Lindsay Advocate — News. Community. Wellness.

TLDSB recognizes no mandatory online training occurred for local teachers

Published on January 21, 2021 in Education by Kirk Winter

Earlier this month, the Trillium Lakelands District School Board distributed a memo from the Ministry of Education telling parents that all teachers in Ontario had received mandatory training in how to best deliver virtual programming.

Sinead Fegan, board communications officer, in an email to The Advocate received Jan. 15, shared that the training that took place for TLDSB staff on the Sept. 2, 3 and Nov. 20 PD Days was not mandatory, drawing into question the veracity of the statements made by the education minister to the contrary.

Keep Reading

Kawartha Lakes students back to school Monday

Published on January 20, 2021 in Education by Kirk Winter

Many parents in Kawartha Lakes are overjoyed to hear that their school-aged children who were attending in-person learning before the Christmas holiday will be returning to school on Jan. 25.

The Ontario government, in consultation with the chief medical officer of health, announced that schools under jurisdiction of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will be returning to in-person learning Jan. 25 while schools under jurisdiction of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit will continue remote learning until at least Feb. 10.

Keep Reading

School board reports show education stressors are piling up

Published on January 19, 2021 in Education by Kirk Winter

Reports made by multiple Trillium Lakelands District School Board officials indicate a system that, while working hard to provide the best available education, is straining under the almost constant change being thrown at it by pandemic-related developments.

These stressors are impacting administrators, front-line staff, parents, and students.

Director of Education Wes Hahn spent the better part of a half hour detailing how the board was coping with the changes that have occurred just since Jan. 1.

Keep Reading

Housing Hardship: Difficult to move forward in Fenelon Falls with housing supply so tight

Published on January 19, 2021 in Community/Social Issues by William McGinn

Jeremy Engelstad, 24, is a Fenelon Falls resident who has done several jobs while growing up in the village, including farm work, stacking wood, collecting garbage, and shelf stocking and cart gathering at Sobeys.

Lately, he’s been thinking that a job in construction or waste management is something he might like to try.

When it comes to taking all the steps of adulthood, however, his biggest dream is renting his own apartment – and that’s also his biggest challenge in a village where housing needs easily outstrip supply.

Keep Reading

Kitchen says he used the name ‘City of Kawartha Lakes’ to attract investment

Published on January 19, 2021 in Municipal by Kirk Winter

Commissioner Harry Kitchen called the controversy around the renaming of Victoria County “his one regret” with the amalgamation report he issued in 2000.

In a telephone interview with The Advocate Kitchen said,” I wish I had spelled out in the report why I named it what I did. The choice of the new name was not clearly explained. For the sake of a couple of paragraphs the reasoning should have been covered.”

Keep Reading

Benns’ Belief: Revamp of employment services needed

Published on January 18, 2021 in Opinion by Roderick Benns

If there’s one consistent message I’ve heard from employers — both as a journalist, and as president of the Lindsay + District Chamber of Commerce — it’s that they’re having trouble finding the right people to work.

I don’t think Kawartha Lakes is unique. There are all kinds of barriers to employment everywhere, whether daycare needs, mental health, transportation lack of skills, disabilities and more.

Keep Reading

Recognizing the person behind the outstretched hand

Published on January 18, 2021 in Letters to the Editor by Lindsay Advocate

I appreciated Nancy Payne’s article on panhandling and felt that it was thoughtful and fair.

But one point worth adding is that it’s helpful to imagine things from the point of view of the panhandler.

Keep Reading

If you’re approached on a local street for a handout, what’s the right thing to do?

Published on January 15, 2021 in Community/Social Issues by Nancy Payne

It’s a cold early winter day in Lindsay. The lighter grey of afternoon is darkening and the wind is picking up. The woman is probably in her early 30s. Her long brown hair is topped with a patterned tuque and her coat is unzipped over a sweater. She approaches with purpose but without aggression across the grocery store parking lot. “Excuse me, but could you spare some change for the bus?”

Running into a situation like this in Toronto is one thing, and over the past few years, it’s become increasingly common even in Peterborough. But in Lindsay? Panhandling is unusual enough here that this particular appeal — a true story, by the way — lingers in the mind long after it’s over.

Keep Reading

Second-class property owners? Edgewater condos lose their loose-leaf pick up

Published on January 14, 2021 in Municipal by Kirk Winter

A deputation made to Kawartha Lakes council by C. Brian Lailey, a resident of the Edgewater condominiums in Bobcaygeon, questioned why the complex did not receive leaf pickup for the first time in possibly two decades.

The condominium owner was caught off-guard when on both Nov. 6 and Nov. 20 of 2020 Miller Waste, responsible for the city-wide leaf pick up, did not arrive.

Keep Reading

Road database update delivered to council as city tries to map all its roads

Published on January 14, 2021 in Municipal by Kirk Winter

Kawartha Lakes is responsible for maintaining almost 2,800 kilometers of roads right across the city. Since 2017, city staff has been mapping the road network, trying to create an accurate database of all roads in the area, including those the roads department has no legal responsibility for.

The director of public works responsible for roads, Bryan Robinson, told council that 4,554 road segments have been mapped and included in the database. A segment is from intersection to intersection or where the service or ownership changes.

Keep Reading