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Rebecca Baird

Rebecca Baird

The Courier

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REBECCA BAIRD: Dundee kids need somewhere to go – ‘blue-sky thinking’ won’t fix broken bus stops

If I could ban any phrase from the mouths of councillors in Dundee, it would be: ‘blue-sky thinking’. We heard it again this week, this time from...

21.04.2024 10

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Dundee restaurant owner need not consider closure a ‘failure’

When is bad news actually good news? No, this isn’t a philosophical riddle constructed by an overthinking journalist. It was my response to the...

12.04.2024 5

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Dundee primary kids vaping is a step too far – let’s make e-cigs prescription only

Remember that famous photo of the nine-year-old girl smoking in an inflatable paddling pool? It was taken in 1990 by American photographer Mary Ellen...

06.04.2024 5

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Night out in Anstruther pub showed me how special staycations can be

“You’re having your birthday night out in… Anstruther? Seriously?” This was the incredulous reaction of the woman propping up the pool table...

30.03.2024 9

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Excitement over Dundee skate park proves ‘culture’ is people power – not a council buzzword

On a sunny day in Dundee, the city has an unmistakable soundtrack. Wheels. Whether it’s the rattle of skateboards scraping along the benches outside...

23.03.2024 6

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: The experts have spoken – now let me Google my weird symptoms in peace

“Stop picking at it, you’ll make it worse.” I must have heard this at least once a week throughout my childhood. Whether it was a sore loose...

16.03.2024 9

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: I’m turning into my mother. It’s not a bad thing.

The first time I asked my mum her age, she was 25. I was four, and I vividly remember standing in our blue lino kitchen in my frilled ankle socks,...

09.03.2024 5

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Someone is leaving spooky stories in a Dundee park – and I’m all in

Well it’s March and spring has sprung, so I’m obviously banging on about Balgay again. It’s well documented by now that the volcanic hill is one...

02.03.2024 10

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Mould in Dundee school is no joke – ‘silent killer’ fungus had me debilitated at 19

When you work in a newsroom, you can get a bit nose blind to Bad Stuff. Murder, crime, and corruption becomes your bread and butter, broken up by the...

24.02.2024 9

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: How cold water swimming got my pre-menstrual mania under control

“You’re crazy.” The text, mixing equal parts ‘right on’ and ‘why would you do that?’, comes from my mate Maria, in response to a photo...

27.01.2024 6

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

Burns Night: A ‘living tradition’ or relic of a bygone ‘biscuit tin’ Scotland?

Haggises, both traditional and veggie, will be flying off supermarket shelves this weekend as folk across Tayside and Fife stock up to celebrate the...

24.01.2024 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Doubling council tax for second homes is Dundee’s first sensible suggestion in solving housing crisis

Walking home last night in the sub-zero chill, my fingertips were melded to my phone. Fingerless gloves are no good for cold snaps – noted. But as I...

20.01.2024 6

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: ScotRail’s ‘mind the gap’ response to pensioner’s Dundee platform fall is pathetic

Picture the scene: A rangy, leather-clad, wild-haired man with a frantic look in his eye jumps on to your train, throws a bag into the luggage stand...

13.01.2024 7

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: I’m glad to live in a country that hasn’t introduced shameful XL Bully ban

Are dogs born dangerous? To me, that’s the real question at the heart of the debate over XL Bullies, and whether or not Scotland should follow the...

05.01.2024 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: I won’t be at church on Christmas morning – but landmark decision has lit a tiny tealight in my lapsed heart

“Church is the worst bit of Christmas.” As an adult, I realise the irony of that statement, given the whole Jesus’ birthday aspect of Christmas....

23.12.2023 9

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

Angus pagan councillor defends Altany Craik’s right to be creative after ‘sexy and satanic’ novel fall out

Since Glenrothes Labour candidate Altany Craik was forced to back out of his candidacy after his “sexy and satanic” novels spooked party vetters,...

23.12.2023 9

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: It’s office Christmas party season, and I have the fear already

“Is this too short?” Was the refrain of my flat last night, as my flatmate paraded out into the living room sporting different outfit options....

15.12.2023 3

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

Which city is doing right by its residents this Christmas – budget Dundee or all-out Perth?

When it comes to festive markets, Winterfests and city centre Christmas celebrations, Tayside tells a tale of two cities. In one corner we have...

02.12.2023 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Site 6 office block plans in Dundee are ugly and unnecessary in post-Covid hybrid world

If Aberdeen’s got the granite, Glasgow’s got the people and Edinburgh’s got the castle, then what’s Dundee got? No, it’s not a riddle –...

01.12.2023 3

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Pavement parking ban is great way to penalise motorists for Dundee’s poor planning

Cars go on the road; people go on the pavement. Clear. Simple. It’s a concept that even a toddler can understand, and in a world where everything...

24.11.2023 3

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: It took me 18 years – but I finally got back on the horse

They say when you take a bad knock, the best thing to do is get right back on the horse. Turns out that horsey people actually mean that literally....

17.11.2023 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Winkie the Pigeon is welcome addition to the weird and wonderful animals of Courier-land

When decided whether or not to move to Dundee, there were a lot of factors I should have been considering. Factors like – do I think the university...

10.11.2023 5

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Ditching Dundee displays doesn’t make Bonfire Night any safer, so why not bring fireworks back?

Let’s be real – life is pretty bleak right now. As the long, dark night of winter stretches out ahead, many of us have face-melting heating bills,...

03.11.2023 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Balgay red squirrel is Dundee’s best kept secret

Dundee never fails to surprise me. Some days, it can feel like the city never changes. Reliable fixtures like Fast Eddie fastened to the Overgate...

27.10.2023 4

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Storm Babet reminds us ‘polite’ weather chat is more than small talk – it might be the biggest conversation we can have

It’s first thing on a brisk October morning as I hurry into the office sleepy, foggy-headed and late. I decide to take the lift. But just as the...

21.10.2023 40

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: My work colleagues saw me without make up on, and the sky didn’t fall

Looking around my desk in the newsroom this past week, I realised two things: It was surprising, heartening and a little bittersweet to realise that...

13.10.2023 2

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Finding adventures in Dundee – the city I’d been taking for granted

There’s something that happens in the brains of Scots when they reach their late 20s. Scientists should study it, honestly. Because I want to know...

22.09.2023 2

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

REBECCA BAIRD: Why I’m hanging up my headphones after 16 solid years of blocking out the world

There’s a Regina Spektor lyric that, in my angsty adolescence, I held close as my own personal mantra: ‘You spend half of your life trying to...

08.09.2023 2

The Courier

Rebecca Baird

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