Awesome Act Of Kindness For City Of Peterborough Garbage & Recycling Collectors

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Jessica Fleury was walking her dog Tuesday morning when she spotted a water stand on Chamberlain Street set up for Peterborough garbage and recycling collectors.

Photo by Jessica Fleury

It's sweltering hot out today, and Fleury was touched by this act of kindness. "I thought it was extremely thoughtful and considerate, especially in this very hot weather," she tells PTBOCanada. "I also thought it was very sweet how they set the water out on a nice table, with nice glasses and a sign :)"

Fleury also tweeted out about the gesture...

[UPDATE: This is an initiative of Random Acts of Green in Peterborough, where Random Acts of Green meet Random Acts of Kindness.]

Every act of kindness counts in large amounts. Tell us when you spot them. Email us.

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PTBOCANADA


Lansdowne Place's Summer Classic Drive-In Night Is July 22 With Proceeds To Five Counties

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Lansdowne Place is turning its parking lot into a giant drive-in theatre for a great cause! On Friday, July 22nd, they are showing Paddington Bear in their parking lot, and all proceeds from ticket sales will go to Five Counties Children's Centre.

"For over 40 years, Five Counties has provided essential services for the children and youth in our community and we’re delighted to support their amazing work,” says Emily Dart, Marketing Manager at Lansdowne Place

For more info on this great event for parents and kids including how to get wristbands, click here. See the poster below for further deets...

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Peterborough's Publican House Brewery Wins At The Canadian Brewery Awards

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Publican House Brewery in Peterborough has announced that their Flagship brand, Pub House Ale, was awarded a bronze medal at the 2016 Canadian Brewing Awards.

The Canadian Brewing Awards is the only national competition to judge the quality of Canadian manufactured beer and ciders in a variety of style categories. With over 1,200 submissions from 244 breweries, a Canadian Brewing Award medal is a widely recognized symbol of brewing excellence in Canada.

“As our best selling beer, Pub House Ale has a unique flavour profile that creates a distinct, yet easy drinking experience,” says Matt Philips, Partner at Publican House. “We’re excited to be recognized for the quality of our beer that we are so proud to produce.”

Pub House Ale is available in 473ml cans at select LCBO locations throughout Ontario and of course at Publican House's retail store at 300 Charlotte St.

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Amazing Overhead View Of 16,000 People At Serena Ryder Concert

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Peterborough Musicfest tweeted out that about 16,000 people attended the Serena Ryder concert that opened Peterborough Musicfest season June 25th...

Serena Ryder concert, aerial view

This total surpasses the 14,500 folks that saw Tegan and Sara rock Musicfest in July 2014. Here was an aerial image from that concert...

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President Obama Gave Amazing Shout-Out To Maryam Monsef In House Of Commons

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Obama shaking hands with MP Monsef

It was an amazing and unexpected moment in the House of Commons for Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef Wednesday night.

During a powerful and rousing speech to Parliament by U.S. President Barack Obama, he gave a beautiful and touching shout-out to Monsef, telling the story of how she fled Afghanistan with her mother and siblings after her father was killed by the Taliban. Many on social media said it was the highlight of his talk.

 

VICE News Canada Features Editor Justin Ling tweeted this...

Buzzfeed Canada Politics reporter Emma Loop tweeted this...

Speaking of the need to embrace immigrants, Obama said this of Monsef, the Minister of Democratic Institutions, in his speech:

"We see the refugees who feel that they have a special duty to give back, and seize the opportunities of a new life. Like the girl who fled Afghanistan by donkey and camel and jet place and who remembers being greeted in this country by helping hands and the sound of robins singing. And today she serves in this chamber and in the cabinet because Canada is her home."

Monsef was blown away by the remarks, and later tweeted this:

A standing ovation for Monsef was given after Obama's remarks in the House of Commons.

Buzzfeed's Emma Loop tweeted this video of Obama shaking hands with Monsef after his speech...

"It was unexpected," Monsef tells PTBOCanada of Obama's shout-out. "It was humbling and lovely. I immediately thought of my mother, her courage, her pursuit of a better life for her and her kids."

Monsef, who says it was really neat to shake hands with Obama, tells PTBOCanada this of what the moment means to her and her upbringing in Peterborough: "My story is what it is because of Peterborough, which treated my family so well when we came here. It's just another reminder about the people of our community, and their acts of kindness. How these acts of kindness and community are never forgotten."

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PTBOCANADA


PTBOCanada Featured Post: The Story Of Stoneguide Realty Boutique Agency

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PTBOCanada Featured Post: The Story Of Stoneguide Realty Boutique Agency

Sponsored post by Stoneguide Realty Ltd.

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50 Volunteers Took To Peterborough's Streets To Find Out About Homelessness: Here Are Their Findings

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For 14 hours on March 22nd, 2016, 50 volunteers set out in teams to conduct surveys on the street, in shelters, and at meal programs across the city.

They asked questions such as this:

Where are you staying tonight?
How many different times have you experienced homelessness?
What do you think is preventing you from finding and keeping long term stable housing?

Photo via @UnitedPtbo launch event introducing Giving Voice to the Homeless

What emerged from those questions was a story of individuals young and old, educated and working—some suffering from addiction, some fleeing abusive relationships, some agonizing over family breakdown, and most wanting to have their story told and understood.

The United Way Peterborough and District just released to the community more specific results from that night on the streets in their first ever "Point in Time Count" of homelessness in Peterborough. This city was one of 31 communities across the country that took part in conducting this ground-breaking research through the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.

Photo via @UnitedWayPtbo

The 60 page report titled “Giving Voice”—available on the United Way of Peterborough's website—is a detailed snapshot of people who were homeless on March 22nd of this year.

Here are some highlights from the report...

-> A minimum of 120 people were homeless in Peterborough on March 22nd, 2016
-> 54% were chronically homeless, having spent over 6 months homeless in the past year
-> 64% experienced homelessness for the 1st time before their 26th birthday
-> 20% have attended post-secondary school
-> 98% have some form of income
-> The top 3 reasons for homeless among participants were: family breakdown, addiction/substance abuse, and unsafe housing.

The public is encouraged to review the full report here and to reflect on next steps in our community to have a strategic focus on ending the reality of homelessness.

You can also give to an Indiegogo campaign to help a documentary being made on the Warming Room's guests.

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Peterborough Police Outfitted Traffic SUV With Automated Licence Plate Recognition System

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The Peterborough Police Service’s Traffic Management Unit just unveiled its newest crime prevention and proactive policing program: The Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) system.

Three cameras installed on traffic SUV's roof

HOW IT WORKS...

-> Using infrared technology, the ALPR system—consisting of three sophisticated cameras installed to the roof of a Traffic Unit SUV (see pictures)—scans licence plates at a rate of three plates per second.

-> The system looks for violations including but not limited to expired validation stickers, stolen licence plates and suspended and unlicensed drivers.

-> The ALPR works in conjunction with the new in-car tablets which also contributes to the officers’ efficiency.

Traffic Sergeant Jeff Chartier and Traffic Constable Cameron Kenny demonstrate the technology

Traffic Sergeant Jeff Chartier says that the camera system reads licence plates and compares the plates to a known list that is downloaded daily. This includes information regarding stolen plates, unattached plates, prohibited and suspended drivers.

The system also allows for officers to input licence plate information for various alerts, including AMBER alerts where time is of the essence.

Traffic Constable Cameron Kenny demonstrates the new technology

Police say the system is not replacing officer interaction with the public and that traffic officers are still very much required for interaction and action with the public. If a plate scans a suspended driver, the officer will still have to speak with the driver as it may be another person, other than the registered owner of the vehicle, driving that vehicle.

The ALPR system allows officers to multitask and conduct other traffic enforcement initiatives, such as speed enforcement, while the ALPR system is running in the background.

“The new system increases officer efficiency, officer safety and road safety,” Traffic Sergeant Chartier says. “This system is all about road safety, crime prevention, investigation and proactive policing.”

The Peterborough Police Service has the one traffic SUV (pictured) outfitted with the ALPR technology with the hope of expanding to additional vehicles in the future. The funding for the ALPR system was provided by the Ministry of Attorney General via a Civil Remedies for Illicit Activities grant.

—guest post by Lauren Gilchrist, Peterborough Police

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PTBOCanada Featured Post: The Amazing History Of The Peterborough Concert Band

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PTBOCanada Featured Post: The Amazing History Of The Peterborough Concert Band

Sponsored post by Peterborough Concert Band

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