Police Busy over Holiday Period

John Draper

We talk about many homeless people having mental health problems, but when you read Police reports about who they have arrested, you have to wonder if many “criminals” are also mentally sick.  Often they break probation conditions, drive without a licence or car insurance and flee from police.  They are often caught in routine traffic stops – presumably because of suspicious behaviour – then found in possession of drugs or prohibited weapons even while on probation.  Why would anyone in their right mind do that?  But over the last several days, Cobourg police have been busy catching – then mostly releasing – many of these unfortunate souls.  Below is a summary of announcements since Christmas day.  We know that police… Read complete articlePolice Busy over Holiday Period

Mayor’s Levee – 2023

John Draper

Mayor Lucas Cleveland has already made some changes – the New Year’s Levee moved from noon January first to 5:00 pm January 3 and featured a solo musician instead of the Concert band.  Refreshments also changed from sandwiches and Christmas cake to cheese, crackers and slices of meat.  Although Mandy Robinson the Town crier was there, the poet laureate Jessica Outram, was not. Unlike previous years, the speech by Lucas was short and consisted of acknowledgements and thank you’s to people who had contributed to the event but also to people who had worked hard during the recent storm.  Although there are no official estimates available, the crowd appeared to be over 100 and similar in size to attendance at… Read complete articleMayor’s Levee – 2023

It’s a Girl!

John Draper

Why is all news negative?  Well it’s not – some news is “feel-good”.  With the new year, it’s a chance to start with some good news – in this case, for one happy couple and the Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH).  Some Hospitals have a tradition (including NHH) to announce the first baby of the new year and for 2023, it’s Hazel Mae, born to Angela and Bruno Gelao of Port Hope – well actually to Angela but father Bruno gets some of the credit (see photo below).  The Hospital’s announcement said: Hazel “weighed 6 pounds and 11.2 ounces (3,035 grams) at birth. Hazel, who carries her maternal grandmother’s name as her middle name, is warmly welcomed by older sister Nevaeh… Read complete articleIt’s a Girl!

Predictions for 2023 – Opinion

John Draper

At this time of year, I like to look ahead and try to predict what will happen in the new year.  But first let’s see how I did last year. In 2021 I had four categories: Politics, Covid-19, Town and the Economy.  In Politics I predicted the Provincial election result but missed by predicting Emily Chorley would run again. I was right that the Cultural Plan would be ignored.  With Covid-19, I was mostly right but I thought we would still be mandated to wear masks indoors.  For Town activities, I was mostly right although I thought that the Province would have made a decision on Brookside by now.  I correctly predicted no action on Sidbrook, the Tannery property, the Park… Read complete articlePredictions for 2023 – Opinion

Town helps Citizens who lost Power in Storm

John Draper

What a storm! We were unfortunate enough to lose power for over 28 hours (2:30 pm Friday to 7:00 pm Saturday) but Alma reminded me that many were worse off e.g. truckers or anyone stranded on the 401 and of course the workers out fixing the breaks. But it’s no fun when computers are down and for a while a network connection on my phone was intermittent (more on this in Appendix below). These days, if your phone doesn’t work, you can’t access status reports or helpful advice – just when you need it most. Your phone could also run out of battery – but in my case I have a very large backup battery which I used to recharge my… Read complete articleTown helps Citizens who lost Power in Storm

Merry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog

John Draper

It looks like we are now in a “Post-Covid” era. Enough people are sufficiently vaccinated – or have caught the bug and recovered so are close to immune – that most activities are getting close to normal. Cinemas and theatres are operating although not quite at normal schedules (see Rainbow’s schedule) and most people (although not all) are leaving masks at home. Although this time of year is when cases of respiratory diseases increase, it is also a “time of good cheer”.  As I said last year at this time: “it’s a time when we put any animosities behind us, any differences are not important – what’s important is that we are all special and deserve happiness despite any problems… Read complete articleMerry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog

Council Makes some Key Decisions

John Draper

At Monday’s Council meeting, several contentious issues were decided – but first there were three delegations from citizens about stormwater fees and one about “sleeping cabins” for the homeless. Council approved a plan for the Albert Street Shelter, moved forward on the sleeping cabins, approved stormwater fees and quickly approved free downtown parking until January 1, 2023. Although the delegations strongly criticized the new stormwater fees, Council’s only concession was to review them after a year. Most debate is supposed to happen at the Committee of the Whole meeting a week earlier but Councillors did discuss at length what they heard from the delegations. However, in the end, Council mostly went with Staff recommendations. Along the way, there were things… Read complete articleCouncil Makes some Key Decisions

Cabins Proposed to Help Homelessness

John Draper

There has been a lot of talk recently about homelessness and affordable housing and citizens are trying to find ways to help.  The Northumberland Sleeping Cabins Collective has announced that they are hoping to raise enough money to build 6 cabins to accommodate perhaps 10-12 individuals.  Not all details are available nor problems solved but the immediate goal is to raise the money to provide a better solution for some homeless people.  A cabin can be built for $5000 although that’s just sleeping quarters – more detail is provided below.  Kitchen and washroom facilities would be provided with separate buildings and shared.  It is hoped to find a location in each of Port Hope and Cobourg although so far there… Read complete articleCabins Proposed to Help Homelessness