From around the web in Hamilton.
A horn player recently told me about how jazz colleagues are somewhat rusty from not having the gigs or the opportunity to jam during the forced isolation of the pandemic. Folk rocker, singer songwriter, guitar player and Crown Point resident Laura Keating had a different experience during the past two-years. “I turned to new ways …
Continue reading "Laura Keating, a working musician"There is an unfortunate phenomenon that seems to be part of Hamilton’s DNA: buildings torn down to make way for city-approved projects, only to fail to get off the ground. It happens for all sorts of reasons including uncertain financing. So, we end up with parking lots or other kinds of underutilized and empty spaces …
Continue reading "Crown Point artist at AGH"
This spring, Hamilton city council is expected to debate and pass a complete streets design manual to make roads friendlier and safer, especially for more vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists. Under the program, walking, cycling, and public transit will have a higher priority. The 2021 city transportation master plan (unanimously adopted by city council) states that …
Continue reading "Can a city be driven to change?"
Ontario has a big problem with evictions. How big? No one knows for sure. While the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is ramping up the assembly-line to pump out evictions, there is no means to measure the depth of the crisis. No government or agency is keeping count. An eviction crisis is occurring behind a …
Continue reading "Renoviction and the invisible eviction crisis"
In filmmaking, there is so much work. There are locations, scenery, costumes, traffic control, electrical systems, audio systems, special effects, and all the stuff that allows everything else to happen. Even a small film is a big project with many, many moving parts. Walking through Gage Park or along Ottawa Street when a movie is …
Continue reading "Creeping around “Creepy Bits”"Commercial and long-haul freight trucks are like modern-day dinosaurs. They lumber along and dominate the road networks they share with smaller vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. But we’ve learned to depend on these massive beasts which deliver vegetables, fruit, appliances and other goods to every community across North America, 24-7. In our fulfillment economy, they’ve been …
Continue reading "Truck Route Master Plan a wrong turn?"
The pandemic may have induced a lockdown and provincial state of emergency, but life and business continue in Crown Point. There will be two new cannabis stores opening up in the neighbourhood. Each are on the east side with one conveniently close to Roxborough and the other closer to Barton. True North Cannabis Co., near …
Continue reading "Things are still happening on Ottawa Street"
On the afternoon of September 30th 2019, the demolition of a decades-old structure from former steelmaker Hamilton Specialty Bar caused a massive black cloud of industrial-grade dust and debris to engulf surrounding homes and businesses and spread across several neighbourhoods, its plumes seen from many kilometres away. The dust cloud, which some described as post-apocalyptic, …
Continue reading "Update: 319 Sherman Demolition"Premier Doug Ford’s March 30th extension of the Declaration of Emergency included shutting down all “recreational amenities” including community gardens. The immediate response from some community activists, food security advocates, and gardeners was to lobby to keep community gardens open. These efforts are now meeting with backlash. It’s about land, class, and privilege. As an …
Continue reading "Community gardens provide food security"There was a standing-room-only crowd on hand for the closing reception to the month long DeLight Festival at the Hamilton Steam Museum on Woodward Avenue this past weekend. It was worth it. The Hamilton Aerial Group provided a unique telling of Hamilton’s water history that was spellbinding. With intricate costumes, puppets, and recorded music, a …
Continue reading "Finale delights everyone"
