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4 days ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
IT’S NOT EASY being an ostrich. In the wild, they have to contend with lions, leopards, hyenas and human hunters. In captivity, on farms, they’re usually shipped to the slaughter house at a few months of age where various methods — none pleasant — are used to kill them. They’re farmed for meat, eggs, leather, oil and feathers. They, are, in short, poultry, very large poultry, comparatively smart as birds go, and cute in their own way.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
Ideas come and go for projects that would bring tourism to Kamloops and the region. Most never get off the ground but the point is, we keep thinking them up. I’ll bet you didn’t remember, or never knew about, the Rainbow Railroad proposal, a proposal that came even before the resurrection of 2141. I wrote the following column for the Kamloops news, published May 9, 1986. FROM SOMEWHERE deep in the hinterland — namely Barriere-Little Fort — has come an idea.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
I HAVE TO LAUGH at the emails I receive from the BC NDP. There’s never a time they don’t outright trash the BC Conservative Party but, hey, all parties do it, right? Still, I found yesterday’s email very entertaining because of their so-called two key points about the Conservatives, and of course their solicitation of donations.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
NOTE: This is part one of a two-part column on City council boondoggles. CALLED IT last summer, but I didn’t use the word ‘boondoggle’ … should’ve. Talking about the bike lane on 6th downtown. Back then, I discussed just how much this bike lane is NOT used, after $2.2 million (of which $1.5 million was federal funding) was dumped into it … because ‘if you build it, they will come’ … or it seems thought Council. Aaand … come they didn’t.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTEMay 29, 2025 – Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange had a message for her province earlier this month, “don’t get measles; get immunized”. This, as outbreaks of the highly contagious disease continue, appearing in nine provinces so far, with the vast majority occurring in that province and in Ontario.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
THE OUTCOME of a U.S. federal court case could have legal and philosophical implications. A suit filed by a Florida mother alleges that an artificial intelligence company is responsible for the death of her son. In their defence, the company claims that the speech created by their chatbot is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S.. That’s right, they claim their chatbot should be protected by law ordinarily given to people.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |City Issues |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
The petitioners who alleged Coun. Mike O’Reilly was in a conflict of interest over the Build Kamloops ice rink project say they might appeal a judge’s dismissal of their case. In a decision released Tuesday (May 27, 2025), Justice Kenneth Ball rejected the group’s claims and awarded costs to O’Reilly. The 10 petitioners wanted O’Reilly disqualified from office based on his shares in Comet Industries, of which he is CEO and president, a company developing an industrial park on Iron Mask Road 3.9 km.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. AL KOEHOLIC is, no doubt, having a good chuckle over Tuesday’s council meeting in which the latest ridiculous decision was made to suspend public inquiries. Again. Al, as we’ll call him, submitted a request to speak under new pre-registration rules put in place by council in an effort to curb behaviour they don’t like. Obviously, there’s no such person as Al Koeholic. It was a silly joke, and unproductive given the history of the public-inquiries issue.
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1 week ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger. THE THRONE SPEECH is usually a boring affair, nothing more than the government’s wish list without price tags. The real stuff comes later. Today’s rendition was different. It was different in large part because rather than being read for the government by the uncharismatic governor-general, King Charles stepped up to add much to the interest both nationally and internationally. News media near and far, especially south of the border, lapped it up.
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2 weeks ago | 
armchairmayor.ca | Armchair Mayor.ca |Page One |Mel Rothenburger
MyCHOICE, A SMALL “insurance tech” company in Toronto, has come out with wildfire risks for Canadian cities again. And again, Kamloops tops the list. For a small company, they get a lot of attention. But how accurate are their forecasts? Let’s see how well they did in 2024. Here are their top five picks:Kamloops was ranked highest in 2024 with a score of 9.4 out of 10, followed by Saskatoon, Regina, Kelowna, and Medicine Hat.
