Category: News 2021

Harbour Repairs Clarified

John Draper

Council has supported multi-million dollar repairs to the harbour – the East Pier and harbour walls need to be fixed and engineering design work for this will be done this year.  But along the way some “options” were mentioned which implied that there would be provision for a Travel Lift which many residents oppose.  This is primarily because it’s associated with expansion of boat slips into the West Harbour.  But at last Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, there was discussion of a motion to pay for pricing several “options”.  These included “Detailed Design of reinforced Concrete Boat Lift Platform”. However, it was clarified that this is not intended for a Travel lift but instead to support the crane… Read complete articleHarbour Repairs Clarified

Vaccine Update – March 10

John Draper

If you follow the Cobourg News Blog Vaccination page, the news below is a repeat of that.  Further, the vaccination page will be updated but this post will only be updated to correct any errors. Dr. Ian Gemmill, Acting local Medical Officer of Health with the local Health unit (HKPR DHU) today gave a comprehensive update on what’s happening with Vaccines in his Area which includes Cobourg. As previously announced, the Cobourg Community Centre will be used as a vaccination centre with the initial group being adults over 80.  (Officially, those born in 1941 or before). Volunteers will be given lists by family doctors and are now calling those eligible to make an appointment for them starting at the CCC… Read complete articleVaccine Update – March 10

Update on Cobourg Police

John Draper

In the midst of the pandemic, criminals continue to do their stuff and Police continue to catch them.  I don’t have statistics on comparative crime rates between 2019 and 2020 but based on what I’ve heard, they seem to be about the same.  Some Police reports say that a wanted person was observed and arrested and one wonders if the observed criminal was wearing a mask since that would make them more difficult to identify – but they perhaps are amongst those who object to wearing a mask!  There’s a wide range of criminals but most crimes are relatively minor – see a sample from the past week below. To see the full range, you can also see the Crime… Read complete articleUpdate on Cobourg Police

Covid-19 Update – Cobourg to Move to Yellow Zone

John Draper

If you have been following the statistics reported on this site (see links below), you will have noticed that the number of new cases has been declining.  Recognising this, the Province has now decided to move the designation of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge region – which includes Northumberland – from Orange to Yellow effective 12:01 am Monday, March 8.  This will allow “some easing of controls … including for restaurants: the lifting of the 50-person capacity limit, the ability to stay open longer (to midnight) for in-person dining, and a limit of six people (up from four) being able to sit at the same table. Another change is that personal care services requiring the removal of face coverings can… Read complete articleCovid-19 Update – Cobourg to Move to Yellow Zone

Beach Survey Results

John Draper

From February 2 to February 23, Cobourg residents were asked what they thought about managing the visitors at the beach.  The survey was described in a Cobourg News Blog article on February 3 – see the link below – but now the results are available.  A tabulation of answers – including all of the comments by participants – is available in a 156 page “Public Engagement report”.  This will be reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Committee in a meeting on March 9 and they will then make recommendations to council. The survey had 1408 respondents and is considered the Town’s “most responded to survey”.  Although the report is long and a good summary of the comments is impossible here,… Read complete articleBeach Survey Results

Two Councillors hold Zoom Town hall Meeting

John Draper

Although about 50 registered to join the Zoom Town Hall by Councillors Nicole Beatty and Adam Bureau, there were at most 35 who were actually online. Several people complimented Nicole and Adam on organizing it and would like to have it be a regular occurrence. Most of the questions were not new and subscribers to this blog would already know most of the answers. The most popular subject raised by maybe 3 or 4 participants was the issue of affordable housing but other issues were also raised which indicates what people want to know even if there is little new information to know.  Some just wanted to vent and both Nicole and Adam were clear that they want to know what… Read complete articleTwo Councillors hold Zoom Town hall Meeting

Is Tourism good for Cobourg?

John Draper

Not everyone agrees that Tourism is good for the Town and for its businesses and last Fall the Town decided to try and resolve this question.  With some Federal funding, consultant Laridae Communications Inc was hired to do this and their results will be presented in a report to Council at their Committee of the Whole meeting on March 8.  Kara Euale, Manager of the Marketing and Events Department in the Community Services division views the effort as a way to “evaluate our current marketing tactics”.  Staff are working on the premise that Tourists should be attracted although they see the report as a way to “measure the level of impact tourism has on our local economy”. The staff memo… Read complete articleIs Tourism good for Cobourg?

A Review of Local News

John Draper

The problem with news is not that Google and Facebook are stealing it (they just link to headlines of what’s already there) but that there is not enough money in the online advertising by media companies to compensate for the lower revenue from print advertising.  Although major (and minor) newspapers have an online presence that uses material gathered by professional journalists, and Google etc. simply point to this, these sites don’t generate enough revenue to replace what they used to get from print advertising.  Governments – notably Australia, France and Canada – are trying to force Google and Facebook to share some of their revenue but meanwhile the shift in where to get news is happening anyway.  The practical result… Read complete articleA Review of Local News