Appliance Repair in Lakeshore, CA

Lee Fairclough has resigned her post as president of St. Mary’s General Hospital and is shifting gears as she is set to be a candidate in June’s provincial election.

In a statement posted to the hospital’s website, hospital board chair Marion Thomson Howell says vice-president of human resources and culture Sherri Ferguson has been named as acting president.

“In addition, plans are underway to begin our search for a permanent president,” Thomson Howell stated. “We will keep you posted on these developments. Ontario Health will provide information on the transition of regional lead responsibilities.”

Fairclough is expected to receive the Liberal nomination to run later this spring in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore.

She has only been in charge of SMGH since 2020 but has been at the forefront of the local effort to battle COVID-19 as the regional lead for COVID-19 response at the hospitals in Waterloo-Wellington.

“During the pandemic, it’s been a constant effort to respond to this challenging and ever-changing virus,” Fairclough said as she was introduced as a candidate by the Liberal Party on Monday.

“It’s a formidable foe, that is for sure. Pulling together as a team at St Mary’s following wave after wave of COVID, each with its own characteristics and devastating impacts has made the last two years some of the most challenging I have seen in my career.”

Fairclough will be on the ballot against Progressive Conservative incumbent Christine Hogarth and NDP candidate Farheen Alim when Ontarians go to the polls on June 2.

.@LFairclo is a lifelong Etobicoke resident & healthcare leader who is running to stop the Conservative privatization agenda advanced under the cover of COVID. I’m thrilled she'll be on our team as the @OntLiberal candidate for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. #onpoli https://t.co/wOYt6ir1H5

— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) April 4, 2022

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Lakeshore council has approved the community’s shoreline management plan.

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The plan identifies shoreline hazards and recommended flood risk mitigation strategies.

“This is a comprehensive plan which will guide our efforts to reduce erosion and protect our residents and their properties from shoreline flooding,” said Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain. “As we continue to adapt to the impacts of climate change, the recommendations in this document will be critically important.

“They will help prioritize our actions, provide up-to-date information for local partners, and increase awareness about the risks of flooding and options for residents seeking to protect their properties.”

The plan report’s main recommendation is that the municipality avoids development on hazardous lands. The “avoid approach” should be “the cornerstone of land use planning on undeveloped lands” within the municipality.

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It also recommends that the municipality adopt standard engineering criteria for shoreline protection structures, including crest elevation and flood mitigation requirements for lakefront and riverfront properties. In addition, it suggests further assessment of emergency vehicle access during 100-year lake level events, as well as a community-scale program to flood-proof existing vulnerable buildings, among other things.

Recommendations in the plan are not binding.

The plan complements actions identified in the municipality’s flood mitigation and protection framework adopted by council in August.

An accessible version of the shoreline management plan will be made available to the public at Lakeshore.ca/reports and be provided to the Essex Region and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authorities for formal adoption and implementation.

“The shoreline management plan is another piece of the puzzle as Lakeshore grapples with climate change,” said Truper McBride, chief administrative officer. “The plan will serve as a guide to how best we can address the complexities of the problem with the tools and resources available to us.”

HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Each week, Shandra Martinez, The Lakeshore’s managing editor, talks with WHTC production director Jared Fritsma about people and organizations making a positive difference along the Lakeshore. Listen to the podcast here: https://omny.fm/shows/whtcs-morning-news-podcast/good-things-on-the-lakeshore-march-29-2022

Here are some highlights from their conversation on March 29, 2022

Things to do in March and April:

Annual César Chávez Lecture Hope College campus at the Bultman Student Center, 115 East 12th St between College and Columbia Aves., Holland. March 31, 4 p.m. Hope College Annual César Chávez Lecture "Teatro on the Picket Line: César Chávez, Luis Valdez, and the birth of Chicano Theater” features Dr. Chantal Rodriguez, associate dean of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, will focus on origins of the theatre company El Teatro Campesino on the picket lines of Delano, CA, and the influence of Chávez and the United Farm Workers. Free, open to the public, masks required. Details: https://bit.ly/3JQYv1W

Spring Fling at the Critter Barn The Critter Barn, 9275 Adams St, Zeeland April 1, 2, 4 – 9 (closed Sunday), 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Cost: $25 Family Ticket; Individual Ticket $5 (ages 3 & up) Head on out to the Critter Barn to meet the new arrivals! You’ll see baby ducklings, chicks, bunnies, lambs, kids and calves Details: https://www.critterbarn.org/spring-fling

A tribute to Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard Frauenthal Center’s Beardsley Theater, 425 W Western Ave, Muskegon April 3, 3 p.m. Cost: $19 (Adults); $12 (Children 12 & Under) The Tommy C and Black Widow Grease Band will give a tribute performance to the great musicians Tommy C has performed with over the years: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Conway Twitty, Freddy Cannon and Charlie Pride. Details: https://bit.ly/3qKQ1BT

Free Family Movie: The Secret Garden Frauenthal Center, 425 W Western Ave, Muskegon April 3, 3 p.m. – doors open at 2:15 p.m. Cost: Free Looking for free family entertainment? Then head to downtown Muskegon and enjoy a wonderful movie that debuted in 2020, The Secret Garden. Details: https://frauenthal.org/event/free-family-movie-days-the-secret-garden-2020 Check out more ideas in Sally Laukitis’ monthly column, Things to do in April: Spring Fling, hunt for eggs, free movie night, about ways to explore the Lakeshore.

Proposed new hydro transmission powerline infrastructure required for the new Stellantis-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor is currently being reviewed by the Ontario Energy Board, but the Town of Lakeshore has concerns over where that infrastructure is going.

The 4.5 million square foot Stellantis-LG EV battery plant will employ 2,500 people and is expected to create an investment windfall for the region.

But it’s also causing an energy demand crunch and Hydro One is working on a plan to supply the region with ample hydro-electricity.

After years of assessments and community consultations, Hydro One has a preferred solution, a new transmission line from Chatham to Lakeshore that roughly follows the path of Highway 401.

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“We know we need power, we need power in Leamington to feed greenhouses and the growth we’ve seen on the agricultural side, and we absolutely need power on the EV battery factory side,” says Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.

The proposed pathway of those powerlines will cut directly through the village of Comber and residents are appealing to the town to get the path re-routed.

“We are trying to be as adamant as we can in that it makes much more sense to take that alternate route, but we need that hydro power also,” says Lakeshroe Mayor, Tom Bain who says there are a handful of small businesses, homes and a planned subdivision in the path.

Dilkens argues pursuing an alternate route could add hundreds of millions of dollars to the multi-billion dollar transmission project — and possibly cause delays which could jeopardize the investment if things don’t move quickly.

“The power needs to be here when that factory opens and it has to run through certain corridors, that’s just a fact of life,” says Dilkens. “I get that there is some opposition to this, but we don’t have time to wait in order to bring this power line and feed the buildings we're constructing here.”

Hydro One would typically go to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and seek leave to construct the transmission lines, which requires the transmitter and the Independent Energy System Operator to table evidence with the OEB to demonstrate that ample demand exists to merit supplying power to the region, a process that could take up to a year.

Recognizing the tight project timeline for the battery plant, the city is lobbying the province’s energy minister, Todd Smith, to deem the need urgent and use his power to issue an order in council, waiving the need for a regulatory hearing and expedite getting shovels in the ground.

Minister Smith responded to CTV Wednesday, saying the province is consulting on ways to ensure the timely development of critical transmission infrastructure in Southwestern Ontario.

“Our government has received feedback on this work through our consultation that closed earlier this month, including the unanimous support of City of Windsor Council,” the statement reads. “We continue to review feedback from the community and look forward to providing future updates.”

“This isn’t just a Windsor-centric thing, this is benefitting the residents of Leamington and in Lakeshore and Tecumseh and everywhere in between,” says Dilkens.

Hydro One also issued a statement Wednesday, saying it’s working collaboratively with communities to build a grid for the future.

“We have heard from customers, communities and business leaders in the southwest region about the need to continue to expand the electricity system to meet the growing demand. Through public consultation, the Government of Ontario has proposed regulation that would see the timely development and construction of critical electricity transmission infrastructure in the region,” Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa says in a statement.

“We look forward to receiving a decision on the public consultation. In all our work, we are committed to engaging with Indigenous communities and residents to ensure feedback is heard and considered as we plan to deliver our projects,” she says.

Meantime, Dilkens remains concerned that the region will have enough hydro supply to feed the growing region by the time the battery plant comes online in 2024.

”We also realize that we can’t lose that battery plant because of a lack of hydro power,” says Bain. “We’ll continue to represent our people and put their concerns on the table and work toward that compromise."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is experiencing one of the driest starts to spring in decades, data showed Friday, and absent a heavy dose of April and May showers the state's drought will deepen and that could lead to stricter rules on water use and another devastating wildfire season.

New readings showed the water in California's mountain snowpack sat at 38% of average. That's the lowest mark since the end of the last drought in 2015; only twice since 1988 has the level been lower.

State officials highlighted the severity of the drought as they stood at a snow measuring station south of Lake Tahoe, where the landscape included more grass than snow.

"You need no more evidence than standing here on this very dry landscape to understand some of the challenges we're facing here in California," said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. "All Californians need to do their part."

About a third of California's water supply comes from the snow as it melts and trickles into rivers and reservoirs. April 1 is when the snowpack typically is at its peak and the date is used as a benchmark to predict the state's water supply in the drier, hotter spring and summer months.

There's about 11 inches (28 centimeters) worth of water sitting in snow in the Sierra Nevada along California's eastern edge, according to the state Department of Water Resources. It's the lowest reading since the depth of the last drought seven years ago, when California ended winter with just 5% of the normal water levels in the mountains.

The numbers mark a disappointing end to California's winter, which began with heavy December storms that put the snowpack at 160% of the average. But there has been little precipitation since Jan. 1.

A storm that brought significant rain and snow to parts of the state earlier this week did little to change the course of the drought. And warmer than usual temperatures have led to the snow melting and evaporating faster than normal, state officials said.

Nearly all of California and much of the U.S. West is in severe to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Last July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked people to cut their water use by 15% compared to 2020 levels but so far consumption is down just 6%.

The persistence of the drought has prompted state officials to call on cities and other local water suppliers to step up their conservation plans. Local governments may act by further restricting when people can water their lawns and wash cars, limit the use of water for decorative or ornamental purposes and step up enforcement against people who let sprinklers run onto sidewalks or engage in other wasteful behavior.

Meanwhile, federal officials announced Friday that municipal and industrial users that rely on water from the Central Valley Project will get less than planned. The project is a 400-mile (644-kilometer) system of reservoirs, canals and dams that stores and delivers water in the central part of the state.

About 70 of the project's 270 contractors receive water for household and business use in the agricultural region that includes the greater Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area. They had been told to expect 25% of their requested supply earlier this year, but the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation now says they will only get what's needed for critical activities such as drinking and bathing. A lot of urban water use goes to outdoor landscaping.

Farmers who rely on water from the federal project were told earlier this year not to expect any water.

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