Erika Engel

Traning Day

2011-08-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

By Erika Engel
For The Blue Mountains Courier-Herald and the Meaford Express
Metroland Editorial Award winner for best layout in 2010.
Published May, 2010

Tails with Tales

2011-08-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

By Erika Engel
From The Collingwood Connection and Sideroads magazine
Spring/Summer 2011

At the Elliott home, there's an adage that goes "what is in the basement, stays in the basement."

At the dining room table, enjoying a coffee and morning toast, Chuck Elliott says the main floor of his custom built home is for entertaining, the basement is for his wife's collection.

"My kids tell me I'm on the verge of becoming a hoarder," said Dianna Elliott, Chuck's wife.

But the Elliott's basement is less like a hoarder's den and more like a carefully organized treasure trove of fashion bounty spanning decades.

Dianna Elliot is a collector of garments and steward of memories.

Her basement is filled - every closet, every bedroom and every spot on the floor that will hold a rack of clothes - with vintage clothing from World War I to the 1980s, and even a few pieces from the Victorian era.

There's a closet for army uniforms, including a full white Naval uniform from WWI.

There's a closet of hats, a closet of shoes, a rack of gloves, a rack for purses. There are drawers and drawers of jewelry arranged by colour, black, silver, gold and red.

There's a rack for prom dresses, a rack for lingerie, a rack for the black dresses, for the print dresses and for the fur coats.

There's a closet full of menswear and a closet for the 1980s - Elliott's least favourite clothes, but an important, albeit gawdy part of her collection.

Elliott's mother, Aniela Spacca, encouraged Elliott to keep the clothes she loved. In fact, Spacca, herself, didn't often purge her wardrobe.

"I still have all my poodle skirts, and my mother's dress from 1948," said Elliott. "My mom encouraged me to keep the things I wanted."

Elliott and her husband, Chuck, spent their careers in corrections. Elliott took night courses in textiles, couture, clothing design and fashion.

All the while, she added to her collections. She'd scope out items at thrift stores, or through friends and acquaintances.

As a corrections worker, one of her jobs was to escort inmates to their volunteer jobs at the St. Vincent DePaul Society (similar to a Salvation Army). There, she had a lot of access to vintage clothing collectables.

She's become an expert in the industry, she knows the gems from the imitations, and she knows the rarest items.

"Wedding dresses are the easiest vintage to find," said Elliott. Most brides keep their dresses, and they are typically well cared for.

The second easiest item to find is a black dress, but to find a vintage piece in a colour is much more difficult.

Elliott also fixes items that come torn or worn out. She uses traditional materials from other vintage pieces like steel zippers and feathers, and mends the pieces she collects.

When she buys or receives a piece from someone, she asks for a photo of the original owner in the piece and for the story behind it.

She keeps the photo and story with the piece.

There's a long pink gown on the prom dress rack that was worn by Dr. David Ripley's wife at their prom.

There's a sheer purple dress with a frilly collar, worn by local, Verna Kennedy, as a bridesmaid in the 1950s.

And of course, there's a black, silk dress from 1948 that belonged to Elliott's mother. It's kept with a photograph of Elliott, her mother in the dress and her sister.

"Everything has a story," said Elliott. "I feel so attached to the clothes people have given me ... I'm a custodian."

There's a whole rack of men's jackets. One set of tails from the 1930s, a tweed jacket in chocolate brown with braided trim from 1954. A suit like that would have cost two months wages.

"I have special affection for the garments in my collection, since the majority of items do not come from the upscale designer wearing clientele, but from women [and men] who had a loved garment and kept it for the memories it held for them."

Elliott does put her collection on display, but only for a good cause.

She lent the use of her clothes for a fashion show first in 2009 as a fundraiser for the Collingwood G&M Hospital. Earlier this year, she worked with Diana Dolmer to arrange a vintage fashion show in Meaford to benefit the Guatemala Stove Project.

Elliott likes to arrange the shows by decade.

"I try to create an era," said Elliott. She will only lend her collection and arrange a "The Way We Wore" fashion show for charitable fundraisers.

She has two shows coming up in the Spring, the first will be an evening affair for Flesherton's new library on April 14. The second show will be and afternoon high tea for the Simcoe County Museum on Sunday, May 15, and will include a vintage fur silent auction.

Elliott is always looking for pieces to add to her collection. To contact her for a fashion show or otherwise, call 705-445-1061 or email vintagecollector@sympatico.ca.

The Elliott's are retired and living in their home in Collingwood.

Long Road to a New Beginning

2011-08-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

By Erika Engel
From The Blue Mountains Courier-Herald
August 2011

In their first moments in Canada, Omar, Israa and their three children, all refugees from Iraq, went through a lengthy visit with immigration, lost a suitcase, and suffered flight delays.
Still, the family smiled brightly when they came through the double doors marked "Arrivals" at Pearson International Airport.
I was privileged to be part of the welcoming committee that travelled to Toronto to welcome the new refugee family to Thornbury.
Though the logistics and purpose were the same as the last time, we had no idea what to expect.
The refugee sponsorship process provides few details about the families on their way to Canada. We had a flight number, names and ages for the refugees and a country of origin.
About a dozen of us rode a school bus to the airport, all a-flutter with anticipation.
We didn't know if we'd be able to communicate. One of the Beaver Valley Open Door board members had a connection to an Arabic speaking man in Barrie. He and a friend met us at the airport, and that detail proved to be most important.
We all waited at the arrivals door watching families re-united and excited hugs all around us. It was a long time before our party came through the doors.
David Morgan, one of the Beaver Valley Open Door volunteers, had prepared a sign to read "Welcome to Canada" in Arabic. He also included the names of each of the family members.
The family smiled and hurried over to our group; shaking hands and nodding their heads to their welcoming party.
A wave of excitement had everybody talking at once. Soon it was clear that the family knew very little English.
Our translator, Khaled Seaydoun, happily stepped in to greet the family.
He arrived to Canada just three years before from Lebanon as an immigrant. He lives in the Barrie area.
He welcomed them, and told them we were here on behalf of the sponsors to bring them to their new home.
He broke the bad news about the two-hour bus ride ahead, and made sure they were comfortable. He passed along his contact information, and promised to be available to help us communicate.
He found out one of their suitcases was missing, and made sure Beaver Valley Open Door volunteers knew what to do to retrieve it later.
Eventually, we piled back into the yellow school bus.
It was dark while we drove home, still I and others found ourselves wondering what it would be like to see Canada for the first time - even if only by streetlights.
The travel had proven exhausting and most of the family slept while we drove home.
At the refugee's new home in Thornbury, there were still more Beaver Valley Open Door volunteers waiting to greet the new family.
The family received a tour of their new home, and volunteers promised to return the next afternoon to help them settle in.
There are many things to overcome, not the least of which will be a harsh language barrier.
But the family is safe. They have a home, and there is a caring community surrounding them and willing them to succeed.
From Iraq to Thornbury, the family of Omar, Israa, Abdullah, Jaafar and Balqees have finally arrived to begin a new life as part of our community, and as Canadians.

Remembering Canadians at war

2010-12-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Six faces will be on one local soldier's mind this Remembrance Day when he, in his black boots and green beret, observes a moment's silence with the nation.
Sergeant William Molloy will always remember April 8, 2007 - Easter Sunday.
He was crew commander in his platoon, when he watched the armored vehicle in front of his hit an Improvised Explosive Device. It marked the worst single-day loss of life for the Canadian army in Afghanistan to the date.
Sgt. Molloy says in that moment he focused on staying calm, on carrying out the standard operations procedure that fit the situation. His training, which he calls "outstanding," taught him to be prepared. "Be vigilant and always expect the unexpected," he recited from his office at the Land Forces Central Area Training Centre where he works as a training sergeant for the bravo company.
Today, November 11, 2009, he will remember them and think about their families,.
Sergeant Molloy will be thinking about the people who have given their lives for freedom, like his six comrades.
He will be thinking about the men and women who choose to don a uniform to protect this county, people like his grandfather, his uncle and his wife who is in Afghanistan right now.
"Without heroes that have given their lives for our country, we wouldn't be the country we are today," he said.

Duncan's World War II veteran
On a hill in the hamlet of Duncan in The Blue Mountains, a miniature Canadian flag marks the mailbox of a World War II veteran who dressed the wounds of his comrades and his enemies.
Ken Weller joined the army in 1942 and left his farm job in Stayner for training at Borden. He was trained as a medic and orderly.
After some months training out west, Weller joined 1,200 Canadians and even more Americans in the fight at the Aleutian Islands.
His outfit occupied Kiska after American bombs had forced the Japanese army to retreat. When exploring the terrain, Weller and a few others followed their Commanding Officer to a Japanese fortress dug into the side of a hill. He thought to skip the first step going in, but forgot to skip it on his way out and he was blown apart. No more soldiers bothered to explore the rest of the caves on the island.
Images of such intense trauma followed Weller across the Atlantic Ocean and into France shortly after the allies' victory at D-Day in Normandy.
When he and his outfit arrived at the beach they stayed the night in the boats - 200 soldiers on each made for a crowded ship.
In the morning German U-boats and aircrafts attacked the boats. Bullets hit the metal roof of Weller's boat - the sound of near misses. And when the air was clear, Weller's first glance outside was to see the boat next to his destroyed by a torpedo.
Weller, who was part of the 9th Field Dressing Station (9th FDS), would set up stations in the field behind the front lines. Wounded soldiers would come to the station, be dressed and return to the fight. If the wounds were more serious they were sent further back to the hospital. Later, Weller was transferred to the hospital where he earned a certificate as a nursing orderly.
One particular day, following a long and gruesome battle, the medics came over a hill to see a parking lot full of stretchers carrying wounded soldiers - many already dead.
He remembers a few patients. One man lost his arms at the elbows and legs at the knees. One had shell shock so severe he refused to remove his metal helmet and he jumped out of bed and hid under it at any loud noise.
There were some German soldiers taken to Weller's hospital. He says they were all very nice men, except for one.
He remembers a broad shouldered, angry SS soldier, one of Hitler's special Nazis.
"They hated us something awful," said Weller.
He was shot in the chest and brought in for care. Even as nurses and doctors dressed his wounds, he stared at them with eyes like daggers.
Weller was assigned to watch him while the doctor tended to the others. The SS soldier sat unmoving in his bed until finally pushing himself up, flopping out of bed and dying.
Weller and the 9th FDS followed the Canadians, Brits, Americans and others through France with a quick break in Paris, then onto Belgium and Holland where he celebrated the end of the war with the liberated Dutch.
Weller returned home some time after the war and bought the farm in Duncan across from the farm where he was born.
On a recent trip to Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, he walked past a patient in a wheelchair who lost his arms at the elbows and his legs at the knees. He still wonders if it was the same chap he cared for overseas.
All this week and today at the cenotaph, he's thinking about what went on in France and Belgium and back in that hospital.
"I can't help but think about those guys," he said.
On November 11, he hopes that all those at the cenotaph next to him remember their free country.
"Just be thinking about those guys who lost their lives and the badly wounded," he said. "We could be in someone else's hands right now and who knows what we'd be doing."

Meaford's Veterans from wars past
A friend at Auschwitz
Three veterans, strangers in the morning, instant comrades at noon, drinking coffee together in a small café in Meaford remember terrifying scenes, heart wrenching loss and days as long as weeks - memories they say they would never trade.
Today, November 11, 2009, they will silently replay those memories; they will see the faces of their fallen chums and, as they do everyday, thank God for another day.
Jack Patterson, now 94 and a retired TD bank manager living in Meaford, was a navigator in the Air Force.
When he bows his head for a moment of silence he thinks of Franz Irving, the Jewish man he met at a concentration camp.
Patterson wore a British uniform the day he and the others in his plane were shot down over Germany.
He and another bailed out and evaded capture for ten days, calling on Dutch households at nighttime for food and drink.
Eventually, Patterson was sent by railway boxcar to a Prisoner of War camp near Breslau. For two years he stayed there with two other "air force chaps" and together they plotted escape. The three traded identities with others slated to be taken out of the camp to work at another. Patterson became Sammy Chrichton and headed for what is now known as Auschwitz.
During a lunch break, while taking cover in a shelter while Italian based U.S. bombers targeted Auschwitz area, Patterson met Franz Irving, a Jewish schoolteacher from Berlin. Patterson soon learned that Irving was taken from his wife and two young children by Nazi's and brought to the concentration camp. He hadn't heard any news of his family since, but didn't dare hope for their survival.
For a while Patterson and Irving met up regularly. Irving taught the soldier German and Patterson brought the Jewish prisoner any food that he could spare.
"I like to think that, perhaps these meetings helped to make his hard struggle to exist a little more bearable," wrote Patterson, several years after the war.
In January1945 the evacuation of Auschwitz was accompanied by the sound of Russian Artillery not far away.
While marching a long hard road from Auschwitz to Germany, Patterson saw the bodies of Jews and others, emaciated and clad in striped uniforms with a shaved head and a beret lying in the ditch along the road where they marched. Whether or not Irving was among the dead, Patterson can't say. He wrote to him after the war at an address where Irving's Uncle lived in Australia. He didn't hear back.

In dangerous waters
Meaford resident and World War II veteran Naval soldier, William "Bill" Payie says he touches his toes 30 times every morning and if he feels especially good he does it 40 times. When he goes to sleep at night, he thanks God for another day.
As a naval communications petty officer in the war making $31 a month at the beginning he remembers a battle off the coast of France during one of the 1,615 days he spent in dangerous waters, according to his decommission slip.
This particular day, his ship had contact with a submarine, but was on standby while a British ship was supposed to engage in combat.
Not 15 minutes went by and a torpedo blew off the ship's stern, killing 60 men.
Payie's ship had to leave the battle scene, but returned six hours later to pick up survivors.
Payie and the crew picked 32 survivors from the water and he gave his bed to a man whose legs had been nearly torn off in the blast. Payie knew the fate of the man in his bed could easily have been his own.
"I guess I hit it lucky in my life," he said.
Payie remembers his brother, an airman shot down on November 22 1942.
"He was 25 and I was 22," said Payie, wiping a tear from his blue eyes.
Payie says November 11 is special to him because it is so close to the day his brother died. That's the first face he sees during the moment of silence.

Digging a deeper trench
Billy Williams ran away from home in Nova Scotia and lied about his age to enlist in the Canadian Army at the age of 15.
He remembers knowing only one thing - how to shoot. As a child he shot squirrels in the eye and traded their skins for a nickel. He thought he could use that skill in the army.
He was fighting in Korea at age 16.
"The trenches weren't deep enough," he said. Williams remembers digging into a hill with a valley in front and no man's land surrounding them. There wasn't room to move, and the fighting was unceasing.
"I always dug my trench a little deeper," he said to the two World War II veterans sitting with him at the table. "I was terrified."
A day in Korea was like a week - noon marked the regular rocket shower from the enemy.
"We lost a lot of guys we shouldn't have... it was a losing battle" he said. "But it was nothing to be ashamed of, we were just trying to be helpful."
The 75-year-old former Land Sergeant now works at Binkley Apples in Thornbury. He lives in Meaford and never buys green bananas. He counts each day a blessing, knowing he could have met a fate the same as those he fought beside.
Though he was terrified and young he has good and bad recollections of Korea, Williams says memories are something he'll never lose.
"I wouldn't trade my memories for nothing," he said.
Observing his moment of silence today, Billy Williams will be thinking of "all the ones that we've lost and the ones we're losing today."

Nuclear shipment runs aground on opposition

2010-12-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

By Erika Engel

GEORGIAN BAY - A plan by Bruce Power to transport 16 steam generators containing radioactive waste by ship to Sweden for recycling is being met with opposition from The Blue Mountains and abroad.

The plan is drawing fire from cross-border coalition, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, The Town of The Blue Mountains, United States Senators, members of the public and anti-nuclear groups.

Many members of the opposition presented at a recent public meeting held in Ottawa in front of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), which is ultimately responsible for granting or not granting permission to Bruce Power to transport the generators across the water to Sweden.

Bruce Power, the company that operates the Bruce Nuclear Power Generating Station, is in the midst of a multi-billion dollar refurbishing project to return two nuclear units to service, according to company spokesman, John Peevers.

That project includes replacing several steam generators.

These generators weigh 100 tonnes each, and are 40 feet long and eight feet wide. They have been compared to a school bus.

Peevers said the steam generators are like large kettles that make steam to spin the turbines that make electricity.

Inside the generators, there is a maze of tubes with one entry point and one exit point, similar to the idea of a radiator. Water heated by the nuclear reactors (called heavy water because it is contaminated) travels through the tubes to heat the clean water in the generator. That water turns to steam to power the turbines.

Peevers said Bruce Power was planning to put the generators, as they are, into long-term storage. However, the company discovered Studsvik, a company in Sweden that separates small amounts of radioactive material from clean steel to be recycled and sold.

Studsvik then returns the radioactive material to its place of origin, in this case Bruce Power, for long-term storage.

The generators would be trucked from Kincardine to Owen Sound, then loaded onto a ship at the harbour. The ship would travel Georgian Bay to the St. Lawrence Seaway and then the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden.

Peevers said the generators could be in Sweden for up to three years before the radioactive material would be shipped back in approved containers.

The plan is drawing significant attention, both positive and negative, according to Peevers.

"Nuclear does attract a certain amount of controversy," he said. "There are people who will never support nuclear power. People have to look at the plan and look at the facts, they will see that this is the right thing to do."

The Blue Mountains Mayor Ellen Anderson is opposed to the transport of the radioactive material by water to Sweden.

"I can't understand how [the CNSC] would approve," said Anderson. "Water isn't a good place to be shipping this stuff. We don't have enough information."

She says the problem with the transport is that it might set a precedent for further shipping of radioactive materials on the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence Seaway.

She argues that a land spill can be contained, but a spill in the water will affect drinking water forever.

"I'm thinking about the generations to come," said Anderson. "My personal feeling is, if I don't do the right thing now, I'd be responsible for the future accidents."

The Blue Mountains council voted in September to send a letter to the CNSC to oppose the proposed shipment. The town sent CAO, Paul Graham to the public hearing in front of the commission to make a presentation.

"I do not accept, nor does The Blue Mountains' Council accept that there are no risks with the proposed shipment of this radioactive material," said Graham at the hearing. "We are particularly concerned about the precedent set by the approval of this application and that the shipping of radioactive materials will become normal accepted business in Canada ... It is because of the past we know not to rely on the phrase, 'It will never happen.' History shows us that accidents will happen."

Graham said there needed to be transparency during the process so the public can trust the Commission.

"In the case of transporting radioactive material, we should leave no stone unturned when we are working on contingency plans to deal with the potential release of these radioactive materials into our natural environment," said Graham.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a bi-national coalition of over 70 mayors, opposed the proposed shipment in a presentation at the public hearing.

"The Cities Initiative is concerned about the risk this proposed shipment presents to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence," said Mayor Denis Lapoint of Quebec, chair of the initiative. "We have identified several information gaps and concerns with the materials shared with the public date. We are concerned that the environmental review rests on best case rather than worst case assumptions."

A news release from the Cities Initiative indicated the group was opposed to the shipment also because they claim the review of the proposed shipment, answers to questions and information to the public has been inadequate.

Lastly, the coalition is opposed to setting a precedent for the nature of the shipment and the amount of radioactive waste.

Seven U.S. Senators including Robert Casey, Russell Feingold, Kirsten Gillibrand, Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Durbin and Charles Schumer.

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission staff backed Bruce Power's proposal, concluding that the transport plan is safe.

Staff told the Commission at the hearing that there is "no impact on the health and safety of the public and the environment." Staff recommended that the commission accept staff's conclusion and grant permission to Bruce Nuclear to ship the generators to Sweden.

No decision has been made by the Commission yet.

Duncan Hawthorne, president and CEO of Bruce Power, made a presentation at the Commission's public hearing. He maintained that the shipment is safe and explained that the quantity of radioactive material being taken out of the 100 ton generators is about 4 grams, in total from 16 generators, there will be 64 grams of radioactive material embedded in the tubes that are crushed down and contained in Commission approved containers.

"There are thousands of these radioactive shipments each year; medical, nuclear and industrial," said Hawthorne.

John Peevers said that the radioactive material isn't something that will just spill out.

He said that even if there was an accident and the ship sank and the generators were broken open, radioactive waste wouldn't get into the water until the pipes started rusting decades later.

He said Bruce Power has a plan to fetch the generators should they sink during transport.

The contract between Studsvik and Bruce Power is worth $37 million, but Peevers said it is a revenue neutral deal. The cost of storing the full-size steam generators would be about the same as the cost of sending the generators to Sweden so the radioactive materials can be removed and returned.

WIFi in schools: What's good, what's bad?

2010-12-21T08:47:00.001-08:00

By Erika Engel
Published in the Meaford Express

MEAFORD - A group of parents with children attending St. Vincent Euphrasia Elementary School in Meaford want to ban wireless Internet access from the classroom.

SVE parent council sent out 210 copies of what it called a "consent form" asking parents if they thought WiFi at SVE should be shut down or if they thought the wireless internet was safe enough to leave running.

The form was intended to garner parent support for the parent council's decision to have the WiFi system turned off at the school.

"Some Ontario parents are reporting their children have become ill since their schools installed WiFi microwave transmitters [for wireless internet service]," stated the form sent home to SVE parents.

The form went on to state that the biological effects as reported by the Royal Society of Canada to Health Canada include weakening of the blood-brain barrier, increased enzymes known to promote cancer in humans, a disruption in calcium regulation, behavioural and biochemical changes.

Andrew Couper, a member of the SVE parent's council, said that 70 consent forms were returned, and of those, 62 (88 per cent) showed support for the council's campaign to shut off the wireless Internet transmitters in the school.

Parent council wants the school to use wires to connect to the Internet instead of the WiFi system currently used.

"After learning the whole story about risks for their children, the parents voted to protect their children's health," said Couper in a news release from the SVE parent's council.

The release explained that parents across Canada are reporting an assortment of symptoms in their children since their schools have been using WiFi Internet service. Those symptoms include headaches, nausea, and Tachycardia (sudden, racing heart beats). Those same parents are reporting that those symptoms go away on the weekends and during summer vacation while their child is away from school.

"Once parents realized that the computers still connect to the internet with hardwires and that turning off WiFi transmitters won't change the way their kids connect at school, they decided it's not worth the risk," said Couper. "Parents don't want to wonder whether those headaches, or that nausea, or that racing heart rate is being caused by the WiFi system in their child's school."

Former SVE parent, Angela Klein, removed her daughter from the school this year because she doesn't want to risk health effects relating to microwave radio frequency exposure from WiFi transmitters.

The SVE parent council has asked the Bluewater District School Board twice this year to have the WiFi transmitters shut down at SVE - once in May and once in September. Couper said the parent council was advised to get support from other parents. He said that's why the council sent out the consent form. Now the results of the survey have been sent to all members of the parent council and once again the parent council, unanimously, support a petition to the school board to shut down WiFi transmitters at SVE.

"The board has heard the will of the parents," said Klein in the parent council news release. "We understand this is an unnecessary risk and we want it off. I hope the board does the right thing now and turns it off."

Couper has given the information from the survey to local trustee, Paul Wehrle.

Werhle said his hands are tied until he receives a motion - or formal decision - from parent council to the board asking to remove WiFi from SVE and return to a hard-wired Internet access system.

"I expect [a motion] will come forward," said Werhle. "And I am prepared to take the issue forward to the board."

Werhle said he will be talking to the new Bluewater Director of Education about the issue.

Bluewater District School Board : The Health and Safety response

Health and Safety Officer for Bluewater District School Board, Ron Motz, said WiFi in schools is safe.

Motz said the WiFi transmitters use radio frequency levels that are within the standards set in Health Canada's Safety Code 6, which is a federal government document used as a guideline for devices, which produce radio frequency fields.

Essentially, Safety Code 6 uses information from tests done to measure the amount of microwave radiation required to increase the internal temperature of a person or their organs. The standards set in Safety Code 6, a Health Canada document, are supposed to protect against this type of thermal effect.

Motz said thermal exposure is "the only known and proven hazard of radio frequency exposure" and that there are no other "proven mechanism's of damage."

Regarding the symptoms that parents claim their children are suffering since WiFi has become widely distributed in Canadian schools, Motz said they are "very general," and "can be caused by a number of things."

"Wireless Internet isn't the first place I'd look for those symptoms," said Motz.

The Bluewater District School Board hired an independent lab, LEX Scientific Inc, to measure radio frequency levels at St. Vincent school and at Ripley-Huron Community School.

The board claimed those two schools were representative of the other elementary schools in the district and have the same WiFi infrastructure as the rest of the schools in Bluewater.

According to a news release sent out by the school board, the tests were conducted in different areas throughout the school while all computers were running and using the WiFi system at the same time.

Safety Code 6 allows for a maximum exposure limit of 1,000 microwatts per square centimetre for general, everyday environments like homes, offices, schools and street. Tests conducted at SVE revealed the peak exposure in the school was 0.23 mircowatts per square centimetre.

The school board's news release on the results of the testing concluded that the radio frequency levels of the WiFi systems in Bluewater schools is more than a hundred times below the Safety Code 6 requirements. The news release also said that the LEX report concludes there is no health and safety reason to discontinue the use of WiFi in Bluewater District schools.

A copy of the report was not available for review by the Meaford Express. Motz said the report was not for mass distribution. Arrangements to view the report at a Bluewater location could not be made before press time.

Health Canada and the local health unit

Dr. Hazel Lynn, the medical officer of health for the Grey-Bruce Public Health Unit, said she supports Health Canada's Safety Code 6.

"Number one, with environmental exposures it's really difficult to quantify exposure," said Lynn. "The symptoms are vague, and it's hard to say what's the source ... The numbers would suggest that we're getting way more exposure with cell phones than with WiFi. If you have symptoms, I can't argue with that."

Lynn said that there's been no evidence to link illnesses to radio frequency exposure within Safety Code 6 limits.

She admits that WiFi is new technology and says experts are taking a look at it. "We don't know yet," she said. "I'm not about to say they don't cause any problems."

Lynn said that ultimately, WiFi in schools is a decision that should be made in consultation with a parent's advisory group.

Health Canada released a statement regarding the use of WiFi and published it to its website.

"Based on scientific evidence, Health Canada has determined that exposure to low-level radio frequency energy, such a that from WiFi equipment, is not dangerous to the public," read the statement.

According to Health Canada, exposure that falls below the limits set in Safety Code 6 is not dangerous to school children or to Canadians in general.

"Health Canada scientists continually review new scientific studies in this area to ensure safety guidelines are sufficient for the protection of the health and safety of Canadians," read the statement on Health Canada's website.

According to the statement, Health Canada is also participating in international standards development and advisory bodies.

A 1999 report by the Royal Society of Canada, requested by Health Canada, looks at research done on the effects of human exposure to radio frequency fields and the merits of the standards in Safety Code 6.

In general the report agrees that Safety Code 6 will protect the general public from thermal effects (internal body or organs heating). However, the report mentions that it is clear there are observed non-thermal biological effects that will result in exposure to radio frequency levels deemed safe in Safety Code 6.

The report states that "there is a growing body of scientific evidence which suggests that exposure to radio frequency fields at intensities far less than levels required to produce measurable heating can cause effects in cells and tissues."

The report explains that there are "documented effects" of radio frequency fields, event at low, non-thermal exposure levels below Safety Code 6 exposure limits.

The effects include alterations in the activity of the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase, in calcium regulation and in the permeability of the blood brain barrier.

The report concluded that existing scientific evidence is incomplete and inadequate to rule out the possibility that the non-thermal biological effects could lead to adverse health affects. The panel supported additional research in the area of non-thermal effects from exposure to radio frequency fields.

Gary Holub, a spokesman for Health Canada, said Health Canada doesn't consider WiFi to be a health risk, and said there is no conclusive evidence of any long-term or cumulative health risks from exposure to low-intensity radio frequency energy.

"It is important to point out that the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on Radio frequency Fields conducted their review of the science in 1998 and published their report in 1999," said Holeb in an email. "At that time, only a very limited number of studies had been completed in this field of research and many of the studies were of questionable quality due to inadequate exposure conditions and equipment. Many original studies finding biological effects at low levels of RF energy were of poor scientific quality, lacked proper dosimetry which could lead to sample over-exposure and/or thermal effects, and were subsequently not reproducible in other laboratories."

Holeb said studies done since then have been "much better" and Health Canada scientists are "continually reviewing new scientific studies" to ensure safety guidelines are sufficient.

"Health Canada will take immediate action to revise the guidelines should new convincing evidence arise."

On the Health Canada website, in a list of research done on radio frequency energy and health, the 1999 Royal Society of Canada report Holeb refers to is included in the list with an explanation saying the conclusion of the report was: "Because of the low field strengths associated with public exposure to radio frequency fields from wireless telecommunications base station transmitters, neither biological nor adverse health effects are likely to occur."

A challenge to Safety Code 6

Dr. Magda Havas is an associate professor of Environmental and Resource Studies at Trent University where she teaches and studies biological effects of environmental contaminants.

She's challenging standards contained in Health Canada's Safety Code 6.

"I'm concerned with exposure," said Dr. Havas. "I don't think it's a good thing."

She said there have been virtually no studies done on the effects of long-term exposure to WiFi microwave radiation.

"How can we be using the technology when we haven't studied the effects?" she asks. "Why expose our most vulnerable? The government assumes it is safe."

She said there has been research into the effects of exposure to microwave radiation from cell phones and cell phone towers, and uses that information to form her opinion on WiFi in schools.

She said that a study on rats exposing them to a frequency similar to WiFi showed an increase in tumours and interference with the immune system.

"In Safety Code 6, all they can state is that [exposure to low-level microwave radiation] will not heat your body," said Dr. Havas. "Even that is coming under question."

She said there are some cell phones that meet Safety Code 6 requirements that are causing heads to heat up.

The United States and Canada use the same standards, but European countries have much stricter guidelines for exposure levels.

In Switzerland, China, Russia, Poland and Hungary, according to Havas, the acceptable levels of radiation are about one per cent of Canada's standards.

In Canada, the acceptable level of exposure for a regular, everyday environment is 1,000 microwatts per square centimetre. In Europe, some countries limit that exposure to 10 microwatts per square centimetre. There are some countries with an acceptable level of exposure set at 0.1 microwatts per square centimetres.

Dr. Havas said that the measured levels at St. Vincent Euphrasia School are "quite low", but noted that exposure to the radiation would increase if a student was touching a computer.

She said there is scientific evidence, which is included in the Royal Society of Canada's expert panel review of Safety Code 6, that there may be an effect on the permeability of the blood brain barrier, which filters the blood that goes to the brain.

There also is evidence in the panel review to suggest that exposure within the limits set in Safety Code 6 can cause changes to how calcium moves through the body, can increase enzymes associated with cancer and can damage DNA cells as they are produced in the body.

The physics behind WiFi

Susan Clarke, director of the Environmental Health Advocacy league, of the United States was in The Blue Mountains this summer speaking at the L.E. Shore Memorial Library. She's been studying microwave radiation such as the type used in WiFi transmitters and believes Canada's standards aren't strict enough.

Clarke's area of expertise is radio frequency radiation, and she's been doing quantitative literature review in that field since 1997. She's working out of Boston currently, but travels a lot to present to groups such as the one that gathered at the L.E. Shore library this summer.

According to Clarke, there are three things to measure when looking at exposure to microwave radiation.

Firstly, Clarke said one must measure the intensity at which the waves are flowing, which is measured in Gigahertz.

A typical WiFi transmitter deploys waves at a rate of approximately 2.4 Gigahertz, or 2.4 billion cycles pas through a point in one second. Essentially, that's how fast the waves are travelling.

Second, Clark said a microwave must be measured for its wavelength. She said a WiFi wavelength is about 12-centimetres long from start to finish. This is important for a process called resonance. Simply put, an object that is the same size as that wavelength will maximally absorb that wave. This includes objects such as a child's brain.

This process can be illustrated with tuning forks. One tuning fork once hit and will emit sound waves that will cause another tuning fork to vibrate and emit the same tone because it maximally absorbs the sound waves emitted from the first fork.

Thirdly, a wave can be measured in power density, which is the familiar microwatts per square centimetre measurements that were used to measure WiFi in schools.

In the case of St. Vincent Euphrasia school, the WiFi system peaks at 0.23 microwatts per centimetre.

To hell and back: The Kemu's are home

2010-12-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

At home in Thornbury, finally, the Kemu's sleep peacefully for the first time in more than three years.

Gustave, Arlette, Landry, Audrey, Vanessa and Benitta Kemu arrived at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on a cold but sunny afternoon, Thursday, February 11. Refugees from the turmoil plaguing their home country - the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Gustave, the father, said he knew nothing of Canada before arriving - just that it was cold. That wasn't going to deter them from coming. They spent the past three years facing the unknown - three years of unpredictable horror. Canada, whatever it held, had to be exponentially better than the hell they survived in Africa.

The Kemus had a home in DR Congo - perhaps not as modern as a North American family enjoys, but they had clean water, ample food and a bed for each of their five children - all of whom, were able to go to school when they reached the right age.

Baby Benitta was born and instead of celebrating another child, the Kemu's life, like so many others in DR Congo, was ripped apart.

Gustave says most of the conflict in DR Congo is tribal - not unlike the genocides in Rwanda more than a decade ago. In fact, some of the invaders have even come from Rwanda - that's where the weapons are from.

The Kemu's were first split up, Gustave fled the town to find a safe place for the family to flee to.

Then the worst came true.

Arlette and her five children were singled out by evil men who violated and murdered 16 year-old Jacquie Kemu in front of her mother and siblings.

Gustave lost contact with his family, not knowing the fate of his firstborn daughter, not knowing the fate of any of his children or his wife. He assumed them dead.

Arlette assumed her husband, the father of her four remaining children, was dead.

The Kemu children and their mother fled Congo, first they took a ship south down Lake Tanganyika. From there they rode a truck - but without any idea of a destination. They knew only that they needed to flee Congo. The exodus was massive.

"If you could only see the thousands of people walking hundreds of kilometres with their children," said Arlette.

"We were just going," said Landry. "I didn't know where we were."

They were dropped off in Zimbabwe and told to continue walking until they found a camp.

Gustave tried to stay in Zambia, but was warned not to. He made his way to Zimbabwe to a United Nations protected refugee camp. He spent one year without word from his family. One year believing they were dead.

Gustave thought his family gone, in desperation, he wrote a letter to Red Cross containing the names of his lost wife and children. They were registered at the camp.

All but one of the Kemu's were reunited at the refugee camp in Zimbabwe.

Gustave then learned of his daughter's murder.

"That is life," he said, not fighting a single tear running down his cheek, then wiping away the others that followed.

Zimbabwe may seem a poor alternative given the turmoil in the country, but a pocket of the land is protected by the United Nations, and that's where the refugees live. Families fleeing for their lives from evil in their own countries - Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Berundi, Somalia.

The Kemu's shared a shelter with a hundred others. There was no clean drinking water and food was scarce. There were small houses, but they were full long before the Kemu's arrived. The six of them, even two-year-old Benitta, lived on beans and rice.

They usually slept on the ground with only a blanket. Illness was rampant. Arlette spent nearly every moment crying - tragedy encamped all around them, encroaching on their hope, overwhelming their peace.

"Horrible. Horrible," said Gustave.

The Kemu's lived in the camp in Zimbabwe for two years as they waited to come to Canada. Finally they were brought to the airport.

Arlette remembers thinking their journey would not happen. That it was only a joke. Then, on the plane to Frankfurt, Germany - the stopover before Canada - she began to believe she and her family were leaving their hell.

They landed in Toronto and Landry said he had to pinch himself to believe it.

"I could not believe it was me in Toronto," he said.

They passed through one final smoked glass door to see a crowd waiting for them, cheering at their arrival. Arlette says she will remember that surprise - that day - for the rest of her life.

"I had deep joy," said Gustave. "I said, 'I'm abandoning the old, this is the new life. Thank God for everything."

The family, together around their kitchen table, Audrey serving tea and Benitta drinking milk - her favourite - tries to explain the best thing about Canada.

"There is peace," said Audrey, quietly and with a smile.

"Peace of mind," said Arlette, her head bowed. "In the camp, I spent all of the time crying, now I sleep well, I can eat something. I can see my children go school."

"Tranquility," said Landry. He motions across his face with his hands, "no more nightmares."

"Everything," said Gustave.

TBM new home for refugees

2010-12-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

The Kemu family has finally arrived.

I was one of about a dozen, who travelled by school bus to Toronto to meet the Congolese refugees. The yellow bus was brimming with anticipation and unanswerable questions.

On Thursday, Feb. 11, the bus left the parking lot at Beaver Valley Community Centre at noon, packed with winter coats, hats, mitts and boots for a family of six. Also on board were three ladies representing Beaver Valley Outreach - Mary Johnston, Mary Jane McCrea and Lynda Burns; three students from Beaver Valley Community School - Erin Hogan, Madison Pearson and Elora Tarlo; and members of the Beaver Valley Open Door - Sharon Chapman, Richard Griffith, David Morgan, Adrienne Corti, Carol Solursh and Bill Morris.

The sun shone brightly for the trip to the airport. On board the bus, we all started with a moment of silence to think about the Kemu family traveling to Canada, and praying for their safe arrival.

Later, we started to wonder what the rest of the day would hold.

How long would they be in immigration before they could exit the gates to see us? Would they know we were there waiting for them? What would they be wearing? What would they look like? What language would they speak?

Finally at the airport, we arrived at the same time as the Kemu's flight, but we knew we still had to wait for them to finish their paperwork at Canada's immigration office.

Jessica Jackel, a York University student and resident of The Blue Mountains who spent time in Africa and learned Swahili, met us at the airport. We also met Dr. Rob Patterson, a translator who lived in Kenya and worked with Refugees to send them to Canada. He brought two Congolese friends who came to Canada as refugees eight years before.

Two hours passed while we waited at the arrivals gate, holding posters that said Karibu Kemu (Welcome). Some of the group rehearsed a song - "Karibu, tu-na-pend." (Welcome, we love you.)

At last, a family of six Congolese, dressed in new sweaters and new shoes, came quietly out of the sliding doors, scanning the crowd of people waiting to welcome their parties. They smiled at the sight of our signs and grinned wide as they greeted us all with hugs and hand shakes. We managed, Karibu, and heard "hello" back. Anyone watching our group would never have believed we were strangers meeting for the first time.

Conversations erupted between the new family and each member of the group. Quickly we learned that the Kemus spoke fluent French in addition to Swahili, and they had picked up some English along the way. They're flight was long, but without complications. They were happy to be in Canada.

Arlette Cinde Kemu, the mother, told me she tried not to spend too much time with her community before she left so that she would have to learn English.

The BVO volunteers quickly outfitted the family in winter clothes, with a simple explanation "it's cold out there."

We said goodbye to Dr. Patterson and his two friends, and brought the family back to the bus. Jessica came back with us, translating Swahili whenever she was needed.

The ride home was quieter. All three young girls fell almost immediately to sleep.

Landry, the oldest child and only boy, and his father Gustave watched the countryside fly by in the window.

Landry said he and his family were living in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe. That's where they learned English - and his is very good. He said they didn't know the language spoken in Zimbabwe, but mostly everyone knew a little English.

He said they have waited two years to come to Canada.

Finally, the school bus pulled up to the Kemu's new home on Bruce Street; the one that Open Door volunteers have been getting ready for a couple months.

A crowd of residents lined the sidewalks with welcome cheers and signs. More hugs and smiles and the family made a beeline to their home.

Inside the young lady, Audrey, the beaming Vanessa and little, shy Benitta were shown their new room full of clothes and toys. They darted from corner to corner and in and out of the closet, discovering new things. All the while, smiling brightly.

Downstairs, Gustave, Landry and Arlette, were given the keys to their new home in Thornbury, Ontario, Canada.

Grey Skies for Ontario Apples

2010-12-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

A veteran local apple grower is chopping down his trees and going into the insurance business.

Rob Gardner has gone from 400 acres of organic apple orchard to 20 acres this year.

Most of his employees have been laid off. He's trying to help them find placements at other orchards in the area.

The downsizing is mostly a result of the state of orchard economics, according to Gardner.

He's hired a heavy machine to rip 150 acres of 43-year old trees out of the ground this year. His father, Tony Gardner, planted those trees along Highway 26 on the West side of Meaford in 1967. Rob has been an apple grower for 37 years.

The troubling reality facing Ontario's apple growers is this: the cost of production is going up, and the price that farmers receive for their produce, has stayed the same for at least a decade.

Gardner says there's been a 35 per cent drop in price for product on the way for next year.

"It's not even worthwhile," said Gardner, who now sells commercial insurance in The Blue Mountains, Meaford and Collingwood area. "Nobody can stand that in any business."

Particularly in a risky business like farming, where half a crop can be destroyed by a late frost, by hail or, as happened last year, a tornado.

Gardner said the trees he's taken out were old and at the end of their life, but instead of replanting orchard, the land will be used for cash crops like beans and grains.

Gardner's situation isn't unique, according to Brian Gilroy, a local apple grower and chair of the Ontario Apple Grower's Association.

Acres of orchards have been disappearing since the 1990s.

According to Gilroy, there were 34,000 acres of apple orchard in Ontario in 1994.

Today there are 12,500 acres.

Much of the land that was once apple orchard is still agricultural land, mostly used for cash crops.

Grey County is home to 4,000 acres of apple orchards, more than any other county in Canada.

A lot of apples now come from Asia - in fact, most concentrate used in juices sold all over the world including Canada, is juice made from Fuji apples and exported from China.

The cost of production is up, but the price per bushel hasn't changed much over the years.

"We've had to become more efficient," said Gilroy.

There are now 75 apple growers in the Georgian Bay area including Collingwood, The Blue Mountains and Meaford - less than half of what it was 20 years ago.

Gilroy and Shane Ardiel, chair of the Georgian Bay Fruit Grower's Association, are working to promote Georgian Bay apples.

On Thursday, May 6, Gilroy and Ardiel along with Faye Clack Communications of Mississauga invited several GTA journalists to tour Ardiel's orchard and Bay Growers Cooperative. The goal was promoting Ontario apples.

"We're in trouble," said Gilroy, while walking through Ardiel's orchard.

Again it came down to economics.

The cost of production is high and getting higher. The price for product is low and staying there.

Even at Ardiel's successful orchard, there is evidence of changing economics. He's going high density, getting rid of standard trees and opting for smaller, closer trees and more per acre.

A big part of the solution, according to Gilroy, Gardner and Ardiel, is Canadians buying local produce.

The rest is economics.

Twister tears heart out of local apple industry

2010-12-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

The young farmer walked slowly over bruised and rotting apples, a little like walking on egg shells, but more costly.

Greg Ardiel stood in his empty field, not even a stump remained to prove it was a flourishing orchard a few days ago.

An F-2 tornado followed a path through the heart of Beaver Valley stretching from 600 to 900 feet wide, consuming the oldest and youngest trees in the area and throwing the crops from the nurtured branches. This year's dream crop destroyed in seconds.

Ardiel is a fourth generation apple farmer. He bought his own orchard in February this year.

He spent tens of thousands of dollars renovating two outbuildings on the property to have them ready for storage and rental space - they've been reduced to concrete slabs. The debris is scattered kilometers away in neighbouring orchards.

The trees left standing on the 27-acre farm are empty. The apples scattered everywhere would have been ready for harvest - Ardiel's first harvest - in three or four weeks. Now, the sugar content is too low and they can't even be gathered for juice. They might have been salvageable two weeks from now, but the fruit was punctured, imbedded with rocks, impaled on wooden stakes and broken branches. The fruit is severely bruised and rotting too fast. Mold has started to set in, and one moldy apple ruins the whole barrel.

A dozen acres of trees were uprooted, in some cases taken away, disappeared as if to the land of Oz.

Ardiel's mom is there to help pick up debris, cook dinner, remind her son to eat.

"A farmer works with nature ... they learn to ride the storms, they're known to be ameliorating," she said. "But that doesn't make it easier ... you don't expect this your first year."

The tornado took a merciless path through Robert and Lynda Taylor's orchards.

Lynda drives the Gator through the trees. She picks up roof trusses, assumingly from a neighbours house and wire mesh that was used to protect young trees from mice, anything she can do to help.

The Taylor's still aren't sure how much they've lost. No grower is. There's no way to know what's happened to the root system of the trees left standing. Entire blocks of trees have to be removed if they haven't already been consumed by the tornado. Spot planting doesn't work on an orchard. What acres the tornado destroyed will be multiplied exponentially when it comes time to replant.

Lynda says her husband can't sleep. He spent the first couple days with a fever. So everyday, the couple works for as long as there's light. Trying to accomplish something.

"Farmers - it's engraved in them to be optimistic," she said. "I think that's what carries us."

John Hewgill had one of the few standard orchards left in the area. The 50 year-old trees on his farm were highly productive - almost defying odds in competition with higher density orchards more commonly grown today. He could get 700 to 1,000 bushels per acre.

"It was a beautiful crop," he said. "The crop you wait for your whole life."

The crop now litters the ground at the orchard surrounded by uprooted trees - roots that reached three feet down and at least 10 feet out.

Hewgill said if he wanted to remove a tree like that, he couldn't. It's like trying to move a cement wall.

The crop loss and damage to trees follows a path 1,000 feet wide; the most severe impact is in the middle 600 feet.

"The force was astronomical," said Shane Ardiel, local grower and president of the Georgian Bay Fruit Growers Association.

Tap roots six inches in diameter were snapped as if made of Styrofoam - something the veteran growers have never seen.

The mangled trees juggled in the tornado and dropped all over the fields will have to be replaced. Apple trees are custom orders. The rootstock usually comes from Holland a year after an order is placed. Then a special nursery grafts in a portion of the variety that the farmer needs and must spend a year growing it.

The farmer gets the yearling two years after it is ordered. The tree itself costs about $9. Then there's the cost of wire mesh around the base, a steak or wire system for support, sprays, irrigation machine equipment, labour and time. It takes three to five years after the tree is planted for it to be productive. Seven years from order date before a tree starts to pay for itself. In that time, the farmer pours money into the crop. Tending to it. Pruning it. Nursing it. So that, in time, there is a return on investment.

Local growers say it costs $20,000 to plant one acre of apple orchard in the first year.

There was over 100 acres ripped up by the tornado and hundreds more in crop damage and unknown damage.

There is crop insurance and the federal government has developed a program for tree insurance. However, both systems are flawed.

Gilroy explains that tree insurance does not apply to first year farmers, even if the trees have been yielding fruit for years, a first year farmer does not qualify, and therefore gets nothing. If a farmer does qualify for the tree insurance plan, they will receive $18 per tree. An insult, says Greg Ardiel.

Crop insurance in general is expensive and complicated, said Gilroy. Because it is based on production levels, it is not loss recovery. Whatever crop is harvested is counted against crop lost. For example, if a farmer loses half an orchard, but the other half of the orchard produces enough to amount to 80 per cent of the average insured production, a farmer will get nothing.

The consensus in the wake of this destruction is that a new system is needed for special cases like this - loss that stretches six, seven, even ten years.

The farmers need help.

The magic number, says Shane Ardiel of the GBFGA, is $6 million.

The town is applying for funding through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program, which has the province match every dollar raised with $2 of its own funds. However, that makes the community responsible for raising $2 million - immediately.

Mayor Ellen Anderson along with the rest of council have been touring the affected areas and meeting with growers. Federal MP Helena Guergis and Provincial MPP Jim Wilson have also toured the orchards.

If aid isn't given soon or at all, farmers will have to find a way to rebuild and a way to stay in business. But none of them expect to be able to return to the same levels of production they saw before the tornado.

Replanting is done acre by acre. Never 20 acres at a time.

Greg Ardiel doesn't know what will happen without aid. He's young and doesn't have the same assets to fall back on. But he's got time to rebuild, if he can survive this blow.

The Taylors are focused on just cleaning up and salvaging what crop remained on the branches.

Nobody wants to think about being left without aid.

John Ardiel, a local veteran apple grower said there's already a shortfall in assistance for farmers, especially young farmers. He believes the government should step in with funding to help the entire community.

"If Ontarians want local produce, then the government should step in," he said.

Zimbabwe exile visits Thornbury to speak of the battle for change

2008-12-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

By Erika Engel

He's been beaten, jailed and exiled from his home in Zimbabwe by the Robert Mugabe led Regime.

Roy Bennett fights for democratic change from his refuge in South Africa.

Now, he is the treasurer general of the opposition party in Zimbabwe called the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It's a post-liberation movement without precedent in Africa, and the people's struggle is all uphill. Bennett was a farmer in Zimbabwe years ago when the infrastructure was second to none and the country had a reputation as Africa's biggest exporter of food. Now people starve, there is no clean water or sewage treatment, and an education is a luxury unknown.

"I will stay in it until we've delivered change to people, then I will be happy to get out of it and be a simple farmer again," said Bennett at Ashanti Coffee Enterprises in Thornbury on December 11.

He made the stop in The Blue Mountains on a recent on a recent trip to Canada. David and Amy Wilding-Davies, owners of Ashanti, and Karen Clegg, marketing coordinator, invited him to the coffee shop and presented him with a cheque for $3,100 - a result of a Zimday fundraising event at the coffee shop on November 29.

Bennett will put the money in a Zimfund and use it to buy medical supplies for victims of political violence. He spent a couple hours speaking to the small crowd that gathered in the coffee shop. They were eager to ask questions and listened to Bennett's first-hand account of political corruption and resilient Zimbabweans.

"You've got to take your hat off to the Zimbabwe people," he said, noting the brutality and torture done to them for defying the Mugabe regime and voting for democratic change.

"[The people] lose everything," he said. "Their income, their homes. Their families are raped, they are imprisoned, beaten ... We as a party are unable to support them, but they've continued strong, wanting change."

He has photos on his computer of vicious acts of torture and violence.

Infrastructure has crumbled, and the people are devastated. Neighbouring countries have declared their shared borders disaster areas because of the rampage of fatal diseases. All the horror, says Bennett, began after voters rejected Mugabe's constitution to grant him absolute rule of the country for life.

"The problem in Zimbabwe is a political problem," said Bennett. "So until we can bring about political change, we are not going to be able to ease the suffering of the people."

He says it is resources that will win the war for change. Without them, the people remain oppressed, and their stand against Mutable, though defiant and courageous, gains no ground.

But Bennett is not in Zimbabwe anymore, he and his family are in South Africa, they could move to Canada, be far away from the suffering. Bennett, himself said there isn't anything good in Zimbabwe right now. Why not leave?

His answer is calculated, but shaken with emotion.

"In life you have a lot of choices," he starts.

He interrupts the thought to explain his history as a farmer in a new community. He got involved with the people there. Taught them about income farming. Helped them develop stability. They pushed him into politics. Fifteen died in the fight for change.

"It's an honour to represent them," said Bennett. "They have shown solidarity and sacrifice on my behalf ... It's not about me or my family, it's about them. Those people - they have seen hope. They have seen truth and honesty ...I would be walking away from these people ... surely they haven't given their lives in vain."

It's a dark time for a nation that fell from glory. The infrastructure that was second to none, even under Mugabe's early rule, has crumbled. AIDS and Cholera are rampant and vicious.

Bennett says it's genocide in a country that was once a "gem." People are dying because the government will not provide what they deserve. They want only a roof over their heads, education for their children and two meals a day. It's not a stretch for a country that once was the largest exporter of food in Africa.

"You never ever know about the adversity or the suffering of people until you get there," said Bennett. "Their only hope is in fellow people who do good."

The owners at Ashanti committed themselves to forming a local group to support the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe in their fight for change. Watch The Blue Mountains Courier Herald for more details.

New novel from local author tells tall tails

2008-11-27T09:15:00.001-08:00

Wolves, gold, pioneers, prospectors, pick axes, romance, dog sleds, log cabins, Mounties, mountains and Malamutes come together to make an authentic and riveting Canadian adventure written by Beaver Valley author Dorris Heffron.

City Wolves follows Meg Wilkinson as she leaves home and tragedy in Nova Scotia for the rough and wild territory of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. Meg's trailblazing tendency, both literal and figurative, leads her to become the first female veterinarian in Canada.

Meg discovers men and women of all kinds who prove there is no mold for human beings. She falls in love with the independent, spirited sled dogs of the north whose history was inspiration for her veterinary studies.

Meg's story is laced with the Inuit tale of Ike and Piji, an ancient couple of the Malamute tribe who raise wolf pups as children.

It's a beautiful picture of the variety of the human race and the importance of that unique mix.

Heffron's history as an author is one of pioneering. She wrote three books for teenagers, at a time when literature was labelled "children's" or "adults" and nothing in between. She then wrote an adult novel, A Shark in the House, about a female dentist.

She started working on the idea for her latest book after her beloved dog, Frauzie, died. She got an Alaskan Malamute pup and called her Yukon Sally. Her vet told her that the Malamute would be an independent thinker, more like a wolf than any other dog. She fell in love.

Heffron discovered that the Malamute glory days were indeed the days of the Klondike Kings and the Gold Rush. She took a trip to the Canadian North, going as far north as one can on the mainland. Yukon Sally led Heffron along the trails, and the pair marveled at the great white north.

She came up with the story of Meg Wilkinson, the first female veterinarian, so she could take her reader across Canada and then into the Gold Rush.

"People expect that you're going to do it in that extreme feminist way - how hard it was for her," said Heffron from her home near Thornbury in between book tour stops. "Women weren't always oppressed; there were always men who thought they were really cool because of [what they were doing] and facilitated them."

Heffron doesn't try to make her wolf characters and her human characters the same. She says the theme of her book isn't that people are just like wolves or that women are just like men.

"It's really about the two different sexes and all that's between their needing each other," said Heffron. "And that's the deeper theme - the interconnectedness of people and animals. That's what we need to recognize."

There isn't a specific audience for City Wolves, and Heffron wrote her novel so that the meaning would be infinite, because the people she writes about are infinite.

She calls the book her collective novel, and says although it was a 10-year project she's been writing it all her life.

City Wolves is an historical fiction novel with some characters from history and some from Heffron's imagination. And much of the plot is based on real events.

"I thought it made the story more engrossing and artful," said Heffron.

The read is easy, but the digestion lasts long after the pages are turned. The real-life aspect of the story makes it a compelling and authentic tale.

Heffron and her husband Don Gauer live in a home they built at Little Creek Wolf Range off the Beaver Valley Road with their Malamutes Yukie two and Jake.

City Wolves was published by Blue Butterfly Books and is available by order at most bookstores or online at Amazon.com.

Heffron will be at the L.E. Shore Library on Sunday, Nov. 16 to read passages from her book at 1:30 p.m.

The people at Passchendaele

2008-11-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

November 12, 2008

I saw the film, Passchendaele this week. It’s a Canadian made film, actually one of the most expensive ever made. It was written and directed by Calgary born Paul Gross, who also plays the lead.
It’s an incredible film, shot mostly in Canada. It follows Gross’ character Michael Dunne from the battle to a hospital in Calgary then back to the fighting again. Dunne was Gross’ grandfather, and the story is based on his own.
Gross told Now Magazine almost ten years ago about his grandfather’s confession before he died.
“He went completely out of his mind at the end. He started telling me about a hideous event that happened during a skirmish …He’d killed someone in a miserable horrible way and that had obviously haunted him throughout the rest of his life, “ said Gross. “It really affected me and I’ve not been able to get it out of my head.”
Gross ends the film at the battle of Passchendaele, with his characters fighting chest deep in shell craters filled with brown water in an endless field of grey unforgiving mud.
The Canadian troops were called to the battle when others had failed to win. They won the fight at a cost of nearly 16,000 men and a battle that lasted months, gaining the Allies about nine kilometers of ground. Five months later, the Germans re-took the ground they lost.
Intertwined in the war story is a love story.
Gross does a brilliant job of conveying Canadian courage and spirit in the film. He reminded me of the importance of Remembrance Day.
Gross’ film was not inspired by the muddy battle of Passchendaele, but by his brave, tortured grandfather who survived The Great War.
It’s not about remembering all the battles that were fought, but about the Canadians, and others who fought in them, who made sacrifices and showed courage.
We wear a poppy today because one Canadian medical officer looked up one day to see the red blooms amidst a grey field of dead, and thought, “we’re going to have to remember these people somehow.“

'Tis the season. 'Tisn't it?

2008-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

October 30, 2008

Behold, I bring you good tidings and great news, there's only 56 more sleeps until Christmas.

It's lucky I was at Sears the other day to see the holly jolly figures of everything festive being poured onto the shelves, or I might not have started the countdown in time for this week's paper.

I used to wait until I bought all the half-price post-Halloween candy before I started thinking about Christmas candy to come. I'm starting to think that stores would save a lot of trouble re-merchandising if they just lobbied for a change in fall colours.

Garland makes good spider webs, and the pilgrims probably wore Santa hats. We could simply say, "Happy Hallow-days-giving," and have candy, corn, turkey, and figgy pudding for three months.

I'm sure the trick-or-treat Elmo would be a big seller.

Speaking of big sellers, 42 Meaford residents and 25 from Thornbury joined over 90,000 Canadians in spending a combined $18 million ordering Christmas gifts from one catalogue - the World Vision Gift Catalogue. It's an international wish book, but contrary to so many others, it's filled with gifts people need.

This year, World Vision's catalogue, available online, features a few new gifts. For $75, donors can pay for one child soldier to be "restored to safety and hope" through a reintegration program. For $60, donors can help an Afghan farmer grow pomegranates, saffron, pistachios and more.

There are many other practical and much-needed gifts available for purchase in the gift catalogue including goats, fruit trees, village latrines, shelters, warm clothing, emergency supplies, clean water equipment, solar panels for power generation and school supplies.

Here's the only statistic I'm going to quote, because I think you already know the dire need of so many people across the globe.

World Vision Canada conducted a poll with the help of survey experts Ipsos Reid and found that seven in 10 Canadians say they don't need anything for Christmas.

Of course, Christmas is a time for giving gifts, and it's an exciting thing to do. Why not add one or two gifts to your list from the gift catalogue?

Charities like World Vision give Canadians the opportunity to give even more at Christmas time - the chance to give sweaters that won't be returned and food that won't go bad. There are lots of charities to give to this Christmas, including local food banks, outreaches and churches.

It's the tradition that St. Nicholas started and the reason for those city block sized department stores drowning in cinnamon candles and glittering plastic icicles.

Give some extra love this Christmas.

Superman, eh?!

2008-11-27T09:05:00.001-08:00

October 5, 2008

I was chatting with an old friend at a Terry Fox event last week. He told me he just heard the cutest thing. He was standing near a little boy who had finished his run when the boy exclaimed between breaths, "Wow, I'm so good at running, I should just run around Canada."

Now, that's Canadian courage.

The kind of courage that Terry Fox himself displayed when he dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean at the start of his iconic journey across Canada. Fox was once heard saying, "I remember promising myself that should I live, I would prove myself deserving of life." He dreamed that each Canadian would give $1 to Cancer research so that one day, a cure would be found.

Fox didn't make it across Canada, but a few months before he died, his dream was realized.

Canadians had donated over $24 million to the Marathon of Hope, the population at the time was 24 million.

The Marathon of Hope is and always was about more than cancer. It's about the little boy who now believes he can just run around Canada. Terry's courage is the part that people remember - the thing that makes him a hero.

Heroes aren't too rare a phenomenon in Canada. In fact, the nation is more like the planet Krypton than most may think.

Superman's creator was actually an average Canadian Joe ... Joe Shuster. I'm sure many remember that Historica moment on TV at the train station when the lady says " a hero in tights? It'll never fly." And the young man says, "Fly, no, but he can leap over tall buildings."

Then he hands a sketch of the Man of Steel.

Shuster moved to the United States and worked from there to sell his hero and start a comic book trend. Superman, however, was decidedly Canadian.

Canuck novelist Mordecai Richler said Superman's extraordinary strength, speed and superhuman powers hidden under a modest, even bland, alter ego makes him an archetypal Canadian personality.

The Man of Steel is a universal hero known as the champion of virtue completely content to take no credit for his deeds and instead live as a quiet and subtle man.

I like Canadian heroes. For some reason, they get their head on right and it stays that way. They see enough of reality to stay grounded, but dream big enough to defy odds. Maybe it's because they aren't chased everywhere by paparazzi and they rarely have to get restraining orders against 12 year-old girls and their mothers. Maybe it's because they are Canadians first, and heroes second.

Lucille Teasdale was Montreal born, and despite growing up in a working-class family in the 1930s, she was determined to go to medical school. She graduated at 26 and while interning decided she wanted to be a surgeon. Canada and the U.S. refused to admit her, and she later moved to France where she was accepted by two hospitals and licensed as a surgeon.

She married another doctor and moved to Uganda to start a hospital. She treated 13,000 patients throughout her career in Uganda. She worked through wars, AIDS epidemics and unimaginable carnage.

Teasdale contracted HIV in the 1980s, probably while operating on a soldier. She was given two years to live. She continued to perform surgeries in Uganda until 1993. She said simply, "If I didn't do it, the patients would die." When surgery became too difficult, she and her husband set up a foundation to guarantee the future of their hospital, and for the last two years of her life, Teasdale toured the world to raise funds for the foundation. The hospital is now one of the largest medical centres in Uganda.

Fox and Teasdale were both recipients of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian award. The order recognizes lifetime achievement and merit in service to Canada or humanity at large. There's a motto for order recipients - a member of the Order of Canada must desire a better country.

They prove not only that they are deserving of life, but also that life is worth desiring.

Rocks in the treasury

2008-11-27T09:03:00.000-08:00

I walked into a store the other day.

I guess it was a flea market.

I'm ruining this, aren't I?

Well, there was a section for "treasures." And behind a few "you break it you buy it" notes, the shelves were crowded with trinkets, some shiny, some dull. Some half and half, depending where the dust had settled.

There were many shelves full of books, and one decrepit, thick black spine caught my attention. The tired book was completely ordinary. Once a textbook, once pristine, with white pages tightly bound, it probably arrived in the mail wrapped brown paper and tied with string.

It was probably discarded as soon as the graduate received their certificate.

Now it's on a shelf with other books, some standing a little straighter than others. Across the aisle are the lazy typewriters with dented cases, the threadbare chairs, frayed ticket stubs with washed out ink and thousands of teacups. All in a section called "treasures."

What keeps these faded memories from ending up in the junkyard? Maybe chance. Maybe more.

When I was young, my family had a Black Lab. We called him Tar. He called us obvious.

He loved swimming and chasing sticks, but toward the end of his life he slowed down a bit. He couldn't swim as far, but he still loved the water. We used to take him down to the beach near Thornbury Harbour. It's very rocky there, we often wished for sand, but Tar thought it was perfect.

While we sat on the beach, skipping rocks off the shore or wishing for sand to make castles, Tar would stand knee deep in the water staring into the waves. His ears fell forwards to cover the side of his face.

Labs have adorable ears.

His brown eyes watched the bottom of the lake, his head moving slightly as he searched the rocks. Then one would catch the sun, and sparkle like he wanted it to. He would shove his ink black head under the water and stay there until he had that grey rock in his jaw.

Then he would bring it to a spot on the beach, near enough so we knew it was a gift, but far enough away to keep it safe. After it was placed neatly on the pile - and they were neat piles - he trotted back to the water to wait patiently for a new gem.

The rocks chipped his teeth, the water got in his ears and made them ache, and the piles always tumbled when we left for home, but on our return, Tar made more treasure piles for us, his family.

I've heard it said that one's heart is always found in the same place as one's treasure, and that makes me think that something precious is that way because our heart decides it.

Teacups, typewriters, ticket stubs and Tar. Perhaps value is found where value is placed.

Questions not watered down for meeting

2008-11-27T09:00:00.001-08:00

October 23, 2008

Clarksburg residents put some tough questions to Town of the Blue Mountains staff and council at two meetings about plans for the water and wastewater servicing project.

The meetings, on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Monday, Oct. 20, were held at the Marsh St. Centre and were a result of a growing list of questions and concerns over the cost of providing town water and sewer services to Clarksburg residents.

Reg Russwurm, director of engineering and public works for The Blue Mountains, made the presentation and fielded questions with the help of Deputy Mayor Duncan McKinlay.

The plans, thus far, are not specific. The next step in the process is to make preliminary designs, and decide on the best option. Ideas to phase the construction to include just the downtown area in the beginning and/or to only install lines for water and not wastewater are a few options town staff will look at.

The cost of servicing seemed daunting to the residents present at the meetings. The town has estimated that if it was to proceed with the plan today, and achieved provincial funding in addition to the federal government's contribution of $5 million, each Clarksburg resident would have to pay $22,825 for service to their property line.

They would then have to arrange and pay for a contractor to connect the service from the property line to their home or business, and to decommission their existing septic system and well.

The few residents already legally connected to the town's water and sewer service, will not be charged a capital charge for the new system, since a portion of their monthly bills is set aside for replacement and repair.

The existing pipes in Clarksburg are smaller than the planned pipes and will be replaced should the project be approved. A key component in the plan, according to Russwurm is fire safety and larger pipes are required to meet safety standards for emergency situations.

Russwurm assured the residents that the plan would be unlikely to proceed without provincial funding. The town's applications to the province have been denied three times, but they will make another application in November for funds from a project called Building Canada. The plan released by the town projects a three-way split in the cost, $5 million from the federal government, $5 million from the province, and another $5 million from the town.

All the costs released to date are estimates and could change based on the many variables in the project, not the least of which is the current state of the economy.

Many of the people at the meeting voiced their concerns about the cost of the project especially in light of the recent economic uncertainty. One person suggested a five-year moratorium be placed on the plans, and could not believe the plan was being considered at the present time.

McKinlay said he would not stop moving forward with preliminary plans because there was no way to tell what was going to happen in the economy in the next five years or what the governments will do for economic stimulus. He stressed, however, that drafting some preliminary plans did not mean they were committing to any construction date, or even to a definite plan.

Town staff have been pursuing the idea of servicing Clarksburg for a number of years, even surveying the well water and septic treatments that exist now. An independent consulting engineering and planning company, the Ainley Group, found that almost a third of the residences in Clarksburg had water that would not pass the Ministry of Environment standards for water quality.

Russwurm reasoned that the survey, conducted about six years ago, showed the majority of people in Clarksburg had acceptable water quality, but still showed concern about the properties below standard.

"We want to provide good water quality to everyone," said Russwurm. "Not just the majority of people."

Councillor Cameron Kennedy told the crowd at the meeting that his biggest concern as a council member was the health of the citizens, more than the cost of the project.

"It's not a decision that council will make easily," he said. "If we have one person sick from water or septic ... I don't want that on my shoulders."

One resident said the plan was being pushed on the town, and that many of the residents he knew didn't even want water and wastewater servicing. He asked for a show of hands at the meeting to see who wanted the service. His survey was cut short, however, by McKinlay who said that private comment forms were available for all local residents and the town council and staff would carefully consider all the comments they received.

Mayor Ellen Anderson cautioned her constituents to approach the issue carefully.

"It's always an emotional issue when money is involved," she said. "We are trying to do the right thing ... I don't want to see human beings in my municipality arguing about water."

She said the costs of a septic system and a well are sometimes hidden, but must be considered to make a fair and balanced decision. She added that she pays for a water softener and the salt to go in it, that she must constantly replace rusted fixtures, and that a new septic system can cost about $15,000.

Another resident said he was one of several in the area "hanging by his toes" when it comes to his septic system and well water. He asked about the time frame for the plan, because if he were to replace his systems, he would not want town service, but as it stands now, he wants town service "yesterday."

Russwurm explained that the federal government requires the town to use the funds they have been granted by March 2011, which means the construction will have to be complete by November 2010.

Residents would be billed by March 2011, and will have the option of a payment plan or paying the cost upfront. They will have to be connected to the system within 11 months of receiving a bill for the capital sum.

If they choose not to connect to the system because they are satisfied with their current system, they will be billed a sum of $24 a month for water/sewer maintenance, and may connect at any time once they have paid a contractor to install a connection from the property line to their home or business.

The ultimate decision for the go-ahead on this project rests on the shoulders of The Blue Mountains town council. McKinlay urged residents to fill out comment forms or write letters to the town expressing their opinions on the matter and including their situations for consideration.

After a public meeting in May on this same issue, the town received just 15 comment forms.

The forms are available on the town website or at the town office on Bridge St. in Thornbury.

Letters are also accepted, and may be sent to the office or e-mailed. The town asks that comments be submitted by November 14 so they can be reviewed as soon as possible.

McKinlay closed the meeting saying there was some historical momentum behind the servicing project and that nothing has convinced him, thus far, that the council should stop considering it.

He made it clear that he had not made up his mind to go ahead with or delay the project, and urged residents to send in comments to help the council make an informed decision.

Beaver Valley home burns in early morning

2008-11-27T08:58:00.001-08:00

An historic home in Beaver Valley was all but obliterated in an early morning fire.

All that remains of the 125-year-old home is a portion of the walls and a newer addition on the rear of the building.

The Blue Mountains fire department received a call about the house on the intersection of Beaver Valley Road and Epping from a neighbour at about 4 a.m. on Thursday, October 30.

The owner, Dr. Peter von Bitter, was away at his other home in the Toronto area. No one was injured in the blaze. By the time the neighbour noticed and phoned 911, the flames were through the roof.

When firefighters arrived, the flames had consumed most of the front section of the house, including the roof, a side addition and the top floor. Firefighters managed to save the newer addition at the rear of the house by cutting a hole in the roof to allow heat and smoke to escape.

Windows had already started to crack in the addition indicating high levels of heat, according to A.J. Lake, fire prevention officer for The Blue Mountains.

There was a propane tank at the back of the house that remained safe, but firefighters had to manage tanks of fuel oil in the basement, which did catch fire.

The house, locally known as the Londry home, was built circa 1885 by the original owners Clara and Clarence Londry with additions constructed in 1957 and about 10 years ago. Von Bitter has owned the home for about 20 years, and said he was spending more time in the area now that he is retired.

All that is left standing of the original part of the home is the half stone - half brick walls. Von Bitter said there were several theories about the unusual construction of the home. Some assume it was supposed to be a barn, others that they ran out of stone.

Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire.

Meaford Hall does the Wright thing for Christmas

2008-11-27T08:55:00.001-08:00

This Christmas, Meaford can expect more than a jolly fellow in red for the holidays: Michelle Wright is coming to town.

Wright is touring Ontario this December and plans to make a stop at Meaford Hall on Dec. 6 as part of the "I'm dreaming of a Wright Christmas" tour. It's sure to be a great holiday event.

"I believe it's music for everybody," said Wright in a phone interview with The Express from her home in Nashville. "It's a show for family and for people who enjoy good music performed by a group of great musicians that like to have a good time."

Her Christmas album, A Wright Christmas, features her interpretations of famous carols like Joy to the World and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, most of which are Wright's favourites. She is looking forward to a second Christmas album, which she hopes to start recording this summer, as long as her European tour goes according to plan.

Wright says the Meaford show will be about 70-per-cent Christmas songs and 30-per-cent hits.

"It's a wonderful music experience," she said, adding that she enjoys touring. "I love it all, I really do."

She is glad she will make it home for Christmas this year. She plans to be back in Nashville on December 20, and says she celebrates Christmas like many faith-based households, and enjoys "all the rest" of the Christmas traditions.

"Food, family, gifts, decorations, hanging around in flannel pajamas, watching Christmas movies," she said. "I love to decorate."

Wright is a great Canadian success story, launching her cross continent career in the country music industry in 1990 with a debut, self-titled album. She previously released an album in Canada called Do Right by Me. She went on to record eight other albums including two greatest hits discs.

She's had 25 top-10 Canadian hits, including the famous, Take it Like a Man, and has received about 30 awards.

Wright now lives in Nashville with her husband and white German Shepherd, Winter.

Tickets are $48.50 and available at the Meaford Hall box office. Showtime is 8 p.m. Click her link for more information.

Green forum at Blue Mountain welcomes red-ribbon advocate

2008-11-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

Social justice advocate Stephen Lewis visited The Blue Mountains for the opening night of the Go Green at Blue environmental forum as the keynote speaker.

Lewis, founder of the Stephen Lewis Foundation - a charity known for supporting community-based programs fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa - began his speech with stories from his many trips to South Africa where he visits orphans, women and grandmothers affected by AIDS.

He said he always asks them what he can do for them and they always ask for the same thing - food.

"The environment can't be separated from other issues," he said. "100 million more people have been thrown below the poverty line in the past months because of the rising cost of food."

He added that the destabilization of societies is increasing as water conflicts become prevalent, and that leads to inhumane behavior. Droughts and famines only add more pain to communities torn apart by the AIDS virus.

"It's important to green ourselves, but as vital as all that is ... it just isn't enough," he said, encouraging the crowd to become advocates themselves.

"There are certain struggles worth throwing oneself into," he said. "There's no value in embracing futility ... you just have to grit your teeth and keep on fighting because you know that eventually the pendulum swings."

The dinner served at the Blue Mountain Convention Centre Friday night was a special 100-mile diet with all the ingredients purchased and grown locally.

The forum lasted Friday through Sunday with workshops on topics such as the water stream, greening homes, agriculture and culinary moves ahead, greenway land use and youth. The Community Foundation Grey Bruce presented the forum.

Town makes plans to grow landfill

2008-11-27T08:44:00.001-08:00

November 5, 2008

The Blue Mountains is seeking approval from the Ministry of Environment for expansion and mining projects at the current landfill site in order to make the site last for another 25 years.

Jeffrey Fletcher, manager of solid waste and environmental initiatives for the town, said at the rate things are going now, the site, without any modifications, will reach capacity in three or four years.

The plan is to ask the MOE for permission to expand the capacity by 100,000 cubic metres, and to mine the current site to regain an additional 100,000 cubic metres.

The expansion could come in several forms. The town may expand the outer boundaries of the footprint and/or change the elevation of the current site. Mining involves sorting through what is already in the site, using newer technology to re-compact it all and removing excessive fill.

Fletcher noted this is also an opportunity to put in place a better collection system for the leachate that may flow outside of the footprint. Leachate is essentially rainwater that flows through the waste and becomes tainted. There are measures now, including liners and landscaping methods to prevent this tainted water from having a negative effect on the environment surrounding land fill sites.

The current maximum capacity of the site is 380,000 cubic metres.

The town is currently engaged in a proposal process with a consulting group to take ideas and plans to the MOE for approval. Once they are granted approval, the town will then begin to plan the engineering and the science of the projects with the help of a consulting group.

Fletcher says this process won't begin until September 2009.

The town began using the land in the current site in the 1970s; Fletcher said they probably didn't start thinking about measuring the use and estimating the life of the site until the 1980's.

Now the town is required to submit annual reports and conduct regular tests to determine the health of the site, the surroundings and the projected lifespan of the site.

According to Fletcher, there are now about 60 or so conditions included on a certificate of approval for a municipal landfill site. This is in addition to the regulations and guidelines in the Environmental Protection Act.

The town met with local residents in close proximity to the site to notify them of the plans for expansion and get some feedback.

"They understood that it's a necessary evil," said Fletcher. "They want to see that, if anything, things will be improved."

Fletcher says that with the expansion and mining projects approved, they will be able to make the site better by reducing dust and odours, and they have already begun to make the improvements to the visual appearance of the site.

Last week a team from the town planted evergreen trees in a line on one of the ridges at the front of the site. Fletcher has more plans for improvement, including a more efficient drop-off area for residents wishing to bring waste to the site themselves.

Fletcher said the town will continue to have public meetings throughout the process, and hopes to get feedback from local residents.

When the town first started drafting a long-term plan for waste management, it looked at several options.

Fletcher said the town was too small to have an incineration facility, and sending waste outside of the municipality was a costly venture. He added that most of the feedback the town received already from a survey and from public meetings indicated that residents felt it was important to deal with the waste locally.

"I suppose landfill in general is a con," said Fletcher. "But it's the best way we've come up with to deal with our waste problem ... We have to deal with a problem without having the ability to deal with the cause of the problem."

The expansion and mining projects should make the site last another 25 to 30 years. Fletcher adds that this estimate is dependent on several external factors.

It is dependent on a 60-per-cent waste diversion rate and although there is some buffer room, Fletcher says he knows much of the commercial waste doesn't come to the local site, but is sent elsewhere, and those options may be disappearing in the near future, especially if the waste is sent across the border.

If the town is not approved for the two projects, the site will be full in about three years, and the only other option for the town will be to send the waste to an outside location, which will cost taxpayers more.

School board's surplus goes into deficit

2008-11-27T08:41:00.001-08:00

November 26, 2008

The auditor and treasurer for the Bluewater District School Board (BWDSB) announced a surplus of $1.4 million at the last board meeting, but the final numbers are still in the red.

"It's an in-year surplus," said Treasurer Brenda Booth after the meeting on November 18. "It goes directly into the deficit that has accumulated."

The deficit she is speaking of goes back to 2002 when the two school boards of Grey and Bruce County amalgamated to become Bluewater. A pay equity plan left them in deficit, one that, until this in-year surplus, sat at $3.3 million. On the 07/08 financial statements, the debt is reduced to $1.9 million.

"This is the first year in a number of years we've been able to have an in-year surplus," said Booth.

BWDSB chair Ross King said he wants this year to start a new trend for the board.

"I'm really hoping we can get rid of all this ... I call it an albatross around our neck that's been with us for ten years," said King, adding that the board was aiming for a further reduction of $1 million for the 08/09 financial year.

Booth confirmed that goal, but said there was no way to tell if the board was on track, yet. They will be examining the budget and financial records of the board in the next couple weeks to see if the goal is reachable and what changes need to be made.

Booth said the Province of Ontario deems school board deficit illegal. She said a deficit that sits around one per cent of the operating budget tends to stay under the radar, and that it's important for the Province to see that a school board is making sincere efforts to reduce any existing deficits.

The BWDSB operating budget on the 07/08 financial statements was $190 million.

Elementary teachers only ones staying out of provincial talks

2008-11-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

November 26, 2008

An ultimatum from the Ontario Minister of Education isn’t the way to earn a long-term collective agreement according to Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario president David Clegg.

The “ultimatum” he’s referring to is, according to the Ministry of Education, a voluntary deadline to sign a provincial framework agreement and work out long-term collective agreements locally.

Essentially, the ministry is acting as a facilitator for discussions between trustee associations, teacher federations and unions representing education support workers to work out province-wide issues to facilitate local contract bargaining.

The provincial framework agreements include salary increases of three per cent for each of the next four years compounding to 12.55 per cent, according to their website. As well, the agreements include funding provisions for additional teachers for targeted class size reductions in grades four to eight, literacy and numeracy coaches in grades seven and eight and additional arts and specialist teachers.

More provisions for support workers are also included. All funding promised in the provincial level agreements goes to the local board.

These framework agreements, once signed are not staff contracts; those must be negotiated locally through the various school boards, such as the Bluewater District School Board. Once a federation or association has approved of the framework agreements, they promise to work toward a new collective agreement locally by November 30.

The collective agreements reached are to reflect the provisions of the provincial agreement and are not to expire until August 31, 2012.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said in a statement that four-year collective agreements, such as the ones they were trying to facilitate in the province would deliver “peace and progress with improved student achievement.” She added that the ministry would keep working with education partners to achieve four more years of the same.

“But we believe that the people of Ontario understand that can’t come at any cost,” she said.
Minister Wynne announced in September that any organization that does not enter a voluntary provincial framework agreement and locally ratify collective agreements by November 30 will not be eligible for the provincial funding agreed upon in the agreements. Instead, the province will cut the salary provision to a four per cent raise over two years.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), representing 73,000 teachers across the province left the provincial discussion table in May of this year and has not returned. They don’t think the framework agreements are good enough.

Clegg toured the province to spread the word about the new ETFO campaign to close what he says is a $711 gap between elementary student and secondary student funding.

He stopped in Owen Sound and Chesley to address the Bluewater District School Board area on Thursday, November 20.

“The deadline is an artificial one, it’s not helpful,” he said. “Ultimately, if you are trying to establish a long term agreement with the complexity this one will obviously have, you need to have some patience.”

He maintained that the salary portion of the framework agreement is reasonable, but their plans to close the gap did not follow an acceptable timetable.

He calculated that according to the provisions in the agreement, it would take 21 years for elementary specialized teaching to be at par with secondary and 30 years for grade four to eight class sizes to be the same as secondary classes. Currently, Jr. Intermediate class sizes are about 25 students to one teacher. The ETFO wants to see that number brought down to 22.

“Salary is not the issue and has never been the issue. The real issue is fairness,” said Clegg in a statement. “When we were involved in provincial level talks earlier in the year, what was offered to elementary teachers fell very far short of what is needed to close the gap.”

According to Patricia MacNeil, senior media relations coordinator at the ministry of education, the funding formulas, also called Grants for Student Needs, for Ontario students are not calculated along elementary and secondary panels and are instead provided to boards with the flexibility to account for the unique circumstances – rural, urban, declining enrollment, large geographical area, etc – that each board operates in.

She adds that there are other grants for student funding through programs by the ministry’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, which are directed exclusively to elementary boards.

“Also, there is no gap in student services,” she said. “For example, the average class size in K-8 last year was 22:1 versus the funded average for a secondary class size of 22 students. The ratio of students per adult was the same in both panels: 10.9:1.”

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has signed a framework agreement for their support worker’s units, but left the provincial discussion table without signing an agreement for their English secondary teachers. The OSSTF teachers returned recently to re-engage in the provincial discussion tables.

“Staff from the Minister's office and the ministry will continue to facilitate that discussion and staff are confident English secondary students and boards can reach a common understanding that is in the best interest of students,” said MacNeil.

Catholic and French teachers have already signed the provincial framework agreement.

The Bluewater District School Board has ratified long-term collective agreements for all their support staff. Clegg said local negotiations for Bluewater would begin in December, after the deadline for provincial framework agreements. There’s no word yet on local talks with secondary school teachers.

“We’re hoping that come Dec. 1 the government will realize issuing an ultimatum is not the way to resolve problems of this nature and that they’ll make a commitment to eliminate the funding gap over a number of years,” said Clegg.

If the province does not make a commitment that the ETFO finds reasonable and indeed withdraws their funding as promised in the ultimatum, Clegg says the government “will not get a collective agreement with the elementary teachers in the province.”

“If the government believes that the future economically is so uncertain that they cant make a commitment, then equally they should not expect us to make that type of commitment,” he said. “But lets be clear it’s very obvious why the government wants the long term collective agreement – it gets them past the next provincial election.”

A strike is not in the bargaining cards yet, according to Clegg, who said they haven’t contemplated it and have not suggested they were going to take strike votes.

“It’s always an option that’s out there,” he said. “But not one that we’re exploring.”

Soccer boys all grown up

2008-11-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

September 17, 2008

Erika Engel photo

Matt Paterson, Nathan Shaw, Shane Raymer and Shawn Roberts
played their final year in the youth soccer league.
They've been on a Beaver Valley team for 12 years
and won six championship titles.

The shoes hanging on the telephone wires at Tomahawk Park in Thornbury aren't just muddy old soccer shoes.

They're trophies, thrown to their proud pedestals by the under 18 Beaver Valley soccer champs.

It's a tradition started by the soccer boys in their final year playing youth soccer in Beaver Valley.

Shane Raymer, 18, Matt Paterson, 17, Shawn Roberts, 18, and Nathan Shaw, 18, joined the Beaver Valley Under 7 soccer team when they were six. Their friends Doug Collins and Gerbe Botden joined at the same time. Collins is now at Fanshawe College, and Botden moved to Ottawa to go to Carleton University.

The boys remember playing soccer at recess in kindergarten and pre-school. It seemed natural to join the Beaver Valley U-7 team 12 years ago.

Raymer remembers "dancing around and picking grass" for the first year, but something about soccer stuck with him, and he continued to play.

"Eventually it grows into something you want to keep doing," said Raymer.

Next year, he's joining the new adult soccer league in Thornbury, a competitive team in Collingwood, the high school team at GBSS and he hopes to be the assistant coach for one of the youth teams. Last year he was the head coach for an under 15 team. He is also trying to get a scout from Laurentian to watch him play - he's hoping for a scholarship.

Roberts plans to play soccer on the GBSS team as well. Paterson is going to focus on Rugby this year, and Shaw is working full-time.

After a dozen years, with six championship wins, there's no shortage of soccer stories.

Like the time Paterson had to run six laps because he picked up Botden and dunked his head in a puddle. Or Raymers's famous red cards in the finals.

Shaw, when he wasn't scoring on his own net was hitting the post or the crossbar, earning him the nickname "crossbar." One day, coach Rob Ferris told the team they had to run six laps unless Shaw could score from mid-field. If he scored, the team only had to run two laps. True to his name, he hit the crossbar. Coach Rob made them run four laps.

The boys are proud of their team's aggressive group.

"Remember the Chatsworth game!" one of them interjects.

Raymer explains that for one game they played in Chatsworth the host club brought in an extra referee for the Beaver Valley game.

They boys remember several people for their dedication to youth soccer.

"Without them, nothing would have happened," said Raymer.

Thanks to Peter and Mary Lou Hibbard, organizers for youth soccer in Beaver Valley.

To Don Stevens - "He made sure we had a league to play in," said Paterson.

To their parents - "They always came out to cheer us on, and gave us snacks at half time when we were younger," said Shaw.

"Even when we started driving ourselves, they still came to the games," said Paterson.

The boys proudly announce that their team always had the best crowd turn out.

And to Coach Rob Ferris - He started a job in Mississauga, explained Raymer, but he still drove to Thornbury twice a week for practice and a game. "He did a lot for us," they all add almost in unison. "We didn't start winning until he started coaching us."

Now the 12 years are up, the boys are moving on to other things.

"It was fun while it lasted," said Raymer.

"We put Thornbury on every single trophy from U-13 to U-18," adds Paterson.

NHL officials train at Beaver Valley arena

2008-11-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Erika Engel photo

Kerry Fraser and Dennis La Rue are veteran
referees with the NHL, and part of the group
that came to the Beaver Valley Community
Centre this year for a week long training camp.

The NHL visited the Town of the Blue Mountains on official business this week.

For the second year in a row, the NHL Official Training camp for referees and linesmen was held at the Beaver Valley Community Centre.

Johanna Kytola, manager of officiating with the NHL, said there were 73 officials at this year's camp, which, until last year, was typically held in Fort Erie or Toronto.

NHL referees and linesmen from all over North America met in Toronto, then Thornbury, where they took turns playing and officiating full hockey games with NHL rules and participating in off-ice seminars.

"We want them to play the sport they are officiating, and have fun," said Kytola.

She said the NHL decided to host the training camp in Thornbury last year, after Senior Manager Terry Gregson, a Blue Mountains resident, scoped out the Beaver Valley Arena and thought it would make a good facility.

Kytola said she thought the Town of the Blue Mountains staff has been "phenomenal" and the officials loved having the camp in the area last year, so they decided to come back.

The group stayed at the Westin Trillium House while they trained.

Shawn Everitt, recreation director for the Town of the Blue Mountains, helped coordinate surprise events for the officials. Last year, they went dragon boat racing, and this year they went paintballing. He said the NHL's return visit to the area is a boost for the town and the arena.

"It shows that this is a good place for high-level professionals to go and train," said Everitt.

"It's a nice feather in our cap," he added.

The Refs
Dennis La Rue of Spokane, Washington has been an NHL referee for 20 years. He played hockey when he was young, and started refereeing minor hockey to work his way up to the NHL. He likes training in Beaver Valley because it makes the training camp more retreat-like.

"It's a chance to get things started off in a little less hectic setting," he said.

Kerry Fraser, who is originally from Sarnia, has worked for the NHL for over 30 years. He lived in Collingwood when he was 16 to play for the Blues. He says training in Thornbury is like coming home for him.

He remembers everyone in the area being very hospitable and welcoming the "imports" playing for the Blues. Now that he's back in the area for official training in Thornbury, he says the facilities are great, but it's the people that stand out.

"People make a place, the place doesn't make the people," he said.

Fraser and La Rue both love their jobs in the NHL.

Fraser said most of the officials never aspired to be referees or linesmen, but their playing careers didn't work out as planned. They still consider it a "tremendous honour" to be NHL officials.

"We're the best in the world," said Fraser. "We get to see what you watch on TV. We're rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world."

"They let you in the back door, they give you the best seats in the house, and every two weeks they send you money," said La Rue.

Fraser is part of a team headed to Europe at the start of this year's season to officiate a game in Prague - a first-class trip for he and his wife. It's one of the many perks for an NHL official.

The summer vacations aren't bad, either.

Both agreed the hardest part of the job was the constant travel and weekend work, but conceded that the pros far outweighed the minors - uh - the cons.

Newcomers glad to live in 'paradise': A Canada Day Story

2008-07-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

Photo and story by Erika Engel
Hamilton News
June 27, 2008

He talks about Canada like he's been blind his whole life and has just seen his first rainbow.

"The colours," said Ali Al-Bayati. "The colours here are different."

There are greens and blues he's never seen before.

The Iraqi native stretches out his arms, palms toward the sky gesturing at the surrounding trees, the flowers, the sky -- as if to say, "Can't you see?"

Mr. Al-Bayati says the trees in Canada are more alive than those he's known all his life. He said he can stand beside them and feel them move as if they know he's there listening.

Mr. Al-Bayati's journey to Canada began with intent reflection on a map that he kept in his tiny flat in Jordan. It was a map of the world and he would study the coasts of Canada, the jagged islands, the country's rivers and lakes, nearly forgetting the "prison" that he was living in.

"Canada is somehow ... " his voice trails.

He smiles, searching for a word to explain what he saw when he looked at his map. He cups his hands and pulls his elbows in close like he's holding palms full of diamonds.

"Cornered," he says.

His eyes reflect the diamonds he still pretends to hold.

"It's a hidden paradise. It is safe."

Safe, at last, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Mr. Al-Bayati, 48, was born in Iraq. He became a mechanical engineer, but, like many, worked for the government.

Mr. Al-Bayati wasn't allowed to leave Iraq, because his work at the presidential palaces was too sensitive. He knew too much.

He and his wife Nidhal, 38, lived in fear.

"I can't describe it," he said. "Everybody has agony. There is no electricity, no water...You're not safe in your own home. When you go out, you might not come back."

He speaks of mass graves and brutal killings. He says this new government has one agenda -- to kill.

Mr. Al-Bayati opens his eyes a little wider and slows his speech to carefully pronounce each syllable flawlessly.

"You can't compare it to Canada," he said. "You think every day, death will be the next address of yours."

Mr. Al-Bayati decided he had to leave. He knew people in government, and paid them to get a passport for himself and his wife. The passports were legal, but it was impossible to get them without connections and money.

They were given the documents.

They had two days to leave.

They could never come back.

Mr. Al-Bayati left his family -- five brothers and one sister.

"They are suffering, now," he said. "Life there is decaying."

His mother died after he left, but he didn't attend the funeral. He could never go back.

In 1997, Ali and Nadhal left for Jordan but it was nothing more than a move from death row to a bigger cell.

"In Jordan, if you leave, you can't get in again," said Mr. Al-Bayati. "It was like a big open prison for us."

He explains that Iraqis are not allowed to work in Jordan unless they have permanent residency status. An Iraqi, he says, is never given permanent residence.

Ali and Nadhal tried to survive. Work was rare, and only one day in many.

The couple lived in a tiny apartment in Jordan's capital, Amman, for 10 years. The threat of death was not so obvious, but it lingered. They also knew the Jordanians could find them and throw them out of the country at any time. To where? Mr. Al-Bayati didn't know, but he knew it would be their end.

"It was hard to develop ourselves there," said Mr. Al-Bayati, speaking of the constant anxiety he and his wife dealt with.

The couple has no children. Mr. Al-Bayati said there was too much uncertainty and stress to bring a baby into the family.

"We feel we are settled down now," he said. "Children are the next project."

Soon things got worse in Amman. Iraqis were being hunted and thrown out. Mr. Al-Bayati applied to the United Nations for refugee status and a chance to leave Jordan.

On his application, he had to choose three countries that would be ideal. Canada, that corner of paradise on his map, was his first choice. Next was Australia, then the United States.

After more than a year of waiting, Ali and Nadhar made the 24-hour trip to Canada on a cramped Air Bus. They arrived in Hamilton less than three weeks ago.

"We feel we are Canadian," said Mr. Al-Bayati.

The Al-Bayatis are two of the thousands of refugees who have made Hamilton their new home, and Canada their new country. Currently, there are 22 million refugees across the globe.

The couple celebrated World Refugee Day on June 20 at a reception behind LIUNA station hosted by Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO).

SISO is a Hamilton based initiative to aid refugees and immigrants living and coming to Canada. They offer help in job searching and training, education, language instruction, translating services, and finding a home in the city.

Mr. Al-Bayati and his wife are closely connected to SISO, and say the organization has been a great help.

Five days after moving into their apartment on Upper James Street, Mr. Al-Bayati phoned his family in Iraq.

"I've arrived," he said into the receiver. "I've arrived in Heaven."

Long-awaited place to call home

2008-07-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

Photo by Erika Engel

In The Dundas Star News, The Ancaster News, The Stoney Creek News, and Hamilton Mountain News

By Erika Engel

News

June 27, 2008

Home is where the heart is, and this home is full of heart.

Habitat for Humanity Hamilton recently presented a newly renovated home to a grateful family of seven.

Naim and Bukurika Dedinca immigrated to Canada with four of their five children as refugees from Kosovo in 1999. The family fled when a civil war and the threat of ethnic cleansing made life at home too dangerous.

In the fall of 2007, they asked Habitat for some help, and on June 19, Mr. Dedinca was given the keys to a six-bedroom home at 13 Rosemont Ave.

"I feel like I did that day in Kosovo," he said. "Relieved."

Mr. Dedinca told the crowd of volunteers, sponsors, city officials, and neighbours, who had gathered around his porch, that he was grateful to all who helped and happy to see his growing family so well cared for.

"I wish that [my children] will be able to help someone else as we were helped by this country," he said.

Mr. Dedinca recently earned an AZ driver's licence and is working with Skyway Lawn Equipment in Stoney Creek.

His two oldest daughters, Adelina, 22, and Shqiponja, 20, are currently working, but have plans to go to college in September.

Mimoza, 18, was absent from the dedication because she was at McMaster University for a meeting. She is enrolled in the Humanities program there. Mr. Dedinca's only son, Arber, 16, is still in high school, and says he wants to be an electrician.

Since coming to Canada the Dedinca family has grown to welcome another daughter, Ereza, who is almost two years old.

Mr. Dedinca also brought his father to Canada with him, but Mr. Dedinca Sr. passed away last year.

The Dedincas' home was the first renovation project undertaken by Habitat for Humanity Hamilton. The agency typically builds houses on donated land.

Habitat is a not-for-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty specifically by promoting homeownership. Habitat receives funding and donations of land, building materials, and labourers, which allow it to provide struggling families with decent places to live. Families also receive an interest-free mortgage.

Sponsors for the Rosemont project included Home Depot, which gave supplies and $43,000 toward the renovation, and Scotiabank, which donated $31,250 to Habitat Hamilton this year.

Many volunteers helped complete the house, including the Habitat volunteers, a group of Hamilton Health Science staff and the Dedincas themselves, who put in a total of 500 hours as "sweat equity."

Families wait for word

2008-05-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(May 7, 2008)

The people she holds nearest to her heart have never felt so far away.

Kyin Khine, 56, is waiting in her Hamilton home to hear news of her sister in Myanmar.

Cyclone Nargis has claimed more than 20,000 lives since it struck just a few days ago. The government says more than double that are still missing, with hundreds of thousands left homeless.

Entire communities, such as the ones where Khine's relatives lived, have been destroyed.

There's no word from her brother who owned some rice fields on the coast.

Her husband, Tint, 64, also waits for news of his brother.

"We are thinking, 'he could be dead,'" said Khine.

Waiting and thinking is all they can do.

"We don't know how long it will take to get news," she said. "I feel very bad. You can't do anything. You can just pray."

Some relatives have turned up uninjured, but the rest remain among the missing in Myanmar.

Khine watches the news, and hears the death toll rise. She prays.

She calls her niece in Singapore again -- no word. She prays.

Khine and her husband are alone in Hamilton. Most of their relatives, including their three grown children, live in Singapore. They came here as political refugees in 2000.

A little less than a year ago, nearly 100 Karen refugees came to Hamilton from Thailand and Myanmar. Hser Mu Lar was among them. She may have had relatives in Myanmar when the cyclone hit, but will never know. She lost contact with them years ago.

International relief organizations such as Red Cross, World Vision, UNICEF and the Salvation Army are forming a relief effort in the affected areas.

Brian Burditt, director of world missions for Salvation Army, visited Myanmar three years ago. He said the devastation from this kind of catastrophe weighs heaviest on the country's poor.

"A very difficult existence will be made intolerable," he said.

To help:

* Red Cross is accepting donations on their website at redcross.ca, by phone at 1-800-418-1111, or at the local office at 400 King St. E.

* To donate to World Vision, use their website WorldVision.ca or call 1-800-268-5528.

* For UNICEF call 1-877-955-3111 or visit www.unicef.ca.

* To make a donation to the Salvation Army call 1-800-725-2769 or visit salvationarmy.ca. All four organizations are asking for financial gifts only. It is nearly impossible to ship goods into Myanmar at this time.

Adventures in Literacy

2008-05-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

By Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(May 3, 2008)

See Spot run. See Spot leap over tall buildings.

Big B Comics is donating 1,500 comic books to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to promote literacy for boys on Free Comic Book Day today.

The day is celebrated across North America at many comic book stores, including Big B Comics on Upper James Street and Comic Connection on King Street West.

This is the first time Big B has made an extra donation on Free Comic Book Day.

"It just seemed fitting," said owner Walter Durajlija.

Chris Spence, director of education for the board, will be at the store to receive the donation today at noon.

Durajlija decided to make the donation after he attended a Boys to Men literacy seminar organized by Spence and the board.

"I thought, 'I have stuff boys love reading,' " he said.

He later approached school board staff to arrange the donation.

Durajlija remembers comic books igniting his interest in reading at a young age, and he can see the same interest in his son, who is in Grade 3.

"I hope it sparks an interest, I hope it proves that reading isn't painful, that it's enjoyable and it's a door to adventure," he said.

The books, which are screened for content, will be given to schools as teaching resources.

Spence says he believes educators should broaden their perspective of what literacy is and how they teach it. He says they should use the Internet, games and other technology to promote literacy.

"If you want to be successful in reaching them and teaching them, you have to go through their door," he said.

According to the Education Quality and Accountability Office test results from last year, 57 per cent of Grade 3 students in the public board were at or above provincial standards for reading. In the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, that number was 69 per cent. The province-wide average is 62 per cent.

International testing from the EQAO showed that girls scored an average of 13 per cent better than boys in reading achievement.

Educator 'on a mission' to close boy-girl literacy gap

Chris Spence, director of education for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and a former Canadian Football League running back, talked to The Spectator about literacy.
Q. What got you reading as a kid?
A. Sports. I was really involved with sports, and I read anything with sports in it. I remember reading the sports pages to my parents. I would pick up Sports Illustrated at the store.
Q. Are comic books really going to help young boys learn to read?
A. Absolutely. You want to engage them in reading. Once they enjoy it, they are inspired to pick up more. When you find their interests, you can continually expose them to other genres.
Q. Why the focus on boys?
A. In the total picture, girls are outperforming boys. I'm on a bit of a mission to close the gap. If we give further support to our boys, our schools will be better and safer.

Gas 'n' dashes take off as fuel prices skyrocket

2008-05-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

Pub Date: May 2, 2008 A1
By Erika Engel

Desperate times fuel desperate measures.

The grainy, unofficial mug shots covering the wall at a Pioneer gas station on Upper Gage are proof. Pictures of people who fill up and drive away without paying.

They're called "drive-offs," and staff at area stations say they are increasing along with gas prices.

Two drive-offs a week are common at this station, according to attendant Alan Sharif.

Other stations near highways are more likely to see fuel 'n' flees.

The Esso on King and Dundurn had $500 worth of drive-offs last week alone, said station operator Paul Gallardi. But a bigger concern, he said, is thieves' disregard for safety as they run red lights, drive the wrong way on one-way streets and speed to get away.

"When these guys go, they go."

Lilia Lutes is worried about skyrocketing gas prices. She fills up at the Petro-Canada station on Cannon Street and recalls gas siphoning during the gas shortage in the '70s.

"We're this close to being there again," the Hamilton woman said.

It's only going to get worse.

Michael Ervin is the president of MJ Ervin and Associates, a Calgary-based consulting firm specializing in the gas sector.

He said we'll see an increase of 15 to 20 cents in pump prices over the next three or four weeks.

Another building may have to go

2008-05-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

Pub Date: May 2, 2008
By Erika Engel

Another building on King William Street just a few doors
down from the fallen Balfour building faces an uncertain future
as engineers have been called in to assess its integrity.

The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), owner of
the vacant building at 33-35 King William St., has been
given an order by Hamilton building officials to submit an
engineer's report.

The report is to say whether or not the building
is structurally sound and what may need to be done
to make it sound.

"We would like to keep it," said LIUNA vice-president Joe
Mancinelli, adding that the outcome depends on the results of
the engineering report.

"I have no idea at this point," said Mancinelli. "The
next step is to go through the building with a
fine toothed comb to make sure it's structurally sound."

Mancinelli added that the building may have to be torn
down if it cannot be fixed, but said LIUNA would
build another in its place.

Although they have no specific plans for the building, they
plan to restore it as storefront rental space if it
can be saved.

They have until May 6 to submit the engineering report,
according to acting director of building services John Spolnik.

Spolnik said this building and the one housing a Thai
restaurant are the only buildings on that block that received
orders from the city for engineering reports.

He said the city ordered the report because of concerns
about the structural integrity of the building after the Balfour
building collapsed more than two weeks ago.

Spolnik said if the owners apply for a demolition permit,
they will no longer be required to submit an engineering
report.

As of Thursday night, LIUNA had not applied for a
demolition permit. "I'm not sure what their intentions are," said
Spolnik.

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina said he hopes the building
doesn't get torn down.

"I don't want to see any more buildings demolished on
that block," said Bratina.

LIUNA also owned the now collapsed Balfour Building, which was
just placed on Heritage Canada Foundation's worst losses list.

The Hamilton Spectator: Fire blamed on metal grinder

2008-05-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Pub Date: May 01, 2008
By Erika Engel

Firefighters had to work around debris scattered across an upper
Stoney Creek property yesterday to fight a blaze apparently caused
by a spark.

Firefighters fought the fire for almost five hours as it
destroyed a barn and consumed scrap metal, lumber and vehicles
cluttering the property at 241 Mud St.

Winds carried flames almost 100 metres across the property.

The fire seems to have started when a man was
using a grinder on the metal of a truck bed.
Sparks ignited nearby debris and spread from there, according to
Hamilton fire media officer John Verbeek.

The fire started between the house and the barn, and
the wind carried the fire to the back of the
property. The house was about 10 metres in the other
direction.

Verbeek said the challenge fighting the fire was navigating through
the large amount of debris scattered all over the property.

This included decrepit vehicles, scrap metal, trailers, tractors, snowmobiles, tractors
and tires.

Since there were no nearby hydrants, several trucks were called
in to replenish the water supply.

The fire department raised property standard concerns, and called the
Ministry of Environment in to inspect some suspicious drums they
found on the property.

The Hamilton Spectator: A moving story

2008-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Pubdate: April 30, 2008
By Erika Engel

Another piece of downtown history is disappearing two weeks after the Balfour Building collapse.

Allan Petteplace has been a business owner on King William Street for almost 40 years.

Experts now say his heavy history may literally weigh too much.

The 74 year-old has 100,000 books in a space above Thai Memory restaurant next to where the Balfour stood, demolished because of structural concerns. City inspectors and insurance engineers are worried the books might be too heavy and cause the ceiling to collapse in the Thai restaurant.

Worried, but unsure. It may be safe. The floor and structure can only be tested when the books are out of the way.

The city won't let Thai Memory reopen until the tests are done .

Petteplace must act quickly: Pat Satasuk, owner of Thai Memory, is depending on it. Petteplace's livelihood depends on it, too. This is his pension plan. He needs them all.

Those books are wall-to-wall, they creep down the stairs, up into the attic and across the floor. The history section is stacked to the ceiling. There's a few dozen banana boxes full of paperbacks. The shelves in the biography section sag.

He must move them all.

Immediately.

"It's mind boggling moving all those books," Petteplace said. "It scares me ... I don't want to move."

He would rather stay on the street he has known for 40 years. But, it's not up to him.

Today, he'll sign a new lease and pack up his books. Later, he'll find 100,000 new places for them all.

The Hamilton Spectator: City 'dropped the ball'

2008-05-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

Pubdate: April 30, 2008
By Erika Engel

Mayor Fred Eisenberger admitted yesterday that the city "dropped the ball" when it came to supporting downtown business owners after the Balfour Building collapsed two weeks ago.

Eisenberger and Tim McCabe, the city director of economic planning, visited with business owners along King William street yesterday afternoon. This was just six hours after the same business owners met for a press conference at Reardon's Deli to tell their stories and express their frustration with the city's lack of communication.

Eisenberger sent staff members to the morning meeting, and when he heard the concerns raised by the downtown business owners, he decided to pay a personal visit to each business.

"We're apologizing," said Eisenberger. "We want to let them know we care."

During the morning meeting, delicatessen owner Paul Reardon said he remembers seeing the mayor walk by his business earlier that week, but was disappointed the mayor didn't walk in to talk to him.

Reardon, a third-generation butcher in a business that has been in the downtown for 90 years, asked for "a little compassion."

"We work hard," he said. "They let us down."

Kevin MacKay, 35, is executive director of Sky Dragon Centre on King William Street. He was at the morning meeting and later met with the mayor.

MacKay said the mayor's afternoon visit was "damage control."

When he spoke to Eisenberger and McCabe, MacKay told them that if they were serious about economic development in Hamilton, they should realize the importance of smaller businesses.

"In situations like this, small businesses need to be protected," he said. "If we can't look to the city for that protection, then who can we look to?"

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina was at the morning meeting in Reardon's, and said he would push for the city to respond to the business owners and provide answers about what they can expect.

He said there would be a meeting on May 12 where city committees will discuss the issues related to the building collapse.

Anyone wishing to raise an opinion or concern at this public meeting must submit their thoughts in writing to Mary Gallagher from the city clerk's office.

Requests may be e-mailed to mgallagher@hamilton.ca.

The meeting is at 9:30 a.m. in the Convention centre's Albion room.

The Hamilton Spectator: Half the Sky goes for laughs in 25th anniversary play

2008-04-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 23, 2008

By Erika Engel

Half the Sky Feminist Theatre would like you to laugh
as it marks its 25th anniversary by performing a farce.

The play is called Good Help is So Hard to
Murder, and it strays from the traditional hard-hitting drama the
group is known for.

"This play is a total deviation," says Kathy Brown, one
of seven founding members. "This is a murder mystery. A
woman kills a woman, and we make fat jokes. It's
so wrong and so not us."

This year, Half the Sky's production is meant to celebrate
how far the group has come.

"It's our 25th anniversary, and we thought, 'Let's just have
fun.' We need to have fun, and that's a feminist
issue," she says.

In 1982, in a church basement, during a women's conference,
Brown read a description of menopause from an 1800s medical
dictionary. Friend Zora McLachlan acted out what she read. When
the laughter subsided, Brown wanted to find a way to
do that more often.

"(I thought) wouldn't it be fun to have a women's
theatre group," says Brown.

From there, the feminist theatre group was formed. In 1983,
their first production was called Hot Flashes, and it was
a series of monologues about the lives of the seven
women involved at the time.

Since then, the group has performed about 25 plays, tackling
issues such as abortion, death, cancer, insanity, marriage, homosexuality, aging
and poverty, all from a feminist perspective.

"Feminist theatre is a venue for those issues that address
woman and all of the things in their lives that
are important to them," says Judian, member of Half the
Sky since 1983. "It is incredibly important because women's issues
are not addressed, as a rule, in mainstream theatre."

The original goal of Half the Sky was "to work
in the area of women's issues and have fun," Brown
says. She says it hasn't deviated from that first intention.

Judian agrees.

"We've provided a space that is safe for women to
not only be creative, but to express their inner thoughts,"
she says.

Members of Half the Sky choose or write the plays
they perform collectively.

Liz Inman, member since 1997, will be directing Good Help
is Hard to Murder.

When the group was deciding on a play for its
anniversary, Inman said they spent a lot of time deciding
on this one because it could be offensive.

"This is a farce; we are doing our best to
perform it as a farce and trust that it will
be seen and enjoyed as a farce," she wrote in
her director's notes.

Judian said that although they believe feminist theatre is important,
and it tackles vital woman's issues, the women in the
group still like to laugh.

"I'm hoping that people will come and see that women
haven't lost their sense of humour. It still exists, and
we can have lots of fun with it," she said.

The group won't return to this kind of theatre for
awhile.

In fact, the ladies joke it will be another 25
year before the next farce.

The Hamilton Spectator: City man gets six years for 'tragic' killing

2008-04-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 26, 2008

By Erika Engel

George Gallo asked for compassion before he was given a
six-year sentence for killing one man and wounding another with
a knife in a drunken downtown brawl.

"This was a tragic event and, in the end, I
understand that I am responsible for his death," Gallo read
to the crowded courtroom from a folded paper.

The 25 year-old Hamilton native killed Ryan Milner, 22, and
injured Marko Duric in the Club 77 parking lot on
King William Street on Nov. 17, 2006.

Superior Court Justice Stephen Glithero said in his ruling there
were many words he could use to describe the situation
but chose three: "Tragic, heartbreaking, senseless."

Milner's father, brother and sister told the court how Milner's
death affected them.

"We had a special bond," said the father.

He went through a divorce when Milner was two and
in the difficult times remembers thinking, "No matter what, I
would have my boys."

Milner's older brother Derek, 26, said the 4 a.m. phone
call on the night of his little brother's death still
haunts him.

He struggled with alcohol abuse in the months after Ryan's
death.

"The person I turned to for help in time of
need is also the person I am mourning," Derek read.

Sister Leesa Brejak, 16, read a statement through tears.

"It's hard to see people I love in pain," she
read. "Now, it's a daily routine for me."

Assistant Crown Attorney Steven O'Brien, asked for a five-year sentence
on top of time already served, and noted the support
of Gallo's family would be good help in future rehabilitation.

Defence lawyer Nick White also said Gallo came from a
kind and caring family and had great hope for successful
rehabilitation.

White told the judge Gallo was in trade school to
become a welder at the time of his arrest and,
since he's been in custody, has spent time earning further
high school credits.

Gallo was given two years and eight months credit for
the time he has served, and must now spend three
years and four more months in jail for manslaughter and
aggravated assault.

The Hamilton Spectator: Province targets cosmetic pesticides

2008-04-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 23, 2008

By Erika Engel

The McGuinty government is imposing a province-wide ban on the
use of cosmetic pesticides.

The Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act is expected to be effective
next year and would give the province authority to ban
the use and sale of pesticides including herbicide, fungicide and
insecticide for cosmetic purposes.

The law would not apply to agriculture, forestry and golf
courses. It will supercede any existing municipal bylaws. However, municipalities
will still be free to impose extra regulations at their
discretion.

Rob Hall, Hamilton's director of health protection, believes the legislation
will help with consistency between municipalities.

"It would appear that the province has started down the
path that is similar to what the Hamilton bylaw encompasses,"
Hall said.

"It's hard for us to look at what's in our
bylaw and how it compares," he said. "The devil is
in the details."

The provincial legislation will ban the sale of certain pesticides,
something local bylaws couldn't do.

Details about how the ban will be enforced or when
it will take effect have not been released. Those specifics
will be in the regulation, which will be drafted if
the act is approved in provincial legislation.

The proposal thus far imposes bans on cosmetic pesticides on
the following:

* Commercial, institutional and industrial properties including parks, school yards
and cemeteries.

* Residential, farm, and cottage properties including lawns, ornamental plantings,
vegetable gardens, patios, driveways and trees.

* Land around golf course clubhouses.

* Municipal and provincial government lands including parks, school yards,
conservation areas, and gardens.

Pesticides may be used on the above lands for health
and safety reasons, such as managing harmful pests like stinging
insects, poison ivy and mosquitoes, which could carry the West
Nile virus.

Exceptions are also made for lands used for agricultural purposes,
First Nations land (exempt from provincial oversight), land used for
golf courses, land used in forestry and federal government land.

The Hamilton Spectator: Training the brain for A's

2008-04-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

The jury is still out on cognitive-training software, but one local student says it helped her stay ahead of her class

April 25, 2008
Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator

Samantha McCowell is bursting to talk about how her life changed after a computer game helped her out of a frustrating rut.

The 10-year-old Hamilton girl's brown eyes grow wider with each sentence, and her dark hair bounces around her animated face. She talks about her A in Grade 5 science class at Adelaide Hoodless Elementary, and her best ever report card -- As and Bs in every subject.

A year ago, Samantha had a D in science. Her report cards were littered with Ds and Cs. The tutoring didn't help. She just didn't get school work. Any of it.

It wasn't a lack of will or effort.

"I kept telling myself, 'Try harder, try harder,'" but it didn't help, she said, dramatically throwing her pink-sleeved arms up in seeming surrender.

It wasn't until Samantha was coached by a psychologist through a brain-training computer program called Cogmed that her endless hours of agonizing over homework came to a welcome end.

Now, she says, "I am able to pay attention. I am able to get ahead of the class ... It's like I passed a video game, like I finally passed a level."

Cogmed is a new product in the emerging brain-fitness industry whose worth more than doubled last year to reach $225 million in the U.S. alone, according to SharpBrains, a cognitive research and consulting firm.

Samantha used the program for half an hour five days a week for five weeks. For her, the brain-training program was less like education and more like recreation.

"When I was done, I thought, 'Wait, was I learning or was I just playing a video game?'" she said.

In fact, the program combines video-game technology with new research into cognitive training to progressively improve an individual's short-term memory.

In early 2006, Samantha's pediatrician, Dr. Dan Marshall, diagnosed her with attention deficit disorder. ADD is characterized by the inability to control behaviour due to difficulty in processing brain stimulation, according to MedicineNet.com.

Samantha started taking the stimulant Adderall, an alternative form of Ritalin, in the fall of 2006. Aside from almost eliminating her appetite, it made no difference in her ability to concentrate. Her parents, Paul and Janice, put her in Sylvan tutoring classes, but that didn't help either.

In September 2007, Janice read an article in The Hamilton Spectator about the Cogmed program. The Boston Globe article featured a nine-year-old Massachusetts girl with a working-memory problem that prevented her from understanding her school work. When she used Cogmed, her comprehension difficulty was solved.

The article described symptoms that were similar to Samantha's, said her mother. And more importantly, it presented the family with a fresh option.

Samantha started the Cogmed program last fall, and her parents say the turnaround is unbelievable.

"She explains herself very articulately," said Janice. "Normally she would be all over the place."

The program cost them $1,700, a fee not covered by OHIP or eligible for tax deductions. But they say it's worth it.

"It's the best money we ever spent," said Janice.

Working or short-term memory is necessary for such basic tasks as remembering instructions, solving problems, controlling impulses and focusing attention. Working-memory problems affect the brain's ability to store and manage information on a short-term basis, according to the Cogmed website. These problems are most common in adults and children with ADD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

And some individuals suffering from working-memory deficiencies may never be diagnosed as such if their symptoms are mild, according to Stephen Barker, the Ancaster psychologist who coached Samantha through the Cogmed program.

For example, habitually forgetting phone numbers, instructions and conversations minutes after they are heard or read may indicate working memory problems.

The Cogmed software program was created by neuroscientist Dr. Torkel Klingberg of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm in 2001. Since then, about 2,500 individuals, mainly in Europe and some in North America, have completed the program with about 80 per cent experiencing improved working memory, according to company reports.

The program, owned by Karolinska, was released in North America only last year. Since then, six physicians and psychologists in Canada have been licensed to coach patients through the program (see website cogmed.com). The closest licensee, Barker, has offices in Oakville as well as Ancaster.

The program's brain-stimulating exercises are designed to train the visual-spatial and verbal working memory while they measure the progress of the patient. The interactive nature of the program allows it to progressively adjust the level of difficulty.

"This is cognitive weightlifting, with a very qualified personal trainer," said Jonas Jendi, president and CEO of Cogmed's Chicago head office.

Patients are coached by phone or Internet, so the program can be completed from home. Barker coached Samantha through the program by phone.

But Cogmed is not a miracle solution, according to Alvaro Fernandez, CEO of California-based SharpBrains.

Most of the research published on the program was conducted and reported by companies connected to the program (see the websites sharpbrains.com and cogmed.com).

Some independent research has begun, but it is too early to know the results of those tests, said Fernandez.

That's why Barker said he tries to make parents aware of the software's possible benefits and limitations. He follows up with his patients six months after they complete the program to make sure they are still benefiting from the training.

Still, he added, much is unknown about the software's lasting effects because the program is so new.

"It doesn't solve all the problems," Barker said.

Fernandez agrees with this caution, adding that the Cogmed software has only been tested on small groups of people. Even Cogmed's own reports are careful not to claim sweeping success.

Cogmed's Jendi said there are about five other brain-fitness programs available in North America. Nintendo's BrainAge is the most popular in the industry right now, according to Jendi, though it does not make any serious claims toward health benefits.

Barker, himself, reports a generally high success rate in the 20 patients he has coached so far.

"About 80 per cent have shown some benefit," he said.

The Karolinska Institute recently developed an adult version of Cogmed. Early results indicate that patients are experiencing clearer focus, better rationality and improved thought organization, according to the Institute's own research.

"The more active you can make your brain, the better it will perform," said Barker.

This new research and approach to memory and behavioural disorder treatment is thrilling for Barker.

"It's really exciting," he said. "It's hard to say where it's going to go. It's not a flash in the pan. It's going to take off."

While the program's results are promising so far, Cogmed's Jendi admits, "I think the brain fitness industry has a lot left to prove."

But the McCowells are already convinced.

"What a difference ... it's unbelievable," said Paul McCowell about his daughter's improved academic performance.

Even Samantha's nine year-old brother, Jake, notices a change in his sister.

"She pays attention to me, and she's less annoying," he said.

Samantha grins from her seat on the couch.

Last week was her first piano lesson, something her mom promised she could do when she was caught up on her school work.

Someday, Samantha wants to act or teach or be a dentist. The girl who couldn't add now says there isn't anything she can't do.

The Hamilton Spectator: Tips for newbies, extreme greens

2008-04-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 22, 2008

By Erika Engel

In honour of Earth Day today, The Hamilton Spectator has
gathered some tips for reducing your ecological footprint. There are
basic changes for newbies and more advanced tips for extreme
greens.

Eat local

Sarah Megens, project manager from the Hamilton Eat Local Project,
says local foods are fresher and tastier, and buying them
helps protect local farm lands and ensures access to sustainable
food sources.

Starting tips:

* Replace imported foods with locally grown products.

* Enjoy trips to the farmers' market (by bike or
car pool).

* Pick your own berries.

* Be aware of what foods are in season and
buy accordingly.

The next level:

* Shop locally all year round at the Ottawa Street
and downtown farmers' markets. Environment Hamilton provides a directory of
local farmers on its website and has maps available on
request.

* Start your own garden. If you don't have the
land for it, grow some herbs and vegetables in pots
on your balcony or by a window.

Waste not

Michael Gemmell, manager for Green Venture's EcoHouse, says the best
way to start reducing waste is by participating in the
city's blue box and green cart program.

Starting tips:

* Put several green and blue boxes throughout your home.

* Stick to the one-bag-a-week limit on garbage.

The next level:

* Start composting in your backyard.

* Use a worm composter. You can buy a worm
shack system from Green Venture.

Conserve water

Kathryn Gold, water co-ordinator at Green Venture, offers tricks for
curbing water usage.

Starting tips:

* Stop watering your lawn.

* Buy aerator taps for your showers and faucets.

* Purchase low-flush and dual-flush toilets.

* Do dishes and laundry only in full loads.

The next level:

* Plant clover or native plants instead of grass, as
it requires no watering and no mowing.

* Buy and use a rain barrel.

Be efficient

Green Venture executive director Pete Wobschall encourages people to be
aware of the sun.

Starting tips:

* In the winter, open the curtains and let the
heat in. In the summer, keep the sunshine out of
your home to keep it cool.

* Make sure all your lights are energy efficient.

* Before you buy new appliances, make sure they have
the EnerGuide and Energy Star labels.

* Draft-proof your home. The average home has enough leaks
and cracks to make a 60-centimetre-by-60-centimetre hole, Wobschall said.

The next level:

* Try making your own energy through solar panels or
wind turbines.

Go ride a bike

About 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from
transportation, according to Wobschall.

* Walking, biking, car pooling and taking transit are easy
ways to reduce those harmful emissions.

* Use EnerGuide for automobiles before buying a car. Make
sure to purchase a fuel-efficient or hybrid model.

* Plan your route before you leave the house. A
well-planned errand means fewer trips.

Special to The Hamilton Spectator

For more information and tips to reduce your ecological footprint,
and to see a list of Earth Day events all
week, go to thespec.com

The Hamilton Spectator: St. Joe's gets million-dollar gift

2008-04-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 17, 2008

By Erika Engel

A million-dollar donation from the Teresa Cascioli Charitable Foundation will
allow St. Joseph's Healthcare to develop a new state-of-the-art operating
room and nursing station named for her.

Both are part of a $110-million plan to improve surgical
facilities at the hospital.

"This is such a great hospital," Cascioli, the former CEO
of Hamilton's Lakeport Brewing, told The Spectator at yesterday's announcement.

"It's been here forever. I'm really impressed with the staff
and the initiative, and it's Catholic, and I'm Catholic."

Rob Donelson, president and CEO of the St. Joseph's foundation,
said he hoped Cascioli's gift would be a catalyst for
other gifts in the community. "This is a gift of
historic proportions," he said. "(It) is an immense statement by
Teresa to say the St. Joe's is an organization worth
investing in."

Cascioli also wanted to provide the community with an opportunity
to give to the hospital. At the donation announcement, she
revealed her idea for a fundraising project called the St.
Joe's Baby Face Photo Wall.

Cascioli, who was born at St. Joseph's in 1961, encouraged
others who were born there to make a donation and
submit their baby photo for a wall display at the
hospital.

She and the hospital hope to raise another $1 million
from the photo wall by Cascioli's 50th birthday in 2011,
Donelson said.

"I know that Hamilton won't let me down," Cascioli said.

The hospital's surgical centre project includes plans to build 18
operating rooms and six new nursing stations.

There are currently 12 operating rooms at St. Joseph's to
accommodate nearly 16,000 surgeries a year.

The rooms were built in the 1960s. Only three are
large enough to hold the equipment needed to perform surgery
with advanced scopes -- known as minimally invasive or laparoscopic
surgery.

A typical operating room at St. Joseph's now has an
area of 374 square feet. The industry standard is 550
to 600 square feet, according to Karen Langstaff, director of
facilities planning and redevelopment at St. Joseph's.

The new rooms will be 600 square feet and will
be equipped with wall- or ceiling-mounted monitors, in-room imaging equipment,
a wireless communication system, scopes for minimally invasive surgery and
robotic arm attachments for the surgical tables.

Dr. Mona Misra, surgeon and vice-president of medical staff at
St. Joseph's, performs laparoscopic surgery. But with eight surgical staff,
scopes, monitors, tables and beds all crowded into one room,
the surgeries are difficult.

"Seeing them develop new operating rooms is fantastic for us,"
she said. "We know that they are moving forward in
the direction that we all want to move towards."

The Hamilton Spectator: Metronauts pave the way of the future

2008-04-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 16, 2008

By Erika Engel

Metrolinx is releasing a long-term regional transportation plan this fall,
and the transit body wants to know what you think
about it.

It's launched a new project called Metronauts to include the
general public in transportation discussion and planning.

Metronauts is a joint effort between Metrolinx (formerly the Greater
Toronto Transportation Authority) and the Toronto Transit Camp community, a
grassroots movement that started online with the goal of improving
the TTC, then organized its own brainstorming event last year.

A series of informal Metronauts gatherings will be held across
the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas -- including an all-day
event in Hamilton on May 3 -- to get the
public's thoughts on transportation.

Topics at the first Metronauts meeting held in Toronto on
April 5 included social networking, cycle paths, sidewalks and improvements
to train stations.

Area residents can also join the debate online. On the
Metronauts website, launched March 25, site members can share their
thoughts on the drafts of the regional transportation plan, or
other transportation ideas, in the conversations section. Membership is free.

Metrolinx has plans to add an interactive map function so
members can virtually trace out their ideas for bicycle routes,
new sidewalks, and extra roads, lanes and bus routes in
their city, said Colleen Bell of Metrolinx.

The Hamilton meeting will be held at McMaster University from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details, see the
Metronauts website (metronauts.ca).

Hamilton residents can also attend the Metrolinx public meeting on
June 26 from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Hamilton
Convention Centre.

The Hamilton Spectator: How rapid bus transit, light rail transit work in other cities

2008-04-22T07:17:00.002-07:00

Pubdate:April 16, 2008

By Erika Engel

Rapid transit is coming to Hamilton. There are two options
for a new transportation system; rapid bus transit (RBT) and
light rail transit (LRT).

Some North American cities have already been using these systems
for years. Here's how it works for them.

Minneapolis

Population: 3.2 million

LRT since 2004

* 26.4 kilometres of track

* In 2007, 9.1 million people rode the LRT system
compared to 7.9 million in 2005, according to a survey
by Metro Transit.

* 27,000 people ride the train on a weekday.

* 80 per cent of people riding the train are
car owners.

* 34 per cent of riders make approximately $70,000 a
year.

* 49 per cent of weekday riders take the train
five days a week.

* 45 per cent of the riders are between 35
and 54 years old.

According to Bob Gibbons, director of customer services at Metro
Transit, the light rail system in Minneapolis cost $715.3 million
to build.

Operating costs are projected at $24.3 million for 2008. $9.2
million comes from fares, $5.3 million from the state, $5.3
million from the county, $3.7 million from car sales tax
and the remaining $800,000 from advertising.

Portland, Ore.

Population: 2 million

MAX LRS

The first light rail system opened in 1985. There is
now almost 100 kilometres of track.

* 34 million people rode the light rail system in
2007.

* 104,200 people ride the light rail system on a
weekday.

* A two-car light rail vehicle carries 266 people.

Since the 1980s when the rail was first built, there
has been more than $6 billion in development within walking
distance of the LRT stations.

"Developers like the permanence of a rail when investing millions
into a building," said Peggy LaPoint, a transit public information
officer.

Calgary

Population: 1.1 million

Rapid bus transit since 2003

Light rail transit since 1981

* 36 stations along 42.1 kilometres of track.

* 270,000 people take the Calgary LRT system on a
weekday.

* Ridership on the LRT has doubled in the past
10 years.

According to Rob Collins, spokesperson for Calgary Transit, more than
90 million people used the Calgary public transit system last
year.

The rapid bus system was a cheaper way to boost
transit in the city, but Calgary is replacing the buses
with light rail service as it receives the funding for
it.

Ottawa

Population: 1.2 million

Transitway rapid bus transit

* 240,000 people ride the Transit bus system on a
weekday.

* 175 buses run per hour.

* During peak hours, as many as 10,000 people will
ride the bus.

* 95.6 million people used the public transit system in
Ottawa last year.

Ottawa has eight kilometres of light rail track and plans
to expand, said Vincent Patterson, manager of performance at OC
Transpo, which runs the transit system.

The Hamilton Spectator: Defying mother nature

2008-04-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

Pubdate:April 12, 2008

By Erika Engel

A Burlington business is boasting a solution to aged and
weather-damaged patio furniture.

Element Square claims its outdoor furniture made of nonporous plastic
will not fade, stain or discolour for at least 10
years.

Many cottage owners spend the first weekend of cottage season
repainting deck furniture. In fact, Brad Bender formed the company
for that reason -- he didn't want to paint his
chairs anymore.

"There was a problem, and I needed a solution," said
Bender.

The plastic repels mould, dirt and stains, and it's not
affected by bleach or chlorine, as the colour permeates the
material. Each piece can be left outside year-round without becoming
damaged, Bender says.

The Muskoka chairs, tables, a planter, a deck box and
an ottoman range in price from $200 for the ottoman
to $2,500 for a large deck box.

Bender explains that the high prices are due to the
labour involved and the high price of the material. Cuts
and detailing are done using laser technology, and stainless steel
fasteners are strategically hidden from view.

Furniture is available in eight colours: black, white, yellow, tan,
brown, blue, green and red.

The furniture is also protected from the sun's bleaching power
by UV inhibitors (industrial sunscreen) added during production.

The polymer is from King Starboard Plastics in Orlando, Fla.,
and has been in use in marine construction for 17
years.

"We've had the luxury of other people product testing this
material," said Bender. "It's simply the finest outdoor material available."

Element Square furniture is available at Insideout, 683 Plains Rd.
E., Burlington, and online at elementsquare.com.

Hamilton Spectator staff

Young patient gets up close to his Idol

2008-04-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

Young patient gets up close to his Idol
Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 31, 2008)

Ronald McDonald is lovin' it. Brian Melo is Livin' It. Avery Lachapelle got to do both.

The eight-year-old cancer patient got to go backstage and meet with Melo, Canadian Idol winner and Hamilton native, before his March 15 concert at Hamilton Place.

"It was really cool for him. It was his first concert," said Brian Lachapelle, Avery's father. "They (the band) were a good group of young fellas."

Melo and his band spent 15 minutes chatting with Avery about the concert and Avery's favourite song.

"We kept it really light. I didn't want to get too serious," Melo said. "I just wanted him to have fun with the band.

"I wish we were able to spend a bit more time together."

Avery and his parents, Lachapelle and Tricia Daly, have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton since December while he undergoes treatment for leukemia. The family lives in Lindsay.

Originally diagnosed with cancer when he was 14 months old, Avery has relapsed twice since then and received a bone-marrow transplant in 2004.

Avery was set to see Brian Melo on March 8, but the concert was cancelled when a crippling snow storm shut down the city.

He thought he would miss the show because the rescheduled date was too close to his chemotherapy treatments.

The Ronald McDonald house manager, Patti Majcher, contacted Melo's agent, Jim Campbell, hoping to curb Avery's disappointment. After many back-and-forth conversations, they arranged a pre-show meeting.

Why did she do it?

"Oh, you haven't met Avery," Majcher said, her smile audible through the phone.

"I just think that anything we can do to make good days more special, we would certainly like to do.

"These kids have so many obstacles all day long. Being the lucky one every once in a while is such a bonus."

Melo has been an avid supporter of Ronald McDonald House since he visited the London location while filming Canadian Idol. He later visited the Hamilton house and met several of the children staying there.

"It's very inspiring for me -- going into these situations and seeing what these kids are going through," he said.

"It makes me count my blessings when I see how strong these kids can be."

Melo said he gets a lot of e-mails and phone calls asking him to visit a fan in the hospital, and he tries to see as many as he can find time for.

"I knew that if I was ever in the position that I'm in now, I would always try to give back as much as I could," he said. "If I can bring a little bit of light to their day, then I've done my job."

Pearl Wolfe, executive director of Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton, said she's happy they were able to help Avery meet Melo.

"It happened because our house manager relentlessly pursued it. It's so gratifying to be able to do something to help."

The Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton opened in 1993. It is a 15-room facility that provides families of seriously ill children with a place to stay while their child receives care at the McMaster Children's Hospital.

The nonprofit organization offers rooms for $10 a night a short distance from the hospital. The Hamilton house is located at 1510 Main St. W.

There are 12 houses in Canada, four in Ontario. They rely on corporate and individual sponsors for funding.

Lachapelle and Daly are grateful to the Ronald McDonald House for the support they've received during Avery's treatment.

"I feel like they take care of needs that we don't even know we have," Lachapelle said.

"They'll do anything for the families here."

Avery and his parents plan to stay at the Hamilton house until April, when Avery is scheduled to have another bone marrow transplant at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Melo said Avery is one kid he won't forget.

"He had this spark in his eye and a great smile. He'll always be in my heart."

During the concert, Melo dedicated Avery's favourite song, All I Ever Wanted, to Avery and his cousin.

High Spirited

2008-04-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.thespec.com/article/347880

Erika Engel
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 1, 2008)

High Spirited

Lifting spirits is heavier than it looks.

Cheerleaders have long served as professional positive thinkers who turn the frowns of disappointed fans and athletes right side up. But the apparently effortless smiles, flips and pom-pom shakes don't come without hard work.

The cheerleaders with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have the same goal -- to encourage and entertain. It's their game strategy, however, that differs.

The Mustangs throw each other in the air. The Ticats dance as if on air. Both cheer on their teams, no matter how dark the clouds get.

Andrea Bottosso was on the Ticats team last year and plans to tryout again at this Sunday's auditions. She says an upbeat attitude is key.

"When it's 50-0 and you're on the zero side, you have to smile and find something positive," she said.

Lesley Stewart, head coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats' cheerleaders, is getting ready to pick this year's cheerleaders.

"Most of the girls have been dancing since they were kids. That's what we're looking for -- solid dance backgrounds," she said.

The Ticat cheerleaders practise twice a week for three hours and two hours before games. Each cheerleader is given a membership to GoodLife Fitness gym to stay fit with cardiovascular and callisthenics training.

"When you're out there in front of all those people, you want to feel good," said Bottosso.

She says that means making healthy food choices including plenty of vegetables, salads and proteins.

At the gym, Bottosso likes to warm up with 30 minutes of cardio on the stationary bicycle and the elliptical machine. She follows that with 45 minutes of toning with free weights doing bicep curls, tricep dips, lateral squats, calf raises and abdominal crunches. She cools down with stretches.

As well as dance training, team members focus on endurance through cardiovascular exercise routines. Members take turns leading workouts, often applying their expertise as seasoned dancers or coaches for the warmups.

Cheerleaders use Pilates training to develop their flexibility and core strength, as well as weight training to tone their arms and legs. Well-rounded fitness and endurance is integral for this cheer team.

"They're in the field all day ... eight hours a day sometimes," said Stewart.

Jennifer Kennedy and Lauren Yaksich were on the team last year, and plan to try out this year. Both come from competitive dance backgrounds. They see cheerleading as a way to pursue their passion for dance.

Kennedy, who started dancing at the age of three, grew up with a football coach for a father.

"I think it was his dream to see me flipping on that field," she said, laughing.

A McMaster kinesiology major now, Kennedy hopes to earn a master's degree in occupational therapy. She won't stop dancing though.

"I'll be dancing until I'm 90," she said. "It's such a thrill."

Yaksich also feels professional cheerleading is a natural progression with her extensive dance background.

"It gives me the opportunity to keep dancing at a high level," she said.

David-Lee Trace, head coach of the Western University Mustangs cheerleading team, is known for his severe training techniques.

"My kids train savagely," Trace admitted.

The Mustangs' team members are accustomed to pulling vehicles up hills and dragging tires across fields.

"The stronger the kid gets, the better they are going to be at throwing and catching each other," said Trace. "We're juggling humans."

The team is a competitive power cheering team. Mustangs' routines involve lifts, throws, jumping, tumbling and dancing. When they aren't cheering for university basketball and football games, they are competing.

They train all year around, working through a cycle that Trace developed to prepare them for power cheering -- smiles and all.

Power cheerleading requires anaerobic training, he said. They need to be trained like a sprinter. Unlike an endurance runner -- power cheering requires short bursts of intense physical exertion.

The Mustangs train three times a week as a team and three times a week in the weight room.

In the summer, Trace focuses on individual fitness and conditioning.

Many of the Mustangs cheerleaders have gone on to become fitness competitors, coaches and gym owners. Some have stayed in cheerleading at the open competitive level.

Sheridan College Lockdown Coverage

2008-03-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

No costs provided for SU January retreat

2008-03-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-03-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Oakville Economic Development - Mayor's Breakfast

2008-01-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

Click Here to see the story online:
http://www.oeda.ca/285.htm

SU releases minutes

2008-01-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

SU says it's too late for missed meeting

2008-01-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

Continued....

Student Union fails to hold mandatory AGM

2008-01-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

Continued....

Some of my Layout

2007-12-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Election referendum 2007, and another example of my layout

2007-12-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

Member of Citizen's Assembly from Sheridan College

2007-12-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Annie Smith

2007-12-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Sheridan 40th Anniversary Gala (paper)

2007-12-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

Sheridan 40th Anniversary Gala (online)

2007-12-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

An example of my layout skills

2007-12-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

New year, and a new president for Sheridan Student Union

2007-12-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Sheridan Reaction to V-tech shootings

2007-12-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Sheridan VP Academic retires

2007-12-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

SOL discovers security loopholes & Firetruck photo

2007-12-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

An example of my layout skills

2007-12-07T08:46:00.001-08:00

Trafalgar Campus hosts debate

2007-12-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

Environmental Control at Sheridan

2007-12-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

An example of my layout skills

2007-12-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Student Union election posters

2007-12-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

New President of Student Union

2007-12-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Davis Student Union launches cell phone recycle campaign

2007-12-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

IT prepared for virus & Faculty nominated for award

2007-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

2007-12-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

To come

Erika Engel

Traning Day

Tails with Tales

Long Road to a New Beginning

Remembering Canadians at war

Nuclear shipment runs aground on opposition

WIFi in schools: What's good, what's bad?

Bluewater District School Board : The Health and Safety response

Health Canada and the local health unit

A challenge to Safety Code 6

To hell and back: The Kemu's are home

TBM new home for refugees

Grey Skies for Ontario Apples

Twister tears heart out of local apple industry

Zimbabwe exile visits Thornbury to speak of the battle for change

New novel from local author tells tall tails

The people at Passchendaele

'Tis the season. 'Tisn't it?

Superman, eh?!

Rocks in the treasury

Questions not watered down for meeting

Beaver Valley home burns in early morning

Meaford Hall does the Wright thing for Christmas

Green forum at Blue Mountain welcomes red-ribbon advocate

Town makes plans to grow landfill

School board's surplus goes into deficit

Elementary teachers only ones staying out of provincial talks

Soccer boys all grown up

NHL officials train at Beaver Valley arena

Newcomers glad to live in 'paradise': A Canada Day Story

Long-awaited place to call home

Families wait for word

Adventures in Literacy

Gas 'n' dashes take off as fuel prices skyrocket

Another building may have to go

The Hamilton Spectator: Fire blamed on metal grinder

The Hamilton Spectator: A moving story

The Hamilton Spectator: City 'dropped the ball'

The Hamilton Spectator: Half the Sky goes for laughs in 25th anniversary play

The Hamilton Spectator: City man gets six years for 'tragic' killing

The Hamilton Spectator: Province targets cosmetic pesticides

The Hamilton Spectator: Training the brain for A's

The Hamilton Spectator: Tips for newbies, extreme greens

The Hamilton Spectator: St. Joe's gets million-dollar gift

The Hamilton Spectator: Metronauts pave the way of the future

The Hamilton Spectator: How rapid bus transit, light rail transit work in other cities

The Hamilton Spectator: Defying mother nature

Young patient gets up close to his Idol

High Spirited

Sheridan College Lockdown Coverage

No costs provided for SU January retreat

Movie Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

Oakville Economic Development - Mayor's Breakfast

SU releases minutes

SU says it's too late for missed meeting

Student Union fails to hold mandatory AGM

Some of my Layout

Election referendum 2007, and another example of my layout

Member of Citizen's Assembly from Sheridan College

Annie Smith

Sheridan 40th Anniversary Gala (paper)

Sheridan 40th Anniversary Gala (online)

An example of my layout skills

New year, and a new president for Sheridan Student Union

Sheridan Reaction to V-tech shootings

Sheridan VP Academic retires

SOL discovers security loopholes & Firetruck photo

An example of my layout skills

Trafalgar Campus hosts debate

Environmental Control at Sheridan

An example of my layout skills

Student Union election posters

New President of Student Union

Davis Student Union launches cell phone recycle campaign

IT prepared for virus & Faculty nominated for award

MORE