YMT to close its doors this month
The battering Canada’s auto sector has taken in recent months has spread to Elmira. YM Technology Inc. (YMT), the automotive tool and die plant located on South Field Drive, will close its doors by the end of March …Read more
BIA hopes new blood, funding will give it a boost
Elmira’s BIA hopes a recent infusion of cash will help jumpstart the downtown business organization. There are also encouraging signs that new members may boost participation rates. …Read more
Elmira plant not part of Chemtura Chapter 11 filing
Chemtura Corp’s U.S. operations filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday but its international operations, including the chemical plant in Elmira, are not included in the filing and are expected to continue without interruption …Read more
Townships unscathed by markets
Thanks to sound investments, Woolwich Township is faring relatively well in the current economic storm, says the municipality’s director of finance, Richard Petherick.
In a report to council last week highlighting the township’s investments for 2008, Petherick revealed that because of its “passive approach” to investing, the municipality’s portfolio of investments is providing some significant yields.
Woolwich director of finance Richard Petherick’s report to council paints a fairly rosy picture of the township’s investment portfolio.
“The overall investments we have are solid investments,” he said in an interview.
Composed of holdings ranging from cash balances to long-term bonds, as of Dec. 31, 2008, the total book value of these holdings was approximately $9.53 million, down significantly from $18.5 million in 2007. That decline, however, comes as a result of drawing on its cash holdings, part of the township’s plan for funding its extensive capital building program. Last year saw a flurry of construction in the township, with ground breakings on a number of projects, including the Woolwich Memorial Centre, the township administration building in Elmira, and the new fire hall in Floradale.
In his report, Petherick revealed that the township has a total of $6.9 million in long-term investments …Read more
EDSS students help build school
A school made out of paper bricks will lay the foundation for a real brick-and-mortar school.
Each of the paper bricks bears the name of a student at Elmira District Secondary School, who purchased it for a dollar. There are more than 1,300 bricks in the mock school, which translates to $1,300 that will go toward building a school in West Africa.
The O Ambassadors club at EDSS sold 1,300 ‘bricks’ to raise money for building schools in West Africa. Back row: Robyn Beckett, Caelen Rank, Madeline Charnuski and Stephanie Straus. Front row: staff advisor David VandenBerg, Nick Timmerman and Kurtis Rempel.
The week-long fundraiser was organized by the EDSS chapter of O Ambassadors, a network of clubs set up by Oprah’s Angel Networks and Free the Children. This was the group’s most ambitious project yet, and it turned out bigger than they imagined; they set a goal of $1,000 and easily surpassed it.
The EDSS chapter of O Ambassadors owes its existence at EDSS to Madeline Charnuski. She happened to catch the Oprah show …Read more
June start for Breslau Community Centre
Along with the homes springing up in the south end of the village, Breslau residents will watch this summer as a new community centre takes shape. Construction should begin June 1 on the $2.2 million project, which Woolwich …Read more
Bailout futile if people aren’t buying new cars
Would $3,500 encourage you to buy a new car? Probably not. But it seems a more worthwhile incentive than simply pouring money into companies burning through cash at an incredible clip …Read more
The spirit of Hockeyville, but not the crown
Hockeyville …. is Terrace, B.C.
Typically, a third-place finish in a national competition contested by more than 7,100 communities across the country would be nothing to sneeze …Read more
Putting a wrap on smoke alarm blitz
Homes in Woolwich are now safer than they were five years ago, the result of a 2004 decision by the Woolwich Fire Department to visit every house to check smoke alarms. “It was just so vital and so important,” said fire prevention officer Bill Cronin of the recently concluded program.
“It was vital to the safety of the occupants of the township – no question.”
The smoke alarm program saw volunteer firefighters call on residents with the intention of testing existing smoke alarms, educating the household about the dos and don’ts of the provincially mandated units, and providing non-compliant residents with new, functioning units.
COVERING GROUND Woolwich fire prevention officer Bill Cronin spearheaded a five-year program to inspect smoke alarms in township homes.
In those five years, firefighters inspected, by invitation, 5,489 homes; 768 of those were found to be noncompliant. Homes in which no smoke alarms were present, or in which smoke alarms were found to be faulty or inoperable – often as a result of dead batteries – were categorized as non-compliant. Through the program, 605 smoke alarms were installed; 371 batteries were installed; and only 91 times were firefighters refused entry.
Smoke alarms were installed by firefighters for an optional donation, and dead batteries were replaced.
“We never left a home unprotected, whether they could afford it or not,” said Cronin. …Read more
Hockeyville title for Woolwich?
After putting themselves at risk of repetitive strain injuries for four days, Woolwich residents will find out tonight (Saturday) if their fast and furious voting has netted them the Hockeyville title.
The winning community will be announced during CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
Woolwich’s Hockeyville committee is inviting everyone to an announcement party in the youth centre on the upper level of the Elmira Arena at 9 p.m. The voting station with 44 computers on loan from Reality Bytes will make way for a big-screen television. CBC camera crews will be on hand to capture the crowd’s reaction if Woolwich is victorious.
EVERY VOTE COUNTS Travis and Teesha Weber were busy voting with other minor hockey families at the Elmira Arena Mar. 3.
Votes poured in in such numbers that CBC’s systems strained to keep up. People phoning their votes in had trouble getting through, and confirmation to voters using text messaging was delayed. Online voting was extended to 1:30 a.m. Thursday because of a 90-minute delay getting the system up and running.
“It’s going like crazy,” said local Hockeyville organizer Graham Snyder in the thick of voting Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t think they’ve ever seen voting like this. People are doing a wonderful job.”
“It’s incredible, being in the hub of it,” said Jake Baleshta, looking around the voting station in the arena Wednesday night. “Just the camaraderie of the whole community, it’s like Christmas all over again.” …Read more
