First New Year Baby at NHH

John Draper

Cobourg Blog News does not usually report on news of births but excuse me if I make an exception.  Northumberland Hills Hospital has a reputation of being excellent at what they do and making parents happy about the birthing experience has to fit that.  For some reason, being the first baby to be born in a New Year is somehow special but in this case it seems to be more than that.  Lindsey Drake-Shalapata (mom) and Alex Shalapata (dad) are from Oshawa and had such a good experience the first time they had a baby born at NHH that they came back again. The announcement from the Hospital said that the baby was born “just a few hours after midnight… Read complete articleFirst New Year Baby at NHH

Mayor’s Levee – 2019

John Draper

About 150 people came to Victoria Hall for the first Mayor’s Levee with the new council.  The whole council shook hands with everyone and a bonus was a chance to meet John Logel, Mayor of Alnwick-Haldimand and the current Warden of Northumberland County.  Also present were Deputy Chief Paul Vandegraaf, previous Mayors Peter Delanty and Joan Chalovich – although they were not in the greeting line. M.P. Kim Rudd and M.P.P David Piccini sent their regrets. Glen McGlashon and Rob Franklin represented Town Staff.  Mayor John Henderson addressed the crowd starting with some thanks and recognition of previous councillors Debra McCarthy and Forrest Rowden as well as all the new ones.  Town Crier Mandy Robinson then made her usual “cry”… Read complete articleMayor’s Levee – 2019

Predictions for Cobourg – 2019

John Draper

With a new council, we can expect that there will be new stuff happening in Cobourg in 2019 – but much of it is predictable based on what’s happened in 2018 and what people have said.  John Henderson, our new Mayor, can be expected on Tuesday at the Levee to talk about his plans for more transparency and better communication but what else will the new Council bring?  Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin will no doubt shake up the budgeting process since she will be responsible for Finance; Emily Chorley will be concerned about Council’s “procedures” (she made a presentation on this in 2018 – see links below);  I would expect Nicole Beatty to have a focus on events and Brian… Read complete articlePredictions for Cobourg – 2019

Cobourg will have a Collision Reporting Centre

John Draper

Starting in mid-January, anyone who has a minor accident in Cobourg will be required to report it within 24 hours to a new Collision Reporting Centre set up at the Cobourg Police Station.  Special Constables will man the centre, take photos of the damage, apply the “Damage Reported to Police” sticker, assist with contacting family and/or insurance company and assist with completing a report.  Vehicles will be required to park on the East side of Hibernia next to the police station (see photo below).  Cobourg Police see this as a way to improve efficiency since police will now only “investigate collisions at the scene that involve injuries, suspected criminal activities, severe damage (vehicle is not drivable or requires a tow… Read complete articleCobourg will have a Collision Reporting Centre

Review of 2018 News

John Draper

It’s getting to the time of year to have high hopes for the New Year but 2018 was eventful for the world and for Cobourg.  It’s easy to forget what happened during the year – we had two elections so we now have a new Provincial Government and a new council; we had the major cultural event “Armistice 18”; the east pier was shut down; rezoning for a new school in New Amherst was approved despite protests;  people made clear that they were not happy with the closure of the daily local newspaper; and there were many more events that made news. I have listed 23 highlights with a link to a post about it. Some events had several posts… Read complete articleReview of 2018 News

Christmas in 2018

John Draper

My thanks to everyone who has expressed appreciation for my work at this news source – it does help to keep me going.  Most of you are subscribers to my emails – that list is now about 960 – and some of you have heard about this service from the Northumberland Hub.  A group of journalists led by John Miller and Rob Washburn are trying to educate people in Northumberland about all the sites (like this one) who provide news. (More at Northumberland Hub – link below). A lot has happened locally in 2018 and there will be more interesting stuff happening in 2019 but in between we have Christmas which is a season where everyone (hopefully) chills out and stops worrying… Read complete articleChristmas in 2018

County Distributes Funding for Child Care

John Draper

Northumberland County yesterday announced that they will be distributing funding from the Province to parents who use licensed child care.  If you used licensed centre-based or home-based child care for a child aged 4 and under, in the period between January 1 and October 31, 2018, you will get up to $4,000 in a refund.  The money is being distributed through the child care operators and refunds have already started.  The money is going only to those who used licensed child care operators so seems to recognize that these may be more expensive.  A statement by Northumberland County’s Community & Social Services Director Lisa Horne says: “This benefit will support families at a time of increasing financial need.  Northumberland County… Read complete articleCounty Distributes Funding for Child Care

Public Meeting on Retail Cannabis in Cobourg

John Draper

The new Cobourg Council held their first public meeting Monday evening in the Concert hall at Victoria Hall.  The unusual location was chosen to accommodate the expected crowd but only about 50 showed up.  The meeting was to engage with the public on whether Cobourg should opt-in and allow retail Cannabis stores in Cobourg although it seems that initially only 25 will be licensed in all of Ontario.  The meeting was chaired by Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin and started with speakers giving information on the issue and its impact.  Town Clerk Brent Larmer gave background information (as provided in an earlier post), Ashley Purdy talked about the engagement with the public, Deputy Police Chief Paul Vandegraaf gave the Police perspective… Read complete articlePublic Meeting on Retail Cannabis in Cobourg