Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Weather forecast for Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Today – A few flurries ending this afternoon then cloudy. Local amount 2 cm. Wind northwest 20 km/h gusting to 40. High plus 3.

Tonight – Partly cloudy. 30 percent chance of flurries this evening. Wind northwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 becoming light after midnight. Low minus 2.

Update on Humboldt Broncos $12.2-million GoFundMe campaign

A statement from Broncos’ President Kevin Garinger

On Friday, April 6, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos’ organization was brought to its knees by an unimaginable tragedy. Over the past ten days, an overwhelming wave of financial support has poured in for our club and its families.

First and foremost, the Broncos’ volunteer board of directors would like to express their tremendous love and sincere gratitude to everyone who has generously donated time and money to support our organization and its families, as we navigate through this dark and heart-wrenching time.

The strain on the Broncos’ organization’s limited resources has been immense. Our priority currently remains focused – as it has been since day one – on working with our families, especially now as they lay their loved ones to rest, as well as on all our families and players struggling to heal, physically and mentally, in the wake of this devastating event.

Today, I would like to provide you with an update on how the Broncos’ organization plans to manage and disperse the financial support we have received.

The Humboldt Broncos wish to reiterate their gratitude to Humboldt resident Sylvie Kellington, for her quick thinking in creating such an extraordinary way to help our club and its families, through the use of a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign.

Going forward, the Broncos’ board of directors, in tandem with their legal counsel, MLT Aikins, and executives at GoFundMe.com head office, have determined that the Humboldt Broncos GoFundMe campaign will remain open for two more days to allow for any additional online donations and will then be closed and taken offline on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 11:59 pm MST.

The funds donated through the GoFundMe campaign will be transferred to a newly created non-profit corporation known as “Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc.” to be allocated for their intended purpose. An advisory committee is being established to make a recommendation for the allocation of these funds, which will be held in trust until that allocation occurs. Once we have formalized the composition of this committee, we will provide you with an update.

The Broncos have been humbled, and our spirits buoyed, by the staggering number of individuals and groups wanting to make donations, or holding fundraisers to support our organization, as we deal with this unprecedented crisis. In order to accommodate these incoming funds, the Humboldt Broncos, together with legal counsel Robertson Stromberg, have launched the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation.

The mission of the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation will be to support Humboldt Broncos’ players, employees, families, and volunteers, as well as first responders and emergency services personnel, teams, athletes, related organizations and communities affected by the crash of the Humboldt Broncos team bus on April 6, 2018, and the aftermath thereof.

Please note that only fundraisers, benefits or initiatives directing proceeds to the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation will be considered as endorsed, sanctioned by or held in conjunction with the Humboldt Broncos organization.

The Broncos cannot, and will not, be able to verify the legitimacy of any other event or the disbursal of funds raised by other such events.

Virtual library cards available

It’s been too long, Chatham-Kent. The Chatham-Kent Public Library want you back at the library and they’re making it easier than ever with the Chatham-Kent Public Library Virtual Card.

If you have an expired Chatham-Kent Public Library card and no outstanding fines, apply online for a Virtual Card.

Enjoy CKPL’s virtual library 24/7 free from worry about missing due dates and late fines.

With ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, movies and music, CKPL is better than ever before.

Applicants must be age 16 or over and a resident of Chatham-Kent to be eligible for a Virtual Card.

Applications will be processed within three business days.

Virtual Card holders can upgrade their card anytime by visiting their local CKPL branch.

For more information or to apply for a CKPL Virtual Card at www.ckpl.ca/virtualcards.

Better care for babies and families

Ontario is funding Canada’s first dedicated care centre for fetuses requiring high-risk medical care and in-utero surgeries. The new Ontario Fetal Centre will support expectant families with increased access to world-renowned specialists and ground-breaking surgeries.

Premier Kathleen Wynne was at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto recently to announce the government’s support for the Ontario Fetal Centre, a collaboration between the Sinai Health System and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), and a first in Canada.

With the help of an investment from Budget 2018, this centre will bring together leading specialists in fetal care, providing pregnant women in Ontario with greater access to some of the most advanced in-utero surgeries. The new centre will provide timely, leading-edge care for pregnant women whose baby has been diagnosed in utero with a condition that may require highly specialized medical care, such as heart or spinal surgery in the womb.

“Expecting a child is an exciting and busy time, but it can also be one of the scariest and most stressful,” Wynne said in a press release.

“Government has a role to play in easing what’s often a new parent’s biggest worry — will my child be healthy’ We’re helping to put their minds at ease by creating the first centre in Canada for advanced care for babies at risk while still in the womb. It means parents facing the added anxiety of a high-risk pregnancy can get the care they need — even the most advanced treatments — without having to leave the province. We are also enhancing programs for new and expectant parents, such as increasing access to midwives for low-risk pregnancies. These steps are boosting choices and care every step of the way.”

The Premier also announced a series of actions to better support families at the critical stages of conception, pregnancy, childbirth and during newborns’ first six weeks. The government will give families more choices when having a baby by providing access to midwives, who are experts in low-risk pregnancy, birth and care for newborns, for more than 6,700 more families this year. Ontario is also enhancing the bundle of support for families through actions including:

– Providing over 27,000 people access to the Ontario Fertility Program, which helps people start and grow their families, including funding for a full round of in vitro fertilization

– Expanding the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank and the Pumps for Premature Babies Program, which gives premature babies who need surgery or who were born at a very low birth weight access to human milk, reducing the risk of potentially life-threatening complications

– Making it easier for new parents by offering a user-friendly 5-in-1 Newborn Bundle so they can start saving for their child’s education right away and register their child’s birth, request a birth certificate, apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and register for Canada and Ontario Child Benefits all in one place.

“Supporting parents during what can be one of the most exciting yet stressful times in their lives is a priority for our government,” stated Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

“This new partnership between Mount Sinai Hospital and SickKids will give parents confidence that their future is in the best hands.”

Expanding support for families is part of the government’s plan to support care, create opportunity and make life more affordable during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes free prescription drugs for everyone under 25, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, and easier access to affordable child care.

More details:

– Ontario is investing $4 million to create the Ontario Fetal Centre, which will be one of the few in the world to offer a full range of highly specialized surgeries and procedures in utero.

– Teams at Mount Sinai and SickKids performed Canada’s first ever in-utero surgical procedure last year to repair spina bifida, and another procedure to repair a congenital heart defect a few weeks before the child was born.

– In 2016-17, midwives supported about 24,000 births across the province. Ontario is investing over $166 million in midwifery care to help up to 6,700 more families access midwifery care, bringing the annual total to about 30,000.

– Ontario is adding 82 new midwifery graduates to assist about 600 more families, as well as adding 22 midwives to join team-based health care providers who care for about 1,125 expectant families annually.

– The province is adding three more Indigenous midwives in Elliot Lake and Toronto to provide culturally appropriate and safe care to 190 more Indigenous families.

– There are over 850 midwives registered and regulated by the College of Midwives of Ontario, with over 700 active members practising in 92 Midwifery Practice Groups.

– Ontario is also enhancing support for expecting families by funding breast pumps for mothers of premature babies, to support the healthy development of these babies.

– Ontario is giving new parents a one-stop shop for everything they need to give their newborn a good start: Ontario.ca/newborn offers a 5-in-1 Newborn Bundle to request a birth certificate, apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN), register for Canada and Ontario Child Benefits and begin the process of setting up a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP).

– Ontario is the first province to bundle registration for birth certificates and SIN numbers with an Education Savings Referral service.

– Ontario is also phasing in a screening program to test newborns for the risk of permanent hearing loss, so families can get treatment or support sooner. Newborn Screening Ontario screens all newborns in Ontario for a range of serious, treatable diseases, amounting to over 145,000 screens annually.