Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Weather forecast from Friday, January 19, 2018 to Sunday, January 21, 2018

Today – Mainly sunny. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50. High plus 3.

Tonight – Partly cloudy. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50. Low minus 1.
Saturday, January 20 – Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness in the afternoon. Wind southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40. High plus 5.

Saturday night – Cloudy with 30 percent chance of drizzle. Low plus 1.

Sunday, January 21 – Cloudy with 40 percent chance of drizzle. High 6.

Sunday night – Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Low plus 2.

Red Devils Chili Cook Off on Saturday

The Wallaceburg Red Devils Junior ‘B’ Lacrosse Club is holding their 9th Annual Chili Cook Off on Saturday, January 20 at the CBD Club in Wallaceburg.

To register, call the CBD Club 519-627-2401 or Bill Pollock 519-360-6154 or Grace Harvey 519-627-8017.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is a fundraiser for the team.

Citizens Police Academy gearing up

The Chatham-Kent Police Service is once again offering the Citizens Police Academy program beginning March 7, 2018.

The Citizen’s Police Academy is a program offered by the Chatham-Kent Police Service to enhance the partnership between the citizens of the community and their Police service through an interactive educational opportunity.

The academy consists of 12 classes, beginning on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. Classes will be held every Wednesday night from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. Applicants must be at least 19 years of age. Seniors are encouraged to attend.

Classes involve presentations and demonstrations by the Chief of Police, Drugs and Street Crime, Major Crime Investigation, Identification and Forensics, Crime Prevention, the Critical Incident Response Team, Traffic plus several other units within the Service.

The subjects taught are intended to make participants familiar with the operation of the Chatham-Kent Police Service.

The course is NOT intended to train people to be police officers.

All ‘Citizen Academy’ students will be afforded the opportunity to participate in a Ride-Along with a Community Patrol officer. Participants will be required to sign a waiver prior to the Ride-Along.

Participants must:

– Be of good moral character

– Subject of a background investigation

– Be 19 years of age or older

Interested members of the public are asked to complete a Citizen’s Police Academy application form accompanied with a copy of photo identification.

Forms can be obtained online by clicking: http://ckpolice.com/citizens-police-academy/ (located at bottom of page) or at the front counter of each Service Centre in the Municipality, including the front desk at Police Headquarters.

Applications will no longer be accepted after February 23, 2018.

Only successful candidates will be contacted.

‘Polar Plunge’ on Saturday

The Chatham-Kent Police Service are taking part in a ‘Polar Plunge’ in support of Special Olympics Ontario on Saturday.

“As the name implies, a Polar Plunge is a winter fundraising event whereby individuals have the ‘honour’ of jumping into the icy waters of a portable outdoor swimming pool,” police officials said in a press release.

“You are able to participate by securing donations from friends, family members, co-workers, local business or your community in general. This is a signature provincial event of the Law Enforcement Torch Run initiative benefiting Special Olympics Ontario.”

The event will take place on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 10 a.m., directly in front of the St. Clair College HealthPlex – Thames (Chatham) Campus.

100% of the funds will directly benefit the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

For more information, click here.

To register for, or donate, click here.

Ontario on Amazon’s HQ2 Shortlist

Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Economic Development and Growth Steven Del Duca on Thursday released the following statement recognizing Ontario’s position on the shortlist of locations for Amazon’s second headquarters (HQ2):

“The Government of Ontario welcomes the news that Amazon has placed the Toronto Region on its shortlist as a potential site for HQ2, with the promise of as many as 50,000 ongoing and well-paying jobs. Of the more than 238 bidding cities across North America, Toronto stands out as an ideal destination with its talented and educated workforce, leading research and educational institutions, competitive investment climate, outstanding quality of life and vibrant, diverse communities.

Innovation drives today’s rapidly changing economy, and Ontario is leading the way. Globally recognized technology companies have already taken notice of what Ontario has to offer. Apple, Google, IBM and Amazon already conduct R&D in Ontario. Whether it is a world-leading tech company expanding into new markets or an Ontario-based company piloting new and innovative projects, our province sets companies up for success.

Ontario’s greatest strength is our people, and that’s exactly what we communicated directly to Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos. Diverse, educated and innovative — they are exactly the kind of talented, motivated people companies like Amazon need to stay ahead of the competition.

As a government, we know our people have what it takes to help companies like Amazon grow, and we are doing everything we can to ensure they are ready for these opportunities. We are providing free tuition to hundreds of thousands of students, increasing the number of STEM graduates by 25 per cent, and graduating 1,000 applied masters in Artificial Intelligence within five years.

Taken together with a plan that expands medicare by making prescription medications free for everyone under 25, creates 100,000 new child care spots and raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour, we are building an Ontario where workers and businesses can truly thrive in this changing global economy. No competing U.S. city comes even close to offering this level of talent, nor can they measure up in the ways we are supporting both workers and businesses, be it through universal public health care, a strong system of publicly funded education, expanding access to quality and affordable child care or the magnitude of our commitment to public infrastructure.

Our fair, diverse and inclusive communities foster knowledge sharing and forward-thinking attitudes unparalleled with other regions across North America. And our world-class research institutions and generous R&D tax incentives make Ontario an ideal place to develop innovative new technologies and ideas.

This recognition of our province and Toronto’s many strengths confirm that our plan for a fairer, better Ontario is working. We are building a province where there are more jobs, more investment and every opportunity for success.

To help support Toronto Region in the next stage of this process, we have asked Ed Clark, in his capacity as Business Advisor to the Premier, to chair the government’s response. Clark, former Group President and CEO of TD Bank Group, will help to guide the bid in collaboration with Toronto Global, federal and local governments, and all other involved business and community stakeholders.

We also want to acknowledge the remarkable work of the other Ontario communities that submitted bids to Amazon and, in the process, helped to strengthen the profile and reach of our province’s many strengths.

Independent of the outcome, we will continue to foster a culture of innovation, and be a supportive, enthusiastic partner to all companies looking to do business in Ontario.”

Canada investing in clean technology

On Thursday, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, joined by the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada will invest $700 million through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) over the next five years to grow Canada’s clean technology industry, protect the environment and create jobs.

Government officials say Canadian clean technology companies produce innovative and competitive technologies that use less energy or reduce negative impacts on the environment. Through Thursday’s investment, BDC will take on more risk to help high-potential clean tech firms expand by providing them with the capital they need to hire new staff, develop products, support sales, and scale up and compete globally.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates our government’s commitment to create well-paying middle-class jobs while growing the economy and protecting the environment,” Bains said in a press release.

“The $700 million is part of our government’s unprecedented $2.3-billion investment in clean technologies.”

Minister Bains, along with the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of Natural Resources, also announced the launch of the Clean Growth Hub, the government’s focal point for clean technology. The Hub will focus on supporting companies and projects that produce clean technology, as well as coordinate existing programs and track results.

“Clean technology crosses all sectors of the economy, creating jobs while reducing our impact on the environment,” Carr said in a press release.

“Through the Clean Growth Hub, the federal government is helping companies and researchers that are pursuing clean tech projects to identify the right support for their business. We’re putting Canada on the map as a global source of clean growth solutions.”

Budget 2017 took steps to boost the growth of Canada’s clean technology producers. It set aside more than $2.3 billion for clean tech. That’s the largest public investment ever committed to this field in Canada.