Are you taking part in Earth Hour?

The Canadian Gazette is working on a story about Earth Hour on March 27.
If you or someone you know is taking part in Almonte, Carleton Place or the surrounding area, we'd love to hear from you for a story we're working on.
Please e-mail roger.leblanc@metroland.com

Parking rates rise

We've learned this week that parking rates are going up at Carleton Place's hospital. As well, the hospital will now charge patients to have a TV and phone in their room.
I anticipate some letters next week.
We all know hospitals have to balance their budgets and have few options to generate revenue. And yet the idea of being charged more for parking will no doubt irk many readers.
Reporter Erin Fitzgerald spoke with someone from the hospital yesterday and is working on a story to tell us what state the hospital's books are in - and how far this move will get them in finding black ink.

Time to act

Here's this week's editorial:

The arrival of a bronze statue commemorating the life of James Naismith will undoubtedly help Almonte cement its connection with the man.

The sculpture is expected to arrive this summer. It will likely rest in front of Baker Bob’s or near the cenotaph.

Allen Rae, president of the Naismith Basketball Foundation and Museum said the statue will recognize Naismith’s contribution to the world of sports.

A bronze sculpture of Naismith has already been crafted in Kansas and will be sent to Springfield College in Massachusetts where the game was invented in 1891.

“Basketball was James Naismith’s gift to humanity,” college president Richard Flynn recently told the Lawerence Journal-World newspaper. “The new statute will be an ongoing reminder of his legacy.”

The same artist, Elden Tefft, will cast a second sculpture for Almonte.

We hope the community seizes upon this momentum and does more.

Almonte is known the world over as the birthplace of the man who created basketball.

But the casual visitor could come and go without ever knowing this.

Yes, there is Naismith Memorial Public School, the Naismith Museum and a plaque in front of the homestead.

But we believe much more could be done to both celebrate the accomplishments of a native son and create tourism potential.

We need to thrust the connection into the public mind, not simply offer it up when asked.

Next year the world will celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Naismith’s birth. But now is the time to come together locally and plan the best way to both honour his memory and capitalize on what could be global media attention.

We hope the statue is only the first step toward this goal.

In Vancouver

I keep forgetting to point readers to one of our other featured blogs.
"Nicholson's in Vancouver" follows an Arnprior-area family at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
In particular, the blog wants to be your source for daily updates on the Team Canada Men's Sledge Hockey.

Salute to the fans

The Carleton Place Canadians finished their first season with a 5-2 win over the Hawkesbury Hawks on March 6 at home.
The team won't be advancing into the playoffs. The Canadians recorded 25 wins and 35 losses.

Blues in the Schools

Reporter Katie Mulligan gave video production a shot today.
She visited Caldwell Street Public School in Carleton Place to see Ottawa musicians Shawn Tavenier and Peter Voith take the stage as part of the Blues in the Schools program.
Watch the video

Pakenham tragedy

Police have told us the body of Tina Smithson has been found. The Pakenham woman went missing in late January.
Some readers expressed doubt - or maybe I should say disbelief - that Smithson had fallen through the ice of a creek near her home and was swept away.
Hopefully this provides a bit of closure for the community.

Former Can.Tire site meeting

I got this from the CP Farmers Market recently:

The Town has hired a consultant to determine the future use of our current Carleton Place Farmers Market site at 7 Beckwith St. (the former Canadian Tire building). We are invited to participate in this process through an Open House on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 from 4 to 7 p.m.
I would strongly encourage all vendors and supporters to attend this session and make it clear that the CPFM would like to continue to have access to this site, preferably in a three season, indoor facility. If you are unable to attend personally please contact Paul Knowles, Chief Administrative Officer for the Town (telephone 613-257-6207; pknowles@carletonplace.ca) regarding your concerns for this site.

Mayoral blog

Mississippi Mills Mayor Al Lunney has written about the treatment plant issue at his blog, under the headline 'Sometimes I get frustrated.'

"After attending numerous meetings and listening to residents, I started thinking, what would have happened if we had not included the septage component and simply built the required plant for Almonte residents and what would have happened if the Ministry came through on its commitment to ban the spreading of untreated septage."

Read more from the mayor's blog

Welcome Wagon

The Canadian Gazette was honoured earlier this week with a plaque to mark 30 years of work with Welcome Wagon in Almonte and Carleton Place. Photo by Katie Mulligan

Home game

Here's a bit of video from the Canadians vs. Hawks Family Day game. Carleton Place won the match 6-1. They play tonight against Nepean. The Canadians' last game of the season is March 6 at home.

Do or die

Tonight could be the last night for Jr. B hockey in Almonte for the season. The Thunder play the Blue Wings tonight in playoff action. Perth leads the series 3-0.

Digging into a good book

We like to publish cute photos of local kids.
But something tells me we shouldn't have this one go to print.
Canadian Gazette reporter Erin Fitzgerald captured this moment today at R. Tait McKenzie Public School in Almonte.

A matter of principle

One of the changes I've made since I came on board here in September was to remove the names of people accused of crimes from our police briefs.
I know it's not a popular idea, but there's reasoning behind it.
The police regularly send us press releases saying a person was arrested for, let's say, drunk driving. They outline the basic details, name the person and then say if there's a court date coming.
Here's the problem.
While many small Canadian newspapers readily print the name of the accused, they don't necessarily follow the case to court. So while we tell readers someone has been accused of a crime, we don't say if they've been found guilty or innocent before a judge months later.
Sure, we could devote more resources to court coverage. But for small papers, it's difficult.
Many times we go to court and spend a good part of the day waiting for our local case only to learn it's been put off a month. As an editor, I'm not pleased that my reporter just wasted a whole day and is returning without a story.
So here's our compromise.
We tell readers the details of an arrest and don't print the name of the accused. However, if the story is of importance, we print the name and then dedicate a reporter to follow the case through the courts.
We're doing that now involving a Carleton Place man who's facing Internet luring charges. He had a court date in Perth earlier this month, which resulted only in getting yet another court date.
While it may not satisfy all readers, it's the responsible thing to do. I think it also avoids the very real possibility of publicly accusing a resident of a misdeed and not telling the public he was later found innocent.
That would be a crime.

Hearts and minds

Here's the Feb. 25 editorial:

Judging by the turnout at a recent sewage treatment plant meeting, residents of Mississippi Mills are not happy.
More than 100 people gathered at Almonte’s Old Town Hall to get the latest news about the proposed plant.
The new plant will replace the lagoon system the town presently relies on and is projected to be running by 2012.
At a cost of $27 million, the municipality will need to find more than $5.1 million to fund its portion of the project.
While no one likes increased fees or higher taxes, it’s clear the town has not been able to win the hearts and minds of residents on this issue.
With infrastructure funding being offered now – thanks in no small part to the state of the economy – politicians are worried if they don’t act, they’ll have to fund a much higher portion later.
“If we turn this money back, we’ll never get it again,” Mayor Al Lunney warned the crowd. “We’ve got the money. We’re ahead of the curve.”
And there’s the question of growth. For the municipality to accommodate new growth there has to be treatment capacity there, the crowd was told.
Both are good arguments.
But we’re worried on a couple of fronts.
We hoped the town would be able to convince residents to get on board a decision of this magnitude; a decision that will hit the pocket books of many.
If it really is the right time and right move, why aren’t the hearts and minds being won?
We are also worried the plant proposal could become a wedge issue in the fall election. Will voters cast their ballots based on where candidates stand on the plant? While accountability is a corner stone of our electoral process, we have some concern the election could become a quasi-referendum after the fact.
Hopefully the many other issues of the day will not be lost in the shadow of the treatment plant debate.
Our hope is the town will be able to either convince residents this is the right thing, or reevaluate its plans altogether.

Have your say. Write a letter to the editor via e-mail at roger.leblanc@metroland.com or via post at the address below.

Septage meeting

I was just editing a story about the recent public meeting in Almonte about the plans for a new sewage treatment plant.
More than 100 people showed up and they weren't happy.
While we'll be writing a story that talks about news from the engineers, I think it's just as interesting that people are still fuming about this.
The Town of Mississippi Mills is not winning hearts and minds on this one.
I wonder if this could become a wedge issue in the upcoming municipal election?
Tell us what you think with a letter to the editor. E-mail me at roger.leblanc@metroland.com.

Game plan huddle

The Lanark OPP vs. NHL Alumni game was a good night. It was good to see the stands of Carleton Place arena three-quarters full for the fundraiser.
We'll have a photo in the paper and I put more shots online.

Almonte Radio Show

Here's a little slide show I threw together as a promo for the upcoming Almonte Radio Show.

New student reporter

Our new co-op student, Michael Murchison, started work today.
I asked him to write a brief column to introduce himself to our readers for the Feb. 25 edition. Here's a sneak peak:

Growing up in Carleton Place has given me everything I need.
I was born in late December, 1993, the youngest of my family and the youngest in all my school classes.
I made long-lasting friendships with as many people as I could when I was young, despite the fact that I was the shiest and quietest boy you would ever meet.
I grew up and I began my high school years at Carleton Place High School. Now, in the 11th grade I still maintain those long-lasting friendships, and I’m laying the groundwork for new ones. I think of myself as a creative person; I play the guitar, I’m trying to learn the piano, I own a web comic site with a friend and I enjoy writing. In the future I plan to become an advertising copywriter, which is a fancy way of saying: someone who writes ads.
It’s something that I’ve aspired to become for almost my entire life.
Strangely enough, several years after deciding copywriting was what I wanted to do, I discovered my uncle did that exact job. I guess it runs in the family.
I’ve also, been offered an exciting and unique opportunity to work here at the Canadian Gazette as part of my high schools co-operative education program.
I hope to gain writing and work experience that will help me in my short-term and long-term career goals. I expect to have a lot of fun writing here and I hope that I can bring you, the reader something interesting to read with every article.
Michael Murchison is a Carleton Place High School co-op student.

More zombie dancers

You can see more of our "zombies in Almonte" photos here:
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/photozone