Press Release - City Wants Tourism Input

Last year's decision by city council to essentially privatize tourism services was bold, yet not necessarily well thought out in terms of the implications. Well, I guess it's time to get down to the implications. 

St Patrick's Day Police Results

For some reason I was amused by this, although I probably shouldn't be. Today's press release from the Guelph Police Service included the numbers from their St Patrick's Day patrols, which suggest an overall quiet St Patty's Day, and a significantly less active "holiday" as opposed to last year. 

Of course, last year the festivities fell on Saturday, which helped increase the general revelry. I haven't heard what happened yesterday in London, ON, but given what happened last year, just about anything was bound to be an improvement. 

More Condolences for Constable Kovach

As many in Guelph try to cope with the sudden and tragic loss of Police Constable Jennifer Kovach early Thursday morning, official statements of sympathy and condolences keep coming in.

Mayor Releases Statement About Fallen Police Officer

Sad news from the Guelph Police Service this morning about the passing of one of their own.Constable Jennifer Kovach. According to a Guelph Mercury article, Kovach, 26, was travelling north on Imperial Road South just north of the West End Community Centre at 12:30 this morning when her police car crossed into oncoming traffic and was hit by southbound Guelph Transit bus.

Garneau Quits, Says Trudeau Inevitable

A bit of a shocker today coming from the race for Liberal leadership with the withdrawal of Marc Garneau, former astronaut, MP for Westmount-Ville-Mari, and Justin Trudeau's nearest competition in the race.

Taking the Long Way Home

It's a pretty big week for anniversaries. Today was the second anniversary of the huge Japanese earthquake, one of the largest every recorded, but 10 years ago yesterday the Earth moved in a different, very specific, way.

Valeriote Calls PBO Politics on Harper

There's been discussion in the news recently about the Harper government's stifling of environmental scientists, forcing them to handle all their press communications through the Office of the Privy Council, but obviously, if you know anything about the way Prime Minister Stephen Harper handles his business, that's not the only section of government affairs that needs the proverbial royal seal of approval.

In a press release set out yesterday, Guelph MP Frank Valeriote addressed the matter of the next Parliamentary Budget Officer, quoting his recent comments in the House of Commons. It's the kind of thing that seems like inside baseball, matters of procedure that only matter much to parliamentarians and politicos, but as the saying goes, the devil's in the details.

He's Actually Doing It!

As of right this minute, right now, Rand Paul is standing up in the well of the Senate House in Washington D.C. actually filibustering. To those of you who are maybe not that political, this doesn't sound like a big deal, but the filibuster, in the full Mr Smith Goes to Washington understanding of it, is as rare as bipartisan support these days. Granted, Paul is basically doing it to be a dick.

Still a B(r)adshaw Idea

The terrifying ghost of Terry Bradshaw is once again terrorizing Guelph. Not that the ex-NFL player and current NFL-commentator died or anything, his spectre joining Al Capone's girlfriend in the rafters of the Albion, this ghost is more of the tax payer money and infomercial variety.

Downtown Workshop Wants Public Input

The below is a city press release set out the other day. I posted it here and now if for no other reason because it was posted on the Guelph Mercury's 59 Carden St. blog where it got a, shall we say, visceral response. Overall it's a collection of the usual rabble, the ones who think consultation is a waste of time and/or the city wants public input, but will swiftly ignore it. There is also the usual collection of broad generalizations about our downtown: drugs, panhandlers, over-flowing bars.