Appliance Repair in Huron, CA

Keith and Linda Battler, Royal LePage Exchange Realty Co. in Kincardine, continue to honour their commitment to donate $250 for every property listed in 2022 to Huron Shores Hospice.

Article content

“We are very grateful for the amazing support we receive from Keith and Linda Battler,” said Cathy Herbert, executive director for Huron Shores Hospice. “They are wonderful partners in our mission to create a world where end-of-life receives the same beauty, care, and respect as the beginning by making moments matter. Their investment in our future paves the way for families to receive quality, dignified, and compassionate care and support right here in our community.”

On Nov. 8, the Battlers presented the hospice with a cheque for $1,250, representing the third instalment of their 2022 donation. Their first and second instalments donated earlier this year totalled $2,750.

Huron Shores Hospice is a charitable not-for-profit located within Tiverton Park Manor in Tiverton providing quality end-of-life care to residents of Kincardine, Saugeen Shores, Huron-Kinloss and surrounding areas at no cost.

November 20 to 26 is National Addictions Awareness Week. This week is an opportunity to shine a light on how “Communities of Caring” across the country are helping the people in their region with problematic substance use.

As part of our efforts to raise awareness about the impact of addictions on individuals, families, and communities, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) is promoting the use of Naloxone.

Having Naloxone on hand can help save someone in our community (#SAVEsomeoneHPE). With increased rates of suspected drug poisonings in the area, these efforts aim to raise public awareness and decrease stigma towards people who use drugs.

Overdose can happen to anyone, including people who use street drugs, people experimenting with drugs for the first time, and people who use a prescription incorrectly. Substance use disorders can affect anyone. Addiction and mental health disorders are complex, and are impacted by a variety of factors often outside of an individual’s control. It is important that people with substance use disorders are treated with the same dignity and respect as those experiencing any other health issue.

Learn how to use Naloxone:

HPEPH will be providing free Naloxone training and Naloxone kits:

Tuesday, November 1510 a.m. to 2 p.m.Quinte Mall (near Sportchek)390 N Front St., Belleville

Naloxone is a medication that supports breathing, it does not support addiction. It works by temporarily stopping an overdose caused by drugs containing opioids. Opioid drugs include heroin, morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone, codeine and methadone.

For those who can’t attend the training at the mall, free Naloxone kits are available at all HPEPH branch offices and at many HPEC locations, including pharmacies. For a list of locations where Naloxone is available, visit hpepublichealth.ca/safer-drug-use.

Find out more about the harm reduction services offered by HPEPH at hpePublicHealth.ca/harm-reduction.

If you must use drugs alone, use an overdose prevention service such as the National Overdose Prevention Services 1-888-688- 6677 or Grenfell Ministries Overdose Prevention Line 1-888-853-8542.

National Overdose Response Service (NORS) also provides information about several other crisis lines at www.nors.ca.

Resources:

For more information contact:

About Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) is a public health agency that serves the counties of Hastings and Prince Edward from four local offices. HPEPH is situated and provides services on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee people. We monitor the health of our local population, deliver programs and services within our communities, and help develop healthy public policies. We provide information and support in many areas to help improve the health and well-being of our residents. Together with our communities, we help people become as healthy as they can be. For more information, please visit hpePublicHealth.ca. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

We invite community partners and residents to share this Media Release with their respective networks.

When it comes to affordable housing, Huron County is taking on the challenge of bridging the gap for what it calls the "missing middle" in housing options.

Homelessness and housing gaps are not unique to urban centres, and now rural areas are also being tasked with finding solutions to help those facing escalating housing costs and the sharp rise in inflation.

The county was recently approved to build two triplexes on Bennett Street in Goderich, Ont., that will offer six one-bedroom affordable units.

"This is a new form of housing for Huron County. Typically, our affordable housing portfolio has been made up of apartment buildings largely, as well as some single-family homes," said Denise Van Amersfoort, the manager of planning with the county.

Van Amersfoort said the project was designed by local architect Allan Avis and fits the category of the "missing middle," which offers housing solutions between a traditional apartment building and a single-detached home.

"It's a form of gentle density," she said. "While it contained three units, it really fits into the established neighbourhood. Most of the surrounding units are single dwellings, and this building fits in beautifully."

They also fit the criteria laid out by the county's newly developed Residential Intensification Guidelines.

Once constructed, the homes will be available for those who are currently on the county's affordable housing wait list, which currently sits at about 575 applicants, according to Van Amersfoort.

"What we've seen is a chronic shortage in terms of the number of units being built based on the number of households being formed," she said. "What we're also seeing as the impacts of inflation and this overall increase in housing costs, many individuals are not able to find a unit that will meet their budget."

The county also recently approved the development of a $20.4-million four-storey apartment building on Gibbons Street, which will provide an additional 39 affordable units in 2024. All of the funding is coming from the county, with no investment from the federal government or the province.

The population of Goderich has increased by 3.3 per cent in recent years to over 7,800 residents, according to the latest census data from Statistics Canada.

LISTEN - Denise Van Amersfoort discusses Goderich's affordable housing update with CBC Afternoon Drive host Allison Devereaux:

County-owned housing is being built in Goderich. Host Allison Devereaux is joined by Denise Van Amersfoort, the manager of planning with the County of Huron, to hear how one county is addressing a problem many rural communities have: a shortage of different types of housing.

Huskies blanked Waterloo Vikings for first boys’ volleyball championship in school history

KITCHENER — Filip Ratiu has helped make history.

The Huron Heights Huskies setter turned in a strong two-way performance Monday in his team’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-17) win over the Waterloo Collegiate Institute Vikings in the championship game of the Waterloo County (WCSSAA) senior boys’ volleyball league. It was the first boys’ volleyball title in Huron Heights’ history, dating back to the school’s opening in September 2006.

“It’s a very big deal, something most of us have been working on for four years, since Grade 9,” said Ratiu, a Grade 12 student.

“We have such good chemistry; everyone is so good on and off the court, everyone shows up to 6 a.m. practice, and the coaching (Karl Janzen and Steve Gayman) is amazing.”

Ratiu played a significant role in the match’s first set, with his hard-to-handle serves leading to eight consecutive points that put his team ahead 14-9. The opening set featured several long rallies and a rapid-fire point that ended with a massive kill by Grade 11 outside attacker Iannis Toma that brought a packed house to its feet.

The second and third sets failed to live up to the first from an entertainment standpoint, with the Vikings appearing to run out of steam at the midway point of the second.

The Huskies also enjoyed a noticeable height advantage at the net, with Zach Lawrance using his long reach to his advantage on several occasions.

Vikings’ fifth-year setter Sam Read had mixed emotions about Monday’s result. The team’s fiery captain was frustrated to lose his third WCSSAA volleyball final during his time at WCI, but was also proud of the way his team flourished under the coaching of Eric Nullmeyer and Christopher Stewart.

“At the beginning of the season, if you told me we’d get here, I would have probably said there was no way,” said Read. “We’ve really developed, though. It’s a great bunch of guys, and we’re looking forward to CWOSSA.”

The Huskies and Vikings advance to Thursday’s Central Western Ontario triple-A championship in Kitchener, along with the St. Benedict Saints of the District 8 league.

Ratiu believes the WCSSAA victory is only the beginning for Huron Heights, a team that went 10-0 in regular-season play and didn’t lose a set in three playoff matches. His hope, of course, is to continue the winning ways at CWOSSA and advance to the Nov. 24 to 26 all-Ontario (OFSAA) triple-A championship in Kingston.

“I think we can go all the way,” he said. “I mean 9-0 (in sets) in the WCSSAA playoffs, which is a huge league, really says something.”

The Vikings, who went 9-1 during the regular season and avenged their only loss against the Bluevale Knights in the semifinals, are also hoping to reach OFSAA and realize they’ll likely need to beat the Huskies to get there.

“They’re a well-rounded team and Iannis is borderline unstoppable, but I know we’d all like to play them again,” said Read.

Left-side hitter Ben Taylor and right-side hitter Ben Eret have enjoyed solid seasons for WCI, and both were solid in Monday’s setback.

Across town, the Grand River Renegades claimed the WCSSAA junior boys’ title with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 20-16) win over the KCI Raiders. Both advance to the CWOSSA triple-A tournament.

The District 8 senior boys’ volleyball final was scheduled for Monday night and was a showdown of smaller schools, with the undefeated Chevaliers of Père-René-de-Galinée hosting the Rockway Flames. Both teams will advance to the CWOSSA single-A championship on Thursday in Walkerton.

The St. David Celtics of Waterloo are the District 8 representative at the CWOSSA double-A senior championship in Walkerton, and the Glenview Park Panthers of Cambridge will be the WCSSAA representative. That tournament is Friday and Saturday.

The Galt Ghosts are at the CWOSSA junior boys’ double-A championship in Walkerton.

Basketball

The District 8 senior girls’ final is slated for Tuesday at 8 p.m., with St. Benedict taking on St. Mary’s for the league title and lone berth at the CWOSSA triple-A championship. The junior final between St. Benedict and Resurrection is slated for 6 p.m. Both games are at St. Benedict.

The WCSSAA senior girls’ final is Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Elmira and pits the Lancers against Waterloo-Oxford. Waterloo-Oxford will host the Waterloo Vikings in the junior final, also at 3 p.m.

SHARE:

There’s no end in sight for California’s prolonged three-year drought. With fewer agricultural jobs available in the San Joaquin Valley, will farmworkers decide to search for new opportunities outside the region?

The idea of a drought-driven migration isn’t unheard of. In the 1930s, the Dust Bowl rampaged through Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Kansas. Farming families were forced to move west to find fertile land.

“My family would not be Californians today if there was not the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma,” says Ian LeMay, the president of the California Fresh Fruit Association. “They migrated to California and bounced between the Coachella Valley and Salinas Valley for years until they were able to find sustainable, long-term work here in the central San Joaquin Valley.”

Nearly a century later, some say the San Joaquin Valley is heading toward its own version of a Dust Bowl because of climate change.

“The West Side is going to take a tremendous hit,” says Manuel Cunha, the president of the Nisei Farmers League. “That land is going to go dry. Where do those workers go?”

A UC Merced study found the state’s agricultural industry shed over 8,000 jobs, transitioned nearly half a million acres out of production and lost a billion dollars in revenue because of the drought last year.

And UC Berkeley economists estimate the situation will get worse in the coming years, as California implements the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. They predict over the next few decades, the central San Joaquin Valley is likely to see nearly one million acres of land pulled out of production, resulting in the loss of 42,000 jobs.

Cunha says the valley has already been feeling the worst effects of the drought.

“The people who got hurt are Mendota. Farmersville, Shafter,” he says. “All these rural communities, the 43 small rural communities in the valley.”

Huron farmworker says she needs more work

We went to one of those rural communities. The city of Huron sits on the west side of the valley, just 50 miles southwest of Fresno. We wanted to find out how workers are faring during the drought.

We met with a group of farmworkers at Mariscos del Malecon, a small seafood restaurant right off the 269 highway. They planted their roots in Huron, raising kids and grandchildren over the years. They told us they harvested every crop imaginable: tomato, garlic, onions - even watermelons and other fruits.

Nohemi Ramirez, who’s lived in the rural city for over a decade, fondly remembers when the harvest in Huron was abundant.

“Farmworkers from all over the state would travel to Huron,” says Ramirez in Spanish. “There was such a high demand for workers.”

But according to Ramirez, those days are long gone. Even though she loves working in agriculture and the tight-knit community in the city, she’s considering leaving the valley to find work.

“Almost everyone has thought about leaving at one time or another,” she says. “Even those who’ve built their lives here. It’s just not beneficial to stay in the city anymore.”

Will the agriculture industry adapt to climate change?

One researcher doubts there will be a mass exodus of farmworkers from the valley.

“We are unlikely to see major layoffs due to regulation or to climate,” says Josué Medellín-Azuara, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California. “The industry will likely reconfigure and the landscape of agriculture might look different.”

LeMay of the Fresh Fruit Association agrees. He says the industry has already started adapting to the effects of the drought.

“The way in which we use water is extremely efficient. Hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, has been invested over the last two decades in trying to maximize every molecule of water that we have available to us,” says LeMay.

But with the drought in full effect, Nohemi Ramirez is still thinking about leaving Huron. For now, she’s been working a couple hours a week at a newly opened thrift store to try to make ends meet.

“I’m thinking about it,” she says. “I don’t know if our situation will change.”

If she does choose to leave, Ramirez would go to Sacramento. She’s hoping there’ll be more agricultural jobs in the northern part of the Central Valley.

This story is part of a series produced by the Central Valley News Collaborative and Fresnoland exploring the impact of climate change in the central San Joaquin Valley.

The Central Valley News Collaborative is supported by the Central Valley Community Foundation with technology and training support by Microsoft Corp.