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NEWS BACKGROUNDER

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And what about that long abandoned OLCO gas station in west Windsor?

WindsorOntarioNews.com March 27 2025

One of those streetscape peculiarities in the city is located on Sandwich St. in west Windsor. The one time OLCO station was a kind of last stop gas station for commuters before leaving the city heading en route to LaSalle and Amherstburg. But for years, perhaps more than a decade, it's been closed. Yet the station's buildings remained intact with its overhead canopy and small sales both still standing. Even the OLCO brand sign remained, as if the station was still pumping fuel. So why the abandonment and its current status, located as it is in a bleak industrial patch near where Sandwich St. meets the Ojibway Pkwy? It turns out the gas station is now owned by the City of Windsor. "The property was vested for tax arrears in May 2017," city spokesman Mike Janisse said. And, "there are no immediate plans for the site." Janisse didn't respond to other questions about the upkeep of the site and what plans the city may have for it, somewhat isolated as it is. As for the petroleum company, OLCO is a still active firm based in Montreal, owned by TMG Canadian Holdings LLC and founded in 1986. However, most of its stations have now been converted to other brands. At one time it has 319 franchised stations, all in Ontario and Quebec. But in 2007, 60% of the company was sold to a U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley. The wind still blows through the west Windsor site, however.

Photo: Google Street View

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Ontario wants "stronger" penalties for elected officials' code violations

WindsorOntarioNew.com March 13 2025

The province introduced legislation last December to streamline and make consistent the process to remove elected municipal officials for egregious conduct. It died on the order paper when the election this winter was called but could be resurrected. The new standardized system would apply to all municipal councils and certain boards across the province rather than the individual municipal protocols that now exist. It also includes mandatory code of conduct training for members of council. There would be a complaints mechanism and reporting requirements. The Integrity Commissioner of Ontario would also train local integrity commissioners and review all local reports recommending an elected member be removed. It would also, according to a press release, create a "stronger penalty" for council and boards, that being removal for four years for "serious violations." Criteria must be met including that the code of conduct is contravened, the violation is serious, the member's conflict "resulted in harm to the health, safety or well-being of persons" such as berating municipal staff. The behaviour must also affect "public confidence in the ability of the member to discharge their duties, and, of the council or local board to fulfill its role, including meeting its legal obligations." There are three steps: a local inquiry, that recommendation sent to the provincial commissioner who conducts a second inquiry, and a recommendation to remove. But the local council must vote unanimously to do so. Michael Bondy, a Chatham-Kent councillor, is fighting it. “I don't believe that bureaucrats, unelected people, should be able to un-elect people that have been elected. If you don't like me, or anybody else, that's fine, don't vote for me," The Chatham Daily News reported. On the other hand, says Hamilton municipal blogger Joey Coleman, the bill doesn't have safeguards to end "council retaliations against integrity commissioners – who often find their contracts terminated when they enforce rules."

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One area police department has had it with illegally tinted vehicle windows

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 27 2025

In Dearborn they're not messing around when it comes to enforcing the law against motorists with cars with illegally tinted windows. Since Dec. 26 the police crackdown has netted 850 violations up to Feb. 18. “It’s against the law, and it’s something that we’ve really started to focus on, and I don’t see us stopping anytime soon,” police chief Issa Shahin told the Detroit Free Press. Motorists in Windsor-Essex - for whatever reason - are notorious for having heavily tinted windows. But cops say they're a huge safety hazard. Police complain it's hard for them to enforce the law because they can't see inside a vehicle during a traffic stop, leaving officers unaware of how many people are in the vehicle or if someone is armed. For pedestrians they rely on the motorists being able to see them properly, which dark tints can prevent. The tints also reduce nighttime driver visibility. Tinted windows are becoming epidemic. Said Shahin, “I’ve been on the job for 27 years. Five years ago, you very, very rarely saw tinted windshields. Now, it’s just becoming so prevalent that we had to step up and do something,” Even Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud took to social media to implore motorists to remove tints. Why do drivers tint up their vehicles? One said it's for safety reasons. “I decided to get my windows tinted because I value my privacy. As a young woman who wears jewelry, I prefer not to have people looking inside my car; that could make me an easy target.” Ontario window tint laws allow any darkness of tint on back side windows and rear windshield. However, front windshield or front side windows cannot be tinted.

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What is the New Blue Party?

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 13 2025

"Ontarians are realizing that Doug Ford's PC Party are simply progressive liberal authoritarians." That might be the theme of Ontario's New Blue Party, so far running close to 100 candidates in the Feb. 27 provincial election (deadline today). The statement was written by ex-Tory MPP Belinda Karahalios (photo), kicked out of the PCs for opposing the government's 2020 Reopening Ontario Act which would have expanded government Covid authority, she says in her bio. A month later she and husband Jim, a former PC party activist and leadership contender, were removed from their local Tory Cambridge riding association. They quickly started their new party that fall. The New Blue Party, which has candidates in Windsor-Essex, is positioned to the right of Doug Ford's Tories and views itself as having truer conservative and small government principles. "Ontario's establishment parties are entrenched in radical left-wing ideology that seeks to socially re-engineer our province through tax-and-spend economics, government overreach and crony capitalism," the manifesto states. This is actually the second go-round for the party, first running in the 2022 provincial election and getting a "greater share of the vote than any other political party in Ontario has in its first election since the 1930s!" The party takes dead aim at polices like DEI and other "woke" issues, wants to cut the HST from 13 to 10%, put an an end to the "Doug Ford carbon tax", rid the landscape of wind turbines "to reduce electricity prices" and cancel all EV subsidies.

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Heinz still buys Leamington tomatoes and makes ketchup in Canada - in QC

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 29 2025

Many may think Heinz abandoned southwestern Ontario when it closed its Leamington plant in 2013. But a newspaper ad last weekend indicates quite the opposite, at least in part. Perhaps as a proactive bid to have Canadians buy its products prior to a possible 25% American tariff the Pittsburgh company ad’s headline was “Made in Canada. By Canadians. With Canadian Tomatoes.” It goes on: “From our growers in Leamington, Ontario to our team in Mont Royal, Quebec – Heinz Ketchup is made for Canadians by Canadians. We are proud to be the biggest buyer of tomatoes in Ontario, and to employ over 1,000 Canadians at out plant. When it comes to great-tasting Canadian ketchup, it has to be Heinz.” The ad come s after the company claimed “misleading” statements by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Heinz ketchup “is not made in Canada.” The company employs 1000 workers at the suburban Montreal facility under the Kraft Heinz brand in Canada. “With the exception of the five years from 2015 to 2020, we have made HEINZ Ketchup in Canada for more than 100 years.” It buys tomatoes “grown in Leamington, Ontario.” It adds, “We were resolute in our decision to bring the production of HEINZ Ketchup back to Canada in 2020 and are proud that HEINZKetchup is made in Canada, by Canadians, using Canadian tomatoes.” Heinz says the prime minister indicated the ketchup "may be a potential target for counter-vailing tariffs.”

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Eastside transit terminal moving from Tecumseh Mall to across the street

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 15 2025

The City of Windsor is moving its long-established eastside transit terminal from Tecumseh Mall to city-owned property across the street at the northwest corner of Tecumseh Rd. E. and Lauzon Pkwy. currently a vacant lot. A public hearing was held last June and an environmental report is under public review until mid-February. While public comments indicated the move is less convenient and more dangerous because of pedestrians crossing the busy multi-lanes intersection, the city says it has no choice than to move as the mall site is “no longer feasible…The design of this facility considers future growth and provides greater capacity than what is currently required.” As for traffic and pedestrian safety the city replied, “signage and pavement markings” will be introduced and pedestrian crossing “solutions will be considered” at upcoming budget talks but “not planned to be implemented at this time.” For public comfort, Terminal seating is “being reviewed” and a bike locker station is planned. There will be no public parking or car drop offs. Buses will access from Catherine St., one block north of Tecumseh and immediately south of the RONA store parking lot; high-visibility Tecumseh Rd. is too busy. Some people wanted to know if the stand-alone terminal will be more visible to crime and homeless people. The city replies there will be lighting, “access controls” and video surveillance. Some wanted to know how the existing natural site, virtually a woodlot, will be changed such removal of trees. “The City plans to plant new trees offsite nearby with a 1:1 replacement ratio at a minimum.” The city also says it may "incorporate art or other aesthetic improvements.”

Photo: Good Satellite View

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Detroit homicides and shootings down significantly in crime prevention areas

WindsorOntarioNews.com Dec 23 2024

Detroit is touting “community-based solutions” for dramatic drops in crime in several historic crime-ridden neighborhoods. The six districts have seen crime drop 35 per cent between August and October with one area on the east side having an 83% reduction. The “ShotStopper” zones have tailored programs to prevent crime and the stats encompass shooting and homicides. The stats also reflect a comparison with the previous two years. “These results show we have cracked the code in a significant way and now cities around the country can look to the Detroit model for reducing violent crime,” Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. Police Chief Todd Bettison says he expects that overall, 2024 city crime data to “shatter” last year’s results, which had already seen a 57 per cent decrease in homicides. The city has had 17 per cent fewer homicides through the month of November and 25 per cent fewer nonfatal shootings. ShotStoppers works directly with residents to address root causes of violence, mentoring at-risk individuals and attempting to resolve conflicts before they escalate. “By investing in people and fostering trust, this proactive approach is a game-changer in how we build safer neighborhoods across Detroit,” Councilmember Fred Durhal said. Each ShotStoppers group gets a $175,000 base budget per quarter to implement their violence prevention strategy. They can also earn up to $175,000 more in “performance grants” each quarter by achieving targets. “While each group’s strategy varies, many use staff with lived experience of violence to intervene and peacefully resolve disputes before they turn violent, as well as mentor at-risk individuals to help them pursue other paths,” the city says.

Image: City of Detroit

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WPS accused of not "listening" to judge's decision in Brisco case

WindsorOntarioNews.com Dec 12 2024

A national legal defense organizations says the Windsor Police Service “had not been listening” to a judge who stated the 2022 Ottawa Freedom Convoy “was legal.” Instead, says the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, “they had been listening to how politicians and newspaper headlines were characterizing the protest.” The centre is providing legal help to WPS Const. Michael Brisco (photo) in a case that has made national headlines. Brisco was convicted of discreditable conduct “a serious blemish on an otherwise perfect record of service” for privately donating cash to the Freedom Convoy, though there is “no evidence” it went to the protesters who blocked the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor at the same time. His punishment was losing 80 hours of pay. The legal group is in Ontario Divisional Court today to overturn the conviction. “The conviction of Constable Brisco sent a chilling message to all Canadians: illegally hacked information can be used against you. If you donate to the 'wrong' cause (as determined by your employer, the government or other authorities), you can be publicly exposed and punished.” Brisco’s name was revealed when a GiveSendGo donor list was “illegally hacked,” the group says, noting Windsor Police are “apparently condoning this illegal activity.” In a fundraising appeal the Centre says Brisco “should have the same right to donate privately and confidentially to the causes of his choosing, like every other Canadian, regardless of his profession.”

Photo: Justice Centre

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Tradeoffs converting one-ways to two

WindsorOntarioNews.com Nov 18 2024

Converting streets from one-way to two-ways is easier said than done. City staff responded to a question from downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino who wondered if two-ways would help bring business back downtown and improve road safety. There are nine such streets. First, says the report, “a two-way conversion should not be implemented to prioritize vehicular transportation and businesses while not considering the impacts on other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.” One-ways carry 10-20 per cent more traffic and “congestion and delay are reduced” but encourage higher speeds. And they “do not pose a major inconvenience” since “regular” drivers know the network. Converting could eliminate some traffic signals due to less traffic. There’s a “high possibility” on street parking could be eliminated because more centre turn lanes would be required and need for new bus stops. One-ways also provide “high quality” cycling because of width, such as new bikeways for Victoria and Pelissier. “Another benefit to maintaining one-way street systems is that they limit the number of motor vehicle movements at intersections and simplify decision-making for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, especially the elderly and those with accessibility needs.” But studies haven’t concluded one type is safer than the other. Truck and transit might have to be rerouted on two-ways and “may limit the ability of motorists to pull over and move out of the way of an emergency response vehicle.” But one-ways tend to produce more pollution since they have “out-of-direction travel, which increases the average driving distance between any paired origin-destination points.” However, with one-ways, “coordination of traffic signals is more easily attained for one-way streets; this results in improved traffic and bus transit flow with fewer stops, less idling, and lower emissions.” But, yes, research indicates “two-way streets create higher levels of economic activity and improve the livability of downtown areas” because drivers can see storefronts better and traffic signal timing slows traffic “giving drivers more exposure to local businesses.”

Photo: Google Street View

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City's waste firm under attack

WindsorOntarioNews.com Nov 4 2024

Attacks against GFL (Green for Life) have been continuing in the Toronto area and police continue to investigate one that occurred in Windsor this past summer. The Windsor Police Service has appealed for help identifying arson suspects after six commercial vehicles at a GFL facility on Tecumseh Road W. were deliberately set on fire just before 5 a.m. on June 27. Nobody was hurt, but the fires caused an estimated $1 million in damage. This is amidst continuing violence in Toronto directed at GFL Founder & CEO Patrick Dovigi. Sault Ste. Marie native Dovigi started the company in 2007 and from seemingly nowhere it has grown to be one of the biggest waste management firms in North America with 2023 revenue of $8 billion, ranking third. The garbage magnate is mystified by the violence in what’s considered a highly competitive industry, stating last Friday “I wish I knew” who is attacking him and the company. Gunshots were fired at the company’s Weston Rd. office in Toronto last week, just the latest of several reported arsons and shootings. His home in the exclusive Rosedale neighbourhood was shot at in late Sept. Shortly afterward, more shots were fired at another Toronto home believed owned by one of Dovigi’s associates but Dovigi disputed that. Meanwhile, he shrugged the violence off. “I’ve been in business for 20 years,” he told the National Post. “Who’s going to scare me? This is not the ‘Sopranos.’ ” Other police agencies are also investigating attacks on industrial properties related to GFL. The Toronto Star confirmed that on July 1 a suspect set fire to six large trucks at a Vaughan industrial yard operated by Green Infrastructure Partners — a construction firm owned partly by GFL. Nobody was injured in either home shooting. As for the Windsor arson, Toronto Police wouldn’t link it to their investigation of the shootings. “That’s not a connection I’m able to confirm,” a spokeswoman said, adding no arrests have been made. In 2016, the City of Windsor chose to keep its waste and recycling service outsourced and retained GFL for seven years. Windsor first contracted with GFL in 2010 after city outside workers went on a prolonged strike.

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Numerous motorists make mistake and take ramp to Canada, never to return?

WindsorOntarioNews.com October 7 2024

It may seem hard to believe but many motorists – presumably all Americans – have made the error of taking the Ambassador Bridge ramp from I-75 when it clearly states “Bridge to Canada, No Re-entry to USA.” Comments on Facebook have a wide variety of people admitting to making the false run end ending up in proverbial never-never land. “Coming from Toledo I had been to Detroit well over a hundred times but for some stupid reason and having a bit of road rage on my way to a Lions game back in 2011 I accidentally turned in there and thankfully they were cool about it and let me turn around having our Lions jerseys on probably helped I had weed on me too…..I accidentally got off on this damn thing when they first put it there. I had a gun and a bunch of weed on me. I damn near pissed on myself! Why they design it like that….. Happened to my ex-husband and I 15 years ago. They detained us for over 3 hours. We were down there because he just moved here and had a job interview somewhere over there. I was driving because he didn’t know his way around. (Obviously I didn’t either ) We made a wrong turn and we were screwed. His driver's license was from Chicago Illinois and he's Hispanic so..... Been there, done that..... When you don't wanna leave the country….. By mistake I took that exit a few years ago. I went into duty free and they directed me to a waiting area in my car where, after a half hour wait, a customs officer came and let us go. So my question is, why did they design it this way? WTF?..... The exit isn’t the problem, it’s finding the stupid duty-free shop and where to park! Had that happen last Sunday….. Probably better to go to Canada, have lunch and come back. Lol”…..And at least one person with common sense: “Read the sign. It's not that hard to do.”

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Lot 16. Windsor's own Area 51

WindsorOntarioNews.com Sept. 20 2024

You’ve probably heard of Area 51. But Windsor has its own Lot 16. That’s a parking lot between Ouellette Ave. and Goyeau St. along the river and owned by the city. There have been long time complaints about the parking lot from residents across the street related to noise, loitering, partying and car driver “burnouts." Downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino asked how these could be prevented. A report to City Council says as much as $62,000 could be spent on a barrier and related measures. But that “may not resolve” the issues. “There's a likelihood that these challenges could simply shift to nearby parking lots to the east (Lot 34) and/or west (Lot 5), necessitating a broader approach to effectively address these concerns.” Ironically, when the city installed gates and fencing to address a similar problem down the road at the Festival Plaza “the challenges shifted to Lot 16.” And closing the lot altogether would result in a shortage of parking spaces. “The elimination of Lot 16 and its 86 spaces will leave only the 48 spaces at Lot 5 to service the nearly 1.3 km stretch of riverfront parkland from Glengarry to Caron Ave.” The area includes “popular destinations” like Dieppe Park, various memorials, gardens, The Great Canadian Flag and Bistro at the River. Another problem with a gate is it can by bypassed. “Vehicle(s) park in the lot before the gate restricts access. Even if it is just a single vehicle from the group, the vehicle will drive out to open the gate, and the other vehicles then drive in.” Another option is simply the status quo by police monitoring and “continued parking enforcement though the current contractor.” Still another would be hiring security largely overnight but that could run almost $100,000. Security cameras are yet a further option but lack of technical infrastructure makes that impossible. And closing the lot altogether would lose the city $80,000 in revenue. Exploring Area 51 might be easier.

Photo: Google Satellite View

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Anyone for pickleball? City of Windsor is exploring more court options

WindsorOntarioNews.com Sept. 11 2024

As the pickleball craze continues (Amherstburg just broke ground on a set of new courts) the City of Windsor is exploring adding the increasingly popular hard surface game, lauded mainly by people of a certain age. The city’s master recreation plan has set out improvements for all hard courts such as pickleball, tennis and basketball. The goal is “Flex Court sports tiling, or other alternative court surfaces that offer a longer warranty of 7 to 10 years, to determine if these are more cost- effective options compared to replacing the traditional and /or asphalt concrete.” An example is new Forest Glade courts (photo) of a material similar to fiberglass. As well, the plan calls for pickleball court lining in existing city tennis courts. “Potential locations include Garry Dugal Park, Remington Booster Park, or other locations to be determined by City staff.” That process has begun with pickleball lines overlaid on all existing tennis courts, excluding Central Park and Forest Glade Optimist Park. As well, pickleball configuration is set up in four out of six gymnasiums within the recreation centres. Those include the WFCU Centre (WFCU), Forest Glade Community Centre (FGCC), Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex (CPRC) and John Atkinson Memorial Community Centre (AMC). Among the four, the WFCU and AMC feature multiple-court configurations, each with three courts. The remaining gyms (CPRC and FGCC) are designed for single-court use. The city could add a fifth location at Optimist Community Centre but says replacement for the unsuitable current floor court would cost at least $150,000. The city is also increasing time slot availability. The most popular bookings are at the WFCU and AMC.

Photo: City of Windsor

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Recycled material sales down markedly

WindsorOntarioNews.com August 9 2024

In virtually all categories, sales revenue for recycled materials collected locally were down substantially in 2023 compared to 2022. The local waste authority’s annual report says this was a result of “exceptionally strong market conditions for the majority of recyclable materials” two years ago. Revenue last year was $2,643,177 representing an average $140/tonne for all products. That compared to $225/tonne in 2022. In various categories, old newspaper was down more than half from $872,000 (rounded) to $425,000. Cardboard was almost down by half from $1 million to $594,000. Hardback (cardboard/boxboard mix) lost more than half from $245,000 to $217,000. Fine paper saw a precipitous decline to $1100 from $7100. Mixed fibre was dramatically down to $6600 from $54,000. Aluminum cans suffered a loss from $840,000 to $683,000. PET (plastic water bottles) dropped from $980,000 to $409,000. High-density polyethylene (laundry soap bottles) dropped from $244,000 to $156,000. Polycoat and gable top (milk cartons) saw only a meagre $45 income versus $7000 the previous year. Mixed metal earned $13,000 compared to $20,000 previously. Mixed plastics (tubs and lids, clamshells, trays) earned only $23,000 versus $86,000. The sole category that saw an increase was clear glass from $849 to $4436. In fact, last year had the third lowest income for all materials sold since 2015. In 2022, the agency earned $4,681,016 and in 2021 $4,967,436 – a record. Back in 2015 the agency still earned more than it did last year - $3,101,234. Of all the recycled materials, aluminum cans and foil generated the lion’s share of revenue at 25.9 percent followed by cardboard at 22.5 per cent, old newspaper at 16.1 per cent and PET at 15.5 per cent. Clear glass – ironically the only category that saw an increase in revenue - generated the least at 0.2%.

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In London, "staggering amounts" of safer supply went to black market

WindsorOntarioNews.com July 23 2024

While Windsor’s SafePoint supervised drug consumption and treatment site remains on pause due to the province withholding funding as it reviews such sites’ safety, an investigation into a similar site in London found extreme abuses of its services. Adam Zivo, director of the Centre for Responsible Drug Policy, found that “staggering amounts” of safer supply opioids “are being diverted to the black market.” These are “predominantly eight-mg tablets of hydromorphone, an opioid as potent as heroin — to mitigate the use of riskier street substances.” Zivo said that while advocates say such sites save lives, “safer supply clients often divert (sell or trade) their free hydromorphone to acquire stronger substances, which then floods communities with the drug and fuels new addictions.” London piloted the country’s first safer supply program in 2016. But since the program was “greatly expanded” in 2020 hydromorphone seizures “have exploded.” London police deputy chief Paul Bastien confirmed, “In 2019, we recorded fewer than 1,000 (hydromorphone) tablets seized. That number increased sharply in 2020 and continued to climb gradually until last year when the number of tablets seized increased nearly five-fold over 2022, to over 30,000. Based on seizure data for the first part of 2024, it appears likely that this year’s total could match or exceed last year’s.” Meanwhile local addictions physician Sharon Koivu called the 3000 per cent increase in seizures “unbelievably concerning” and said that “what the police confiscate is just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of pills that are actually being diverted.” Said Zivo in a National Post article, “Dr. Koivu said that, based on her clinical experiences, diverted safer supply hydromorphone is obviously causing new addictions and getting into the hands of youth. Dozens of other doctors across Canada have publicly said that they are witnessing similar trends — and even harm reduction activists themselves have begun to acknowledge these issues.” London police are nearing completion of an investigation into safer supply diversion.

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Celebrated forensic pathologist once taught at the University of Windsor

WindsorOntarioNews.com July 10 2024

Celebrity forensic pathologist Werner Spitz once taught at the University of Windsor. The acclaimed pathologist, who figured in cases from JFK’s and Martin Luther King’s assassinations to OJ Simpson and Jonbenet Ramsey, died at 97 this spring in St. Clair Shores, MI. Spitz, born in Germany, moved with his family to Israel and became a pathologist. His first major case was investigating the death of Israel Prime Minster Golda Meir’s husband Morris Myerson, who was found dead in a Tel Aviv flat but died of a heart attack. Spitz moved to the United States. Forensic pathology was a new science which Spitz helped develop. He taught at the University of Windsor and Wayne State University. He became Chef Medical Examiner for metro Detroit’s Wayne and Macomb counties and claimed to have taken part in 60,000 autopsies. In acclaimed criminal cases, Spitz testified for the parents of Mary Jo Kopechne, who died in a car crash driven by Sen. Ted Kennedy. In the mid-1970s he reviewed President John Kennedy’s death, concluding that while the original postmortem had been “botched” Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed the correct killer. Spitz also confirmed the finding of the original autopsy in the death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Spitz testified successfully in the civil trial of OJ Simpson that small semicircular cuts on Simpson’s hand were fingernail gouges left by deceased wife Nicole Brown Simpson as she struggled with him. Spitz's testimony in music producer Phil Spector’s 2007 trial that the alleged victim had shot herself, contributed to the jury failing to reach a unanimous conviction, though Spector was later convicted in a retrial. In the Jonbenet Ramsey case Spitz concluded the six-year-old child beauty queen was likely killed by her nine-year-old brother, for which he was sued after DNA evidence disclosed otherwise, and the case was settled on undisclosed terms.

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Transgendered woman wins $35 K from Rights Tribunal over Windsor tanning salon complaint

WindsorOntarioNews.com June 25 2024

A transgendered Indigenous woman has been awarded $35,000 from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for humiliation and “victimization” following a 2018 encounter with a Windsor tanning salon. Identified only as “AB” the applicant, who at one time headed a local transgender support organization, alleged discrimination when she requested a leg wax from Mad Max Windsor Inc. (“Mad Wax”), which appears to no longer exist. According to tribunal testimony, when AB called the studio the woman who answered at first said the salon did not provide services to trans women and then said, “I don’t know.” Testifying before the tribunal the staffer denied the studio did not serve trans clients and said she didn’t know what transgender meant and passed the request to the owner. “The applicant and individual respondent (owner) had very different recollections of what was said during their subsequent phone call,” said the Tribunal. The owner said he thought the caller wanted a Brazilian wax but admitted on cross-examination he had just “assumed” so. The applicant also said the owner “repeatedly misgendered her by referring to her as male or having male body parts, despite the fact that she never told him she had male genitalia.” The owner denied this but “admitted” he may have done so. The customer also said the owner had no one on staff who could provide services to “someone like you” but the owner said he had no one on staff at that time but denied using the derogatory phrase. The owner said AB threatened “trouble with the tribunal” and a "media circus” which AB denied. No service was ever provided. Adjudicator Karen Dawson found the owner did “repeatedly asked the applicant about her genitalia and assumed she was seeking a Brazilian wax.” Nor did AB make threats. AB posted a video on the organization’s Facebook page warning clients not to use the studio. The video was taken down after one hour. The owner said the video “prompted him to contact three media outlets to ‘set the record straight.’” No media published stories. But after a human rights complaint was laid the owner issued a press release leading to media coverage. Dawson found discrimination because the owner “asked her about her genitalia and repeatedly misgendered her during their phone call.” As well the “timing of the media outreach and the repeated misgendering of the applicant in the release (AB was not named in it or media stories) and in interviews was intended to cause the applicant embarrassment and undermine her complaints.”

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Windsor's Jenny Coco is an owner of problem-plagued The One, TO "supertall" skyscraper

WindsorOntarioNews.com June 11 2024

A prominent Windsor developer is one of the owners of the problem plagued and iconic The One tower considered to be Canada’s first “supertall” skyscraper. The residential, hotel and commercial building has been years in development at the corner of Bloor and Yonge streets in downtown Toronto, and one of the city’s most prestigious locations. The project, which began in 2015, went into receivership last fall. The One is co-owned by Sam Mizrahi and Coco Group’s Jenny Coco. Now the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has put the building up for sale with a minimum price of $1.2 billion to pay creditors though the entire debt is $1.5 billion due to defaulted loan payments. After being placed in receivership the project's management was transferred to Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc., which has since revamped the building’s budget, timeline, and design, with the aim of making it more attractive to buyers. The first round of bids is due July 30 and the second Sept. 24. The One, to be 85 stories, has been plagued by unsold condo units, mainly because of an overly optimistic luxury market. More than 70 per cent of the large upper-floor condo units remain unsold, and of the 19 sold units, nine buyers are in default. “There is an extremely limited market for units of the size and sale price of those located in the upper levels,” a report by the new manager says. The company has submitted a redesign to increase the number of units per floor from two to four, adding 88 new units to the upper levels. Construction has reached the 57th floor but won’t be completed by a previous target of next March. Coco, now headquartered in Toronto, was founded in Windsor in 1964 and owned by Jenny Coco, CEO and Rock-Anthony Coco, President. According to its website the company has established itself “as one of Canada's largest road-building construction companies.” In 2022, the family “fully transitioned its core business into a family investment office.” The focus is on “opportunistic real estate investments and strategies across asset classes and capital stack in gateway markets within Canada and USA.”

Photo: Google Street View

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In Windsor-Essex, who's the wokest public organization of them all?

WindsorOntarioNews.com May 28 2024

It appears you can’t attend any official public meeting or log on to any publicly-funded organization’s website these days without seeing a Land Acknowledgement, indicating respect for the former lands of Indigenous peoples. But some organizations are more explicit – or “woke” - an overemphasis or trying to prove social consciousness - as critics might say, than others. All City of Windsor meetings begin with “acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. The City of Windsor honours all First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and their valuable past and present contributions to this land.” This is pretty similar to other organizations. But the most detailed WON discovered belongs to the Greater Essex County District School Board. “We acknowledge that we are on land and surrounded by water, originally inhabited by Indigenous Peoples who have travelled this area since time immemorial. This territory is within the lands honoured by the Wampum Treaties; agreements between the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Lenni Lenape and allied Nations to peacefully share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Specifically, we would like to acknowledge the presence of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi) and Huron/Wendat Peoples. We are dedicated to honouring Indigenous history and culture while remaining committed to moving forward respectfully with all First Nations, Inuit and Métis." The Windsor Public Library’s is short and sweet. “We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomie. The City of Windsor honours all First Nations, Inuit and Metis people and their valuable past and present contributions to this land.” And in an apparent nod to the gay/Pride community its logo sports rainbow colours. Meanwhile, you can’t even get past the front page of the Art Windsor-Essex (formerly Art Gallery of Windsor) (photo) website without a land acknowledgement in bold letters staring you right in the face. “We want to state our respect for the ancestral and ongoing authority of Walpole Island First Nation over its Territory.” The gallery was also one of the first to have all-gender washrooms. Even the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority, builder of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, has one. “We would like to acknowledge that the land where the Gordie Howe International Bridge project is being constructed sits on Anishinaabe Territory.” The WDBA also sports other woke statements, criticized as not being germane to essential or traditional corporate missions and emphasizing identity politics and therefore discriminatory themselves. These are its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, and Environmental, Social and Governance clauses.

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Only urgent care, not emergency, will eventually remain downtown - critic

WindsorOntarioNews.com May 13 2024

The expectation a “satellite emergency department” will remain downtown once the new regional hospital is built is false, says a longtime campaigner against the new acute care hospital, Philippa von Ziegenweidt of Citizens for an Accountable Mega-hospital Planning Process (CAMPP). In a letter to City Council regarding its new “Strengthening the Core” plan to boost the downtown, the critic says “the language surrounding the facility (not the Hotel- Dieu Grace Heathcare campus, pictured) being planned in Windsor is misleading, and diminishes the risk to the area. While the public has been repeatedly promised a ‘satellite emergency department,’ the small print indicates very clearly it is to be an Urgent Care Centre. This, she says, repeats exactly what the city of Brampton did. “Built in 2017, (the UCC there) was located on the site of Brampton’s aging downtown hospital. All hospital services were transferred to the new Civic Hospital, approximately 10 km from the city’s downtown core.” But according to the UCC website it is open for “care when your illness or injury isn't an emergency, but just can't wait.” These include sprains, strains or broken bones, minor burns, nose and throat complaints and cuts that might need stitches. “Patients are told to visit the emergency department for care related to serious injuries, illness or conditions, especially if they are experiencing symptoms and have an existing chronic condition, including heart disease, kidney disease, or diabetes,” von Ziegenweidt says. “This is a far cry from the healthcare services provided to Windsor's downtown population today" by Hotel-Dieu Grace Heathcare.

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Dwight Duncan's post-politics includes U Windsor and high profile research org

WindsorOntarioNews.com April 29 2024

Former Windsor political heavyweight Dwight Duncan popped out from relatively obscurity last week with a jointly written op-ed in the Financial Post (see front page). Duncan is one of the former high profile Canadian Liberal politicians who have come out against his own party over the capital gains inclusion rate increase in the recent federal budget. Duncan, 65, was one of Windsor’s best-known politicians, formerly serving on city council before jumping to provincial politics and serving in the Ontario legislature from 1995 to 2013. He held several cabinet positions including finance minister and deputy premier under then Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty. In the op-ed Duncan wrote as a senior fellow of the CD Howe Institute, a long time Canadian non-profit policy think tank. But post-politics his endeavours have taken him into the worlds of law and corporate consulting. He first joined the prominent Toronto law firm McMillan as a business advisor. Currently he is Senior Advisor for Canadian Investor Relations at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. A spokeswoman for CD Howe confirmed he has been a senior fellow there since 2019. He’s also involved with the Global Risk Institute – an organization advising corporate clients on risk management - and MS Society of Canada. He’s also Executive-in-Residence at U Windsor’s Odette School of Business. Besides last week’s op-ed Duncan “wrote a couple of intelligence memos” in 2018 and 2020, the spokeswoman said. In 2018 he wrote that Canada was “unequivocally facing an existential crisis in competitiveness.” The other memo, written at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic on March 18 2020, called Extraordinary Events call for Extraordinary Responses. “Governments around the world are wrestling with the reality of how limited their powers are in the face of a global economic tsunami,” he wrote to the country’s finance ministers. “Regardless, they must devise and implement a significant fiscal stimulus.”

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Ambassador Bridge reviewing structural safety after Baltimore

WindsorOntarioNews.com April 14 2024

The Ambassador Bridge is reviewing its structural safety after a container ship collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing a main span and killing several workers. “We are reevaluating everything from top to bottom,” Matt Moroun, chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge. “The Key Bridge is a wake-up call.” He was speaking during the Michigan Chronicle newspaper’s Pancakes & Politics Speakers’ Forum last week. He was a panelist on the topic Big Projects, Big Future. “I’m not going to say that everything is fine and we don’t need to look at it,” he said. “I read an article in one of the two major papers that 20 freighters a year lose steering at some point in their voyages.” The Baltimore Harbor bridge disaster may have seemed a one-off but there have been as many as almost 300 occasions between 2012 and 2022 when Great Lakes freighters, tankers and cargo ships lost propulsion, steering or electrical power, The Detroit News reported. “There are new threats and we need to respond and take precautions in new ways,” Maroun said. “We’re working with Customs and Border Patrol and Canada’s Border Services as well as Homeland Security. They’re asking for and working with us to develop new plans.” His comments were also made in light of the Canadian truckers’ Covid blockade in 2022 which saw the bridge shut down for seven days, curtailing a huge volume of international trade. The bridge has also undergone major restorations over the past decade which saw replacement of the original main span deck, repairs of concrete piers and badly rusted railings; the sidewalk was also removed.

Photo: Ambassador Bridge

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No major solution for parking lot noise

WindsorOntarioNews.com March 27/24

Wheelies in Parking Lot 16. Yet another annoyance for downtown residents. "The problem is after hours partying and cars performing burnouts," Ward 3 councillor Renaldo Agostino asked council last fall. "It’s my understanding that we have been losing this battle for at least a decade" and asked options for alleviating it. Not many, it turns out. The 86-car lot is just west of Ouellette Ave. along the riverfront. City staff say that "repurposing" the lot wouldn't have the success one might think. For one thing, "noise and loitering" may "simply shift" to nearby parking lots including immediately west beside the Great Canadian Flag and Bistro restaurant. Moreover the city has maintained the lot as part of its riverfront master plan. Both lots are "typically well utilized" during the warmer season. Eliminating the lot would leave only 48 spaces in neighbouring Lot 5. Both lots serve "popular" attractions like Rotary Plaza, Festival Plaza and Dieppe Park, home to numerous memorials and monuments and 30,000 sq. ft. of gardens. As well, monthly parking permit holders would be "displaced." The lot also generated $120,000 last year. Solutions are problematic. A barrier gate activated after 10 pm would cost some $60,000 and could be "bypassed." Police enforcement is not "continuous." Nightly contract security would cost almost $100,000. Security cameras are technically not feasible due to lack of conduits and connectivity.

Photo: Google maps

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