WestJet Could Be Coming To Peterborough In 2013

WestJet employees have voted overwhelmingly to endorse the company's plans to launch a regional airline subsidiary starting in 2013 with smaller planes to be added to the fleet, according to this CBC story. And Peterborough is mentioned as one of the possible new destinations to be added in this CBC TV report...

[via David Feeley]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

"Foxfire" Film Shooting In Peterborough

[Chex Newswatch]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

PtboPic: Saturday Morning At The Canal

[via @AlanaCallan]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.


Here's A Guy Taking A Snowshoe Run On A Peterborough Trail

He is fast.

[YouTube]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.

Two New Shows Opened This Weekend At Art Gallery Of Peterborough & Artspace

Opening this past Friday evening were shows at Artspace and the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Artspace presents Are We There Yet, a group show, presenting with diverse work of Lauren Hall, Gareth Lichty and Sam Mogelonsky.

The large front space features a playful "rug" woven of garden hose. It's fun, plastic nature is a poke at our collected yerning for the perfect outdoor space. It's an interesting piece to walk around.

Also featured are interesting colourful channelled landscapes from Hall, who uses clear corregate and coloured powders to create "perfect sunsets" with parallel gradients of colour. Mogelonsky pieces these diverse works together with his neon title piece, "Wish You Were Here".

The show runs January 13th, 2012 to February 25th, 2012.   

See Artspace-arc.org for more information.
------------------

At The Art Gallery of Peterborough, opening on Friday evening was a range of work connected throughout the public spaces. Titled Steaming Alterity, this presentation brings together the diverse work of artists Rebecca Belmore, Natalie Wood, Christina Zeidler, Emelie Chhangur and Johanna Householder.

The work these women make draws from themes of activism, places, internal context and self within a wider world. Using photography, video, collage and physical still-life, an adventure awaits the visitor. Plan on being generous with your time here.

The show runs January 13th to March 4th.

See Agp.on.ca for more information.

[Text and pic by PtboCanada's Jeffrey Macklin]


Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

51 Things We Hope To See In Peterborough In 2012

In no particular order, here we go...

 

1. A place(s) to play ping pong in downtown Peterborough.
2.
PCVS
3.
More hilarious tweets from @/PTBO_Y_U_NO.
4.
More jobs being created in Peterborough.
5.
Buses running later at night in Peterborough. It's near impossible to get a cab when the bars close. And we don't want to see people ever drinking and driving.
6.
More music and cultural festivals. The more, the merrier. (Our music scene is one of the best in Canada.)
7.
More people biking on Peterborough's streets and trails. More people biking in general.
8.
The Peterborough Petes in the playoffs.
9.
More great music acts at the likes of Historic Red Dog, Market Hall, Showplace, The Spill, Spanky's and Gordon Best.
10.
More plaid.
11.
An authentic Irish pub.
12.
PCVS
13.
More restaurants and businesses opening, and less closing.
14.
Less blackouts for no real reason.
15.
Reggie's launching a hot dog version of their burger.
16.
More tourists coming to our great city.
17.
More great anti-bullying programs in the city. More people standing up to bullies.
18.
More Creative Cocktails, which was one of the best things to come to Peterborough this year.
19.
More funny typos on signs.
20.
Continued generosity of Peterborough community.
21.
A continued resurgence of the downtown—and the continued good work of the DBIA.
22.
Continued transparency from city council, the Mayor's office and our tweeting Mayor, who has settled into the role nicely and is having a great first year in office.
23.
A couple town hall meetings. Or one. Hey, why not? Healthy thing to try to bring community together.
24.
People doing random things like dancing on bubble wrap.
25.
Another great Festival of Trees downtown.
26.
More Tom Phillips columns.
27.
More people trying breakfast at The Only Cafe. It's worth the wait.
28.
More readers submitting tips.
29.
More local people and businesses joining the Twitterverse.
30.
More parody accounts on Twitter. Good satire can be a great equalizer.
31.
Continued development of the Peterborough Wednesday Market and Saturday Farmer's Market.
32.
A splash pad at Nicholl's Oval.
33.
PCVS
34.
Peterborough Roller Derby taking off.
35.
Less domestics on police reports. Less drug busts. Less break and enters. Less stabbings. Less crime. More jobs.
36.
More flash mobs around Peterborough.
37.
CP Rail bridge gets fixed, allowing pedestrian walkway/bikeway again (and our shortcut back to East City)
38.
More Peterborough playlists.
39.
The return of 4 Dudes On The Balcony.
40.
More Stormtroopers. More Band Wagons.
41.
Continued impact/recognition of Peterborough's Creative Class.
42.
More shocked looks on the faces of visitors to our Zoo when they discover it's free.
43.
Peterborough Square and Portage Place making an Eighties comeback.
44.
Less complaining and whining about what's wrong with the city, and more solutions for how to fix things.
45.
More/continued attention to the amazing artists, musicians and athletes in this city.
46.
PCVS
47.
A show called Culturally Speaking on TV Cogeco as spinoff of Politically Speaking.
48.
The excellent owners of the now closed Have You Seen... returning with a new venture.
49.
More people visiting our awesome galleries and museums—the Canadian Canoe Museum is world class.
50. Not as many people wearing pajamas as outdoor wear.
51. A town square. Well, at least more discussion about it.

That's it, you rock.

What do you hope to see in Peterborough in 2012? Add to our comments section below.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Winter Parking Restrictions Have Started in Peterborough

Today marks the beginning of Winter parking restrictions in Peterborough.

  • From December 1- April 1, parking is prohibited on all City streets from 2:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m. This allows better snow clearing of city streets and at a lower cost because equipment will not have to return to clear areas where vehicles were parked. The fine for a violation is $15.
  •  

  • During a snowstorm, when snow-clearing operations are underway, no stopping of a vehicle is permitted on any city street. Snow-clearing operations typically take place between midnight and 8 a.m. The fine is $50 for this violation and your vehicle will be towed. All vehicles will be towed to Morrow Park and must be claimed the following day. After 24hrs all unclaimed vehicles will be towed to an impound yard at the owners expense.

Where does that leave you to park? Free overnight parking is allowed at all Municipal parking lots such as the King Street Parkade and Simcoe Parking Garage. Vehicles parked overnight at either parking garage can obtain a gate arm ticket upon entry to the garage to be used for a free transit trip home.

So remember the rule of thumb... no parking any time of the year on city streets for longer than 3 hours, except where a sign indicates otherwise. If you still have questions, call Parking at 705-742-7777 ext. 2802.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

PtboPics: Downtown There's Ice Sculptures, Reindeer, BeaverTails, An Ice Rink & Free Parking

 

[pictures by PtboCanada's Christi Morton]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

The Bring Food Home Conference Runs This Thursday To Saturday In Peterborough

From October 27th to 29th, farmers, processors, health care professionals, educators and government officials will be coming together at Trent University for a unique food conference called Bring Food Home 2011: Preparing the Ground for a Sustainable Food System. Conference attendees will be engaged in collaboration to build a food system in Ontario that is responsive to the needs of all.

On Thursday, Bring Food Home will host the "Let’s Talk About Food" event at Showplace. It will feature scholar and food policy expert, Mark Winne; the Director of Sustain UK, Jeanette Longfield; Indigenous scholar and educator, Dawn Morrison; writer and broadcaster Jon Steinman; and a welcome address by Mayor Daryl Bennett. Tickets can be purchased at the Showplace Box office for $12, or $5 for students and seniors.

Conference organizers have been working closely with Farms at Work, a local non-profit that works to keep farmland active and healthy, to provide conference attendees with a range of educational and engaging experiences. A number of other local programs will be making presentations and participating in the conference proceedings.

Peterborough’s local food scene offers wonderful opportunities for conference participants to visit innovative food projects, including By The Bushel Community Food Co-op, JustFood Boxes and Trent’s Seasoned Spoon Café. A bus tour to McLean Berry Farm and Kawartha Country Wines is being offered. Conference attendees will also enjoy the "Feast of Local Flavours" at The Elmhirst Resort, featuring local beers and food made with ingredients from Peterborough and Kawartha area farms.

For more info about the conference, visit Bringfoodhome.com.

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.

Here's The Shiny Findings From A New Report On The Economic Impact Of The Shining Waters Railway

This morning in Peterborough, the Shining Waters Railway group revealed the results of an economic impact study commissioned to explore the local economic feasibility of restoring Peterborough-Toronto commuter rail service and upgrading the existing track. The line would run 120 kilometres with a total of eight stations between the Peterpatch and Toronto's Union Station.

Among the projected conservative estimates, according to the report:

Nearly 2000 jobs to be created and $531 million in economic output ($433 million in Ontario) due to capital investment in upgrading track, constructing bridges, and refurbishing rolling stock. Most of the difference would occur in New Brunswick where rail cars will be refurbished.

An additional 110 jobs and $13 million per year in economic output due to operation of the commuter rail line.

• More than $12 million in tax collections for the province and $4 million for the federal government.

Nearly $13 million a year in travel time savings and travel cost savings, $0.6 million a year in environmental savings from new and diverted riders of the service and $11 million in 2031 in accident related costs.

If full Phase 1 & 2 operation begins by mid 2015, the economic impact between now and 2020 is approximately $700 million – combination of construction and operation related impacts and ongoing travel savings.

According to the report, these estimates "do not consider the likely impact of increased rail freight service, non-commuter related travel (tourism, for example), development around the stations, and possible attraction of new business to the region. These estimates do not consider economic activity from alternative ways in which public funds might have been used."

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.