NEWS |
THE OBSERVER | Saturday, December 12, 2009
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New owner, same management for Elmira feed store...............................»13 Basketball action at EDSS
»18 VOLUME 14, ISSUE 49
SATURDAY, December 12, 2009
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Woolwich tightens belt on grants
Collision forces car into a ditch
Two largest recipients told funds aren’t available to cover the large increases they requested STEVE KANNON
UP AND OUT The driver of a Chrysler sebring is lifted up a 10-metre ditch following a collision Tuesday morning. The incident occurred after a Chevrolet astro van with a large trailer slid on some ice at the intersection of line 86 and Powell Road near Wallenstein, forcing the Chrysler off the road and onto its roof. The man was conscious and alert when emergency workers arrived on scene; he was taken to Grand River Hospital with minor injuries.
Woolwich social services agencies feeling the squeeze in this economy aren’t likely to find much help from the township, which is facing its own financial issues. The recipients of the two largest grants both appeared at council Tuesday night asking for large raises; Woolwich Community Services (WCS) went away with four per cent more, while the Woolwich Counselling Centre (WCC) saw its grant return to historic levels, cutting last year’s rate by half. Council left the door open, however, to consider the requests when formal discussions begin on the See GRANTS page 02
Jury still out on what winter holds in store for us Late arriving this season, cold and snow roll into southern Ontario, but El Niño will determine how bad it gets JONI MILTENBURG After a blissfully warm November, winter has arrived in Waterloo Region, with two centimetres of snow falling Tuesday and Wednesday. However, it’s cold, not snow, that is likely to be the dominant theme this winter, according to Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. “In southern Ontario, we’re
calling for normal to belonormal temperatures,” he said this week. “The last place for winter to arrive has actually been southern Ontario,” Phillips noted. “We’ve seen snow in the Atlantic, we’ve seen brutal cold out west, we’ve seen snow in the northern part of Ontario, but now we’re getting our introduction to winter.” Environment Canada divides the year into quarters,
with the winter count starting Dec. 1. While October was wet and cool, September and November were both warmer than normal. November, usually the gloomiest month of the year, was both drier and sunnier than normal, with temperatures 2.5 to 3 degrees higher on average. Forecasters are predicting that winter in Canada will lack some of its usual bite because of the recurrence of El Niño.
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will fade out over Winnipeg and the cold air will sweep in and leave southern Ontario colder than normal. “It all depends on how close to the Pacific coast you are,” he said. “If El Niño is strong, then we will certainly benefit from some of those warm breezes. But if it tends to be moderate or weaker, then we will see our share of cold, cold weather.”
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Every two to seven years, sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are warmer than normal. Warmer Pacific Ocean waters tend to shift the jet stream south, meaning a warmer winter with less snow in Canada. Whether southern Ontario will see a milder winter depends on how strong El Niño conditions are, Phillips explained. If El Niño is weak, those warm Pacific breezes
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See WEATHER page 06