Truck rolls over on the Red Hill Expressway

Ontario’s Environment ministry has been called in to investigate a tractor trailer that flipped over Monday afternoon and leaked diesel into the Red Hill Creek.
The right lane of the southbound Red Hill Expressway near Barton Street was closed through the evening commute.
Hamilton police Sergeant Terri-Lynn Collings said the truck rolled over at around 12:30 p.m. The truck is sitting on its side in shallow water.
An estimated 10 litres of diesel were leaked, but the spillage was contained by a nearby stormwater pond, according to John Beals, MOE district supervisor. The discharge valve in the pond has been closed to prevent the contaminant from spreading.
Quantum Murray, a company that specializes in hazardous materials cleanups, was on site in the afternoon preparing to clean up the spill. John Scales, a response technician, said they had an oil boom set up around the truck that will pick up any diesel that spills into the shallow water surrounding it.
Scales estimated the cleanup would take between 30 and 45 minutes, following a successful extraction of the truck from the ditch.
MOE spokesperson Jennifer Hall said environmental officers were on site in the afternoon, and would stay throughout the truck extraction and cleanup.
“A small amount of diesel fuel has leaked from the fuel tanks… It’s small, but not insignificant,” said Hall.

Hamilton Civic League wants to bring positive change to our city

When the Hamilton Civic League formed in 2009, we were clearly focused on increasing voter turnout for the 2010 Municipal Election. We grew our membership, developed partnerships, implemented radio, TV and bus advertising campaigns, hosted public forums and connected with target groups that have been traditionally underrepresented at the polls. We also conducted a door to door survey to collect data on community Values & Priorities on a variety of municipal issues. We concluded our first year by meeting with many of the unelected candidates to learn about their campaign experiences. 

Our vision is stated as follows: All eligible Hamiltonians will vote in the next election as informed, empowered and engaged citizens in order to bring about positive change to our city.

Our mission is stated as follows: Our mission is to develop an all-inclusive, non-partisan civic league representing Hamilton community stakeholders to encourage and inspire our community to become informed about local issues, to raise community involvement in local democracy, and to promote accountability, accessibility and transparency in our municipal government.

Does our vision hit the mark? What changes would you suggest?

Another community’s Civic League established a set of common Values which are used to direct their work. Council decisions are compared/measured against their established core values. Should this be the approach taken by the Hamilton Civic League? Please review our Values & Priorities Survey and the results posted at www.WeVote.ca. Our survey results will be used to establish common values upon which we will direct our work.  

If you missed our meeting last night, please take this opportunity to provide input to ensure the Hamilton Civic League develops a plan that takes your priorities into consideration. We will review all feedback at our next meeting scheduled for Thursday November 17^th at Hometown Hamilton / Skydragon at 7 pm, 27 King William St.

Mayor Bratina wins bet against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Mayor Rob Ford donned a Hamilton Tiger-Cats jersey at Toronto city council on Monday to settle a bet between him and Mayor Bob Bratina.
With the Toronto Argonauts out of the running to win the Grey Cup this year, Ford vowed he'll be cheering for Hamilton, the closest CFL city to Hogtown.
The two mayors had a side bet this season on who would win the Ballard Cup — an annual series between the two teams.
Each mayor wagered they would wear the rival team's jersey if their city's team lost the series. The Argos lost the series so Ford had to wear a personalized Ticats jersey Bratina delivered on Monday.
"I wish them the best of luck in beating Montreal and winning the east division," Ford said.

Car in Hamilton mounts another car..........

The car, which was travelling eastbound on Beaconsfield Drive near Upper Ottawa Street just before 1 p.m, when the driver somehow lost control and mounted the hood of the other vehicle, police said.

Heavy rain headed for Hamilton

The Hamilton Conservation Authority is warning watershed residents about the potential for heavy rain Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
No widespread flooding is anticipated, but there could be localized flooding in east Hamilton and Stoney Creek.
Environment Canada is predicting heavy showers, strong winds and an accumulation of 50 to 60 millimetres in Hamilton by Thursday night.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the conservation authority reported normal creek levels, but cautions residents to be careful near all bodies of water.

Maple Leaf Foods coming back to Hamilton

Maple Leaf is coming back to Hamilton and they’re promising to bring 670 jobs with them to a brand new plant at the North Glanbrook Industrial Park. The plant is expected to open in the spring of 2014.

But the new plant comes at a price: Maple Leaf will close processing plants in Kitchener, Hamilton and Toronto in Ontario; in North Battleford, Sask.; Moncton and a small facility in Winnipeg by the end of 2014.
The company says the plan will create 1,150 new jobs but the associated plant closures will more than offset that, resulting in a net loss of 1,550 positions from among its 21,000 employees.
Maple Leaf says it will build new prepared meats facility in Hamilton, Ont., and will also invest in plants in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Brampton, Ont.

The company will also close four of its distribution centres — in Moncton, N.B., Burlington, Ont., Kitchener, Ont., and Coquitlam, B.C. — consolidating distribution for Eastern Canada in a new facility in Ontario and using an existing facility in Saskatoon as its Western Canadian hub.
The new plant will be 400,000 square feet and cost $390 million, according to Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain.

Council met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss the deal. Maple Leaf is holding a press conference this afternoon to discuss the deal, but Hamilton city officials say they won't be making an official announcement until tomorrow morning.
The company sold its Burlington hog processing plant in October last year to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. for about $20 million.

US STEEL lock out of is over. Local 1005 agrees to go back to work for same contract offered 11 months ago.

Rolf Gerstenberger counts votes

The U.S. Steel lockout is over.

Workers cast 612 ballots Saturday and voted 61 per cent to 39 per cent to accept the company’s offer – almost entirely the same package they could have had a year ago – surrendering indexing for current retirees and access to a defined benefit pension plan for new employees in the face of unyielding opposition from the company.

Workers could be called back to the plant as early as Tuesday.

In the end, the deal accepted by the workers was almost unchanged from what they were offered almost a year ago.

Its highlights include:
* A signing bonus of $3,000 but no wage increase.
* A profit sharing plan paid from a pool of 6.5 per cent of Hamilton Works earnings in excess of $25 million.
* New employees are excluded from the current defined benefit pension plan in favour of a group RRSP to be administered by the union. The company will contribute $2.50 per hour worked.
* Indexing of current retiree’s pensions ends, but those with pensions under $1,500 a month will get a one-time payment of $1,000.
* About 250 workers will be guaranteed only 26 weeks of employment at 40 hours a week.
* Changes to the cost of living allowance formula mean it will pay only about one-third of what it did under the old contract.
* The company can call back retirees to meet skill shortages, but agrees to meet with the union to discuss “opportunities to improve efficient utilization of bargaining unit forces” and develop training programs.

Local 1005 fought for 11 months while they collect 2/3 of their pay and then accepted the exact same deal just as they’re  unemployment insurance was about to run out and $200 a week in strike pay was to kick in. 

Occupy Hamilton hits Gore Park

Their stories were varied, their demands different, but demonstrators drawn to the streets of cities across Canada Saturday, including Hamilton, were united by their desire to decry the financial inequality and corporate greed they thought was eating away at society.

After being inspired by a nearly month-long movement south of the border, the Occupy Canada campaign took off in cities across the country this weekend.

The “Occupy Hamilton” movement started today at Gore Park at 12pm.

The grassroots protests had Canadians expressing their disenchantment with the corporate system which they said favours small but vastly wealthy elite and disregards the masses — or “the 99 per cent.”

It’s not known how long the protests will last and how the Canadian Governments intends to approach the movement.

If any readers have stories or pictures to share please don’t hesitate to leave comments below. 

“Foodstock” will see over 80 Ontario Chefs participate in cook off to stop the MegaQuarry in Melancthon Township

This is a request from one of my readers who wanted me to blog about an event that is important to her. That’s what the Hamilton/Stoney Creek Community Blog is all about. We’re not just caring about our community, but other communities as well whose problems will eventually be our problem. Keep those emails coming about story ideas for the Hamilton/Stoney Creek Community Blog.

The event is dubbed as “FOODSTOCK: SAVE THE LAND THAT FEEDS US.” 

It is being held on Sunday, October 16^th, 2011 in Honeywood, Ontario from 11am to 5pm.

THE LATEST FROM FOODSTOCK:

• More than 80 renowned chefs – including Jamie Kennedy of Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, Rocco Agostina of Enoteca Sociale, Anne Yarymowich of FRANK and more – are now on board
• Musical acts to include Jim Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, Hayden and Cuff the Duke. More are being added every day

WHAT IS FOODSTOCK:

Foodstock is a pay-as-much-as-you-can event in solidarity with the movement to Stop the Mega Quarry. More than 80 celebrated chefs will each create an original dish using the harvest bounty of Melancthon Township, ground zero for the proposed quarry.

WHO IS FOODSTOCK:

Internationally acclaimed chef Michael Stadtländer planted the first seeds for Foodstock. He’ll be joined by 80+ culinary masters from across the country, as well as some of Canada’s best-loved musicians, visual artists and speakers. Thousands of Ontarians are expected onsite to indulge in a harvest feast of epic proportions. 

JUST A FEW OF FOODSTOCK’S CONFIRMED CHEFS:

Aaron Bear Robe, Keriwa Cafe  Adam Colquhoun, Oyster Boy Anthony Rose, The Drake Hotel Anthony Walsh, Canoe Brad Long, Cafe Belong Chris McDonald, Cava Fabio Bondi, Local Kitchen & Wine Bar

Hiro Yoshida, Hiro Sushi Kevin McKenna, Globe Bistro Michael + Nobuyo Stadtländer, Eigensinn Farm Ryan Donovan, Marben Restaurant Stephen Alexander, Cumbrae’s Victor Barry, Splendido Restaurant Zane Caplansky, Caplansky's Delicatessen

For complete details or to learn more about Michael Stadtländer, please visit

www.canadianchefscongress.com

For more information about the proposed Melancthon mega quarry, please visit www.ndact.com or www.nomegaquarry.com

For complete details or to learn more about Michael Stadtländer, pleasevisitcanadianchefscongress.com. To contact Chef Michael Stadtländer,please email Christian Morrison or call 416 537 9977. For specific media inquiries, please contact: Carl Michener, Outwrite Communications 416 476 7484.