By Jenn Watt Remembrance Day in Haliburton County is taken seriously. Poppies over hearts, residents not only take a moment to think of those have served, they participate in the ceremonies each year. On Nov.…
Health costs
By Jenn Watt Since March we’ve been relying on our health-care professionals to be there for our community as we confronted the new public health threat of COVID-19. We expected that they would do the…
Things to keep
By Jenn Watt Vehicles were lined up down County Road 21 on Saturday morning as residents arrived to get their flu shot through a drive-through service offered by the Haliburton Highlands Family Health Team. Although…
Scam season
By Jenn Watt It hadn’t been an hour since I discussed this week’s story about a phone scam with reporter Sue Tiffin when I became the target of a scam myself.Stunned at the brazen nature…
What’s in a name
By Jenn Watt It’s a safe bet that most of us living in Haliburton haven’t cracked open a copy of The Clockmaker recently – or ever. The satirical book by Thomas Chandler Haliburton, after whom…
Reporting in small places
By Jenn Watt Small things matter and small places matter. And in a time when we are overloaded with information pouring through the screens of our smartphones, laptops and tablets, having journalists who can sift…
Student representation
By Jenn Watt Representation matters and it is especially apparent when times are tough and important decisions need to be made. It’s why our governing bodies should look like our population and why we should…
Gendered impact of COVID-19
By Jenn Watt As we brace ourselves for a potential second wave of the coronavirus, with hundreds more positive tests coming back each day in Ontario than a month ago, we should be sure not…
Let Pride flags fly
By Jenn Watt We should all be disturbed and distressed by the recent theft of rainbow flags from the private property of a local business on Haliburton’s main street.Christopher O’Mara, owner of Prettypaws Pet Boutique…
Editorial: The Great Pause
By Sue Tiffin This week I paused in conversation on a phone call with Jenn Watt as the Ornge air ambulance flew directly over where I sat on the deck, partly because the sound of…
Editorial: Students mask up
By Jenn Watt At least one trustee for Trillium Lakelands District School Board has said he supports the board dipping further into its reserve funding to supply masks for all students who need them when…
Editorial: Advocate for better
By Sue Tiffin In her memoir, disability rights activist Judith Heumann wrote of how historic changes that had been fought for might be taken for granted by those who hadn’t seen the work put in…
Mental toll
By Jenn WattEditor Over the last five months, since the pandemic really hit Canada in a big way, we’ve become increasingly aware of the toll the pandemic is taking on mental health. We can see…
Editorial: COVID budgeting
By Jenn Watt When it comes to the bottom line it seems the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t had the kind of impact one might expect on municipal budgets – at least not for the county and…
Echo and Times reporting recognized at Better Newspapers…
Staff and contributors at the Haliburton Echo and Minden Times were recognized through the Better Newspapers Competition of the Ontario Community Newspapers Association on July 24. Darren Lum was awarded a second place in the…
Editorial: The words we leave behind
By Jenn Watt “This doesn’t seem like it would be Dad’s username but doesn’t it seem like a coincidence?” I texted my sister. I had stumbled across a post from more than a decade ago…
Editorial: Our store workers
By Jenn Watt For the majority of us the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are most obviously seen in our excursions into the outside world particularly in our grocery stores restaurants and local shops. Our…
Congrats 2020 grads
By Sue Tiffin Published June 30 2020 The 2020 graduating class had already learned and experienced growth through so much. Yes they’ve faced the typical challenges of high school students and of those in a…
First acknowledgement
By Jenn Watt Here in the Haliburton Highlands land acknowledgements are becoming more common but haven’t yet been embraced as extensively as they could be. June is Indigenous History Month a time to put our…
Take care
By Sue Tiffin Published June 16 2020 As information about the spread of coronavirus and the devastating effects of the virus throughout the world has infiltrated our sources of information much has been said about…
It's about respect
By Zachary Roman Published May 26 2020 If you’re reading this while being safe and following all of the recommended best practices for preventing COVID-19 you’re awesome and you certainly don’t need me telling you…