Category: News 2019

New Idea for Affordable Housing

John Draper

There has been a lot of activity with affordable housing in the last several months.  Although the County is generally responsible for social welfare issues, the new Cobourg Council has allocated budget and support to a couple of projects and more are likely.  But there are also charitable organizations that are active in helping with affordable housing – notably Habitat for Humanity.  Instead of a focus on making rents affordable, Habitat works at promoting affordable home ownership.  And now the local group, Habitat for Humanity Northumberland (HFHN), has announced the establishment of “a chapter of its organization to investigate the development of a tiny homes project in West Northumberland”.  The idea of “Tiny Homes” is spreading throughout the world and… Read complete articleNew Idea for Affordable Housing

New Record High for Lake Ontario Water Levels

John Draper

Well the optimists (like me) were wrong – the water level of Lake Ontario at Cobourg has now set a new record and according to the GRCA, it has not finished rising yet (see GRCA Flood warning below).  The graph below shows the peak level from each day and on 29 May the level was 8.3 cm above the record set in 2017 (that’s 3.25 inches).  On May 30, the Marina fuel dock is still covered in water although thanks to some work by the Marina, it’s still operational.  In fact Julie at the Marina said that other than supply of electricity to boats, Cobourg’s Marina is fully open for business – this despite the fact that many other Marinas… Read complete articleNew Record High for Lake Ontario Water Levels

Multiple arrests for drug offences

John Draper

Maybe it’s Spring that brings them out but lately Cobourg police have arrested several people for drug offences. It also seems that Police foot patrols in the downtown core have helped with this. One of those arrested, 43 year old Eric Bremner, seems to not know how to stay out of trouble – not only was he arrested for possessing fentanyl and carrying a “concealed weapon”, a knife, but he was also charged with “failing to appear in court” and violating probation. In February, he was charged with stealing credit cards then buying stuff with them. This time, instead of the common Police practice of releasing from custody with a promise to appear, he was held for a bail hearing…. Read complete articleMultiple arrests for drug offences

Green Party Launches Election Campaign

John Draper

The federal election on October 21 is not that far away and Jeff Wheeldon, Green Party Candidate, held a “meet and greet” in Newcastle tonight.  Jeff and his team have been campaigning in Newcastle and left 1000 pamphlets and invitations to the event at nearby homes.  The Green Party feels that they are on a roll with double the number of MPs (2 up from 1) and polls showing  9.8% support, up from 3.4% in the last election – so confidence is high in making a difference.  Certainly the talk in the room was positive.  The meeting was held in the Newcastle Community Town Hall and because it was a meet and greet spread over more than 2 hours, at… Read complete articleGreen Party Launches Election Campaign

Rain doesn’t stop Northumberland Classic

John Draper

Despite the rain on Saturday morning (May 25), the bicycle race was held as scheduled with 200 participants competing.   Races started and finished at the Baltimore recreation centre – there was a 3km link to a loop that included the Northumberland Heights road hill and depending on the race, as many as 8 laps of that loop were required.  (See links below for details and route map). Participants were both men and women ranged in age from 17 to 60 although they were grouped according to ability.  Police manned key intersections and several cars followed the riders including one with para-medics to help with the inevitable spills.  The event was organized by Greg Rawson and his company Performance Driven Events… Read complete articleRain doesn’t stop Northumberland Classic

PROM 2019 – Cobourg Collegiate Institute

John Draper

Cobourg High School graduates have always celebrated their PROM with a parade where they arrive at their destination in style or in many cases, showing their creativity (see link below for photos from 2011).  But in recent years, the permitted vehicles have been limited, supposedly in the interest of safety.  But one thing has continued, the parade and welcoming of individuals as they arrive.  The Cobourg Institute Collegiate event was on Friday evening in glorious sunshine – most of the time.  Led by a Police car and the Cobourg Legions Pipes and Drums, the first couple were in a horse drawn carriage.  Some of the many vehicles were vintage cars but many were pickup trucks – old and new. Several… Read complete articlePROM 2019 – Cobourg Collegiate Institute

Ed’s House Fundraising Exceeds Goal

John Draper

Ed’s House campaign held an event on Wednesday May 22 to announce that they had exceeded their goal and along the way they gave some project details. There were about 150 people at the event including representatives from four Northumberland municipalities: Warden and Alnwick/Haldimand Mayor John Logel, Port Hope’s Mayor Bob Sanderson, Cobourg’s Deputy Mayor Susanne Séguin and Hamilton Mayor Bill Cane.  Between them, their municipalities donated $653K.  Also present (and speaking) was M.P.P. David Piccini – the Province provided $1.2M in capital and $630K operating funds for 6 beds although the building will have an eventual capacity of 10.  The idea was first suggested 2 years ago by Community Care Northumberland.  Gord and Patti Ley were then recruited as… Read complete articleEd’s House Fundraising Exceeds Goal

Venture 13 – a Cobourg Success Story

John Draper

On Tuesday, May 21, Cobourg and Northumberland celebrated the first “birthday” of Venture 13 and its success.  A year ago, it opened with financing primarily from the Federal Government’s CFDC, the Town of Cobourg and Cobourg’s Police Business unit (see links below for more).  Since then, there has been a large number of companies started, jobs created and seminar/workshops given (details below).  The anniversary celebration consisted of a speeches by John Henderson (Mayor), Kim Rudd (MP), David Piccini (MPP). Paul Vandergraaf (acting Police Chief) and others who talked about what Venture 13 was about and its successes as well as making some announcements.  Included was the demonstration of a simple robot (can you suggest a name for it?) and an… Read complete articleVenture 13 – a Cobourg Success Story