Popular Topics in 2020

One of the advantages of an online format with an active community of commenters is that the interest in articles can be measured – both by the number of comments but also by the number of views.  I can’t imagine anyone disputing that 2020 was an unusual year with the biggest local topic being the impact of the virus.  For Cobourg that translated into how many visitors would we get on our beaches.  But there was also a lot of interest in some other things. For example: Changes at the Mall, the Cannabis factory shutting down, Starbucks coming to Cobourg, Woodlawn as a Rehabilitation centre and more. Below is a list of the most popular posts as measured by views… Read complete articlePopular Topics in 2020

Letters to Editor now Accepted

One of the things that make this blog different to other News sources is that the Cobourg Community actively comments on articles.  In fact people tell me that’s one major reason they visit this site. Print Newspapers do something similar with their Letters to the Editor and Opinion columns (but without comments).  At one point, Grahame Woods was writing an opinion column on Cobourg Blog and had a good following.  Effective immediately, Cobourg Blog will accept “Letters to the Editor” from any Cobourg resident or business.  They will be clearly labelled as such and as usual with this category, will be subject to rules: the real author will be named but not their email; promotion of events is allowed; advertising… Read complete articleLetters to Editor now Accepted

News in Cobourg – August 2020

Publishers, editors and journalists rarely talk about their own industry although lately, print newspapers talk about their dwindling business.  Large news media companies such as the Toronto Star have recently got some publicity but the small ones just seem to fade away.  The Cobourg Star was a daily Newspaper for over a century but recently merged with others until it became Northumberland Today. But when it finally closed in November 2017 (see link below), Cobourg residents were unhappy and were vocal at a “Town Hall Meeting”.  As a result a small group led by Rob Washburn and John Miller started a portal web site (Northumberland Hub – Sept 2018) that provided brief news synopses plus links to all local news… Read complete articleNews in Cobourg – August 2020

Town of Cobourg On-line Press Conference – 30 March

This time the technology worked well.  Members of the media provided questions to Ashley Purdy using a phone only conference call and she relayed them to key members of the Emergency Control Group (ECG) who were using videoconferencing.  This group is mandated by Provincial Legislation which also mandates an Emergency Plan (see link below).  The Plan specifies – by role – who should be in the ECG – see list below.  It’s clear that most are employees of the Town and because of legislated requirements, their names are not provided.  Similarly, according to Chair Fire Chief Mike Vilneff, legislation does not require the meetings to be open to the public.  So that was the answer to my first question: “Why… Read complete articleTown of Cobourg On-line Press Conference – 30 March

Update from Cobourg News Blog

The news scene in Cobourg has been dominated lately by the Covid-19 Virus epidemic and simultaneously Cobourg News Blog is experiencing technical problems so comments are mostly not possible. The Covid-19 page is being updated several times per day as things happen – but some people wait for the news email so this post provides a summary for them. With many of the businesses on King Street now closed (primarily Restaurants and bars), and others heeding the call to stay home, parking is easy and it’s easy to achieve the recommended social distance.  Lineups (e.g. at a bank) are short.  Last Thursday and Friday, supermarkets (and their parking lots) were crowded with people buying toilet rolls and hand sterilizer so they are… Read complete articleUpdate from Cobourg News Blog

Cobourg Online

A Google search will find answers to questions that you know to ask but doesn’t work well if you don’t know what to ask.  Would you think to ask “when did a plane land in Cobourg?” Or “what activities are there in Cobourg?” And some questions don’t get complete answers – like “what shows are on this weekend?”  What you need are web sites that you go to that provide those answers – but how do you find those web sites? Well, read on. You already know how to get Cobourg News – it’s right here plus I have provided links to other news sites in Cobourg (see menu at the top of the page).  But it’s not always obvious… Read complete articleCobourg Online

Hot topics in 2019

Although major newspapers and magazines (e.g. Time) publish Person of the Year and News of the Year, these are selected by journalists and not the readers of these publications.  But the blog format provides a way of measuring interest – the number of hits and the number of comments.  Although the Cobourg News Blog email goes out to about 1200 subscribers, not everyone clicks on the link to read more.  And although others look at the home page, not everyone goes past that to the detailed articles. So what are Cobourg people really interested in? I have listed below what people read about in 2019 with ranking based on hits.  Note that unlike many web sites, the count of hits… Read complete articleHot topics in 2019

Merry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog

Once again we come to the Holiday Season with Christmas as the central attraction – whether you are Christian or not.  For everyone it’s a time where we get together with family and/or friends and forget the troubles of the world – so I won’t be reporting on any Town events in this Post.  But I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the forum provided here and a special thanks to those who see me around town and take the time to let me know that they appreciate my work. As you know, I don’t operate this “blog” as a business but instead as a service.  As such, I am quite happy to recommend others in Cobourg… Read complete articleMerry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog

Netflix Back in Town

In late August this year, a film production company was in Cobourg shooting an early episode of a new Netflix series, Ginny and Georgia (see link below) – and they were back again on Tuesday.  This time they shot a scene in front of Victoria Hall with a “Fall Festival” theme and they closed off King Street for the day. Lots of Cobourg passers-by stopped to look at what was happening but if you ventured past a sign (see text below), you could end up as a free extra in the film.   It’s flattering that film producers like what they see in Cobourg but also the crew needs to eat so they do bring business to the Town.  The Town… Read complete articleNetflix Back in Town

A Bat in Council Chambers

There was some light relief in Council chambers tonight when a bat appeared towards the end of the Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting. It proceeded to fly around and completely disrupted the meeting.  It first appeared when Nicole Beatty was making an amendment to a motion and when she saw the bat, she briefly screamed.  She later admitted she was afraid of flying things but while the drama played out, she kept low and sheltered.  Mayor John Henderson wisely recessed the meeting pending a resolution.  Men with jackets then used them to try and capture the bat plus a resourceful councillor found a blanket. Finally, they managed to shoo it into the committee room (see short Video below).  With… Read complete articleA Bat in Council Chambers