With a lull in the action at St. Thomas city hall and with most area municipal governments, what better time to present a heartwarming story about the power of believing, especially at Christmas time?
Early in December, a note was sent to the myFM newsroom about a full-day kindergarten teacher at John Wise Public School in St. Thomas who was just days away from retirement, following a lengthy career.
It’s a retirement story with an inspirational difference. Teacher Ruth Brown planned to retire only after fulfilling a long-time dream that neatly wrapped up a popular Christmas storybook, her love of teaching students in kindergarten and her pending last day in the classroom into one fairytale that came to life.
Tag Archives: Iron Horse Festival
The sale of Elgin County Railway Museum land helps it ‘create a strategy for a sustainable future’
Doug Tarry calls the sale of a parcel of land to the west of the Elgin County Railway Museum an innovative first step to revitalize the downtown railway lands.
The deal was completed on June 28 of this year for $2.4 million and a ceremony was held this past Tuesday at the museum to celebrate the move forward.
The St. Thomas developer made that revitalization observation almost three years ago. On Feb. 20 of this year, city council unanimously agreed to declare certain parcels of land that partially comprise Jonas Park to be declared surplus to the city and those parcels were to be sold to Doug Tarry Limited (DTL).
In the summer of 2021, Tarry sought to purchase the eight acres of railway land at $300,000 per acre for a low-rise residential development that would front onto a new street to be created off Ross Street and north of Jonas Street.
The land transaction has not been without controversy.
Share this:
Not the time to mix-master the issues
So, what exactly is the art of ‘gentle persuasion’ as practiced by St. Thomas developer Bob McCaig?
That strategy to oppose construction of a new police station and the petition he is circulating around the city prompted this corner to call McCaig for clarification.
“We don’t need it, we can’t afford it and our community is in trouble financially,” Bob stresses.
While the petition surely will garner hundreds if not a couple thousand signatures, McCaig admits it likely will have little impact at city hall.
“There is nothing that will come of it (the petition) that will force anybody to do anything. It’s all about gentle persuasion. The time for tough talk is over. It’s time to lay the information on in terms of facts.”
And for Bob, the information points to renovation of the existing police station in the Colin McGregor Justice Building.
“This concept of a new police station should be dropped and the current one renovated. They should put off a new station for 20 years.”
Continue reading
Share this:
Question of compensation dogs former Ascent chairman
The retirement of Ascent (formerly St. Thomas Holdings Inc.) CEO Brian Hollywood at the end of June and the resignation of former board chairman, Ald. Tom Johnston, the same month has this corner puzzling over the timing of this double play.
Especially in the case of Johnston who tumbled from board chairman to out the door in a matter of weeks, prompting the question: How much pressure was exerted by the board of directors on Johnston?
Was it the fact Ascent lost $1 million in 2011, down from a profit of $584,501 in 2010.
Or, how about the possibility Johnston was continuing to receive compensation in some fashion as Ascent board chairman, in spite of a city bylaw enacted in 2009 that eliminated remuneration for members of city council sitting on outside boards?
Continue reading
Share this:
Skateboarders doff hats in show of respect
The skateboard park may be nothing more than a memory, however the young boarders who saw the facility as a second home are not about to abandon the cause.
A group of them were in the gallery for Monday’s council meeting, but were not allowed the opportunity to have a representative present their case at that time.
The collective cold shoulder by council has prompted a rebuke in the community in the form of letters to the editor and numerous comments on the T-J website and on Facebook.
Continue reading
Share this:
A last-minute change to your PC nominee line-up
UPDATE: Jeff Yurek won the Ontario PC riding nomination for Elgin-Middlesex-London Saturday on the fourth ballot at Parkside Collegiate Institute.
Seems provincial Conservatives ensconced at Toronto headquarters turned their noses up at, and thumbs down on, Peter Osjotic’s nomination bid for today’s Elgin-Middlesex-London run-off at Parkside Collegiate Institute.
No reason given, when this corner approached Alan Sakach, director of communications for the Ontario PCs.
“It’s an internal organizational matter by the party,” was the extent of Sakach’s enlightenment.
Read the full story here .
However, a hot rumour making the rounds infers a copy of the 2003 McCarthy Tetrault report somehow made it’s way to TO and may have influenced the Ostojic decision.
Continue reading
