Residents in the City of Brampton and Peel Region may be a bit hung over from all the celebrations and merrymaking brought about by the holidays, but for health officials in the area, it’s back to business to as usual.

For those in the Brampton and Peel Region, H1N1 vaccinations are once again available today, as the flu clinics in the area reopen. The clinics will be open to those needing a second shot of the vaccine.

The follow-up vaccinations will be for kids aged 6 months to 3 years of age, as well as those aged 3 to 9 who suffer from chronic health problems like asthma, bronchits, and the like.

Susan Sterling, Toronto Public Health’s spokeswoman, urges residents in the area to remember that children can only be vaccinated 21 days after their first shot. This is to prevent unwanted reactions and side-effects.

Aside from H1N1 vaccines, seasonal flu shots will also be available to the general public at these clinics.

Sperling admits that health officials in the region don’t quite know how many people will show up this week. In spite of this, she says medical staffs in Peel and Brampton are more than ready for the crowds.

You know the Holidays are officially over when it’s time to take down your home’s Christmas tree. And for residents in Brampton, that’s around next week.

Those living in the City of Brampton and the entire Peel Region have one more week to cherish their Christmas tree before bringing it down and setting it outside on the curb for pickup.

Christmas trees all over the region are due for pick-up on the 11th of January, Monday next week. Waste collection agencies in Brampton expect not to finish the work in one day, so they’ve extended the pickup dates on the rest of the week’s waste collection days.

Locals are requested to remove ornaments, tinsel, nails, wire, lights, and other decorations from their trees before leaving them on the curb. Residents can also help in making things easier for the region’s waste collectors by dropping the Christmas trees at Community Recycling Centers scattered throughout the area.

Residents are also reminded that this week will be the last for the two-week exemption period for waste pickup. Locals can put out all the garbage bags they want at the curb until Friday, January 8, with no garbage tags necessary.

The usual two-garbage bag limit resumes next week on Monday.

As always, the arrival of the New Year brings it with new things, like trends (both having to do with the economy and fashion), products, politicians, events, and more. Indeed, a look back at 2009 shows that the year was a colorful one, to say the least.

For the City of Brampton, the New Year also means the implementation of a new set of laws and regulations. One such area that’ll be affected this year is traffic enforcement.

In a move to better discipline drivers and car owners in the city, officials have now either doubled or tripled traffic fines and penalties for violations on the road.

The adjustments are stated under the provisions of Bill 126, or the Road Safety Act of 2009, which officially took effect on January 1, 2010.

Yes, it’s a pretty gutsy way to the start the New Year.

The Act stipulates that:

• Drivers caught not wearing seatbelts, wearing it incorrectly, or improperly restraining a child in the vehicle will be fined $240 (the old fine was pegged at $110).
• From the old $110 fine, drivers caught running a red light will be slapped with a $325 penalty.

These are just some of the new adjustments city officials have made on the traffic code’s existing fines. They hope the stiffer penalties encourages drivers to follow the law at all times.

A look back at the past year shows that business issues and the economy took center stage in 2009.

With 2008’s global financial crisis striking markets and industries, businesses all over the world were hurt and battered after the collapse of the global stock markets.

One thing lead to the other and the chain-reaction quickly resulted in thousands of people losing their jobs largely due to businesses declaring bankruptcy. 2009 was a record year in terms of company foreclosures, and massive bailouts.

Things in the City of Brampton were no different.

Auto manufacturer Chrysler sank further into debt in 2009, with talks of declaring bankruptcy forcing the company to displace thousands of workers in its Windsor facility. Fortunately, workers were only required to make concessions with regards to their pay and benefits – a not to pleasant development, but immensely better than losing their jobs altogether.

This was largely thanks to a deal by the Canadian and U.S. governments to save the North American auto-industry with a multi-billion dollar bailout for both General Motors and Chrysler.

However, Canada’s economy also saw a bit of improvement last year. And while growth was slow, experts and analysts both predict things in 2010 to be considerably better.

With 2010 upon us, it looks like the City of Brampton’s political race is now officially on.

In a recent announcement made by city officials, Brampton’s Clerk Office will be open to nominations for the 2010 municipal elections on Monday, January 4. Open for nominations are for the offices of mayor, regional councilor and city councilor.

Aside from these offices, nominations will also be accepted for the post of school board trustee for both the Dufferin-Peel and Peel District school boards.

Nomination forms are now available at the city clerk’s office at Brampton City Hall. Interested parties can go to the office from 8:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, Mondays through Fridays, starting on the 4th of January, until September 10 of this year.

Already, aspiring candidates and their respective camps have made preparations for next year’s electoral race. With some interesting and promising figures, the 2010 municipal elections look to be colorful, to say the least.

For more information on the upcoming election, as well as updated lists of the candidates, you can log-on to the city’s officials website at www.brampton.ca. Residents in the area can also dial 311 for more details.