Moose Mountain Provincial Park had a good Canada Day weekend, with plenty of visitors coming to camp out and take part in the various events around the campsite.
There was some worry that rain and thunder could disrupt the events, but two systems managed to part right on July 1, giving park-goers clear skies to enjoy the day.
Kim Brown, the Park Manager, sent out a release on just how well the park did.
“Canada Day at Moose Mountain turned out to be a great day with great weather,” said Brown, “Moose Mountain Provincial Park had roughly 500 people attend the Main Beach activities.”
On July 1, park interpreters saw a good turnout for all of their early to mid-afternoon programs, with 246 people turning out for events like Trivia, Lantern Making, and a Floaty Race.
They also held some other activities on the main beach including two slip and slides, music playing throughout the afternoon, and lots of self-use beach games, such as spike ball, ladder golf, and bocce ball.
Brown thanked some of the organizations around the park who helped with the day – that includes Kenosee Lake Bible camp which donated their time and rock-climbing wall.
As well Club 19, Kenosee Inn, and Carlyle Co-op all either offered discounts or gave free food to people.
In the end, the Visitor Centre had 300 people come through over the weekend, with the local campgrounds at 95% capacity through the weekend.
Their Big Moose Baseball tournament over the weekend was also a success and had a great turnout.
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol has departed from years of tradition by holding informal daily media events to field questions on topics ranging from inflation and ties with neighbouring North Korea to the first lady and even boyband BTS.
Such wide-ranging access to the president was previously unheard of. It stems from Yoon’s decision to move his office out of the official Blue House, whose previous occupants largely steered clear of such interactions over more than seven decades.
“It’s apparently helping Yoon dispel worries about his lack of political experience and giving him a sense of where public opinion is at,” said Eom Kyeong-young, a political commentator based in the capital, Seoul.
Yoon, a former prosecutor-general, entered politics just a year ago, before winning the presidency in March by a margin of just 0.7%, the narrowest in South Korea’s history.
Upon his inauguration in May, Yoon moved the presidential office to the compound of South Korea’s defence ministry, describing the official residence as the symbol of an “imperial presidency”, and vowing not to “hide behind” his aides.
His liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, had rarely held news conferences, and almost always filtered his communication with the media, and the public, through layers of secretaries.
Analysts see Yoon’s daily freewheeling sessions as part of a broader communications strategy that lets him drive policy initiatives and present himself as a confident, approachable leader.
The campaign has also allayed public suspicions about the newcomer to politics, they say.
Polls show the new strategy helping to win support and much-needed political capital for Yoon in his effort to hasten recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, in a parliament dominated by the opposition Democratic Party.
Although Yoon’s approval rating dipped to 47.6% in a recent survey, slightly lower than the disapproval figure of 47.9%, another June poll showed communication was the reason most frequently cited by those who favoured him.
“The sweeping victory of Yoon’s conservative party in June local elections shows the public is not so much against the new administration,” said Eom.
Incumbents from Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) defeated challengers for the posts of mayor in the two biggest cities of Seoul and the port city of Busan in that contest, while its candidates won five of seven parliamentary seats.
Eom attributed Yoon’s low approval rating from the beginning of his term to inflation risks that threaten to undermine an economic recovery and his lack of a support base as a new politician.
But some critics say Yoon’s sessions raise the chances that he could make mistakes.
“He could make one mistake a day,” Yun Kun-young of the opposition party wrote on Facebook last week, saying the new practice could be “the biggest risk factor” for the government.
The presidential office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Yoon has already faced criticism for controversial remarks made during the morning briefings, such as one in defence of his nominee for education minister, who has a record of driving under the influence of alcohol years ago.
But the daily meetings and public reaction would ultimately help the government to shape policy better, said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University in Seoul.
“It might be burdensome for his aides for now, but will be an advantage in the long term,” Shin said. “A slip of the tongue cannot be a bigger problem than a policy failure.”
(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Summer break is here, which means most students want to shut off their brains for three months before having to return to school. This obviously isn’t realistic. Most of us have things to do over the summer, such as more schooling, internships and volunteering, while also trying to stay informed on what is occurring in the world.
At Syracuse, I’ve always found it easy to be up to date on news and politics occurring around SU, the country and the globe. If you didn’t hear about something from a news source, you might hear it from your friends, a professor discussing it in a lecture, or from overhearing people in the dining hall. According to a study done at Northeastern, the most common way college students get their news is from interactions with their peers, whether that be online or face-to-face. So, how will this change when these interactions cease for 3 months?
Even local sources for news and campus activities are much quieter over the summer, including The Daily Orange, the Tab, SU’s magazine publications and campus emails. While social media will continue to be an easy way to stay updated, lots of people might want a more tangible way to access information that isn’t an Instagram infographic. Thankfully, there are several other ways to stay up to date on news and politics while away from college, even if you’re busy with other obligations.
Listen to a podcast Podcasts are a really easy way to stay informed. You can listen to your favorite show while getting ready in the morning, on your drive to work or while getting ready for bed. Podcasts can be more entertaining than reading the news and can be really informative in just 15-20 minutes if you don’t want to dedicate large amounts of time to them. Some that have been recommended to me include NPR’s Left Right & Center, Ken Rudin’s Political Junkie, FiveThirtyEight’s show or John Dickerson’s show Whistlestop.
Subscribe to email newsletters There are several news outlets that provide something along the lines of “10 most important things that happened today/yesterday” daily for subscribers. Most students look through their inbox daily out of habit, so it would be easy to see and consume news during your routine email check. My personal favorite of these emails is The Week’s, a magazine that pulls information from several other newspapers and magazines and sends an email every morning entitled “10 things you need to know today” to my inbox. Their daily email informs me about international and domestic news by giving a brief summary of the issues. Daily newsletters are an easy way to skim through the headline events of the day without having to read a full article or trying to figure out what to prioritize through an app, such as the Wall Street Journal or New York Times apps.
Follow journalists/news sources on Twitter and Instagram If you’re not into keeping up with a specific news source, you can instead follow journalists on Twitter for their thoughts and reporting on certain issues. Often, these sources have more personal takes and opinions, going into more depth about an issue you care about. If you’re not willing to pay for a newsletter subscription or an app, you can follow the outlets directly on Instagram for highlights of their top stories that day. For both of these tactics, your news can be mixed in with your social media content, which makes access easy.
Download a news app to keep up with current events If you want to dedicate yourself to staying informed this summer, the best thing to do is download news apps on your phone. I currently have 7 news sources on my phone (Washington Post, NYT, NPR, PBS NewsHour, USA Today, WSJ and The Week), and if you enable notifications, you can tailor them to your interests. I now instantly receive breaking news updates or notifications for sports, the arts, business, and more. When you have extra time, you can go into the app and read the breaking news articles, an international story that didn’t make headlines or take a deep dive into articles about your niche interest.
Just because the semester is over, students should not stop being informed about the world and their community. Students should take advantage of all the information accessible at their fingertips.
Hannah Starorypinski is a sophomore political science major with a minor in public communication. Her column appears bi-weekly, and she can be reached at [email protected].
Nashville, Tenn., beckons Marty Ellis and the OOIDA tour trailer.
Ellis and the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer are scheduled March 18-20 to be at the Nashville TA Travel Center. That is at the junction of I-24 and James Robertson Parkway, Exit 48 from the interstate.
The Nashville TA is not far from the Cumberland River and Nissan Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans NFL team plays. There is a Charley’s Philly Steaks at the truck stop, but it is closed on Saturday and Sunday, according to the website. There is grab-an-go food available.
The Nashville TA has parking for 167 tractor-trailers.
The Nashville TA is dedicated to OOIDA life member Candy Bass, who was named a TA & Petro Citizen Driver in 2016. The Citizen Driver award recognizes professional commercial drivers who earn respect for the trucking industry through good citizenship, community involvement and leadership. TravelCenters of America dedicates a TA or Petro truck stop to each of the Citizen Driver honorees.
This is the stop between two events for Ellis and The Spirit. Last weekend was the Safety Drive for a Cure truck driving championship-style event the raised money to help children with brain tumors. Next weekend is the big blowout that is the Mid-America Trucking Show on March 24-26 in Louisville, Ky.
Atlanta-area competition
Ellis said he had a great time at the Safety Drive for a Cure event on March 12 at the Yellow/Holland-Atlanta Terminal in Ellenwood, Ga.
It was a full day, starting at 7 a.m. with breakfast and winding up around 5 p.m. Participants took a written test online before the event. The driving course and pre-trip inspection competition was done in person.
Unofficially, there were about 75 participants and something like 200 people total. About $38,000 was raised to help fight brain tumors in children. Over the 10 years that the annual Safety Driver for a Cure has been presented, more than $255,000 has been raised, Ellis reports.
Ellis pitched in to help judge on one course where the competitors maneuvered the rear-most drive axle over scoring pads.
Having competed himself before, Ellis said he felt the urge to do it again.
“If we come again, I am thinking I will compete just to have a little more fun,” he said.
About 75 drivers took part in the competition. In addition to truck-driving championship classes, there were some extracurricular ones, such as the Better Half Class, Manager Class, and the Retired Class. Photos by Marty Ellis
This is Problem No. 4 on the driving course. The driver must put his truck’s the front bumper within a box to qualify for a score. Then the judging team measures the distance on the side of the vehicle from the line that simulates a curb.
Marty Ellis, who drives the OOIDA tour truck, helped judge Problem No. 6 on the driving course where the competitors maneuvered the rear-most drive axle over scoring pads.
This is a display trailer that shows how a tanker is set up It is often brought to highway patrol events, firefighter events, hazmat response teams events so they can see how these tanks are constructed
This is a display trailer that shows how a tanker is set up It is often brought to highway patrol events, firefighter events, hazmat response teams events so they can see how these tanks are constructed.
These are the scoring pads on Problem No. 6. They can be set up to make it more challenging depending on where the points are placed.
A couple of volunteers – a Georgia State Patrol officers and a safety manager of the tank company –help out at Problem No. 5. There were three Georgia State Patrol officers who attended to help out.
There were some events that aren’t normally found in a state truck-driving championship event or a national championship.
One of those was the Better Half Class, where a spouse or other family member got to maneuver a vehicle through the course. There was a daycab with a tanker for them to drive and the real professional driver of the couple was in the jump seat guiding the better half through the course.
Another class outside the normal truck-driving championship regiment was the Management Class, where safety managers – the guys that are telling the drivers how to do their jobs – get to show their own skills behind the wheel.
There was Retired Class, too, for retired professional drivers itching to give it a try.
MATS 2022
This year’s MATS is significant for at least a couple of reasons: because COVID-19 restrictions forced organizers to skip a year and because this is the show’s 50th anniversary celebration year. Land Line Staff Writer SJ Munoz wrote a feature on the history of MATS for the March-April 2022 Land Line Magazine.
This year, MATS will have expanded educational opportunities, including free Pro Talks Seminar Series, OOIDA’s Town Hall event, and OOIDA’s Truck to Success training class, an excerpt from the Association’s three-day course on preparing to be an owner-operator.
The PKY Truck Beauty Championship will return to Lot J behind the West Wing.
Look who stopped by
OOIDA life member Don Crouse stopped by the OOIDA tour trailer while Ellis had it parked in the Atlanta area.
Don Crouse, from Bruceville, Ind., has been involved with Wreaths Across America since around 2008. Wreaths Across America places wreathes at the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
OOIDA life member Don Crouse and his Wreaths Across America truck. (Photo by Marty Ellis)OOIDA life member Don Crouse (Photo by Marty Ellis)
The back of OOIDA life member Don Crouse’s Wreaths Across America festooned trailer (Photo by Marty Ellis)
Stop by when you see The Spirit
If you see OOIDA’s tour trailer, stop by and say hello. Ellis looks forward to visiting about the Association’s activities and current issues. There are copies of Land Line Magazine to pick up there. You can join or renew your membership for $10 off the regular price at The Spirit. Face masks are available at The Spirit for anyone with a commercial driver’s license.
After the Safety Drive for a Cure event in Atlanta, Ellis and the OOIDA tour trailer are scheduled to hit Nashville, Tenn.
Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times and masks are mandatory for all participants ages 2+
NEWS RELEASE
TANGER OUTLETS
*************************
Keep busy this March Break with free daily activities at Tanger Outlets Cookstown, presented by Arbo Dental Care.
Participants are required to check-in at Shopper Services on the day of the event to receive an entry ticket for the next available session and a free gift, while supplies last. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times and masks are mandatory for all participants ages 2+.
March Break Event lineup:
Reptile Zoo – Monday, March 14 at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m.
Science Camp – Tuesday, March 15 at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.
Magic Show – Wednesday, March 16 at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., and 1 p.m.
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration – Thursday, March 17 all day long at Shopper Services
Reptile Zoo – Friday, March 18 at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m.
Shopper Services is located at Suite A25 located across from La Vie En Rose
Tanger Outlets Cookstown is located at 3311 County Road 89, Cookstown, ON, L0L 1L0
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If you are staying on campus through spring break, do not fear — there are plenty of fun activities and events to check out through the break. From live performances to item expos and everything in between, Syracuse and the immediate Central New York area will have a multitude of opportunities to have fun during break.
Greater Syracuse Antiques Expo
On Saturday, March 12, the New York State Fairgrounds will host the Greater Syracuse Antiques Expo. The expo will host exhibits that feature jewelry, art and handicrafts. The event will go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 13. Tickets cost $8 for adults and are free to attendees under the age of 16.
When: Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 Where: Horticulture Building, New York State Fairgrounds
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
For the first time since 2019, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is set to take place in downtown Syracuse this Saturday. This year’s theme of the parade is “Dance Through Downtown,” and in coordination with this theme, there will be over 100 local Irish dancers performing in the parade. The 40th anniversary parade will start at noon in Clinton Square on March 12, and will include music, dance and song.
When: Saturday, March 12 at noon Where: Downtown Syracuse, beginning at Clinton Square
Central New York Regional Market
On Saturday March 12 and 19, the Central New York Farmers Market will host over 300 vendors that sell locally grown produce, meat, dairy products and dozens of other items. The farmers market is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and offers fresh-made food for attendees to explore. On Sunday, March 13 and 20, CNY Regional Market will also be hosting Flea Markets featuring second-hand clothing, toys, vintage furniture and more.
When: Farmers Market, Saturday, March 12 and 19; Flea Market, Sunday, March 13 and 20 Where: 2100 Park Street, Syracuse, New York
Jeff Dunham Seriously!?
Acclaimed ventriloquist Jeff Dunham will take the stage in the Upstate Medical University Arena at Oncenter War Memorial on Friday, March 18. Dunham has received awards like the American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Stand-up, while also receiving criticism for his jokes. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are on sale from $46.
When: Friday, March 18 Where: Upstate Medical University Arena at Oncenter War Memorial
Movies and the Masters at Symphoria
On March 19, violinist Lisa Dondlinger will be joining local orchestra Symphoria for a night filled with classical and movie music. Dondlinger has worked with multiple popular artists, including Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, and she has been referred to by Peabo Bryson as the “finest first chair in the business.” Joining the violinist will be conductor Sean O’Loughlin, and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $31, and a livestream option is available to view the show as well.
When: Saturday, March 19 Where: Oncenter Crouse Hinds Concert Theater
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Ski resorts anticipate a busy March Break on the slopes with a week of family fun events planned.
“We expect families to plan to come to Blue to get their last bit of winter fun in,” said Blue Mountain Resort public relations manager Tara Lovell.
Resorts across Simcoe Muskoka have entertainers, shows and activities on tap from March 13 to March 20 to keep the kids busy during their week off school.
There are still a few COVID-19 rules for resort visitors, including physical distancing and masks while inside shared spaces, such as retail shops and dining areas while not seated.
Face masks are no longer required outdoors.
Additionally, visitors don’t need to show proof of vaccination.
Throughout the pandemic, the tourism industry took a hard hit with several closures during lockdowns and capacity limitations.
On top of the challenges the ski industry has faced over the past two years, this season began with unseasonably mild temperatures forcing many to open later than expected.
