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Mother walking with toddler and infant struck by dump truck north of Colborne

By kawarthaNOW -

A 30-year-old woman is being treated for serious injuries in a Toronto hospital after she was struck by a dump truck north of Colborne on Wednesday afternoon (March 10) while walking with her two young children — a four year old and a six month old.

At around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the woman and her two children were crossing the intersection of Orchard Road and Percy Street south of Highway 401 at the traffic lights. As they walked southbound across Orchard Road, a northbound dump truck turning west onto Orchard Road struck the woman.

The woman was transported by paramedics to a nearby hospital and subsequently airlifted to a trauma centre in Toronto to receive treatment for serious injuries.

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The woman’s two children were also taken to hospital as a precaution, where the infant received treatment for minimal injuries.

The intersection of Orchard Road and Percy Street was closed for several hours on Wednesday while OPP members trained in collision reconstruction measured and documented the scene.

The Northumberland OPP are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding this collision.

Ontario reports 1,316 new COVID-19 cases, Peterborough to receive AstraZeneca vaccine for 60-64 year olds

By kawarthaNOW -
Ontario Premier Doug Ford touring a mass vaccination site at the Centennial College Progress Campus in Scarborough on March 8, 2021. (Photo: Premier's Office)

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

With Ontario reporting 1,316 new cases today, the provincial government announced plans to distribute 194,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Ontarians aged 60-64. The vast majority of the doses will be supplied to 325 pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington for appointment-based vaccinations.

However, 29,500 doses will also be distributed to primary care providers (including family doctors) in Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe-Muskoka, and Peel. Beginning March 13, primary care providers in these six public health regions will be contacting eligible patients aged 60-64 directly to book an appointment.

With today’s new cases, the seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 51 to 1,238. There are 13 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 921, with no new cases of other variants of concern.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report and an additional 15 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 5 to 127.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (428), Peel (244), and York (149).

There are double-digit increases in Thunder Bay (67), Ottawa (59), Hamilton (59), Durham (48), Halton (48), Simcoe Muskoka (31), Waterloo (25), Windsor-Essex (23), Niagara (19), Peterborough (16), Brant (14), Sudbury (13), Eastern Ontario (11), and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (11), with smaller increases in Chatham-Kent (9), Northwestern (8), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (8), Southwestern (7), and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).

The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (478) among people ages 20-39 followed by 363 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,212 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% at 94.1%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.2% from yesterday to 2.5%, meaning that 25 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 9.

Ontario is reporting 16 new COVID-19 deaths today. For the third day in a row, there are no new deaths in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

Hospitalizations have decreased by 11 from yesterday to 678, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 9 to 281 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 6 to 178.

A total of 54,149 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 8,673 to 38,518.

A total of 978,797 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 35,264 from yesterday, with 279,204 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 3,011 from yesterday, representing 1.9% of Ontario’s population.

There are 194 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 69 from yesterday, including 159 student cases, 31 staff cases, and 4 cases among unidentified people. There are 43 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 16 from yesterday, with 28 cases among children and 15 cases among staff.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report, including 8 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Northumberland or Haliburton.

There are 6 new cases of presumed variants of concern, including 2 in Peterborough, 2 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.

An additional 15 cases have been resolved, including 13 in Peterborough, 1 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland.

There are currently 127 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 5 from yesterday, including 81 in Peterborough, 16 in Northumberland, 16 in Kawartha Lakes, and 14 in Hastings Prince Edward (9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 2 in Prince Edward County). There are no active cases in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 745 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (655 resolved with 9 deaths), 552 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (494 resolved with 55 deaths), 457 in Northumberland County (430 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 431 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (412 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Haliburton on March 4.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).

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Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 745 (increase of 8)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 89 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 81 (decrease of 5)
Close contacts: 220 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 655 (increase of 13)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 26 (increase of 1)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,500 (increase of 100)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 5,927 (no change, last updated March 4)

*As of March 10, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

 

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 1,060, including 552 in Kawartha Lakes, 457 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 18, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 15 in Northumberland (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 32, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes and 16 in Northumberland (no net change)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 226, including 132 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 50)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 67, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 974, including 494 in Kawartha Lakes, 430 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 148,131 (decrease of 1,068)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (no change)

*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.

**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.

***This total includes an additional 46 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 10, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

 

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 431 (increase of 1)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 14 (no change)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 412 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 71,400 (increase of 5)
Vaccine doses administered: 9,795 (increase of 1,273)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 312,428 (increase of 1,316)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 921 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 13); 39 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 17 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,238 (increase of 51)
Resolved: 294,018 (increase of 1,212), 94.1% of all cases
Positivity rate: 2.5% (decrease of 1.2%)
Hospitalizations: 678 (decrease of 11)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 281 (decrease of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 178 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 7,099 (increase of 16)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,876 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,523,830 (increase of 54,149)
Tests under investigation: 38,518 (increase of 8,673)
Vaccination doses administered: 978,797 (increase of 35,264)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 279,204 (increase of 3,011), 1.9% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 7 - March 9, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 7 – March 9, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 7 - March 9, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 7 – March 9, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 7 - March 9, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 7 – March 9, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 7 - March 9, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 7 – March 9, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 7 - March 9, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.co
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 7 – March 9, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.co

 

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

‘Spring forward’ when daylight saving time begins this weekend

By kawarthaNOW -
Clocks move forward one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2021 as daylight saving time begins, giving us less light in the morning and more light in the evening. The time change is also when you should replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and check if the devices themselves should be replaced.

The second weekend of March is almost here, which means it’s time to “spring forward” as daylight saving time (DST) begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14th and clocks move forward an hour.

Whether you call it “daylight savings” or “summer time” or “cottage time”, the good news is that we’ll get more daylight in the evening hours (the sun will set at 7:18 p.m. on Sunday night). The bad news is that we’ll lose an hour of sleep.

If you still have any manual clocks, remember to set them forward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

The time change is also when you should replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and check whether the devices need to be replaced (if they are more than 10 years old, they probably do).

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Who invented DST and why?

If Daylight Saving Time bugs you, you can blame New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He first proposed "saving daylight" in 1895 so he could have more daylight to collect insects.
If Daylight Saving Time bugs you, you can blame New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He first proposed “saving daylight” in 1895 so he could have more daylight to collect insects.

Although it’s commonly believed Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea for DST, it was actually New Zealand entomologist George Hudson.

In 1895, Hudson proposed a two-hour shift in the clocks (he wanted more daylight to collect insects).

“The effect of this alteration would be to advance all the day’s operations in summer two hours compared with the present system,” Hudson wrote in 1898, explaining his original proposal. “In this way the early-morning daylight would be utilised, and a long period of daylight leisure would be made available in the evening for cricket, gardening, cycling, or any other outdoor pursuit desired.”

A few years later, English outdoorsman William Willett also proposed advancing the clocks during the summer months (he wanted more daylight to golf).

The first governments to implement DST were Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916, as a way to conserve coal during World War I. Britain and most other European countries adopted it shortly after, with the United States and Canada adopting it in 1918.

DST used to end on the last Sunday of October (and begin on the first Sunday of April) but, in 2007, the U.S. decided to change it to the first Sunday of November (and the second Sunday in March) in an attempt to conserve energy.

To avoid issues with economic and social interaction with the U.S., the Canadian provinces that observe DST followed suit.

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Why don’t we just get rid of DST?

If the Ontario government has its way, we’ll be ending the practice of changing our clocks twice a year — but by making DST permanent rather than getting rid of it.

On November 25, 2020, the Ontario government gave royal assent to The Time Amendment Act, a private members’ bill tabled by Ottawa-West Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts that proposed making “the time now called daylight saving time the standard time year-round”.

Researchers in chronobiology (the study of biological rhythms) agree that we should get rid of the bi-annual time change, but not by making DST permanent. They say we should be permanently adopting standard time instead.

“Based on current chronobiology knowledge, permanent Standard Time (ST) would be a wiser, healthier choice,” the Canadian Society for Chronobiology writes on Twitter.

Chronobiologists say adopting permanent standard time would move sunrise closer to our body’s internal clock, while permanent daylight saving time would move it further away. It’s the light in the morning that is most important in resetting our biological clocks, they say.

And it’s not just the Canadian Society for Chronobiology advocating for the permanent adoption of standard time. The U.S.-based Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, the European Biological Rhythms Society, and the European Sleep Research Society have all issued statements supporting getting rid of DST.

As for the province’s The Time Amendment Act actually being enacted, don’t hold your breath. Ontario will only make DST permanent if the province of Quebec and the state of New York do the same.

“We’ve built in a contingency to make sure that this bill will only come into force at the discretion of Ontario’s Attorney General,” MPP Roberts said in the Ontario legislature on November 25th. “The Attorney General has given me his word that he will not do this until we get our other neighbouring jurisdictions on board.”

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What are the health effects of DST?

While the evidence is mixed, some research has found “springing forward” increases the risk of heart attacks and traffic accidents.

Losing an hour of sleep in the spring can affect both your cognitive ability and your physical health, especially if you aren’t getting enough sleep to begin with.

That’s because moving clocks forward changes our exposure to daylight and affects our circadian rhythm (the body’s natural internal clock).

It can take up to a week to adjust your internal clock to the shift in daylight hours, so here are some suggestions for how you and your family can adapt more quickly to the coming time change:

  • Each morning leading up to Sunday, try waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal.
  • Also try going to bed 15 minutes earlier than normal each night. You can help prepare your body for an earlier bedtime by not eating two hours before you go to sleep, and put down your devices an hour before bed.
  • Eat a healthy breakfast when you first wake up, as food is one way to tell your body it’s the beginning of the day.
  • After the time change, expose yourself to daylight during waking hours as much as possible.
  • Reduce your use of caffeine and alcohol during the day and increase your physical activity.

Looking back on a pandemic year: 52 weeks of inspiring messages of hope and resilience

By Jeannine Taylor -
A detail of inspirational beach stone art created by talented Port Hope artist Lee Higginson. Every week for the past 52 weeks, kawarthaNOW.com publisher Jeannine Taylor has been writing messages of hope and resilience for subscribers of the locally owned media company's weekly enews. (Photo courtesy of Lee Higginson)

A year ago this week, when the global pandemic was first declared, I had no idea that one of my job duties would soon become writing weekly inspirational and supportive messages for our readers.

The pandemic begins

The World Health Organization declares a global pandemic on March 11, 2020

Ontario schools are closed on March 12, 2020

Ontario declares a state of emergency on March 17, 2020

The afternoon of Thursday, March 12, 2020 may be permanently etched in my psyche. It started out as a typical work afternoon, including having coffee meeting at Kit Café in downtown Peterborough with a colleague. We were talking about a show his production group had coming up for Mother’s Day at the Market Hall.

The World Health Organization had the day before declared a global pandemic, so we were aware of the news breaking. But the future was very unclear.

I recall that we talked about the possibility of our major performance venues needing to close, but we felt that, surely, it could never come to that.

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A few hours later, I walked into a committee meeting at Peterborough City Hall and registered the shock on everyone’s faces. Premier Ford, along with several of his cabinet ministers, had just announced Ontario’s schools would be closed until April 5. The following week was March Break, travel was not recommended, and there was talk of airport and border closures.

Jeannine Taylor on CBC Ontario Morning

Julianne Hazlewood, host of CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning, interviewed Jeannine Taylor on Monday, March 15th about her year of positive messages. You can listen to the segment on the CBC Listen website (Jeannine’s interview starts at the 11:50 mark).

And so it began. For all of us at kawarthaNOW.com, the weeks that followed were hectic and exhausting. I recall calculating that we were working 90-hour weeks to report on local pandemic news. The need to shift our news coverage was rapid and immediate. We were suddenly also monitoring Ontario and Canadian news, with daily briefings from politicians being available online for the first time. We also lost hundreds of events from our online event system — which typically runs at 1,200 events — as cancellations were rampant.

The following Monday, we were faced with a dilemma in planning our weekly VIP enews, sent to over 11,000 of our readers. Our enews has always been our recap of the week’s top stories and has been sent every Wednesday without fail since 2015. We usually give away tickets to great local events, including concerts and theatrical events, as well as local promotions. We had always avoided hard news if possible, as our enews was intended to be a pleasant morning read — a lighter promotion of local and community.

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We had never published a pandemic version of our enews, so it was a challenge to avoid dramatic headlines. Most of the major events that we promoted were cancelled. We quickly adjusted our enews format and called it a “special edition” version. I felt I should add a message to our readers to address this format change, and I tried to make it inspiring given the anxiety, uncertainty, and fear all of us were experiencing.

The feedback we received encouraged us that we were on the right track — people needed to hear that message. We had an opportunity and a responsibility to help our readers know that they were not alone and that their communities were working together. So I kept going, writing a new message every week.

Over the past year, I strived to figure out — one week at a time — how we were feeling as a community, and the message our readers needed to hear. We’ve received several requests to publish all the messages, so we’ve decided to do this to mark the first full year of the pandemic.

You’ll find them listed below, with a brief description of each week’s thought and a link to the complete message. I’ve tried to describe where we were in these singular moments in time, and why I was inspired for that week’s theme. It’s really interesting to browse the top stories of any given week as a recap of this extraordinary year.

I hope you’ll appreciate this look back and, if you’re not yet a weekly subscriber to our enews, you can sign up at http://eepurl.com/hcyQiX.

Stay safe and take care of each other.

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March 18 – Week 1 – Local leadership

In our first week of a global pandemic, I was inspired by our local organizations organizing quickly to work together.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-18-2020

 

March 25 – Week 2 – We needed hope

It became apparent in week two that we needed to keep moving. Hope comes in many forms and I was inspired by filmmaker John Chester, creator of “The Biggest Little Farm”.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-25-2020

 

April 1 – Week 3 – Historic times

At a time when we were coming together, many were drawing comparisons to the great World Wars. A quote and the inspiration of Eleanor Roosevelt seemed appropriate.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-1-2020

 

April 8 – Week 4 – Resilience

As our adrenaline collectively waned, the need to think about resilience surfaced.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-8-2020

 

April 15 – Week 5 – The new normal

Adapting to change and thinking longer term required a more serious quote from Charles Darwin.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-15-2020

 

April 22 – Week 6 – Fear, anxiety, stress

We all needed the calm words of Dr Bonnie Henry in this week.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-22-2020

 

April 29 – Week 7 – Thinking longer term

This pandemic is not a sprint, it’s a long-haul, kick-ass, ultra-plus marathon. Thinking long term is a necessary step.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-29-2020

 

May 6 – Week 8 – Is the universe bizarro?

Just when you think that things cannot get more bizarre, week eight brought us murder hornets, a polar vortex in the May weather forecast for Mother’s Day, “the old normal” is a thing, and I stage-style my Zoom background. A little gratitude for all the good was needed this week.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-6-2020

 

May 13 – Week 9 – Nine very long weeks

It was week nine when online debates and social media heat ramped up. I felt it necessary to draw on Nick Lowe as a quote to promote peace. But I also commit a serious faux pas in including a J.K. Rowling quote on acceptance. This enews also included a very special, physically distanced version of Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-13-2020

 

May 20 – Week 10 – Fear

Reopenings this week trigger joy and fear, and also debates and concern.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-20-2020

 

May 27 – Week 11 – Are we a society divided?

Reopenings, mask debates, testing methods — it was all colliding in week 11. The divide was profound and inspired me to quote Desiderata. This week’s message was dedicated to my late dad, who loved Desiderata and could quote the full text by heart.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-27-2020

 

June 3 – Week 12 – Maelstrom

The long history of racism in the United States once again reared its ugly head. It reminded us that racism exists here in Canada as well, just under the surface of what we like to think is a just society. Week 12 was profound and has had a lasting impact to make change.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-3-2020

 

June 10 – Week 13 – Speaking out

There is a first time for everything, and during this week I had been called a “Karen” for the first time. So I wrote about speaking out, even if your voice shakes, and added my favourite Baroness von Sketch video “That Lady”. Enjoy.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-10-2020

 

June 17 – Week 14 – Patience

We hit a wall as a society this week while dealing with guidelines, bubbles, rules, floor arrows, and masks. Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting. And we needed it in abundance.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-17-2020

 

June 24 – Week 15 – Pandemic pivot

There it is. I used the pivot word. This week was all about thinking longer term and shifting our thinking to adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-24-2020

 

July 1 – Week 16 – True North Strong and Free

I am not the jingoistic sort. But when I wrote our July 1st message I was very proud to be Canadian and it was my favourite message. In comparison to other countries and on the global stage, we were leaders at the time.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-1-2020

 

July 8 – Week 17 – Acts of kindness

A higher evolution of compassion shines through.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-8-2020

 

July 15 – Week 18 – Self-care is survival

By mid-July, I asked readers “Are we on the edge of losing it?” The previous year around this time I had lost a friend to suicide. Mental health was weighing heavily on my mind as we moved ahead into an unclear future.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-15-2020

 

July 22 – Week 19 – On communication and messaging

When we hit this week of mandatory face coverings across the Central Ontario region (which is all of our readership area), the gloves came off and the name-calling on social media came out — and I had to talk about crafting a better marketing message.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-22-2020

 

July 29 – Week 20 – Radical acceptance

I have a surreal moment of bizarro universe this week. While this moment did not feel real, it was just another small jolt of reality and a push toward radical acceptance.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-29-2020

 

August 5 – Week 21 – Compassion, and compliance

On mask wearing being the right thing to do.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-5-2020

 

August 12 – Week 22 – Fear and kindness

Five months into the pandemic, we were a society divided. But the one thing we had in common was fear.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-12-2020

 

August 19 – Week 23 – Living with uncertainty

The uncertainty for parents became very real this week, as the back-to-school debate raged. What was the right thing to do? Was a second wave imminent?

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-19-2020

 

August 24 – Week 24 – Optimism and cracking the glass ceiling

It’s true that living in a pandemic (or any other global emergency) requires digging deep for hope and optimism. It was a surprise then, when the United States of America served us a big serving of historical hope.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-26-2020

 

September 2 – Week 25 – We cannot live in fear

My 95-year-old mother refuses to live in fear. And she is right — living a life immersed in fear is not living.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-2-2020

 

September 9 – Week 26 – Holding on to hope

Is it a surprise that we hit a wall of despair at the half-year point? But there was reason for hope and striving to adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-9-2020

 

September 16 – Week 27- Community knows no borders

School returned and cases spiked as news of a second wave broke. I had to write about our connectedness and acting responsibly as a community.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-16-2020

 

September 23 – Week 28 – Bend with the wind

Big case increases, the second wave, and the unknowns took their toll. We had to dig deep for optimism.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-23-2020

 

September 30 – Week 29 – Playing the long game

We hit the six-month mark hard, psychologically, and dreaded a second winter lockdown. Why we need to take the high vantage point and long-term view.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-30-2020

 

October 7 – Week 30 – Thankful for small things

As we headed into Thanksgiving week, we were angry and irritated. Fragile, exhausted, tense, and defeated. Which makes gratitude and giving thanks a very important process.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-7-2020

 

October 14 – Week 31 – Hope

After many weeks of large personal sacrifices, we had to dig deep to find new hope.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-14-2020

 

October 21 – Week 32 – Rest

I checked in on our collective breaking point, and explained why we must learn to rest and not quit.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-21-2020

 

October 28 – Week 33 – Fighting fear with action

After many weeks of in-school stress, online learning, second wave news, and relentless COVID statistics, I had to talk about the need for action in the face of fear.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/wednesday-october-28-2020

 

November 4 – Week 34 – Leadership

On the eve of the American election, I had to talk about leadership. Concise, brave, and decisive leadership had been of immense importance in the face of a global emergency.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-4-2020

 

November 11 – Week 35 – The return of hope

A collective joyful sigh of relief enveloped the world and we could breathe — just a wee bit — again. Hope, optimism, relief.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-11-2020

 

November 18 – Week 36 – Maintaining optimism

As the promising news of two potential vaccines appeared in news headlines, we were heartened but needed to hone our skills in optimism.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-18-2020

 

November 25 – Week 37 – On adapting

As winter settled in this week, there was a need to manage angst and adjust our sails. Self-care is not a nice-to-do indulgence — it’s a critical-for-survival practice. We must accept and adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-25-2020

 

December 2 – Week 38 – Be kind

In chatting with a colleague, she commented how fragile we all are. After 40 weeks of pandemic, we were the walking wounded and needed kindness more than ever before.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-2-2020

 

December 9 – Week 39 – On the solstice and light

There was cause for hope, optimism, and focus as we planned for the holidays.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-9-2020

 

December 16 – Week 40 – A time to relax

It was the perfect time of year to think about our personal rest and rejuvenation.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-16-2020

 

December 23 – Week 41 – Finish strong

As we reached the end of the pandemic year, I issued a call to action for patience, understanding, kindness, and safety for all. We could finish strong.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-23-2020

 

December 30 – Week 42 – Focus on those who get you through

In the depth of winter, we know self-care and mental health are critical. But you can also focus on “those who get you through”. This week I asked “Who has your back?”

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-30-2020

 

January 6 – Week 43 – The optimism of a new year

Has humankind ever needed to put a calendar year behind us so forcibly? It was a fascinating week to watch the desire for closure in progress.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-6-2021

 

January 13 – Week 44 – On compassion

It was a week of major upheaval south of our border, and an overwhelming weariness with online news and social media. But wait — do I sense a new trend of tolerance emerging? This week I talked about compassion.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-13-2021

 

January 20 – Week 45 – On integrity

We were well into the second round of the provincial emergency and our third week of parents in Ontario managing online schooling and tech support. We were about six and a half months away from a fully vaccinated province. We were tired, but focussed. We knew this is a long game. This is the week when I thanked people for their integrity in following guidelines.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-20-2021

 

January 27 – Week 46 – Forward momentum

For 46 weeks, we had endured a rollercoaster of an unparalleled historic pandemic. Our emotions were the casualty of news headlines and lockdowns. But we kept moving.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-27-2021

 

February 3 – Week 47 – Adapting

I often ask my social media connections for one word on how they are feeling in any given week. It helps me stay in touch with everyone, but it also keeps me in touch with the collective psyche at any given moment in time. This week, people were all over the map. Exhausted, numb, healing, uneasy, anxious, bored, accepting, hopeful — these were just a few examples. But we are resilient.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-3-2021

 

February 10 – Week 48 – Patience tested

We had now been on the rollercoaster for 48 weeks — long enough to realize we’re going to be tested, again. Lockdown. Reopening. Curbside pickups. Closures. Regional rules. We wanted off the rollercoaster. We were tired of the ride — at least we all agreed on that one thing.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-10-2021

 

February 17 – Week 49 – Taking it one day at a time

The need to get through — at a pace of just one day at a time — is sometimes what we need to do.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-17-2021

 

February 24 – Week 50 – Local heroes

Not all of our heroes are working in front-line health care. Many are working to keep our communities moving ahead — despite all odds.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-17-2021

 

March 3 – Week 51 – Kindness is contagious

In a very challenging week of bad local news, I had to ask why kindness is elusive in stressful times. Are we moving to self preservation? The good news is that kindness is contagious.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-3-2021

 

March 10 – Week 52

Sign up for our enews to read this week’s message!

 

Special thanks to artist Lee Higginson of Port Hope’s Fluke Craft for gifting us the use of the feature image for our story. Lee is immensely talented and generous and you should follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Ontario reports 1,185 new COVID-19 cases, including 20 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting 1,185 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 32 to 1,187.

There are 29 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 908, with no new cases of other variants of concern.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 13 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 4 to 132.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (343), Peel (234), and York (105).

There are double-digit increases in Hamilton (81), Halton (48), Waterloo (46), Ottawa (45), Thunder Bay (39), Simcoe Muskoka (30), Windsor-Essex (30), Durham (25), Sudbury (24), Niagara (22), Middlesex-London (21), Lambton (14), Chatham-Kent (11), Eastern Ontario (10), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10), with smaller increases in Northwestern (9), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (7), and Brant (6).

The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 61% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (475) among people ages 20-39 followed by 293 cases among people ages 40-59 and 250 cases among people 19 and younger.

With 972 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% at 94.1%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 3.7%, meaning that 37 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 8.

Ontario is reporting 6 new COVID-19 deaths today and, for the second day in a row, no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 1 from yesterday.

Hospitalizations have increased by 63 from yesterday to 689, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 8 to 290 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators remaining unchanged at 184.

A total of 33,264 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 15,954 to 29,845.

A total of 943,533 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 31,047 from yesterday, with 276,193 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,517 from yesterday, representing 1.87% of Ontario’s population.

There are 263 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 168 from yesterday, including 209 student cases, 45 staff cases, and 9 cases among unidentified people. There are 59 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 25 from yesterday, with 39 cases among children and 20 cases among staff. These are two-day totals, including the number of cases reported on Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 20 new cases to report, including 14 in Peterborough, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

There are now 87 presumed cases of variants of concern in Peterborough, an increase of 7 since yesterday.

An additional 17 cases have been resolved, including 13 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland.

There are currently 132 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 4 from yesterday, including 86 in Peterborough, 17 in Northumberland, 15 in Kawartha Lakes, and 14 in Hastings Prince Edward (10 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 2 in Prince Edward County). There are no active cases in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 737 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (642 resolved with 9 deaths), 551 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (494 resolved with 55 deaths), 457 in Northumberland County (429 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 431 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (411 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Haliburton on March 4.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).

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Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 737 (increase of 15)*
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 87 (increase of 9)
Active cases: 86 (increase of 2)
Close contacts: 226 (decrease of 38)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 642 (increase of 13)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 25 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 44,400 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 5,927 (no change, last updated March 4)

*The health unit is reporting 14 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 15 as an additional case was added to a previous day.

**As of March 8, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

 

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 1,059, including 551 in Kawartha Lakes, 457 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 4, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 15, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 13 in Northumberland (decrease of 1 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 32, including 15 in Kawartha Lakes and 17 in Northumberland (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 176, including 82 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 39)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 67, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 973, including 494 in Kawartha Lakes, 429 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in NOrthumberland)
Tests completed: 149,199 (increase of 1,074)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (no change)

*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.

**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.

***This total includes an additional 2 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 9, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

 

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 431 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 4 (no change)
Active cases: 14 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 411 (increase of 3)
Tests completed: 71,395 (increase of 152)
Vaccine doses administered: 8,522 (increase of 547)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 311,112 (increase of 1,185)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 908 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 29); 39 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 17 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,187 (increase of 32)
Resolved: 292,806 (increase of 972), 94.1% of all cases
Positivity rate: 3.7% (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 689 (increase of 63)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 290 (increase of 8)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 184 (no change)
Deaths: 7,083 (increase of 6)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (decrease of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,876 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,469,681 (increase of 33,264)
Tests under investigation: 29,845 (increase of 15,954)
Vaccination doses administered: 943,533 (increase of 31,047)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 276,193 (increase of 2,517), 1.87% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 6 - March 8, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 6 – March 8, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 6 - March 8, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 6 – March 8, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 6 - March 8, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 6 – March 8, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 6 - March 8, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 6 – March 8, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 6 - March 8, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 6 – March 8, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Peterborough musician Rick Fines nominated for 2021 Juno Award

By Paul Rellinger -
Peterborough musician Rick Fines has been nominaed for a 2021 Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year for his latest record "Solar Powered Too". (Photo: Wayne Eardley)

Three decades after his first shot at Juno Award fame, Peterborough-based roots musician Rick Fines is returning to the big show.

Fines’ latest album Solar Powered Too was announced Tuesday (March 9) as one of five nominees in the Blues Album of the Year category, stacked up against Hell Bent With Grace (Angel Forrest), Church House Blues (Crystal Shawanda), Spirits In The Water (Dione Taylor), and The Reckless One (Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar).

The winner will be announced at the 2021 Juno Awards presentation on Sunday, May 16th in Toronto, to be broadcast on CBC as well as streamed worldwide on CBC Gem.

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“It’s really, really great,” says Fines of the nomination. “It has been such a tough year.”

“I know it’s the best album I’ve ever made, so to get this nod is gratifying,” he adds. “I’m so grateful for everybody that has brought me to this point.”

Not lost on Fines is the fact that the good news of his nomination comes at a time when the live music performance community, both nationally and locally, has lost countless gig opportunities.

“As musicians, we really are a community within a community and we celebrate each other. I hope everyone is feeling extra good and feeling the love today.”

VIDEO: “Below The Surface” – Written and performed by Rick Fines

Fines acknowledges that no one goes into the recording studio with the sole objective of making an award-winning album. Rather, as he marks 40 years in the music business, the goal is continue to evolve as a musician and a songwriter.

“My goal at this point of my life is to make the best music I can — write the best songs, play as well as I can, and make the best recording,” he says, adding “I don’t ever think about it awards until it’s time to actually apply for them.”

“But I knew we were hitting on some gold when I stumbled on working with my old friend PJ Thomas. She wrote a poem — Fundamental Nature — that I later said ‘PJ, that’s a song.’ Then I sent her music that she wrote words for and that turned into a song as well (Live Forever).”

“Then we sat down together and wrote another one (Scared To Dance). That kind of collaboration doesn’t happen all of the time. That was very cool.”

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Songs co-written with Grainne Ryan and Matt Anderson also found their way onto the album.

“The co-writing thing made me feel really good about this album,” says Fines.

Not unlike Fines’ 2006 album Solar Powered, the bulk of the tracks on Solar Powered Too were recorded at Fines’ cabin in North Kawartha Township in late summer 2019.

“Instead of paying for studio time, I bought a couple of solar panels and four golf cart batteries and set up my little cabin to record,” he explains.

“For Solar Powered Too, I wanted to return to that. I knew I wanted an album that was guitar-based, so that was the plan. This time I took (producer) Alec Fraser with me and had him there right through the whole process.”

VIDEO: “Never Let Go” – Written and performed by Rick Fines

“We recorded it in the gazebo,” Fines adds. “We listened to what we had and Alec said ‘I see five of these songs needing to be re-recorded.’ He had a studio and a drummer in mind, and also a strange cigar-box bass that he had. He said ‘I want to go with that. Really rootsy.'”

And so it was off to the Toronto recording studio of Grammy Award-winning producer Peter J. Moore, who served as engineer for the album.

The final product is chock full of collaborations, featuring Gary Craig, Roly Platt, Melissa Payne, Jimmy Bowskill, Rob Phillips, Suzie Vinnick, Stacie Tabb, Sherie Marshall, and Samantha Martin.

“We kind of stacked the deck,” Fines laughs.

“It was such an organic process and then redoing five of the songs in the studio. And then bringing, for instance, Rob Phillips into my dining room and micing up my old upright piano and having him play that. Jimmy Bowskill coming into my home and playing mandolin, mandola, and fiddle. And of course Roly Platt and his harmonica playing. Brilliant.”

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Solar Powered Too is Fines’ sixth solo album and the first since 2015’s Driving Home, but his musical journey began in earnest with 1980s’ formation of the blues trio Jackson Delta, with Fines playing alongside guitarist Gary Peeples and drummer Al Black — both still active members of the Peterborough music community, COVID aside.

Jackson Delta released its debut album Delta Sunrise in 1989, but it was the band’s subsequent recorded work that brought it fame. Their 1990 album Acoustic Blues was nominated for a 1991 Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album. Two years later, I Was Just Thinking That was nominated for a Juno in the same category.

“T think it’s the nature of someone who’s doing a creative venture to think that they are always doing their best work,” says Fines. “What would lead you to continue on if you thought your best work was 20 years ago?”

“For self preservation, even psychologically, you must think what you’re doing now is your best work. As far as achieving the vision of what we were trying to do, I feel very, very good about this. I feel it’s my best work to date.”

Rick Fines' Juno-nominated album "Solar Powered Too" features Gary Craig, Roly Platt, Melissa Payne, Jimmy Bowskill, Rob Phillips, Suzie Vinnick, Stacie Tabb, Sherie Marshall, and Samantha Martin (who is also nominated for a Juno in the same category). The Juno Awards will be presented on May 16, 2021 in Toronto. (Photo courtesy of Rick Fines)
Rick Fines’ Juno-nominated album “Solar Powered Too” features Gary Craig, Roly Platt, Melissa Payne, Jimmy Bowskill, Rob Phillips, Suzie Vinnick, Stacie Tabb, Sherie Marshall, and Samantha Martin (who is also nominated for a Juno in the same category). The Juno Awards will be presented on May 16, 2021 in Toronto. (Photo courtesy of Rick Fines)

The album’s release and its subsequent Juno nomination is a perfect tonic following a year of COVID restrictions that left Fines, like all live performance musicians, with little work and reduced income.

“I had a great summer (planned for 2020) spanning two trips to the west coast, two trips to the east coast, and a tour of the Northwest Territories and Yukon — all that got cancelled,” says Fines, noting he’s anxious to get on the road to perform songs from his new album but doesn’t expect that to happen this summer.

“I’m starting to write again. Who knows? When summer 2022 comes, maybe it’ll be a double album release tour.”

Solar Powered Too can be purchased at www.rickfines.ca as well as at Bluestreak Records at 444 George Street North in downtown Peterborough.

Peterborough’s klusterfork offers online lessons from the best in Canada’s entertainment industry

By Sarah McNeilly -
Students participating in klusterfork's online musical theatre workshop with Stratford Festival actor Steve Ross in October 2020. klusterfork's spring 2021 Learn OnLine (LOL) Unique Access Workshops offer live, intimate, and interactive classes with the best in Canada's entertainment industry, suitable for beginners, professionals, and everyone in between. (Graphic courtesy of klusterfork entertainment)

If you’re reading this, it means you’ve survived a year of this godforsaken pandemic. Congratulations?

It will suffice to say it’s been difficult. Amidst much uncertainty, however, one thing is certain: there is an “afterwards” — we will get through this.

One day, we will look back on this year of collective trauma and, like our elders before us who survived years of war, the stories we will tell — the lasting memories — will be about the times we made the most of things.

The masterminds behind klusterfork (Pat Maitland, Ian Burns, and Hollywood actor Linda Kash) have certainly been making the most of this pandemic. When the world was forced indoors, they seized upon a unique opportunity.

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Industry giants — professionals in high demand — are, for the first time ever, available to teach live, intimate, and interactive classes online.

Since the summer of 2020, klusterfork’s Learn OnLine (LOL) Unique Access Workshops have brought joy, laughter, and human connection to 200 regional, national, and international participants.

The classes are designed to provide creative development for novices and professionals, and pandemic relief for anyone who may need it. The spring 2021 round of workshops offer courses that will help participants their voices.

Peterborough radio and commercial guru Dan Duran is one of four industry heavyweights who are the instructors in klusterfork's 'All Things Voiceover' online course running from March 23 to April 13, 2021. (Supplied photo)
Peterborough radio and commercial guru Dan Duran is one of four industry heavyweights who are the instructors in klusterfork’s ‘All Things Voiceover’ online course running from March 23 to April 13, 2021. (Supplied photo)

‘All Things Voiceover’ aims to help participants find confidence and expand their vocal range with coaching from Canada’s top voice artists.

“Voiceover is a huge industry,” says klusterfork cofounder, Ian Burns. “When you think of audio books, video games — there’s just a vast number of possibilities for employment.”

The course instructors for ‘All Things Voiceover’ are Dan Chameroy (Paw Patrol, Hotel Transylvania: The Series, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), Nicky Gaudagni (Gemini award-winning actress, cofounder of OutLoud Speakers School, and narrator of The Nature of Things), and local radio and commercial guru Dan Duran.

Additional feedback will be provided by top Canadian voice casting agent Sherry Dayton of Dayton/Walters Casting.

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‘The Art of the Self Tape Audition’ will help students hone their audition skills to make it in this new digital frontier.

“Now, with the pandemic, everyone’s self taping,” Burns explains. “Formerly, casting directors could only see about 10 people in a day. Now they can easily see 20 or more, so the competition is even harder.”

Though competition is fierce, the pandemic has in a sense levelled the playing field for actors living outside of urban centres, insofar as self-tape auditions can be submitted from anywhere in the world.

Toronto-based film, television, and stage actor and self-tape consultant Jesse Collins is one of the instructors of klusterfork's 'The Art of the Self Tape Audition' online course running from March 21 to April 19, 2021. (Supplied photo)
Toronto-based film, television, and stage actor and self-tape consultant Jesse Collins is one of the instructors of klusterfork’s ‘The Art of the Self Tape Audition’ online course running from March 21 to April 19, 2021. (Supplied photo)

Working with Toronto self-tape consultant Jesse Collins and actor Linda Kash, participants will learn technical requirements and acting insights to make choices with confidence and deliver a polished self tape for feedback from Canadian casting agent Lisa Parasyn.

Related story

Peterborough’s Linda Kash turns to the dark side for her role on Batwoman

Collins worked as a coach to prepare Kash for her recent role in Batwoman.

“He taught me so much,” Kash says. “I got Batwoman because of him. There is so much to learn about [self-tape] auditioning. It is such a different skill.”

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Whether you’re an artist seeking professional development or you’re just looking for a new and interesting way to break up the monotony and loneliness that is this godforsaken pandemic, klusterfork’s LOL Unique Access Workshops will help you make the most of it.

Linda Kash and friends will also offer two more of their wildly successful improv classes, which provide a safe and welcoming place for anyone who wants to learn how improv works. ‘Start Me Up’ is best suited for beginners and ‘Keep Me Up’ for those looking to continue honing their skills.

If, like many, you’re in need of some pandemic-stress relief, I highly recommend you sign up for one of the improv classes. I was privileged to attend one in January and it was nothing short of transformative.

VIDEO: klusterfork promo

This spring, ‘Start Me Up Guitar with Dan Fewings’ is new to klusterfork’s LOL Unique Access Workshops. The class, taught by retired music and drama teacher and performer Dan Fewings (The Three Martinis, Bowskill & Fewings), introduces guitar to beginners and offers refreshers for those who want to learn in a group setting.

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Hospice Peterborough staff receive their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine

By kawarthaNOW -
Laura Zielinski, a personal support worker at Hospice Peterborough, received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 8, 2021 at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. (Photo courtesy of Hospice Peterborough)

Staff at Hospice Peterborough began receiving their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday (March 6).

The organization — which provides programs and services for those in the community who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, are at the end of life, and who are grieving — expects all staff to be fully vaccinated (with both doses of vaccine) by early summer, according to a media release.

“We are immensely proud of how our staff has risen to every challenge during these extremely difficult times,” says executive director Hajni Hõs. “We are pleased this vaccine is available to them so they can continue their work safely.”

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While residents at Hospice Peterborough will not receive the vaccination, states the media release, all staff will be vaccinated and will continue to observe social distancing and proper usage of personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of clients, residents, their families, and each other.

“We would like to thank all our community partners, especially PRHC and Peterborough Public Health, for the tremendous amount of work that has gone into coordinating and rolling out vaccines to the community,” Hos says.

Ontario reports 1,631 new COVID-19 cases, including 12 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting another spike of 1,631 new cases, although the province states today’s case count is higher than expected due to a “data catch-up process” in the province’s case and contact management system. Today’s total increases the seven-day average of daily cases by 120 to 1,155.

There are 51 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 879, 8 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 39, and 4 new cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant, for a total of 17.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 13 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 1 to 128.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (568), Peel (322), and York (119), with Thunder Bay approaching triple digits for the first time at 91 cases.

There are double-digit increases in Durham (68), Ottawa (57), Halton (51), Waterloo (51), Simcoe Muskoka (48), Windsor-Essex (46), Niagara (31), Sudbury (27), Hamilton (22), Brant (20), Lambton (19), Middlesex-London (18), Eastern Ontario (15), Northwestern (11), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9) and Renfrew County (6).

The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 6 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 56% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (596) among people ages 20-39 followed by 447 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 994 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 3.4%, meaning that 34 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 7.

Ontario is reporting 10 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 13 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.

Hospitalizations have increased by 26 from yesterday to 626, although more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 9 from yesterday to 282 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 5 to 184.

A total of 38,063 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,166 to 13,891.

A total of 912,486 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 21,882 from yesterday, with 273,676 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,869 from yesterday, representing 1.86% of Ontario’s population.

There are 95 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 1 from March 5, including 84 student cases and 11 staff cases. There are 34 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 10 from March 5, with 20 cases among children and 14 cases among staff.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report, including 4 in Peterborough, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

There are now 78 presumed cases of variants of concern in Peterborough, an increase of 5 since yesterday.

An additional 13 cases have been resolved, including 5 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward. Outbreaks at Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough and Regency long-term care home in Port Hope have been declared resolved.

There are currently 128 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 1 from yesterday, including 84 in Peterborough, 15 in Hastings Prince Edward (11 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 2 in Prince Edward County), 15 in Northumberland, and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 722 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (629 resolved with 9 deaths), 550 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (494 resolved with 55 deaths), 454 in Northumberland County (428 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 429 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (408 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Haliburton on March 4.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).

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Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 722 (increase of 4)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 78 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 84 (decrease of 2)
Close contacts: 264 (decrease of 13)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 629 (increase of 5)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 25 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,350 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (decrease of 1)**
Vaccine doses administered: 5,927 (no change, last updated March 4)

*As of March 8, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

**The outbreak at Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough was declared resolved on March 8.

 

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These number are from March 7 and 8.

Confirmed positive: 1,055, including 550 in Kawartha Lakes, 454 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 16, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 14 in Northumberland (increase of 1 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 29, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 15 in Northumberland (net increase of 1)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 137, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 59 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 35)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 67, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 972, including 494 in Kawartha Lakes, 428 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in NOrthumberland)
Tests completed: 148,125 (increase of 379)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (decrease of 1)*****

*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.

**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.

***This total includes an additional 29 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 8, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

*****An outbreak at Regency long-term care home in Port Hope has been declared resolved.

 

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 429 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 4 (no change)
Active cases: 15 (no change)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 408 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 71,243 (increase of 753)
Vaccines administered: 7,976 (increase of 745)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 309,927 (increase of 1,631)*
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 879 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 51); 39 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 8); 17 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 4)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,155 (increase of 120)
Resolved: 291,834 (increase of 994), 94.2% of all cases
Positivity rate: 3.4% (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 626 (decrease of 20)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 282 (increase of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 184 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 7,077 (increase of 10)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 13 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,876 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,436,417 (increase of 38,063)
Tests under investigation: 13,891 (decrease of 6,166)
Vaccination doses administered: 912,486 (increase of 21,882)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 273,676 (increase of 1,869), 1.86% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

*The Ontario government states today’s csse count is higher than expected due to a “data catch-up process” in the province’s case and contact management system.

**More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 5 - March 7, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 5 – March 7, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 5 - March 7, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 5 – March 7, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 5 - March 7, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 5 – March 7, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 5 - March 7, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 5 – March 7, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 5 - March 7, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 5 – March 7, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Kawartha Lakes community steps up to help vandalized Gamiing Nature Centre

By kawarthaNOW -
Some of the estimated $20,000 worth of damage caused by recent vandalism in the 'Discovery Shack' at Gamiing Nature Centre south of Bobcaygeon. (Video screenshot courtesy of Gamiing Nature Centre)

The Kawartha Lakes community is rallying behind Gamiing Nature Centre following a recent major vandalism incident at the outdoor and wildlife education centre.

The non-profit centre, which receives no government funding and relies entirely on private and corporate donations, is located on privately owned land on the shores of Pigeon Lake south of Bobcaygeon.

The vandalism was discovered last Thursday (March 4) in the Discovery Shack, a heated portable at the centre used for educational purposes.

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Windows were broken, furniture and educational displays smashed, and the furnace was damaged. The cost of the damage, which has rendered the Discovery Shack unusable, is estimated at $20,000.

“I am speechless,” says Mieke Schipper, volunteer executive director of the centre. “This is so disheartening.”

Schipper, who owns the 100-acre property and has a conservation easement agreement with Kawartha Land Trust to protect the land in perpetuity, founded the grassroots Gamiing organization in 1995. The name is Ojibwa for ‘near the shore’ and was chosen to honour the land’s first inhabitants and its lakeshore location.

The 'Discovery Shack' at Gamiing Nature Centre, a non-profit outdoor and wildlife education organization south of Bobcaygeon, is a heated portable used to house educational displays. (Photo courtesy of Gamiing Nature Centre)
The ‘Discovery Shack’ at Gamiing Nature Centre, a non-profit outdoor and wildlife education organization south of Bobcaygeon, is a heated portable used to house educational displays. (Photo courtesy of Gamiing Nature Centre)

Also damaged, possibly beyond repair, are some rare taxidermy displays of wildlife used for educational purposes. A taxidermist will be evaluating whether any of the fragile wildlife displays can be salvaged.

It is unknown when the vandalism occurred.

The City of Kawartha Lakes OPP is currently investigating the crime and is asking anyone having information to contact police at 1-888-310-1122. Anonymous information can be reported by contacting Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.khcrimestoppers.com.

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While the centre has insurance, it is unknown how much of the damage will be covered, and Schipper says the centre will face financial difficulty repairing the damage.

Since Gamiing Nature Centre shared news of the vandalism on its Facebook page on Thursday night, members of the local community have stepped up to assist.

Some people have donated cash through the centre’s Facebook page at facebook.com/gamiing/, while others have offered to donate their time and effort to help with clean up.

Vandals damaged, possibly byond repair, some rare taxidermy displays of wildlife used for educational purposes at Gamiing Nature Centre. (Video screenshot courtesy of Gamiing Nature Centre)
Vandals damaged, possibly byond repair, some rare taxidermy displays of wildlife used for educational purposes at Gamiing Nature Centre. (Video screenshot courtesy of Gamiing Nature Centre)

Cailey Lynn, who regularly organizes group snowshoe yoga, hosted two sessions over the weekend and donated all proceeds from the sessions to the centre.

Despite the setback, the centre is hoping to be able to proceed with its nature school starting on Friday, March 19th. The 10-week program runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Friday at a cost of $60 per week.

For more information about Gamiing Nature Centre, or to become a member or make a donation, visit gamiing.org.

VIDEO: Vandalism at Gamiing Nature Centre

Posted by Gamiing Nature Centre on Saturday, March 6, 2021

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