Portrait of Laura Keating in front of wall with graffiti. Photo by Gord Moss.

Laura Keating, a working musician

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 …

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Screen capture from AGH website.

Crown Point artist at AGH

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 …

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Renoviction and the invisible eviction crisis

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 …

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Ottawa St looking north from Cannon.

Trucks, roads, and transportation reviews

November was an exciting month for the usually cautious city council in Hamilton. First, the city voted to freeze the urban boundary despite pressure from developers keen to build vast tracts of low-density suburban homes for automobile dependent commuters on agricultural land. A little more than a week later, the city transportation planners were unceremoniously …

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Michael Carruth
Michael Carruth inside his restaurant. Photo by Sean Hurley

Down The Street Food Co.

Tucked between Hambrgr and Burger Lab on Ottawa Street North, is a small, dimly lit, unassuming little building housing the Down The Street Food Co., owned and operated by chef Michael Carruth who serves up soup and sandwiches. Between burger joints and opposite Simply Italian Bakery and the new Ottawa Market, both of which serve …

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Elizabeth Seidl dressed up for the Pipeline Trail parade. The Point

A Point Farewell: Elizabeth Seidl

For eight years, Elizabeth Seidl was the protector of a cherished asset that intersects the Crown Point Community Planning Team coverage area.

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Transport truck southbound on Ottawa Street
A transport truck travels southbound on Ottawa St. N. from Barton. Sean Hurley

Heavy trucks coming to Ottawa Street

Ottawa Street South, between King and Main boasts one and two story brick homes with front porches and tall mature trees. At Main, where Ottawa Street divides between North and South, Memorial Public School sits opposite Caro, a trendy and busy Italian eatery with big windows and a patio. Continue northbound and a traveller will …

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Smoke On The Water

That bad smell

In late March the smell of burnt coal hovered over east Hamilton’s Crown Point neighbourhood, not far from the steel plants along Lake Ontario.  A March 25 article in the Hamilton Spectator reported that a temperature inversion (two layers of air, warm on top of cool) was keeping pollutants in a holding pattern that posed …

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