorial Place Organizer, believes that the dam should be rebuilt.

“It’s a historic site, an angler’s paradise, a hydroelectric museum. It’s been a part of the community for decades.”

MacLean said Scales Pond has a lot to offer.

“4-H groups often go there. It has a picnic area. It’s a tourist site. There is a one room schoolhouse there as well and a lot of things happen there.”

MacLean said Scales Pond was a nice recreational area that people used quite often.

“It was one of the most productive areas for salmon on the Island, it was the largest pond, 26 acres, and a lot of people went kayaking and canoeing and such and they had the fish ladder but there’s no water there now.”

It was part of the scenery in South Freetown, MacLean said

“We had a trail of reflection there before the dam burst. Along the trail there were panels with quotes on them from the past. It’s not there anymore though.”

MacLean said Scales Pond had only recently begun to get noticed.

“It was starting to become more popular throughout Canada and a bit of the United States. It was starting to become a  tourist attraction.”

April,26,2010

Despite the vandalism that has been appearing in the news, the number of these instances has gone down a deputy chief of police said.

Dave Griffin of the Summerside police department has seen the decrease personally in Summerside.

It used to happen quite frequently, Griffin said.

“It used to happen every third day.”

Every graffiti artist is different, Griffin said.

“They all have different symbols they take the time to create. We do catch a few of them and charge them.”

A lot of times they use public property to draw on, Griffin said.

“They draw on the back of the banks, the backs of businesses, the old Holland College. Right now the old Holland College is fenced off but it’s a eye sore with all the graffiti.”

There is a place artists can draw on without getting into trouble, Griffin said.

“There is a board they can use that is up where the old Hospital used to be in Summerside. Only a few people use it though, but there is some good art on there.”

Const. Kim Mullett from the Kensington police department says they don’t often see much graffiti.

“There was a case with graffiti on the Elementary school, but they were caught. Which ever officer answers the call is the one who invesitgates it.”

April,26,2010

The grace period for the cellphone ban is now over, which means using a cellphone while driving is no longer tolerated, says a Deputy Chief of police.

Dave Griffin of the Summerside police believes the cell phone ban so far has been going great, with only a few tickets being issued.

There are consequences to being caught, Griffin said.

“The fine is $250 plus a surcharge of $20 for a total of $270. They can also get up to $400 in fines if they are caught a second time, and they also lose three demerit points.”

The surcharge that is added on goes to a good cause, Griffin said.

“The $20 is a victim surcharge. It goes to Victims Services of crimes and helps those who have fallen victim to a crime.”

There are still some violaters, Griffin said.

“Mostly we see a lot of people pulled overto make calls or text. And a lot of people have the blue tooths in their ears.”

Constable Kim Mullett from the Kensington police department, says that people seem to be complient with the new law.

“I personally haven’t seen anyone using phones while driving. Texting seemed to be the big thing, but that’s died down as well.”

Before the ban cellphones were seen quite often, Mullett said.

“It was a fairly common thing.”

April,26,2010

Canadian troops will still be expected to pull out of Afghanistan in 2011, says Malpeque MP Wayne Easter.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month the U.S.A. would like Canada to keep its troops in Afghanistan longer.

The mission has been a success, Easter said.

“Our soldiers are doing a remarkable job with protecting, and assisting in bringing democracy to the country.”

Controversy about this topic is nothing new, Easter said.

“There are some who believe the troops should never have gone over and there are some who think the troops should stay longer. There are always people on both sides of the issue.”

CharlottetownMP Shawn Murphy said the troops have been deployed for eight years.

“That’s almost as long as the world wars. Our military needs a break, they need a breather.”

Just because they are pulling out doesn’t mean they won’t continue to help, Murphy said.

“Canada will still have a role to play. Right now they are taking areas and securing them and making it safe for the people who live there, as well they are training police officers.”