The News You May Have Missed

Yes, there are more stories out there that anyone can follow. Here are a few more that may interest you.

THE WOW FACTOR

Wow, what a disgrace already. The weeds have almost overrun the grass in the new plantings on Dougall. Can you imagine what the Greenlink parks would look like!

You remember the news story:

• "City council agreed Monday to spend $1.85 million on a Green City Clean Streets program that will help with cosmetic improvements across the city, most notably in the Howard Avenue and Dougall Parkway corridors entering Windsor.
  
  The program was developed by the city's parks department at the urging of Mayor Eddie Francis.
  
  "If council is going to give this money you want to see the 'wow factor' right away," said Francis. "Without that, there will be very little chance for future dollars...
  
  While funding is available this year, several councillors expressed concern about the cost of maintaining all the improvements..."
  
  "I can guarantee you are going to get the 'wow factor' with this and that we are not biting off more than we can chew," he [Sadler] said. "We are doing this in a way that we can maintain it."

Take a look at this photo taken along Dougall Avenue where this work has been undertaken. I did not want to take more. This is bad enough. Can you imagine the size of the weeds after the rain over the weekend!

DID SOMEONE FROM THE WEDC GO

Since we talk about regional pitches, I'm sure that someone from Windsor must have attended this conference to get some good information

• 'Pitch the region first'
  
  
  Communities told they must work together to save it
  
  INGERSOLL -- London and its surrounding communities got a crash course yesterday in how to save, and just maybe grow, its automotive industry.
  
  Communities have to pull together as a region to woo automakers, knowing they will get some of the spinoffs if an automaker lands anywhere nearby, said Kim Hill, associate director of economics for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
  
  "Pitch the region first," he told more than 200 industry officials gathered yesterday at the Southwest Ontario Automotive Outlook conference held at the Elmhurst Inn. "You need a big voice and have to foster collaboration and competition at the same time."

Perhaps, no one went since it dealt with London, Ontario. If it had been London, England, I would imagine that a bunch of WEDC types may have attended.

BORDER, WHAT BORDER

With a NEXUS card and a transponder or credit card, a bridge user barely needs to stop when crossing between Canada and the United States. If there is a stop, the amount of time needed for inspection is minimal since the person has been precleared.

The more that people use this system, the more people that can be cleared using existing facilities. Explain to me again why we need a new border crossing:

• "Ambassador Bridge accepts credit cards
  
  You can pay with plastic now to cross the Ambassador Bridge.
  
  The border crossing has implemented state-of-the-art technology from Shift4 Corporation, which allows quick and secure payment at swipe machines in selected lanes.
  
  "It's very quick," said Ambassador Bridge president Dan Stamper.
  
  "It's actually faster than paying cash. It's more convenient for people."

OPERATION STACK

This has nothing to do with Borealis trying to get a doublestack rail tunnel in Windsor.

If we do get a multi-tunneled Greenlink, we may need a holding centre for trucks every time there is a problem at one of the Schwunnels. I don't remember that being discussedwhen Eddie was praising Greenlink, do you?

• "Train on fire in Channel Tunnel
  
  Train services have been suspended following the fire which broke out about seven miles from France on a train going from Folkestone to Calais.
  
  A spokeswoman for Eurotunnel said the train had been evacuated, with 32 people taken into a service tunnel.
  
  French firefighters are understood to have the incident under control. Eurotunnel said one section was closed.
  
  It has suspended services in both directions while emergency services deal with the incident...
  
  They said it was possible they may have to implement Operation Stack to allow lorries to park on the M20 while there are delays to continental traffic."

By now, you should be able to write a BLOG about why having a tunneled road to the border is absurd. Try to do it, and see how much fun you can have. You have to consider matters such as stoppages in trade between Canada and the United States, security concerns, risks to users of the Schwunnels and to responders, extra costs and don't forget the parks on top of the Schwunnels if there is an explosion underneath.

WINDSOR UNEMPLOYED AUTO WORKERS TO CARNIVAL IN RIO

Is it really so hard for politicians to tell us what they are really talking about?

Good to see that Eddie was able to have a meeting at the airport with Industry Minister Prentice. I wonder if it took place while the Minister was waiting for his bag to be unloaded from his plane that landed in Windsor. Talk about a snub of our Mayor!

My understanding is that the Minister was was actually in town for a big fundraiser for Jeff Watson. Rumour has it that the minimum donation required was quite substantial. Perhaps Jeff could tell us what that amount was so that people would understand how much it costs to meet a Conservative Minister.

In any event, if you think that Eddie still wants to send people to Saskatchewan or Oakville, then you are greatly mistaken.

• "He said he planned to talk to the minister about the city's commuter plans to help those out of a job find work in other communities such as Oakville or as far away as Saskatchewan."

Hrrrumph, hardly. Consider this article from the Toronto Star that a reader sent me:

• "Brazil's dancing to a new economic beat these days
  Global auto industry bets big on red-hot nation that has lots of money thanks to oil discoveries
  
  With sales lagging in traditional markets like the United States, Europe and Japan, and even once-promising regions like China and India not living up to expectations, car makers are pouring money into Brazil.
  
  The auto industry here is set to attract a whopping $23 billion in investments in the next four years, lifting overall capacity by 2.5 million vehicles to 6 million a year, according to the National Automakers' Association, or Anfavea.
  
  U.S. and European manufacturers, which have long dominated the Brazilian market, are leading the spending spree.
  
  General Motors Corp. expects to invest about $3 billion over the next five years as Brazil has become an important engineering hub for the U.S. automaker as well as its third-largest market.
  
  Ford Motor Co., which not long ago considered pulling out of Brazil altogether, plans to spend more than $1.6 billion in the next four years on product development and to double capacity at its engine factory. And Volkswagen AG will invest about $1.86 billion through 2011 in Brazil, where it now sells more cars than in Germany.
  
  "Today, Brazil ranks second only to China among our most important markets," said Flavio Padovan, vice president for sales and marketing at Volkswagen's Brazilian unit.
  
  Asian automakers are also looking to get in on the action. Toyota Motor Corp plans to build a $700 million plant in the state of Sao Paulo to boost its presence in Brazil, where its market share is just 2 percent. Nissan Motor Co. said last month that it would start building passenger cars in the country for the first time. And Suzuki Motor Corp. is set to re-enter the Brazilian market in October."

So get your costumes made and learn how to Samba as you commute to Rio now. And say hello to the Girl from Ipanema for me.