On Sundays, Oshawa parishioners usually see a throng of people by the steps of the St. Phillip the Apostle Catholic Church awaiting mass. This week was a little a different to say the least, as most of the City’s churchgoers were caught off-guard from what awaited them at the church’s entrance.

Instead of the usual smiles from fellow parish regulars, what greeted the churchgoers were police tape, and a sign on the door that read ‘No service due to fire’. A fire had broken out in the early morning of Christmas Day, with police suspecting arson to be the reason behind the tragedy.

Oddly enough, most of the church’s regulars were unaware of what had happened to the parish. This is probably due to the holiday rush and the fact that the fire was quickly contained after being reported.

Local authorities received a call about a fire on Oxford Street in the early hours of Christmas. Upon arriving at the scene, police found broken windows which they suspect the arsonist/s used to get inside the church.

The fire was immediately put out, and an estimate on the damages is currently being put together. Luckily nobody was injured in the blaze.

Police and fire officials are now investigating the church grounds for any possible leads.

While they say there’s hope, stakeholders are keeping a tight lid on news about the future of the Oshawa harbor. So far, no word has been released by Oshawa officials on the negotiations on a deal between the feds and the City – leading many to wonder if things are going to get better any time soon.

In a special meeting held last week on December 18, the Oshawa council came to an accord on the terms on land ownership, land use, and governance of the city’s waterfront.

The deal is aimed at finally fixing years of discord between the Oshawa government, the Oshawa Harbor Commission and the federal government. The disagreement has primarily been over the region’s harbor lands. The meeting also sought to resolve a lawsuit filed over the harbor in 2006.

According to a local media outlet, a few sources who knew the happenings of the meeting came to them with information and details on the proposed settlement. However, neither of them went on record for fear of compromising the deal, which still has to be made official.

Word has it that construction of a marina, boat launch and trails will be taken care of by a private sector investor. There has been no word from the City regarding this rumor.

Durham’s Humane Society gets a great Christmas present this year in the form of funding from the government.

The animal shelter’s Oshawa building was badly destroyed by a fire late in 2008, tragically killing 100 animals it housed during the time. To rehabilitate and breathe new life into the organization, both federal and provincial governments in the region have decided to provide funds for the construction of a new facility totaling at $1.394 million.

This is welcome news to the grief-stricken employees of the Humane Society in Durham. Karin Martens and her team of workers & volunteers were overjoyed upon hearing the news, saying that after going through such grief and suffering, the funding for a new shelter serves as the perfect gift for Christmas.

Martens believes she won’t be alone in celebration, as hundreds of community members were affected by last year’s tragedy.

Funding is being provided via the government’s infrastructure stimulus package that aims to help municipalities and cities create jobs through infrastructure undertakings.

Construction is set to begin before the 1st quarter of 2010 ends. Officials expect the groundbreaking to take place on April 1. The project is scheduled to end before Christmas of next year.

John Cannito thought Christmas would be ordinary this year. Little did he know that he was about to receive a big present. And when we say big, we mean BIG.

When given the keys to his newly purchased bungalow home from his realtor Stuart Smith, Cannito discovered that his entire house had been gift wrapped. All 1700 square feet of it.

How’s that for something fancy?

The best “present” of all according to Cannito, is that his gift-wrapped home was for the sake of raising money for a charity his realtor wanted to help out.

Smith had made a promise before the holidays, saying that he would literally gift wrap the home he would close closest to Christmas Day.

That home belonged to Cannito.

The realtor is raising money and collecting donations for the Pregnancy Help Centre on Drew Street in Oshawa. Milk formula, diapers, clothing, and toys are currently in need, and many have stepped up to help the cause.

Smith admits to having had a hard time wrapping the house. What he thought would be a simple task for his team comprised of family and friends actually took some hours to complete.

As for Cannito? He was pleased with the wrapping, and looks to let it stay before unwrapping it, probably on the Big Day itself.

To crack down on dogs causing public disturbance, Oshawa’s city officials have come up with a plan to obtain a court order that literally keeps them from barking too much.

Residents in Oshawa, particularly those along Verdun Road and Oshawa Boulevard, have had enough of the incessant barking of two dogs belonging to one home in the area. The loud barking is keeping residents up all night, causing stress and problems amongst them.

Over a dozen locals have called Oshawa’s politicians and offices. The City bylaw department, which is tasked with handling public disturbance complaints, has received the most phone calls so far, with many asking for the dogs to be taken out of the community right away.

However, Oshawa’s City bylaw officers are unable to take action – as of now anyway.
The law states that courts have the authority to order the removal of dogs from a home or neighborhood under certain situations, like animal cruelty. However, too much barking or noise isn’t a valid reason.

Some City councilors are going in for the kill, proposing that irresponsible owners who have a history of dogs who bark too much, be prohibited from owning dogs, period.

With the City Council taking the bull by the horns so to speak, it looks like these Oshawa residents might have some hope after all.

Without a doubt, the recession has undeniably caused problems for Canada, with many across the nation losing their jobs and closing their businesses. What many people don’t know is that the situation is even worse in developing countries around the world.

One Oshawa native understands this, and he has spent weeks and months abroad, traveling from community to community to help establish credit unions that allow people to have access to credit. This is especially a common problem in rural areas, where towns have no banks or lending institutions of any kind. And with life being hard in these areas, locals can’t set aside money to make a trip to the city or mainland to look for loans.

Dave Sitaram is a native of Oshawa and is the current director of the Canadian Co-operative Association. He also holds the position of vice-president of Oshawa’s Autoworkers Community Credit Union.

And while he may be swamped with duties and tasks at times, he makes it a point to travel to and help desperate communities in need of support – be it financial or medical. He understands the vitality of giving locals access to credit, allowing them to set up small businesses and improve their livelihood.

Sitaram hopes that others take his lead and lend a hand to those who really need help.

Thanks to a new agreement with the Durham Region, crews from the City of Oshawa were better prepared to meet the first snowstorm that hit the area. In fact, city streets were apparently plowed faster than usual, according to officials in the area.

The arrangement with Durham stipulates that the Region has to be responsible for clearing up regional roads – like in the area north of Bloor Street for example.

Back then, the City of Oshawa used to take care of clearing regional roads in Oshawa, this is according to Craig Kelly, director of the City’s public works and transportation services. Some regional areas that crews from Oshawa used to clear included the Rossland and Ritson roads.

So far, the Region of Durham has owned up to its new responsibility this winter, giving Oshawa crews more time to clear roads and sidewalks in the City. Proof of this can be seen in the now clear streets and sidewalks scattered throughout Oshawa – a big difference compared to last year’s snow-covered roads.

This year, Oshawa’s clearing crews come equipped with 28 snowplows, and 9 sidewalk plows, which is more than enough for the City’s needs.

The good news is that residents and visitors can now log-on to www.oshawa.ca, and check for snow-plowing updates and roads to avoid.

To officially recognize the city of Oshawa as a tourist destination and emerging player in the transportation sector, city officials have proposed to rename the Oshawa Municipal Airport, as a sign of the city’s progress and status.

Sources say that some officials want to change the name of the structure to Oshawa Regional Airport, with a tag line that includes the word “executive” to further tout the city as a major business-friendly area. This is just one of the many suggestions coming from politicians and other public figures alike.

However, politicians in the region have given a no-go to the plan, saying that costs like the changing of the airports signs, creating promotional materials, and other expenditures to coincide with the development come at too steep a price. And even if estimates put the costs at only $12,000, politicians think this is too high a price for the economic crisis the City, as well as the rest of the country, is experiencing.

City Councilor Louise Parkes comments that now is not the time to spend money on something that is not a necessity for the City. She does however recognize that a change in the airport’s name brings its share of benefits.

Some residents in Oshawa are complaining about a music bar that they think is situated too close to a residential area. The locals have had enough of the loud music the bar plays four nights a week – music that’s loud enough to cause their families to lose sleep at night.

According to Dan Zdanowski, he and his neighbors don’t actually want to kick the bar out of the neighborhood; they just want the owners to tone things down and understand that the district it’s in is a residential type.

The problem right now, is that the residents don’t exactly know who to turn to for help.
Noise complaints are apparently supposed to be directed at the City bylaw department, but those who have called said they were asked to call the police after working hours.
When calling the police, residents are then directed to call the City.

Pam Williams, a resident of the neighborhood for 15 years, says she and her friends in the area don’t know who to turn for help. She observes that many of her neighbors have given up hope and feel abandoned.

The good news is that Jerry Conlin, Oshawa’s director of municipal law enforcement and licensing, has promised to take action against Corral, the name of the popular nightspot in the Durham region.

Looks like Oshawa locals can start to breathe a sigh of relief now.

One of Oshawa’s biggest problems today is its shortage of family physicians. The bad news is that things are not expected to get better any time soon.

Yes, it’s a bit of a gloomy start for 2010.

According to Dr. Adrian Pettyan, who co-heads the physician recruitment committee of Oshawa, the city is 24.5 short of family physicians.

The problem isn’t a lackluster job by the recruitment committee—in fact, they’ve done quite well this year—but rather the high number of doctors that closed offices, moved to other cities, and retired. These factors all resulted in a shortage that struck that caught the city off-guard.

Adding spice to the brew are some 19 doctors in the area that are expected to retire next year. Furthermore, these doctors have a large roster of patients, so it might take more than 19 physicians to replace them.

To fix this shortage will take a lot of energy, and even more cash.

To cope with this problem, the committee has asked the City government to cover $122,000 of a $142,000 operating budget for 2010 – according to Dr. Pettyan, this is a conservative number for the task at hand, as recruiting doctors has become very competitive.

Dr. Pettyan says that the problem will continue to plague Oshawa, unless City officials lend a helping hand.