Lakeridge Health Bowmanville was proud to unveil its new mammography centre to the public last May 13. According to Lakeridge Health CEO Kevin Empey, the centre was developed for the community, to help them in the fight against breast cancer.

Thanks to the Memorial Hospital Foundation-Bowmanville, who donated $1.35-million for the centre’s redevelopment, the hospital was able to improve its facility and add a long-requested digital machine.

According to Lakeridge Health’s doctors, the new digital mammography machine gives them amazingly clear and accurate images, which are available to them at a rate much faster than that of the normal film machine. Furthermore, the machine has the ability to zoom in and out on an area, with operators able to adjust the viewing settings to give physicians a better look at the examined tissue.

For the patients, this means a lot less waiting as well as fewer re-examinations. The new machine is also very accessible to those sitting in wheelchairs and lying down in gurneys. However, one thing that won’t change is the pain an exam can bring. This is because the new machine still works like the usual mammogram, albeit with faster and much more accurate results.

Just think of it this way; the temporary pain of a mammogram is far better than the pain caused by breast cancer.

After careful deliberation, the Municipality of Clarington has decided to lend a helping hand to Ribfest.

The Bowmanville Rotary Club, the organizers of Ribfest, sought help from council and asked if they could somehow borrow a big portable generator for use during the event. According to Kevin Anyan, a representative from the Bowmanville Rotary Club, the organization needs a very large generator for the event, which requires a lot of power to accommodate those who are expected to attend.

At first, the group considered renting a generator, but they found out that the cost of renting one that would have to run for 24 hours a day could be as high as $9,000 – that’s triple the regular renting cost of $3,000.  If the group chose to rent a generator, they’d end up putting Ribfest at risk for lack of funds.

This dilemma led them to approach council and ask if they could borrow the municipal building’s extra backup generator. Council was willing to lend the generator for a significantly lower renting cost which still has to be ironed out.

Ribfest is a fundraising event that plays host to ribbers, vendors, and entertainers dishing out fun for the whole family. The 3^rd annual Ribfest takes place on the 13^th of June.

Last April 14, students from Harold Longworth Public School held an activity in an effort to raise awareness on the harmful effects of bullying on kids and teenagers. The students organized an event in line with the International Day of Pink at the Bowmanville public school, where they wore pink shirts and brought attention to issues such as bullying, homophobia, and racial discrimination.

The Day of Pink campaign first began when a Nova Scotia student was bullied when he wore a pink shirt to school. Fortunately, his classmates took a stand for him, leading hundreds of students to wear pink to school to stop the bullying and discrimination.
That single united act has inspired thousands of kids all over the world, and thus, the International Day of Pink was born. The celebration is marked by various activities and workshops about how to stop bullying and get over our society’s negative stereotypes.

Harold Longworth’s student council put together an awareness campaign to promote the Day of Pink at the school. Students placed posters speaking against bullying all over the school, and made announcements on why bullying needs to be stopped. According to school Vice Principal Stephen Fisher, he’s proud of the students for doing such an amazing job.

We can’t help but agree.

Good news for residents in Bowmanville. The local hospital is set to get a new critical care unit, and doctors think it’s the perfect addition to the hospital for patients to get better care.

Originally meant to be a part of the hospital’s $10-million redevelopment project, hospital officials decided to go ahead and build the critical care unit portion of the project in advance, due to its urgency. According to Dr. Benj Fuller, an E.R. doctor at the Bowmanville hospital, the redevelopment project would’ve included new emergency room facilities, but it became clear to doctors and healthcare personnel working at the hospital that a CCU was much more important.

The new critical care unit, which will cost around $1.3 million to develop, will be funded by the Memorial Hospital Foundation-Bowmanville.

A new CCU should be what specialists need to get work done at the hospital, this according to Lakeridge CEO Kevin Empey. The lack of a proper CCU he said, has impeded the recruitment of new specialists to practice in Bowmanville.

The future of Bowmanville’s hospital was discussed in 2009, when doctors shared their worries on the imminent shortage of specialists and internists that might affect the medical institution’s services and quality of patient care.

This week headlines primarily consisted of good news from different charitable foundations and programs in the Bowmanville area. Here’s a look back at this week’s news headlines.

Big Brothers and Sisters of Clarington announced this week that they’ll be kicking off the annual “Bowl for Kid’s Sake,” a fundraising event to take place at Liberty Bowl in Bowmanville. The annual event raises funds for children’s programs under their foundation.

Another fundraising event took place last Saturday and proved to be very successful in spite of the bitter weather. The Polar Chili Golf Classic, a unique game of golf in the snow, drew in over 120 golfers to the makeshift links behind Bowmanville High School. The annual event raises funds for The Clarington Project.

The Memorial Hospital Foundation-Bowmanville was pleased to announce that their 2009 Smile Cookie Campaign was a smashing success, amassing a record-number of donations in the Durham region. Furthermore, coffee giant Tim Horton’s wrote the foundation a check worth $96,040.

Moving on to more serious matters, officials said that they can’t put a timeline as of yet on the move to construct more nuclear reactors near the Darlington Nuclear Station. They’re still deliberating the matter as of now.

Members from the Memorial Hospital Foundation-Bowmanville are off to a great start this year and have a something to really smile about, after they received a hefty donation from coffee shop company Tim Hortons.

The coffee and donut giant recently gave $96,040 to the non-profit group. The foundation will be using the money to acquire a new transport defibrillator and cardiac monitor. Part of the donation will also be used to pay for a treatment room as part of the Lakeridge Health Bowmanville’s emergency room redevelopment project.

The foundation was able to raise the money from their Smile Cookie Campaign in 2009, a fundraiser that collected an astounding amount of money in the Durham Region.

Gerry Johnston, head of the foundation’s board, commented that he and his team of workers and volunteers have been all smiles since they heard the news. It’s not just about the large donation for Tim Hortons he said, but also about how the Durham community came together for their cause. He added that the money will really go a long way in helping the foundation’s mission.

The Smile Cookie program first started in 1996 in Hamilton. Every year since then, the fundraiser has collected money for Hamilton’s Children’s Hospital.

According to Minister Brad Duguid of the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry, he can’t quite give a timeline as to when officials will reach a decision on whether or not to build new nuclear reactors near the existing Darlington Nuclear station in Bowmanville.

A few days ago, reports surfaced about Ontario Power Generation’s plan to keep the Pickering nuclear plant up and running for another ten years and spruce up the Darlington plant, effectively making it safe and capable of operating efficiently for another 40 years or so. Miniser Duguid pointed out that the matter is currently awaiting the approval of Ontario Power Generation’s board of directors.

Duguid however, didn’t disclose the effects of such a plan on the decision to put up new nuclear reactors at Darlington. He said that he’s only waiting to have recommendations on his desk. Only then can he discuss the impact of the proposed plan.

The construction of new nuclear reactors required environmental, which was immediately done thereafter. But in June of last year, bidding for the project hit a snag with the provincial government. According to Minister Duguid, building new nuclear reactors is a very serious matter, something that needs to be considered slowly and carefully.

Authorities in Bowmanville are urging the public to be vigilant as the search goes on for the copper thieves. According to police, reports of thieves getting away with copper wire from commercial buildings, work yards, cell phone towers, as well as hospitals are on the rise these past few months.

More recently, a similar incident took place in Bowmanville. Fortunately, security footage recorded the whole act, providing local police with the facial profiles of the three suspects, as well as a good look at their escape vehicle.

Police described the three suspects as Caucasian men in their early 20’s. One of the suspects is described as tall and lanky, recorded wearing a plaid coat and a black toque. The second thief is described as having average height, wearing a red hoodie along with a black toque. The final suspect is said to be short, with a small build. He was recorded wearing a red toque, plaid coat, and dark running pants with white sneakers.

The escape vehicle on the other hand is described as a black GMC Sierra pick-up.

All images can be found online at www.drps.ca.

If you have information of the whereabouts of these three men, please call the authorities at 1-888-579-1520.

According to Durham officials, it’s only a matter of time before Clarington gets a new police station.

The municipality currently has a police force working from a small building located in Bowmanville, along Highway 2 on Regional Road 57. But since the municipality’s populations is steadily increasing, officials think that constructing a new building to serve as a police station would be the smart thing to do.

Chief Mike Ewles commented that the current building is terribly inadequate.

In a move to construct a new station, Clarington’s police force will be submitting a proposal to the Durham Region’s finance and administration committee a week from now. Officials hope that the request for funding will be granted, especially after how the idea of building a new detachment for Clarington has been mentioned time and again in past discussions.

According to Clarington Regional Councillor Charlie Trim, it would be very surprising if the request will not be included in the budget for 2010.

Efforts to acquire land for the new building are currently underway, but police have yet to disclose where it will be. They did however say that the new detachment will be on a large plot since officials plan on constructing a campus-like facility similar to a compound.

The Durham region may be made up of all sorts of people, but during crunch time, its residents have a habit of coming together.

Such was the case when Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on the 12^th of January, roughly 3 weeks ago. The killer earthquake took thousands upon thousands of lives and devastated the nation’s capital, Port Au Prince. Officials estimate the damage to be worth billions, and over 180,000 deaths have been confirmed by relief workers.

Despite being thousands of miles away, residents from Durham have opened their hearts and wallets to help the victims start their lives all over again. But aside from making donations, some Durham residents have packed their bags to join relief efforts in the Caribbean country.

For one paramedic based in Bowmanville, collecting medical supplies is of the utmost importance. He has promised to offer whatever assistance he can give, and plans on doing it until the next year. His mother, a longtime volunteer in Haiti, will also be flying back to the country to join in on the relief effort.

Other areas in Durham have their own stories to tell, but one thing’s for sure – in spite of this tragedy, it’s inspiring to have complete strangers come together for a common cause.