Cathi Arola

I am a Calgary-based journalist with about 20 years experience in all facets of print media. I've worked as a reporter, copy editor, and photographer. I refined my skills in layout and design at a large daily newspaper and I led an award winning weekly newspaper.
CochraneToday.ca •

Backdoor tax revenue isn’t a bad thing

Between 2016 and 2017 the province of Alberta generated $220 million from photo radar programs in 27 municipalities in the province. Edmonton topped the list with $50.8 and Calgary followed at $38.1 million. According to the Calgary Police Service 15 per cent of the money is given to victim services, more than 16 per cent goes to the provincial government and the rest goes to the municipality. If a late payment is paid on the ticket, the province also receives the surcharge amount. Cochrane an
CochraneToday.ca •

Cowboy Colby will ride again

In almost every way Colby Wesleybeaver is a regular seven-year-old boy from Tsuu T'ina Nation southwest of Calgary. He’s growing out his hair like the Ryan’s World YouTube sensation Ryan Kaji. He plays games on his iPad and enjoys playing hockey and other sports with other kids his age. What sets Wesleybeaver apart from other kids is his unabashed love for the rodeo. He rode his first sheep at two-years-old and fell in love with everything related to the sport. The last year he’s had to slow d
CochraneToday.ca •

Five-year-old likely saved grandma's life

Sharon Carry will forever be grateful for the swift actions of her five-year-old granddaughter Shyla. A few weeks ago Carry was babysitting Shyla and her two-year-old brother Dylan at her home in Cochrane. A layer of frost covered her back deck and when Carry stepped outside, she fell hard. Carry couldn’t move and laid there helpless in -15 C conditions. Carry called out to her granddaughter and asked her to get her cell phone from inside her home so Carry could call EMS. Shyla returned with h
CochraneToday.ca •

It’s time we get a bit greedy when others are fearful

Imagine, for a moment, the angst you’d feel if on a public stage your salary were being debated. Your salary is so often tied to your worth. The feeling can be deflating. The mere mention of money, even in a private setting, is a topic that’s often taboo. How much and how little we have can consume our mindset and steer our lives off track. The current state of our province’s struggling economy, record high unemployment and Christmas coming around the corner has many Albertans shielding thems
CochraneToday.ca •

Cherry's fall from grace

Well the soap box has been kicked from under Don Cherry. The outspoken 85-year-old has ruffled feathers on Coach’s Corner for the last time. His boisterous delivery style and bold selection of textiles have been water cooler fodder for decades. He’s been known to pontificate controversial remarks in the past, but his outburst on November 9 was the proverbial last straw. Cherry’s rants are sometimes hard to follow. On Saturday night Cherry’s disjointed dialogue included the phrases “you peop
CochraneToday.ca •

Every soldier has a different story

Centenarian Ray Stewart resides with his wife Eleanor at Bethany Cochrane’s assisted living facility. His life is simple now, and quiet. They share a modest room with two windows and single beds facing each other. Stewart easily maneuvers himself in his wheelchair in the tight quarters. He proudly shows off his display of black and white photos, medals and momentos he received while serving in World War II. He points out a framed card from Queen Elizabeth II that wishes him a happy 100th birth
CochraneToday.ca •

Yes, she served

As the dated expression goes: Behind every good man is a good woman. For the record, women have fought for more than a century - perhaps longer - to have an equal place beside men. Before laws around gender equality changed in this country, it’s fair to say that women were at the heels of their male cohorts and not behind them. This bodes especially true with the roles of women in Canada’s wars and military service. On Remembrance Day, a day of reflection and honour for members of Canada’s arm
CochraneToday.ca •

The bells at St. Mary's will ring again

The tintinnabulation of the three bells at St. Mary’s Parish in Cochrane will be heard this Sunday. A dedicated group of volunteers have taken the helm in heralding the tradition back. Long-time parishioner Mike Simpson said the bells fell silent and were only used in special events. Now he’s leading an organized effort to make the bell chiming a staple of the church. “Our mandate for building this church was to create a journey from the secular to the spiritual,” Mike Simpson said. “The bell
CochraneToday.ca •

Gaps in public school system force local mom to homeschool daughter

Eleven years ago Nevaeh Friesen-Bowman was the first of four children for Emily Duchscher. Duchscher was overdue by 13 days. The latter days of pregnancy, as any mother would expect, were trying and uncomfortable. When her daughter made her appearance at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, Duchscher, 32, was ecstatic. Nevaeh weighed 8lbs 3 oz. and, as Duchscher put it, she was chubby and “all cheeks”. “She was just the sweetest, quietest little pumpkin,” Duchscher said from her Cochrane home.
CochraneToday.ca •

Cochrane churches face COVID-19 head-on

"Here's the church, and here's the steeple Open the door and see all the people." The popular nursery rhyme has brought smiles to children’s faces for generations, but for the first time in Cochrane’s history the church doors are closed and there are no people. Come Sunday, the morning sun will still filter through the stained glass windows of some churches and project colourful patterns across the floor. The church pews will be empty though, and the hymnals will remain untouched. “This is
CochraneToday.ca •

Alberta's public sector, unemployed and young workforce losing ground

Cochrane and area residents, and most of western Canada, are sleeping under extra blankets and grumbling over the recent blast of frigid arctic weather. Parents are fielding this question from their offspring every morning: “Will school be cancelled today?” We have a full work load lined up at our nine to five job and we’re hoping we won’t be saddled with last minute childcare needs. It’s difficult to consider the tremendous chore of supervising our children - brimming with cabin fever - duri
CochraneToday.ca •

Is Alberta really open for business, Kenney?

The ground at the future site of Cochrane’s innovation centre is vacant, cold, and under a covering of snow. The parcel of land, on Railway Street W across from the Cochrane Public Library, doesn’t look like much now. Hopefully in a few months the ground will be broken and the ambitions and promises of economic prosperity for our community will come to fruition. Earlier this month Mayor Jeff Genung told the Cochrane Eagle that the $10 million innovation centre will drive economic diversity in
CochraneToday.ca •

Love affair with plastic taking its toll

The year was 1967, and the film was The Graduate. Based on the book of the same name, written four years earlier, the film spawned a number of catch phrases and launched the career of Dustin Hoffman. We’re all familiar with: “Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me!”, but likely less familiar with Hoffman’s character Benjamin Braddock’s interaction with Mr. McGuire. Braddock, a disillusioned 21-year-old, encounters his father’s friend at his post-graduation party at his parent’s house. As Br
CochraneToday.ca •

Teck withdrawal might be the shakedown Alberta needs

Fingers are pointing in all directions. On Sunday, Feb. 23 Teck Resources Limited announced a notice of withdrawal of their regulatory application for the Frontier oil sands project from the federal environmental assessment process. The federal government was expected to grant or reject final approval of the mine by the end of this week. Premier Jason Kenney alleges that the federal cabinet advised Teck that they wouldn’t provide a yes or no decision on the application this week, but instead i
CochraneToday.ca •

Bad time to get into fight with doctors

In the face of what has been described as an unpredictable and devastating pandemic, 25 Cochrane doctors have penned a letter to MLA Pete Guthrie in an attempt to pressure our provincial government to reconsider “poorly considered” changes to Alberta’s healthcare system. Local doctor Candice Knoechel says doctors won’t deny patients care despite the risk and uncertainty they’re feeling. She says the UCP knows this and are playing that advantage. Knoechel said the UCP has the ability to not care
CochraneToday.ca •

Cochrane doctors pen letter to Guthrie to vet frustrations over UCP cutbacks

A group of 25 Cochrane doctors have collectively penned a letter to MLA Pete Guthrie in hopes that Guthrie will influence the provincial government on their behalf. The letter details their angst over recent actions by the UCP to unilaterally abolish the province’s contract with its medical doctors which could lead to “poorly considered changes to Alberta’s health care system”. While some changes have been reversed, temporarily, there are other proposed changes that are set to take effect on W