Justin Trudeau Had Inspiring Conversation With Students At Market Hall Yesterday

[chextvDOTcom]

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Amazing School Spirit (And Solidarity) Was Displayed At Yesterday's Terrry Fox Run

[chextvDOTcom]

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Here's Serena Ryder In Videos Talking About What PCVS Means To Her (& The Fight To Keep It Alive)

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Closer Campaign Raises Amazing $3,403,212 To Expand Cancer Care At PRHC

The final tally for the Closer campaign was announced tonight at the donor and volunteer celebration at Market Hall. Community Campaign Team Chair Margie Lightbody said that a whopping $3,403,212 was raised to expand cancer care at PRHC.

Speaking to a capacity crowd of more than 200 guests, Lightbody thanked everyone who gave their time and money to the campaign.

"Last October, we asked the community to 'raise their hands if they'd been affected by cancer' by joining us in a community-driven campaign to raise $2.5 million to bring cancer care closer to home," said Lightbody. "Now, just one year later, I'm in awe of what we have achieved. Not only have we met our $2.5 million Closer campaign goal, we have surpassed it, raising $3,403,212 to help expand cancer care at PRHC and bring radiation treatment to our community for the first time."

"The community’s response has been outstanding," said Lightbody. "More than 9,725 gifts were received from individuals, estates and a wide variety of organizations within our community and beyond. We also had the support of several schools ranging from elementary through to college and university, service clubs, workplaces, and businesses. From galas, fashion shows, and Dancing with the Docs, to the Dragon Boat Festival, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, golf tournaments and the great Urban Adventure Challenge, people enthusiastically participated or volunteered their time to ensure each event was a success."

The $2.5 million campaign included $400,000 for lab equipment and $600,000 for surgical equipment to accommodate increasing volumes of cancer patients—and $1.5 million to install the radiation treatment facility. PRHC is currently awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to put the installation of the single radiation facility out to tender and construction will commence when this process has been completed. The facility is then expected to be operational by next summer.

[Close to Care]

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Strutt 4 Kids Fashion Show Fundraiser In Support Of Five Counties Children's Centre This Thursday

All the fashion houses in downtown wil be part of the Five Counties Children's Centre Fundraiser "Strutt 4 Kids" this Thursday (October 13) starting at 6:30 p.m at The Venue. Tickets are available for purchase at any of the participating stores (see poster below). It will be a fun evening in support of a great cause—musical entertainment includes Beau Dixon—and make sure to dress up, as formal attire is required.

[Strutt 4 Kids]

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Don't Fall For This "Prize Pitch" Scam Police Warn Public

From a Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Service Media Release today...

Fraud Alert:

Police are warning the public of a "prize pitch" scam circulating in the Peterborough area. Several residents have been mailed cheques accompanied with an information package from ChemLogist in Vancouver B.C. The cheques are drawn on the account of W.G Hughs Services LTD. The information advises the recipient that they have won a prize as a result of using their credit card, debit card or other banking card while shopping at Wal-Mart, J.C. Penny, Sears, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, Marshall and several other stores are listed. The information package directs the recipient to call a certain person at a listed telephone number so he can assist them in the process of claiming their winnings. Investigation has revealed that these cheques are counterfeit and you will be asked to send money to the operators of the scam in order to pay for delivery, processing, taxes, duties or some other fee. Fraudulent cheques are used in a variety of scams such as advance fee letter fraud, overpayment and prize pitch to name a few. Recipients that become involved in these counterfeit cashier's cheques, personal cheques, or corporate cheques scams will be financially responsible when the deposited counterfeit cheque is subsequently returned as counterfeit and charged back to their account.

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New Entrance Poll Conducted Locally Reveals Voter Preferences, Reasoning & Behaviour

Heading into the 2011 Provincial election tomorrow, my local polling company Preferences conducted an entrance poll ending October 1, 2011, selecting at random more than 200 respondents (margin of error 6.92%, 19 times out of 20) to not only understand local voter preferences, but also the reasons why people are not voting, why they are undecided, and why they are choosing a specific local candidate.

There have been a number of polls conducted by local media and political associations that have provided percentages on the potential outcome of the 2011 Provincial election, but this poll was conducted by interviewers via telephone as well as through an online survey as opposed to automated systems. We facilitated the collection of open-ended responses which, in our opinion, provides a deeper understanding of voter behaviour.

Several respondents openly stated their exhaustion with elections, but also mentioned that this election differs from the recent Federal election because the Provincial term expired, as opposed to a vote of non-confidence. This may explain why there are almost half the amount of "undecided" respondents compared to the 2011 Federal election entrance poll conducted by Preferences.

As for non-voters, the primary reasons for these respondents to not cast their ballot revolved around their perception of "mud-slinging" and "schoolyard bullying."

Aside from which local candidate is leading, our statistics demonstrate that Jeff Leal is more popular than Liberals/McGuinty (+4.3%); Conservatives/Hudak is more popular than Alan Wilson (+6%), especially among 45-year-old to 55-year-olds; and Dave Nickle is slightly more popular than his leader NDP/Horwath (+2.2%).

Greens maintained the same support for their leader as the local candidate Gary Beamish. The most revealing statistic is demonstrated by Conservative Party/Hudak supporters, who claimed they will be voting for Leal locally (3.9%).

Undecided voters for local candidates (13.5%) expressed that local platforms were "unclear" and "too vague" (even on mail-outs), and that they actually have to perform their own research. Another point of interest demonstrates that some undecided voters know clearly who they do not support as a local candidate, but are unsure of who they would like to support.

As for the reasons why respondents are supporting particular local candidates: Alan Wilson supporters expressed their dissatisfaction with McGuinty’s policies and Hudak's charismatic approach; Nickle supporters mentioned his "experience" in the community "as a teacher" and his recognizable name; and Jeff Leal supporters expressed he has "experience," is "dedicated" and claimed to "know of" or have met him personally.

Paul Teleki is owner of Preferences, a locally-based polling, research and strategic planning company. You can contact him at paul@preferences.ca.

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Boston Pizza Hosting Special Event Tonight For Greater Peterborough Health Services

Support your Family Health Teams by visiting Boston Pizza South today (October 5th) between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., where the Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation is hosting a Celebrity Server Night to raise funds and awareness for the Family Health Teams in the City and County of Peterborough.

Local personalities such as former Peterborough Petes Captain and Canada’s World Junior Team Captain Brent Tully will be among the celebrity servers for this special occasion.

Ten percent of sales from the night go to ensuring that your family health care clinics are in a place to respond effectively to our community’s health care needs.

Reservations are recommended. Call Allen at Boston Pizza at 705.740.2775.

[Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation]

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Cool Captain Climate Appears At Queen Elizabeth For International Walk To School Day

Encouraging students—and parents—to move towards more sustainable modes of transportation isn’t easy, but this Wednesday (October 5th) at 8:30 a.m., many will be inspired to change their commuting habits as part of International Walk to School Day.

Students from Queen Elizabeth Public School will arrive at school using sustainable modes of transportation, such as by bus, walking, biking, rollerblading or skateboarding.

They will be greeted by Cool Captain Climate, who will be providing musical entertainment for those in attendance. Later, the students will take part in a celebratory march around the school.

"We hope that International Walk to School Day will inspire students to get to school in more eco-friendly means like biking or walking," says Johanna Hart, of Peterborough Green-Up in a release. "Not only will our environment benefit by having less pollution added to our air, but the students themselves benefit by moving around and being active on their daily commute to school."

[International Walk to School Day; Peterborough Green-Up]

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$161,000 Raised At Local CIBC Run For The Cure Yesterday

920 participants and 42 teams locally raised more than $161,000 for this year's run.

[chextvDOTcom]

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