Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall
Weather forecast for Monday, August 14, 2017
Today – A mix of sun and cloud. Wind becoming south 20 km/h near noon. High 28. Humidex 33. UV index 8 or very high.
Tonight – Partly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm overnight. Wind south 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low 18.
Dundas bridge being closed in Wallaceburg
The Dundas Bridge, on Margaret Avenue over the north branch of the Sydenham River, will be closed for construction in Wallaceburg starting this week.
The closure if for bridge reconstruction and will result in the full closure of the bridge between Murray Street and Wellington Street.
“All lanes closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on bridge for duration of the project,” Chatham-Kent officials stated.
“Sydenham River will remain navigable for boats.”
The closure is expected to begin on Wednesday, August 16, and last until Wednesday, September 6.
“Expect minor delays in the downtown core,” Municipal officials stated.
“Please use alternate route where possible.”
International Overdose Awareness Day
The Chatham-Kent Drug Awareness Council, in partnership with the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit, are marking International Overdose Awareness Day here in Chatham-Kent on August 31, 2017.
Overdose Awareness Day has been a key remembrance event for those who have died from fatal drug overdoses since 2001.
This will be the first year an event will be held in Chatham-Kent.
On August 31, millions of people worldwide will stand alongside the friends and families of fatal overdose victims to reflect on those who have been lost. The event is organized on the understanding that no one need feel shame or disgrace over a drug overdose.
Overdose Awareness Day offers all who have been affected by overdose a chance to publicly mourn and help the wider community understand that fatal overdose profoundly affects mainstream society. It is also an opportunity to provide public education around overdose with a focus on prevention of overdose related permanent injuries and mortalities.
In what is already beginning to be dubbed the AIDS epidemic of this generation, the opioid crisis claimed the lives of at least 2,458 Canadians last year according to a new estimate released by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
In 2015, over 700 people died in Ontario from opioid-related causes, a 194% increase since 2003 [Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, presentation from the Ontario Harm Reduction Distribution Program conference, slide 2].
From 2005 – 2016, there have been 48 reported opioid-related mortalities in Chatham-Kent [Public Health Ontario].
In a recent report from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Eire St. Clair LHIN was reported to have the highest per population opioid dispensing rate in Ontario [Ontario Narcotics Atlas, pg. 7]. This was also the case in December 2014 when The Walrus published an article where Chatham-Kent was referred to as “Oxytown”.
The response to the opioid crisis in Ontario, of which Chatham-Kent is actively participating in, is centered around the following three focus areas:
1. Modernizing Opioid Prescribing and Monitoring,
2. Improving the Treatment of Pain, and
3. Enhancing Addiction Supports and Harm Reduction.
Locally, the United Way of Chatham-Kent is helping to raise public awareness surrounding the opioid overdose crisis through actively participating in International Overdose Awareness Day.
This year’s event theme is: Time to Remember. Time to Act.
More details are below:
Photo of the day – The Waterfront Trail Tour stops in Chatham-Kent
The Great Waterfront Trail Tour that left Point Peelee Park and headed east towards the Rouge National Park in Toronto, passed through Chatham-Kent on Monday August 7.
Many of the cyclists stopped in Erieau and had dinner, drinks and enjoyed the trails before stopping over night at Rondeau Provincial Park.
Friends of Rondeau greeted the group of 150+ cyclists with enthusiasm as they arrived that evening and in the morning the cyclists were greeted with a hot breakfast before they continued on their way to the Crazy 8 Barn and onto our neighbouring county in Elgin.
This is not the first time the Great Waterfront Trail has toured through Chatham-Kent bringing hundreds of riders and increasing tourism.
They traveled the southern section of the trail which skirts along Lake Erie in 2012.
While in 2016 the Great Waterfront Trail added an addition to their trail which hugs the northwest portion of Chatham-Kent bringing cyclists through Pain Court, Mitchells Bay and Wallaceburg.
The Great Waterfront Trail toured this section of the trail in August 2016 stopping in Wallaceburg for dinner and camping before continuing the next day into Lambton County.
The Great Waterfront Trail has cycled through Chatham-Kent three times in the last five years, promoting the communities and business along the way.
This year the Great Waterfront Trail was granted the Ontario150 Ontario Trail of Distinction award.
Which is an honour that our community is apart of this wonderful trail that continues to grow and connects us to our neighbours.
If you are looking for something new and exciting to do this summer, and would like to view your community through a different perspective, pick a section of the Great Waterfront Trail and try cycling it.
World news
‘Canada isn’t immune,’ Trudeau says after Charlottesville
Pastor freed from North Korean prison makes first public appearance
Pakistan celebrates its landmark 70th Independence anniversary 🇵🇰
Istanbul police officer stabbed to death by suspect: Anadolu Agency
Three people dead after shooter opens fire at Great Lakes Dragaway
Fallen geese honoured in Halifax memorial
Clarks pull ‘sexist’ Dolly Babe school shoes after outcry
If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.
