Category: News 2020

Premier Ford Announces more NHH funding

John Draper

On Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott joined MPP David Piccini to announce new funding for Northumberland Hills Hospital.  As well as incremental funding to help with the Covid-19 crisis, they also said that increases announced last year would be annualized providing a much needed stability in funding. Premier Ford said that “Previous governments have ignored rural hospitals – but we are not ignoring them”.   Ford also described MPP Piccini as being very persistent in asking for funding in his Riding  – and it has paid off.  Northumberland Hills Hospital CEO Linda Davis said that the Hospital was “grateful to the Government for listening.”  As you can see from the photos below, the announcement was outside… Read complete articlePremier Ford Announces more NHH funding

Masks to be Mandatory in Commercial Establishments

John Draper

The HKPR District Health Unit has issued an order effective July 13, that all “Operator(s) of an enclosed Public Space will have a policy to ensure that no member of the public is permitted to enter or remain in the public areas of the enclosed public space unless they are wearing a mask in a manner that covers their nose, mouth and chin.”  Affected establishments include stores, malls/plazas, restaurants, personal service settings,  gas stations, indoor farmers’ markets –  any areas open to the public.  Outdoor patios are excepted.  Enforcement will be primarily aimed at the “operators” with the intent being to educate individuals.  Medical Officer for Health Dr. Lynn Noseworthy said: “Wearing a mask is about protecting other people, and… Read complete articleMasks to be Mandatory in Commercial Establishments

Fern Blodgett Sunde

John Draper

On July 23 2018, Leona Woods made a presentation to Cobourg Council about a proposed statue of Fern Blodgett Sunde.  Her project has been successful and on Monday there was a groundbreaking ceremony.  Fern Blodgett was the first Canadian female wireless radio operator and the first to serve at sea. She served on the Norwegian merchant ship the Mosdale because the Canadian and British navies did not hire women radio operators. Fern made 78 successful crossings of the Atlantic before the war ended. Although she did not live all her life in Cobourg, she spent 20 formative years here – from infancy onwards. For years, she watched the ships from the shore of Lake Ontario at Cobourg, dreaming of becoming… Read complete articleFern Blodgett Sunde

Few Visitors find Cobourg’s West Beach

John Draper

Saturday was hot and a great beach day but with Victoria Park Beach closed, where can beach people go?  On the July 1st holiday, many went to Port Hope; others went to Wicklow beach.  Reports from those beaches say that few followed social distancing rules so now Port Hope’s beaches are closed on weekends.  Given these reports, at about 3:00 pm on Saturday I checked out Cobourg’s West Beach.  It was not crowded and those that were there, were following the rules – see the Video below.  I didn’t ask people where they were from but I recognized one local couple.  There were no Police or ByLaw officers – but what ByLaws would they be enforcing?  There were dogs –… Read complete articleFew Visitors find Cobourg’s West Beach

Development of CIP for Affordable Housing Continues

John Draper

Despite the pandemic and the difficulty of getting public input, the Town of Cobourg is continuing with a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to assist with providing affordable housing.  Initiated in the Fall of 2019 and originally scheduled for completion in May 2020, draft recommendations were submitted to the Planning and Development Advisory committee on June 16. It’s about process and not the budget to be allocated. Once in place, it will permit the Town to spend money assisting developers with grants and loans for development charges, application fees and/or property tax reductions. This is despite that fact that the County is primarily responsible for the provision of affordable housing. No timetable has been set for completion of the study by the consultant but… Read complete articleDevelopment of CIP for Affordable Housing Continues

Council Updates – June 29

John Draper

As well as their decision to keep the Beach closed at the June 29 meeting, Council decided on several other items and provided some interesting information on a range of subjects.  The meeting started with a long presentation by Police but their submitted report was not the same as the presentation to Council on June 29.  There were a lot of verbal details – you’ll have to listen to it, see links below.  There were three delegations – two wanting the beach closed (Gail Rayment and Paul Pagnuelo) and one about the replacement of water meters by Bryan Lambert which he withdrew since he said there would not be enough time in 10 minutes to make his case.  But the… Read complete articleCouncil Updates – June 29

Council Listens to Public and Keeps Beach Closed

John Draper

As many as 311 people watched the Council make a final decision about the Beach – this compares to a normal audience of around 20.  Mayor John Henderson said that in the past week it was the busiest he had ever been as Mayor with 320 phone calls and emails.  He and other councillors thanked the public for their engagement.  John estimated that 20% of those communicating with him wanted to limit the beach to just locals and 80% wanted the beach fully closed. He said that health and safety were more important than tourism or business.  Other councillors gave more detailed reasons and there seemed to be some nervousness about how the vote would go since a recorded vote… Read complete articleCouncil Listens to Public and Keeps Beach Closed

Transition House – an Update

John Draper

After a few turbulent years (see links below), Transition House now has a new Executive director, Anne Newman – Anne started work just before the Covid-19 crisis started.  With social distancing required, and schools closed, residents were moved to a dormitory style arrangement at CCI. Since then, Transition House has been fully operational there and their 10 Chapel Street location has been closed.  On Thursday, June 25, Transition House held their Annual General Meeting and together with additional input from Anne, I can now provide an update. But first, let’s spell out what Transition House does.  First and foremost they provide short term emergency housing for adults.  Then they help clients move into affordable housing.  They are primarily funded by… Read complete articleTransition House – an Update