City Council to Consider Ceasing the Use of Garbage Cans For Curbside Collection Starting Oct. 31

Garbage containers could be a thing of the past as the idea is being proposed to City Council regarding waste collection by-law changes taking effect on Oct. 31.

Todd Willis, sanitation foreman tosses a garbage bag into the garbage truck. Bags can weigh anywhere and can exceed 45 lbs. in weight. Roughly 1,200 bags of garbage are collected by each truck daily. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The proposed change was brought up in a garbage demonstration related to the Waste Collection By-law by the City of Peterborough at the Municipal Operations Centre on Thursday morning.

The proposal will be considered at City Council’s General Committee meeting on Tuesday before going to the regular Council meeting to be considered for approval on Oct. 23.

The move was proposed to improve workplace health and safety for all sanitation workers. An average route for one truck results in 1,100 to 1,200 stops a day. Omitting garbage cans makes it easier for sanitation workers to get the garbage bags out of the cans according to the City.

Garbage collected outside containers allows collectors to see their contents while switching to clear bags.

“We’ve had workers get cut across the leg from glass or anything else sharp from garbage bags,” said Sean Adey, the City’s manager of parks, forestry and sanitation. “Some of our staff can get pricked by a needle and could contract HIV. We’ve had workers out for a few days to a few months because of it and it slows down our garbage collection.”

Over-piled bags, incorrect disposal of items, untied bags and overstuffed garbage bags are hazards that could pose threats to garbage workers. Photos courtesy of Sean Adey.

By-law changes already approved are switching to clear garbage bags, roughly 8,000 households having their waste collection day changed, introducing Green Waste Bins and garbage collection running every other week.

Households eligible for the Green Bin program are permitted four bags for garbage collection every other week on their respective collection day. The current limit is two lifts per week for collection for each household.

Bag weight limits are 30 pounds with up to three opaque privacy bags (up to 25 litres or 20 x 20 in. for each bag) can be put in each large clear garbage bag.

Businesses that use the garbage collection service are permitted 12 bags every other week.

Any downtown Business Improvement Area addresses will not shift to a bi-weekly schedule.

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Peterborough Police Announce No-Tolerance Policy For Public Open-Air Illicit Drug Use, Effective Immediately

A no-tolerance policy on open-air illicit drug use in public spaces is being enforced, effective immediately, announced by Stuart Betts, Peterborough Police Chief, at the police station on Thursday morning.

Betts addressed the media at the Peterborough Police Station on Thursday morning. This is the first time a policy like this has been enacted in Ontario. Photo by David Tuan bui.

“We see people who are consuming drugs, injecting drugs, smoking drugs in our parks, our playgrounds, our bus shelters and in front of our businesses,” said Betts. “This is creating an environment that community members have expressed concern and fear.”

Betts continued to add that only 48 per cent of people felt safe in our community from the results of a community safety well-being plan.

“Members of this community can expect police officers will not tolerate people injecting and smoking up in front of public places, places where our community members should feel safe,” said Betts.

This system is the first in Ontario to be implemented and second in the country only to Edmonton, A.B. They dealt with violence and unpredictable responses from substance use.

“I don't want us to get to a point where we're having to address random acts of violence so we have an opportunity right now to help promote coverall community public safety, this is the front end of that,” said Betts.

Known as the ‘The Safer Public Spaces’ approach, the Police say it is about balancing the needs and expectations of all residents in our community. 

Betts says the police understand and recognize the need for a compassionate response for those suffering from addictions and expect officers to be kind in their engagements with individuals. However, the Service also knows that the community expects public places such as parks, places of business and most importantly places where our children go should also be safe.

“As we adopt this approach, it is important to acknowledge that addiction is an illness and it is not the intent of the Peterborough Police Service to criminalize those who are afflicted with this illness,” said Betts. “The intent is to promote the message that the Service is committed to safer public spaces for all residents. We will continue to work within a system that supports those whose mandate is the promotion of public health and while we know it is an imperfect system, public safety cannot wait for perfection.”

If officers see open-air illicit drug use or receive a call for service, the Police will attend and direct that person to stop and move to a different location. The Service will ensure people are provided information (if they choose to accept it) that speaks to the resources available in our community.

Marijuana is exempt from this policy since the Cannabis Act has its own provisions on where people can and possess it.

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Hometown PTBO: Violinist Victoria Yeh and Her Upcoming Shows Including 'Timeless' at Market Hall On Dec. 21

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks to violinist Victoria Yeh about her music style, upcoming shows and how they share a mutual friend.

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40-Year-Old Havelock Man Facing Several Charges Including Possession of Stolen Property

A 40-year-old Havelock man is facing a possession of stolen property charge after rummaging through vehicles in a park.

A roughly 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, officers were called to the area of Armour Road and Parkhill Road East about a suspicious person in the park and rummaging through vehicles in the area. When officers arrived, they spotted a man matching the description looking through a storage bin with a flashlight. The man was taken into custody without incident and officers recovered several items reported missing by residents in the area.

As a result of the investigation, a 40-year-old Havelock man was arrested and charged with:

• Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under $5,000

• Fail to Comply with Probation Order x2

The accused is currently bound by two probation orders with the following conditions to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

The accused was held in custody and appeared in court on Wednesday.

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Peterborough Concert Band Hosting PATH Benefit Concert For Oct. 15

The Peterborough Concert Band is holding a special musical program, ‘The PATH Forward’ to benefit Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) for Oct. 15 at Market Hall.

The performance is conducted by Juno-nominated Music Director Saman Shahi as Kate Suhr and Megan Murphy will guide the audience through a program that features big band standards, classical gems, new compositions and vocals. A celebratory reception hosted by PATH volunteers will follow the concert.

All tickets are $40 ($44 including HST and fees). They are available by phone (705-775-1503), at the box office and online. Live streaming tickets are also available online and are $10 each.

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City Services During Thanksgiving Monday

Several City services will offer modified holiday hours and some City facilities will be closed on Thanksgiving Monday.

Photo by Keegan Beekers.

City Hall

City Hall, including Building Services, the Clerk’s Office and the Tax Office, will be closed. Online services are available at www.peterborough.ca.

Public Works

Public Works can be reached at 705-745-1386. This line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Arenas Division

Healthy Planet Arena will be open on October 9 from noon to 10 p.m. for ice rentals booked in advance. The Customer Service counter will be open from noon to 3 p.m. for the Public Skate scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The Peterborough Memorial Centre and Kinsmen Arena will be closed on October 9.

The Recreation Facility booking office is closed from Friday, October 6 at 3:30 p.m. and will re-open on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:30 a.m.

Sport and Wellness Centre

The Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre will be open on October 9 from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit www.peterborough.ca/recreation for information about programs and schedules.

Art Gallery of Peterborough

The Art Gallery of Peterborough will be closed on Monday, October 9.

For information about gallery exhibitions and programs, please visit www.agp.on.ca.

Garbage, recycling and yard waste

There will be no change to curbside collection of garbage, recycling and yard waste.

The Peterborough County and City Waste Management Facility (landfill) and the Household Hazardous Waste Depot will be closed on Monday, October 9.

The Pido Road Recycling Depot remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For more details, please visit www.peterborough.ca/waste or call the Waste Management Division at 705-742-7777 ext. 1657.

Marina

The Marina will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 9. This is the final day of Marina operations for the 2023 season. To contact the Marina, please phone 705-742-0005 or email marina@peterborough.ca.

Peterborough Museum and Archives

The Peterborough Museum and Archives and gift shop are open from noon to 5 p.m. on Oct. 9.

Information about current exhibitions is available online at www.peterborough.ca/museum.

Peterborough Public Library

The Peterborough Public Library will be closed on Thanksgiving Monday. Information and digital resources are online at www.ptbolibrary.ca/.

Provincial Offences office

The Provincial Offences office at 99 Simcoe St. will be closed on Oct. 9. Fine payments can be made online at www.peterborough.ca/POA.

Social Services office

The Social Services office at 178 Charlotte St. will be closed.

Emergency shelter services remain open: call 705-926-0096 after hours, during weekends and on holidays.

Child care centres

City-operated childcare centres will be closed on Oct. 9.

Transit

Peterborough Transit will operate on a Holiday Service Schedule on Oct. 9.

Please visit the website www.peterborough.ca/transit or call 705-745-0525 for detailed schedules.

Peterborough Airport

The Airport hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 9.

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$57,423 In Grants Given to 24 Recipients in Individual Artists Program

The Grants for Individual Artists program has given twenty-four artists a total of $57,425 to bring dozens of new plays, paintings, sculptures, albums, writing and performances to life in Peterborough announced on Wednesday.

Victoria Yeh. Photo by Jordan Cooper.

The grant was funded jointly by the City of Peterborough and Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and administered by EC3.

“Peterborough is home to a vibrant community of exceptional artists and it’s important to make these types of investments in the creative economy,” said Councillor Alex Bierk. “Art and culture help to make Peterborough a special place and grants like these are important to sustain this part of our City’s identity.”

“There is an impressive range of art being supported by this year’s Grants for Individual Artists program,” said Councillor Joy Lachica. “From visual art, to performing art, music and the written word, these talented artists will engage and inspire our community.”

“These investments in the work of our very talented and hardworking artists means more artists can realize their visions, contribute to our cultural, economic and social well-being, and make Peterborough a more vibrant, dazzling place for all of us,” said Su Ditta, EC3 executive director. “New books, poetry, concerts, plays, exhibitions, albums and performances of all kinds will touch our hearts, minds, and imaginations. The projects supported by these grants explore love, climate change, beauty, community connection, disability, forgotten histories and more.”

The Grants for Individual Artists (GFIA) program has two components:

• Component One: Mini Development Grants for Individual Professional Artists provide up to $1,500 each for research, development, workshopping etc., of original new works, as well as for professional training and mentorship opportunities.

• Component Two: Project Production and Presentation Grants for Individual Artists provide up to $3,500 each for the production and presentation of specific projects and support costs such as artist fees, production materials, venue rentals, technical equipment, costumes, printing, etc.

The Grants for Individual Artists program receives $50,000 from the City of Peterborough through the Arts and Culture budget according to a press release.

The program’s open call for artists was available to those working in every discipline and medium including multi-disciplinary or community-based arts practice, in traditional or contemporary forms. A five-member peer assessment jury reviewed a total of 50 applications. Grants were awarded to 24 artists, including 13 in Component One (total $19,500) and 11 in Component Two (total $37,925).

2023 Recipients of Grants for Individual Artists

COMPONENT ONE: Mini Development grants for Individual Professional Artists

Melissa Addison-Webster: Earth Within Earth

An exploration of Land Dancing, building on collaborations with Heryka Miranda.

Kate Alton: Divining Laurence (working title)

A new dance/theatre project inspired by legendary author Margaret Laurence.

Dreda Blow: My Underground

A program of movement research to create a dance solo exploring themes of hope, love, oppression, regret, and resilience.

Samantha Chiusolo: Children’s Book

Research, writing, illustration planning, development, and artist fee to create a children’s picture book 'dummy.'

Garrett Gilbart: Sculpture-Based Performance

Professional development and experimentation for sculpture-based performance practice.

Brooklin Holbrough: Zine Development

Developing skills as a zine and printmaker, and the production of planned zine publications.

Elizabeth Jenkins: Healing From Those Who Love You

Support for writing and research for a book series, about love, race, and blurred boarders in exploring relationships and culture.

Charlotte Kennedy: The Stilt Walker Story-Poem

A video of creative collaboration, artist fees for a writer/project coordinator, an illustrator, and a videographer/musician, to bring original story-poem into a new dynamic medium.

Shannon LeBlanc: text-tile

Artist fees for creating 10 textile art pieces and a fee payable to an artist for their intellectual property.

Zoe Litow-Daye: Time for a Transition

Transitioning from digital art to producing physical works (e.g. paintings on canvas).

Nicole Malbeuf: Dance Training

Regular dance training in ballet, tap and fusion to advance artistic movement practice in aerial arts and physical theatre.

Holly McGillis: Processing Autistic Burnout Through Pottery

Transitioning to a new medium, pottery, and developing skills while adapting worsening disabilities.

Esther Vincent: The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Daughter

Artist fee for the revision of a suite of poems written in the last months of my mother’s life.

COMPONENT TWO: Project Production and Presentation Grants for Individual Artists

Calvin Bakelaar: Untitled ‘Vancamp’ Album

A folk-rock album challenging the traditional notions of masculinity I grew up with as a queer person in a small town.

Shannon Culkeen: Shannon Culkeen Debut Album Production Project

Artist fees to compose, rehearse, and produce an album of songwriter material at Sadleir House in June 2024, released November 2024.

Michael C. Duguay: Content

Artists fees to contribute to a site-specific, immersive field-recording and music project about community, wellness, and home for release in Autumn 2024.

Jon Hedderwick: Bubie’s Tapes

Artist, technical, promotional and travel fees and tour a play exploring antisemitism using stories left by my Bubie Sarah in cassette recordings.

Ryan Kerr: Death in Reverse: Project Baroness

A new performance project navigating the liminal territories between past and present, activating possibilities for personal and political transformation.

Justin Million: After Monomania

Artist fees and venue costs, to compose and present a text-based art installation based in the postmodern poetic tradition.

Stan Olthuis: Interconnected – A Touring Immersive Experience

Artist fees for a choreographer, three dancers, costume designer, art fabricator and musician to produce an immersive, multi-disciplinary exhibition about Sacred Geometry presented at the Art Gallery of Peterborough.

Laurel Paluck: Symbiosis

Five local artists (artist fees) create artworks based on exploring the concept of climate change, for exhibition at Ludmila Gallery.

Jill Staveley: Focus

Artist fees to work with a collection of local musicians to support arranging and enhancing original songs not yet fully developed.

Kate Story: Anxiety

Artist fees, materials costs, and venue costs for a remount and adaptation of a one-person show “Anxiety” preparatory to touring it to St. John’s, Newfoundland. “Anxiety” explores Beowulf, the current rise of white supremacy, language, my childhood, and my father’s work as a Newfoundland lexicographer.

Victoria Yeh: Timeless

Artist fees to produce and present a concert of violin music through the ages and around the world.

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CRCC Receives $20,000 Grant From Bell Let's Talk For Therapy For Trauma Survivors

The Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund has given a grant of $20,000 to The Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC) to provide therapy for trauma survivors.

Photo courtesy of the CCRC.

Types of therapy used for treatment include the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) to help people cope with a variety of psychological issues, particularly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and trauma-related symptoms. Developed in the late 1980s, EMDR has been used effectively to help those impacted by distressing symptoms of PTSD.

“CCRC sees a lot of clients presenting with symptoms of PTSD, many of whom have no other option for professional counselling services,” said Kirsten Armbrust, CCRC executive director. “Support from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund allows us to see these clients sooner, getting them the help they need quickly.”

“Bell Let’s Talk is pleased to provide a $20,000 Community Fund grant to CCRC to support people in Peterborough suffering from trauma,” said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “The Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund supports organizations that are working to create positive change to improve access to mental health care, supports and services for more Canadians in communities around the country.”

Funding from this grant has allowed the CCRC to reallocate our EMDR trained counsellors to those who would most benefit from EMDR treatment.

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Fleming Phoenix Roundup: Sept. 30 - Oct. 1

The Fleming Phoenix struggled during their second week in rugby and soccer but the women’s soccer team were able to score their first victory of the season this past weekend.

The Fleming Phoenix logo was unveiled for the college on Sept. 8, replacing the Fleming Knight. Photo courtesy of Fleming College.

The Fleming Phoenix soccer teams travelled to Northern Ontario this past weekend to face the Cambrian Golden Shield on Saturday and then the Sault College Cougars on Sunday.

The men’s team were routed by Cambrian 8-0 as Phoenix goalkeeper Gabriel Nadeau faced 20 shots in the game. The women’s team also had a rough outing, defeated 10-0 by Cambrian. Goalkeeper Eve Spinks faced 25 shots in that game.

On Sunday, the women got their first win of the season, defeating Sault College 4-1 with three goals from Emma Twohey and a tally from Gemini Prue. Spinks faced six shots on net, stopping five for the win.

The men’s team drew with the Sault College Cougars 2-2 in their match-up on Sunday. Fleming Phoenix goals were scored by Anthony Wonda and Nathaniel Reid-Coke. Goalkeeper Nadeau stopped nine of 11 shots faced.

The men’s and women’s teams play next Wednesday, against the Centennial Colts at the Colts Pitch at Progress Campus. The women take the field at 6 p.m. and the men play at 8:15 p.m.

The Fleming Phoenix Women’s Rugby Sevens were also on the road this past weekend, playing three matches on Saturday.

In their first match, the Phoenix lost 38-10 to the Loyalist Lancers. Theda Anthony and Sydney Hudson both scored tries for Fleming in their losing effort.

The Phoenix lost to the Algonquin Wolves 17-7 in their second match. Montana Rank was the lone Phoenix to score a try.

The Phoenix Women’s Rugby Sevens lost to the St. Lawrence Surge 29-5 in their third match. Hollie Phillips scored the team’s lone try.

The Fleming Phoenix Women’s Rugby Sevens play again during the Oct. 14 and 15 weekend, hosting Durham, Seneca, Conestoga and Humber colleges.

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Second-Annual 'Show and Shine for Spencer Devine" Raises $4,300 for CMHA

Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge Branch (CMHA HKPR) has received a donation of $4,300 from the 2023 Show and Shine for Spencer Devine held on Sept. 10.

Photo courtesy of CMHA HKPR.

The event was created after the passing of Devine in Sept. 2021. It was created to honour his memory and love of cars and support mental health initiatives in the community.

Organized by Devine’s mother and brother, Liz Jeffries-Bradley and Chase Devine, the event brought car and motorcycle enthusiasts from as far as Barrie and Trenton to showcase their vehicles and support the initiative.

This year had a record number of participants and spectators. It featured a display of classic cars, vintage vehicles and custom rides.

The proceeds help develop mental health promotional tools and resources and CMHA's mental health crisis response services. As a result, CMHA can expand its reach and enhance its programs, ensuring that those struggling with mental health challenges receive the support they deserve according to a press release.

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who participated in the 2023 Show and Shine for Spencer Devine event and contributed to this remarkable fundraising effort," said Jack Veitch, manager of community engagement and education. "It’s incredible to see all the hard work that was done to make this event happen and is a testament to the generosity and compassion of our community.”

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