Picking up from where we last left Chatham-Kent mid-2024, the second part of the year kicked off with a new flag-raising policy aimed at streamlining the process by which local groups and organizations can run their flag up the municipal pole to celebrate, commemorate or raise awareness for their cause.

While the initiative was originally prompted by a motion from Coun. Rhonda Jubenville who wanted to permit only Canadian, provincial or municipal flags to fly in front of the Civic Centre, by the time everything was said and done the new policy is pretty much a plus ca change situation which will have minimal impact.

Of course any discussion of the year that was would not be complete without a quick revisit of one of the biggest generational battles of our lifetimes: Gen Z vs the generation they love to hate, encapsulated by this salvo: “Apparently, ankle socks are the new sign that you’re old and millennials are done.” Hopefully you received enough new socks over the holidays that you can now relegate your ankle socks to the back of the drawer until they rotate themselves back into style again!

We also had a chance to revisit the ol’ Brightenview fiasco once again as a bit of a local angle on a national story about Canadian members of parliament either wittingly or unwittingly being involved in the efforts of foreign states to meddle in Canadian politics. Yes, long before that was a thing, Chatham-Kent was almost home to a $45 million Global Development Centre that would have been a nice gateway into our community for Chinese investors.

Far be it from me to repeat myself, but considering the high-stakes federal election we’ll likely be dealing with soon, let me do just that by reminding everyone that: “Canada has natural resources that are the envy of many around the world and if we lose control of those resources, we will be at the mercy of whatever government or corporate entity owns them.”

Of more immediate concern last year was news that local agency LINCK (formerly Children’s Aid), which deals with our........

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