“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, exceptdeath and taxes.” So said Benjamin Franklin , and while not as catchy as Destiny Child’s Bills Bills Bills , Franklin was certainly correct, as Jasper residents were reminded last week when they opened their utility statements and just about ke...

Andrea Ziegler, Publisher Andrea Ziegler has built and led digital media companies for over twenty years. Working exclusively in digital media since 2000, Andrea has been on the front lines of the transition of businesses to the digital economy, including community media, classifieds, music, and tel...

A message from the publisher Andrea Ziegler, Raven Community Media Bob Covey and I started discussing the future of community media in the spring of 2019. I reached out to Bob in his capacity as a successful entrepreneur in the challenging business of community media. We discovered that we share a p...

Right now, the face of progress in Jasper is a proposed high-density apartment complex that will push parking issues to the brink and house 144 prospective tenants in units so small that developers need special permission to build them. The Municipality of Jasper has hired contractors to tie in util...

I know it’s a pilot project but Paid Parking in Jasper isn’t exactly off to a soaring start. We all laughed when the MOJ had to delay the initiative due to damaged signage, but since it began in earnest, I don’t hear a lot of chuckling. It was bound to be a tough transition for locals—we’d never had...

Most of us had a favourite teacher from school. I had a few. Mrs. Royer, in elementary school, was warm, accessible and caring. She treated all of her students equally, and I’ll never forget how hard she laughed at Grade 6 camp when my friend jumped out of his sleeping bag in his undies while she tr...

You know that dream where you’re sitting in your old high school classroom and you’ve got a test in front of you but you haven’t studied and you don’t remember seeing any of the course material before and the test is actually in hieroglyphics and—oh no—you’re not wearing any pants? I hate that dream...

Who opposes the province’s decision to allow open-pit coal mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains? Basically everyone. So suggests Edmonton-based writer and political watcher, Dave Cournoyer ( daveberta.ca ). Cournoyer lists ranchers, farmers, environmental organizations and recreational groups among t...

Jasper’s vulnerability is on full display in the height of the COVID pandemic’s second wave. Local officials are taking pains to protect our community’s health and safety while trying not to upset the applecart that is our economic viability. It’s a delicate dance, particularly because our municipal...

Anyone else embarrassed to be an Albertan these days? I was born and raised in this province, but the egregious displays of anti-social partisanship when it comes to disobeying health guidelines have me feeling sick to my belt buckle. “Freedom” rally in Calgary, late November. // Calgary Herald Anti...