While boarding a Barton bus this afternoon, my folded transfer slip refused to cooperate by straightening for display to the operator of the bus.
The operator looked at me with a smile, nothing nefarious, as I tried to display the transfer.
At that moment, I could not help but remember what it was like being a teenager and getting kicked off buses for committing the infraction of “folding a transfer.”
Transfer slips used to have a statement on the back of them which read “Folded and mutilated transfers are not valid”
Of course, this meant drivers who discriminated against teenagers were fully justified – in the eyes of the City – in kicking teenagers off of buses for having folded their transfer. This created a dilemma for me and other teenage riders – we could take our chances that our transfer would rip by not folding it, or we could take our chances that an operator would not accept it because we cleanly folded our transfer to prevent it from ripping.
Today, after I finally showed the operator my transfer, I flipped it over and read the fine print. It is now acceptable to fold a transfer slip. …

UVSS decreases student benefits and pockets the difference

Taking a summer internship with my hometown paper – The Hamilton Spectator

Washington Post is doing higher education coverage right

I cannot begin to express my sadness at learning of the death, today, of former Hamilton Mayor Jack MacDonald. While he served as Mayor before I was even born, he had a great impact upon me.

I first met Jack as a teenager when I spoke at the then-Hamilton East Kiwanis service club at the seemingly tender age of 15.

I remember how scared I was speaking and how timidly I presented my story. I was somewhat shy at the time.

I remember how making a point of approaching me afterwards and remarking how moved he was by my speech.

That was the start of a mentoring relationship that lasted to this day.

It says something about my mentors that only three years later – at age 18 – I was a serious contender in the municipal elections of 2000.

Over the years, Jack stayed in touch with me and always gave me encouragement in my endeavors.

Last year, he was one of the people that offered support as I dealth with a series of personal challenges.

Only recently (last Winter), when I decided to start pursuing getting into The Hamilton Spectator, Jack was there again offering advice and encouragement.

During our last encounter, he made a point of telling me that I was welcome at his place anytime.

Ironically, I walked on his street earlier today and thought about that offer.

Jack and I had different political philosophies. We often had heated disagreements over public policy but never did he become upset about those disagreements. …

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War. It’s hard to imagine the reality of total war to my generation; we’ve thankfully never experienced war.

The Hamilton Spectator published a special section today, which is not available behind the subscriber firewall – yes, I use my grandmother’s subscription to read the paper for free -, meaning that I’m on my way to purchase a print edition.

There is an online video to mark the occasion: http://www.thespec.com/videogallery/763863

The Second World War hit Hamilton hard. Many young men from Hamilton died on the beaches of Dieppe in 1942 when the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry landed on that god-forsaken beach during Canada’s bloody day of the war.

The only city that may have – arguably – suffered more tragedy during the war was Winnipeg. The city had infantry regiments at both of Canada’s bloodiest stands against the Axis powers. The Winnipeg Grenadiers fought gallantly – in vain – at the Battle of Hong Kong and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Dieppe.

Both battles must be remembered.

The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry lost 197 men that day, their names are listed on the RHLI website: http://www.rhli.ca/dieppe/dieppekia.html

Eight months ago, a former member of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment penned a moving piece in the Chatham Daily News regarding the Dieppe Raid. Larry King’s writing, while of a younger generation than the men who served, reflects the continuing Canadian struggle to understand the raid. His piece is well worth reading: Operation Jubilee –the Dieppe raid — was a valuable disaster The Essex and Kent landed

The Canadian War Museum’s page “Life on the Homefront: Hamilton, Ontario, a City at War” offers newspaper clippings from WWII editions of The Hamilton Spectator. …