Closing arguments at the weeks-long inquest examining the drug-related deaths of six men who were in custody at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre have wrapped up. The jury is now tasked with deliberating to reach its conclusions, which may involve making recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

From blow-up Santas on the lawn to twinkling lights around your porch or apartment balcony, do you have a tradition of decorating your home for the holidays? If so, we want to hear from you.

Yanchus, Terry
May 31, 1947 – December 7, 2024

Terry was born in Guelph, ON. to the late Anne and John Yanchus. He was born into a large military family and was a loving brother to Sharon (late Glen), late Stephen, Leslie (Andy), Jim (Wanda), and Robin (Will).

Terry served in the Royal Canadian Navy as a Seaman. After this service, he had an extensive career in the financial industry. But if you had asked him, he would have much rather been a farmer or a cowboy.

Nothing was more important to Terry than faith and family. He, and the love of his life Nelda, were together for over 50 years. A proud father to his children, late John (Tamara), Jason (Faye) and Lee-Anne (Bryce), he would harass anyone who would listen with stories of their accomplishments.

Terry’s grandkids, Alexa, Ethan, Tyler, Jake, Nicole and Camryn were extremely special to him and time spent with them brought him immense joy.

Having married into a large family, Terry will be missed by his father-in-law, Murray Rupert and his treasured sisters/brothers-in-law. They, along with other extended family members will also be feeling the loss of Terry’s passing.

Terry lived life his way. He was a kind and generous soul who loved finding quiet ways to help people. He was an intent listener and always had supportive advice to offer. Terry was a founding/Life Member of the Optimist Club of Kingsville, making many good friends over the years. He was an avid card writer, known for filling every space on the card with his kind words of encouragement. Gifted with a green thumb, he took great pleasure tending to his gardens, roses and grass over the years. However, he was never happier than when he was with his family and friends, sitting around playing cards, and sharing a Pepsi.

Special thanks to his nurse Cheryl, PSW Kathy and the entire Home Care Team at Hospice of Windsor and Essex County. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Terry’s life at Kendrick Funeral Home, 91 Division St. S., Kingsville ON

Visitation will be held Thursday December 12th from 3-7 pm.

The funeral service will be held Friday December 13th at 1:30 pm.

Those wishing to donate in Terry’s memory may consider the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County, or the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre in London, ON.

The post Terry Yanchus (May 31, 1947 – December 7, 2024) appeared first on Kingsville Times.

Kok, Susan
January 10, 1963 – December 6, 2024

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Susan (Suz) Kok, on December 6th, 2024. Born in Kingsville to John Stephen Cull (2009) and Marion Cull (2016). Beloved wife of 37 years of Benny Kok, and adoring mother to Taylor Kok. Cherished sister to Mike (Kathy) Cull, Mark (Lisa) Cull, and Stephanie (Randy) Gray. Loving sister-in-law to Bert (2003) and Linda (2022) Kok, Lida (Ken) Berger, Johnny (Cindy) Kok, Eddy (Denise) Kok, Kitty (Doug) Kok, and Micky (Ron) Miller.

Susan will be dearly missed by many cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends.

Susan loved her home town of Kingsville and kept her childhood home close to her heart. Her love of baseball and the Yoder girls who she loved dearly will always be fond memories of hers.

Thanks to Dr Kelton and the staff at Age Care Royal Oak for their outstanding care and compassion over the past few years. If desired, donations in Susan’s memory may be made to The Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.

As per Susan’s wishes, cremation has taken place, and a private burial will be held at a later date.

The post Susan Kok (January 10, 1963 – December 6, 2024) appeared first on Kingsville Times.

Police say they were patrolling encampments in Gage Park Tuesday when they discovered a hole nearly two metres deep. 

The post Kingsville Council Brief from December 9, 2024 Meeting appeared first on Kingsville Times.

There are no elves in a small building on Dundas Street next to the low-barrier drop-in centre called My Sister's Place, but you'd be forgiven if you went inside and thought you'd walked into Santa's workshop.

Trustee Gale Simko-Hatfield (Windsor Wards 5,6,7 & 8) has been selected to return as Chair of the GECDSB Board of Trustees for the next 12 months. Elections for the board’s executive positions were held at the annual Organizational Meeting on Tuesday, December 10th.

“As an educational organization, we are committed to creating confident learners in our classrooms, respectfully engaging communities in meaningful ways, and demonstrating ethical stewardship of our limited resources,” Hatfield stated in remarks to her colleagues. “In the year ahead, we will be engaging in a new model of doing business through our recently adopted governance bylaws, guided by best practices and should allow for a clear focus on student achievement and well-being.”

Trustee Connie Buckler (Representing the Town of Tecumseh and Municipality of Lakeshore) was chosen to serve as the board’s Vice-chairperson.

The next public meeting of the Board of Trustees will be on Tuesday, January 21^st, 2025.

The post GECDSB Choose Leadership In Annual Organizational Meeting appeared first on Kingsville Times.

Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kenneth Ogah, MD, as the organization’s new Chief of Staff, effective early in the new year. Dr. Ogah brings over 25 years of experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology, with a notable background in Urogynecology, advanced pelvic surgery, and community-based healthcare services.

Dr. Ogah’s appointment follows a careful and comprehensive selection process by the ESHC Board of Directors. He will work closely alongside current Chief of Staff, Dr. Luther Heys, for the next seven weeks to ensure a seamless transition.

“Dr. Ogah is a highly respected member of our medical team, known for his patient-centered care, commitment to innovation, and community-focused approach,” says Kristin Kennedy, CEO of Erie Shores HealthCare. “His deep understanding of the unique needs of our patients and his proven leadership in clinical excellence and mentorship make him an ideal fit to guide us into our next phase of growth.”

Dr. Ogah joined ESHC after extensive training at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Royal Victoria Infirmary, University of Newcastle, UK. He is a Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Canada (RCSPC), a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and a member of The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

Over the past decade, Dr. Ogah has been integral to outreach initiatives serving underrepresented communities in Windsor-Essex and has earned community accolades for his compassionate care.

“It is an honour to serve our community in a new capacity,” says Dr. Ogah. “We have an excellent team of professionals at Erie Shores HealthCare, and I’m committed to working together to enhance our patient experiences, improve outcomes, and continue delivering the quality of care our patients deserve as we plan out ESHC’s next 25 years.”

The Board commends outgoing Chief of Staff, Dr. Luther Heys, who has provided steadfast leadership throughout his tenure—including recruiting the first pediatrician at Erie Shores in three decades, restoring surgical urology services, expanding chemotherapy offerings, and guiding the hospital through a significant cyber-attack—will continue to serve as Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Heys for his extraordinary leadership and unwavering dedication,” says Duffy Kniaziew, Chair of the Erie Shores HealthCare Board of Directors. “Under his guidance, we advanced critical services and laid a solid foundation for future growth. We are confident that Dr. Ogah will continue to build on this momentum, ensuring that Erie Shores HealthCare remains a trusted pillar in this community.”

As Dr. Ogah assumes his new role, he will work collaboratively with the hospital’s leadership, physicians, nurses, staff, and community partners to advance ESHC’s strategic vision, emphasizing exceptional patient care, clinical innovation, and accessible services.

He officially assumes the Chief of Staff role on January 28, 2025.

The post Erie Shores HealthCare Welcomes New Chief Of Staff appeared first on Kingsville Times.

Advocacy group, cyclists claim new law that aims to remove parts of 3 major bike lanes in Toronto infringes on Charter rights to life and security for bike riders in the city. They are seeking an injunction against the removals.

Fifteen of 20 council members, including the 10 representatives of Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette's Action Gatineau party, voted in favour of the $887-million budget Tuesday evening.

THE GREEN LINE
DOCUMENTERS NOTES

How can the city plan for the Chinatown of tomorrow?

City of Toronto staff held a meeting on Dec. 7 in Xing Dance Theatre to update community members on the urban planning study, Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Initiative.

The Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Initiative meeting on Dec. 7, 2024 opened with a lion dance at Xing Dance Theatre.
: Karen Chan/The Green Line.

Karen Chan

A Chinatown-based artist, graduate of University of British Columbia and a bunny mom. She is interested in storytelling to build community.

Dec. 8, 2024

These city meeting notes are part of Documenters Canada. Learn more about our program here. 

What comes to your mind when you think of Chinatown?

Well, city planning staff asked some version of this question to over 500 Chinatown residents for the Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Initiative, which is an urban planning study that aims to determine how the city can preserve the unique characteristics of the neighbourhood and respond to increased development pressure.

The City of Toronto Planning and Development staff held a meeting on Dec. 7 in Xing Dance Theatre to update the Chinatown community on the progress of the study and next steps in the process.

The meeting opened with a lion dance and was attended by about 50 people. City staff presented a brief history of Chinatown — highlighting the displacement of Chinese residents and the history of exclusionary policies by the Canadian government — before presenting the findings from the Chinatown Tomorrow Planning Initiative. 

According to the presentation, over 500 participants were surveyed between August 2023 and August 2024 in community consultations, round tables and meetings. In one of the survey questions, participants were asked what Chinatown meant to them. City staff shared highlights of the responses: Chinatown is a meeting place, a refuge for all and a home for Chinese-Canadian identity. Common topics brought up in the study were the importance of community values, affordability, solidarity with the working class, informality, mutual aid and micro-enterprise. 

Sharon Hong, an associate at ERA Architects, emphasized that Chinatown is a place of local and national significance that needs to be preserved. 

Deputy Mayor Asuma Malik, councillor for ward 10 Spadina-Fort York which includes Chinatown, spoke about the importance of investment without displacement emphasizing that “everything is already here” and that the city can just work alongside the community to amplify assets and goals. 

What were the outcomes of the discussions? 

City staff invited attendees to sign up to join a community working group that will look into the feedback and insights from the study. The goal of the working group is to create a platform to continue building relationships with the community. Attendees were strongly encouraged to stay engaged and to send comments at any time to city planning staff, specifically planner Patricia Cho and senior planner Ran Chen. 

This stage of consultations will wrap up in January 2025. The city staff will then give an update on progress as well as recommendations to get another round of community feedback before finalizing the Chinatown Tomorrow report, which is to be shared with city council in the fourth quarter of 2025. 

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City of Toronto

Chinatown Planning Study

City of Toronto

KENSINGTON-CHINATOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD PROFILE

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The post How can the city plan for the Chinatown of tomorrow? appeared first on The Green Line.

The city will open four warming centres as of 5 p.m. Wednesday with temperatures forecast to plunge in the evening.

THE GREEN LINE
VIDEO STORY

Know Your Neighbour: JULIE LEJEUNE

Fort York Food Bank executive director, Julie LeJeune, talks about the community-oriented services and goals at one of Toronto's oldest food banks.

Julie LeJeune has served as Fort York Food Bank's executive director since 2022.
: Sebastian Tansil/The Green Line.

sebastian tansil

Caring mastermind who loves spending quality time with friends and family. Empathetic and precise economist by training. Loves amber yellow as it reminds him of people dearest to him.

September 21, 2024

This video was produced by a youth journalist who participated in The Green Line's Alexandra Park Youth Journalism program in partnership with Scadding Court Community Centre. It's part of the series "Know Your Neighbour," which profiles the people and places important to community members in Alexandra Park, Kensington Market and Chinatown.

Unlike most people, the staff at the Fort York Food Bank strive to work themselves out of their jobs, says executive director Julie LeJeune.

The food bank (FYFB) is a local charity in Kensington Market at the intersection of College and Borden streets. Operating almost every day of the week since 1998, it provides low-income families and community members with a three-day supply of groceries and hot meals.

In recent years, demand at the food bank has been mounting, mirroring the jump in food prices, which have increased 25 per cent across Canada since 2020, according to The Green Line's calculation based on data from Statistics Canada's consumer price index.

LeJeune says FYFB has been serving over 5,000 people per week - the majority of whom are employed individuals who are in the 18 to 45 age range. For comparison, pre-COVID, the food bank served 1,000 people per week, and the majority were elderly people.

While providing immediate relief for their clients in the form of groceries is a top priority, FYFB's long-term goal is to be a multi-service agency that helps reconnect people with the community, LeJeune says. She adds that volunteers try to connect community members with housing, legal or tax resources to help them build a solid foundation for their future.

"Our heart and soul is to be able to try and reconnect people, so that they can provide for themselves and not have to come to the food bank."

 

Fact-Check Yourself

Sources and
further reading

Don't take our word for it —
check our sources for yourself.

FORT YORK FOOD BANK

FORT YORK FOOD BANK WEBSITE

STATISTICS CANADA

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX

The post Know Your Neighbour: Fort York Food Bank’s Julie LeJeune appeared first on The Green Line.

Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 on Tuesday night in an NBA Cup quarterfinal.

One person is dead after a two-vehicle crash happened in Zorra Township, Tuesday morning, Oxford County Ontario Provincial Police said. A driver from London was transported to hospital with unknown injuries and later died. A second driver had minor injuries. 

The TTC says riders using the Yonge-University subway line should expect delays early Wednesday after service was briefly shut down between Vaughan and Finch stations.

With city spending under pressure, some city watchers would like more discussion about big-picture, longer-term themes affecting Ottawa.

London councillors gave initial approval to a plan to tweak — and in some cases substantially redraw — the boundaries of the city's 14 municipal wards. 

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is asking Londoners to consider being extra generous this winter, as the need for donations rises and the number of people donating struggles to keep up with demand.

Before tiny French bulldog Clementine was brought to the Toronto Humane Society, she was found abandoned and bleeding inside a chip box in a park. Her story is a symptom of a larger problem, says the organization, which is launching a new campaign aimed at preventing animals from being abandoned.

The largest First Nations police service in Canada has opted into Ontario policing legislation — meaning it will formally be considered an essential service. The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS), which serves 34 First Nations, is getting a $514-million funding boost after signing onto the Community Safety and Policing Act.

An untold number of Syrian refugees are contemplating travelling back to Syria after the fall of the Assad regime on Sunday. They're revelling in their first tangible hope of going home, but say they're also watching closely to see where the country's political, economic and humanitarian situation goes from here.

Smart Living Properties is now offering 11 tenants of four buildings on Bank and Nepean streets $20,000 each, plus the right to move back in with controlled rents for 10 years.

The Ottawa Senators made their annual visit to CHEO, signing Sens merch and spending time with kids all around the children's hospital.

A man is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a TTC bus outside a subway station on Tuesday night, Toronto police say.

Police are searching for two suspects after a shots were fired inside a stairwell at an Etobicoke high school on Tuesday.

The tool offers a text-to-speech function that allows devices to turn conversations and documents from English to Inuktitut speech. The project was developed using thousands of government documents and several Inuktitut audio recordings from various organizations.

In its final week of testimony, the coroner's inquest into the death of Abdirahman Abdi is again examining the degree of first aid given to him by officers after his violent arrest.

A prominent Canadian novelist is speaking out after a London, Ont., high school teacher was ordered to stop using one of his award-winning novels in class because of its use of the N-word.