Just a few questions this week that puzzle me.
Like why do we have a single $25 million prize for a lottery?
Why not 25 separate prizes of $1 million each?
Does it not make more sense to have 25 people very happy rather than one person extremely happy?
Is one 25 times happier with $25 million than a winner of a single million?
Nobody needs 25 million loonies.
Maybe we should have 50 winners at half a million? I’d take that.
Sometime ago, I wrote a column on how we should maybe look at being a community that supports organ donations.
The reaction was instant and very positive. We have more than a few people in our community who have been blessed with life after receiving an organ donation.
Then there’s the little girl, active in local sports, who received a liver transplant when she was a wee babe.
And a Cochrane lady currently holidaying in southern climes who wouldn’t be here without the organ transplant a few years ago that gave her life.
This idea of supporting organ donations by a community may well become a reality.
And we could be known as a community that saved a thousand lives rather than a community with a double-decker bus.
Just a matter of simple priorities.
Another puzzle.
Why won’t the town tell us what all is planned for the former Domtar site.
It’s now called the Quarry and like most Cochers I have no idea why but the Quarry it is.
I realize the developer has approval for the site but does that mean it could put in 27 massage parlors if they satisfy land use?
We know that’s not going to happen but surely it’s not a state secret on what retail outfits are coming to our town.
It likely is a state secret though that there may well be legal action over the development involving alleged promises made to another developer.
Oh what tangled webs we weave when we try and keep everything secret.
Speaking of secrets.
More than a few people are starting to let their secret political aspirations out of the bag.
I hear more and more people talking of running for mayor and council in the election this fall and that’s a good thing.
I have no idea if any or all incumbents have made their decision to seek a return but if we have interest this early I think that’s a healthy sign for an interesting election.
So how much are the new traffic lights into the Quarry site costing Cochrane taxpayers?
And how much of that cost will be borne by the developer because the lights wouldn’t be there without that retail development?
And while we’re on the subject, what about the cost for the new level crossing and how much of that is being paid by the developer?
Speaking of level crossings and railways.
Does the town have an adequate disaster plan if one of those long freight trains loaded with chemicals jumped the tracks in beautiful downtown Cochrane?
Is the public aware of any such plan?
Should the town be officially involved in the entertainment business?
The town sponsors the July 1 program each year at Mitford Park and the town also gives money to Cochrane Tourism.
No problem there.
But we also have the Cochrane Events Society that recently sponsored WinterFest.
Is there duplication?
Do we need three different outfits hosting events all designed to bring folks to Cochrane?
Would it not be more efficient to have but one working towards a common cause?
