It was a particularly effervescent Joe Preston who took to the podium this past Wednesday for the area mayor’s luncheon at St. Anne’s Centre.
Sharing the spotlight with Southwold Mayor Grant Jones and Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn, Preston was not only bubbling over with enthusiasm, but he also came in three minutes under the allotted 10-minute time slot.
And, made a promise of better city transit by the end of this year, guaranteed.
Preston opened with, “St. Thomas, what a great place to be the mayor.”
He continued, “I have been mayor for little over a year and it’s been an extra-special time.”
After thanking the city councillors, he observed, “Boy, do we employ some pretty good people . . . I’m here to tell you’re in pretty good shape.
“We’re in good shape at being able to run this community in an efficient way with smart people doing it.”
Category Archives: climate change
A tale of two schools: ‘The public doesn’t support us closing full schools to create a business case to open another one.’
It was a three-year battle to save a couple of rural schools in Elgin, but in the end, it may have been a last-minute letter of clarification that sealed the deal.
Tuesday evening (Nov. 26) Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) trustees voted overwhelmingly in favour of rescinding a motion to shutter New Sarum and Springfield public schools next year.
The motion had initially been introduced in October by Elgin trustee Meagan Ruddock, with the support of fellow area trustee Bruce Smith.
After the school board completed an accommodation study of a dozen area schools, it was recommended four of them be closed: South Dorchester, Westminster Central, New Sarum and Springfield public schools.
A fifth, Sparta Public School, was to be repurposed as a French immersion school.
Several trustees had opposed Ruddock’s motion in the belief such a move could jeopardize the business case for the construction of a new school in Belmont.
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Is Ontario really leading the way in dealing with climate change as the environment minister claims?
Climate crisis marches were again held around the globe yesterday (Sept. 27) including here in St. Thomas.
The province’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks did not attend any local rallies, as was the case with a rally held last Friday in front of city hall.
Instead, he issued a media release where he noted, “Today, I would like to recognize all the young Ontarians who are making their voices heard on the serious issue of climate change.”
But just how seriously are Conservatives at both the provincial and federal level dealing with the implications of climate change?
At a massive rally in Montreal, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was the only head of a major federal party not in attendance.
