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WILL WINDSOR LOSE OUT ON MONOPOLY BOARD POSITION

Obviously, Hasbro learned from our Mayor. The votes on which City will win out and be placed on the Monopoly Board game have gone "in camera."

I mean, after all, how many games would be sold with Windsor on the Board but NOT a major city like Toronto as an example.

All that effort by Edgar (aka Eddie) playing games and not looking after real City business may have gone to waste.

MONOPOLY UPDATE--THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING US

The voting was finished a few days ago. Did we win? Here is the latest official word as of yesterday:

• "Hello Ed,
  
  Thanks for your interest in Monopoly.
  
  We will not be revealing the results until late June this year, just before the game is available in stores (Canada Day timeframe).
  
  The suspense seems to be killing everyone
  
  I hope this information helps."

WANT WINDSOR NEWS, GO HERE

Read the Amherstburg Echo for news that the Star does not want to report in detail since it would be embarrassing....like about the request to defer the decision on daycare closure for a month for consultation:

• Municipal daycare faces September closure
  Windsor city council shoots down motion to defer matter for one month
  The Amherstburg Echo
  
  WINDSOR-ESSEX COUNTY — Windsor city council has voted to close all the municipally-run daycares in the region, including those in Amherstburg and Tecumseh.
  
  Amherstburg's closure was extended from April to September but that will likely do little to appease those locally who opposed the closure. City councillor Ken Lewenza Jr. had a motion on the floor to defer the decision for a month but that motion failed...
  
  County council voted unanimously for the city to defer a decision on closing the daycares at a special meeting they held in Essex last Wednesday night...
  
  Liz Cipkar, representing the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said that county parents are "very frustrated with the lack of representation in this matter" and believed children receive an excellent quality of care at municipal centres.
  
  Marion Overholt from Legal Assistance of Windsor noted the connection between the area's high unemployment and the declining enrollment. She was in favour of the request to the city asking to postpone a decision on the matter.
  
  "What is the rush?" she asked.
  
  Overholt asked Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis the same question Monday night and asked "what is there lose" by waiting for 30 days "and allow this community to come together."
  
  Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara admitted to feeling "a bit embarrassed" to have learned about it the way the county did. Media reports, getting tips from residents and finding out through another issue the previous week at county council were how the matter came to light to the county.
  
  "We need to get some answers. There's so many unanswered questions. We need a lot of questions answered," said McNamara...
  
  Amherstburg Mayor Wayne Hurst said it was clear the city has the authority to make the decision on the daycares, but wanted county council to send a message to the city to "step back and take a deep breath" and begin a consultation process.
  
  Leamington Deputy Mayor Rob Schmidt noted the county controls EMS service but consults with the city on matters relating to it and hoped the city would welcome input on daycares.
  
  "We should have input into this because we do help pay for part of that and it affects county residents," said Schmidt.
  
  Warden Nelson Santos thought the issue should be deferred until a joint city and county council meeting is held.
  
  "There's a whole world of information that we need to get an understanding of," said Santos.
  
  Warsh suggested this matter had been in the works for approximately five years and that there had been consultation over that time. She said the correspondence had gone to the county CAO Brian Gregg.
  
  "We did consult five-years-ago. We did talk to people and get ideas," she said. "We are under no legal obligation to consult with the county but we have done that."

EDGAR'S ROBIN HOOD VISIT

• "Mayors meet with a common goal
  
  DONCASTER Mayor Peter Davies has met his counterpart from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, to discuss possible commercial links between the towns.
  
  Trade links with Canada have been forged by the council's Invest in Doncaster team whose visit to a trade fair in Montreal in March resulted in Canadian firm Renaissance creating up to 70 new jobs by opening its European headquarters at Robin Hood Airport's business park.
  
  The team also made contact with the Mayor of Windsor, Eddie Francis, who has been keen to learn how Doncaster Council has supported the growth of Robin Hood Airport and how the towns can work together.
  
  Mr Davies said: "Windsor airport is of a very similar size and stature to our own. They also have similar ambitions in terms of increasing the number of airlines and businesses located on site. Robin Hood Airport is one of the borough's biggest assets and I am very keen to help business links around the world."
  
  Mayor Francis added: "A partnership between Robin Hood Airport and Windsor International Airport will serve both towns well as we strive to increase our global passenger, business and commercial operations."

However, here is what WE know.

Windsor, Ontario airport is a one-scheduled-airline City primarily with flights to Toronto, Ontario and now with a new several month per year Westjet service to Calgary. Our traffic volumes are low and our cargo business is not in very good shape. I have strong doubts that any transatlantic carrier would choose to fly here considering that world-scale Detroit Metro Airport is right next door and the drive to Toronto is about 4 hours away. In fact, the "airline" cargo business future we face is truck-based as a feeder to existing airports.

From a Windsor perspective, Robin Hood airport is not in great shape either from what I have read with traffic volumes down considerably. In fact, I note that the airport owner might want to sell its majority stake.

As a taxpayer, my suggestions to the two mayors is to spend your time on more important matters. Grand ambitions to increase airline numbers and business development sound very worthy but if they make no sense, and it does not in my opinion for Windsor at least, then look at more reasonable and practical ways to achieve economic redevelopment.

I am so tired, as is my pocketbook, for pie-in-the-sky ideas from politicians.

ANOTHER AIRPORT BITES THE DUST

Didn't Edgar go to Coventry too?

• "Business leaders from Windsor’s sister city of Coventry will visit in May on a trade mission designed to explore investment opportunities for British companies seeking access to the giant U.S. market across the river...
  
  “A good stepping-off point to get into the United States is Windsor. You have such a massive marketplace at your doorstep,” Doug Squires, president of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, told The Star in a phone interview today.
  
  Squires said Coventry’s experience was very similar to the economic pain currently being felt by Windsor. Once known as Britain’s “motor city,” he said Coventry was a manufacturing centre that experienced “a major collapse of the auto sector.”

If so, did he learn:

• "Coventry Airport for sale
  7th May 2009
  
  Coventry Airport is being put up for sale by its shareholders and directors.
  
  Over £6million has been invested in infrastructure at the airport since the takeover from the TUI Group, including upgrading the airport ground lighting system, resurfacing part of the runway, new signage for the runway and taxiways and ongoing improvements to Air Traffic Control.
  
  Centrally located in the West Midlands, Coventry Airport is easily accessible with the midlands motorway network and major trunk roads close by. A local bus service links the airport with Coventry Rail station, giving a mainline service to London in just 60 minutes by train. Two million people live within a 35 minute drive of the airport and 8 million live within 60 minutes.
  
  Airport Director Brian Cox said “Coventry Airport offers excellent potential, giving the prospective buyer a wealth of opportunities. We look forward to reaching an agreement with a scheduled passenger carrier in the near future. Presently we are concentrating on developing the airport as a ‘Midland Hub’ for cargo, executive jets and ad hoc charter operations. We have also decided to invest in a dedicated Fixed Based Operation (FBO) facility that will be completed by the end of May 2009. The excellent rapport we have built with our neighbours, customers and clients is complemented by a flexible, professional management and ground handling team, offering a safe, secure and efficient service to all”.
  
  KPMG has been appointed as advisors to the sale."

Gee, that plan sounds familiar too.

And then this:

• "Coventry Airport shuts down
  
  Tuesday, 8 December 2009
  
  Coventry Airport has closed, the Civil Aviation Authority said today.
  
  The CAA said the airport's owner, West Midlands Airport Ltd, had today issued a Notice to Airmen informing them of the closure.
  
  The owners had been due to appear in the High Court tomorrow to respond to a winding-up petition.
  
  The airport has not been used for scheduled passenger flights since airline Thomsonfly ceased operations in November 2008.
  
  Since then, Coventry has been operating as a cargo terminal and a base for executive jets and aviation-related businesses.
  
  The CAA said the Notice to Airmen effectively informed pilots and aircraft that the airport was no longer operational."

Oh no, could Edgar have been there for this as well as taking over Robin Hood:

• "Talks to reopen Coventry Airport
  The council said it is committed to keeping the site as an airport
  
  Talks are taking place with businesses about reopening Coventry's airport.
  
  The city council has said it is holding discussions with two consortiums in a bid to reopen the Baginton site after it closed earlier this month.
  
  Administrators have said they are looking at a range of options to secure its future.
  
  Deputy council leader Kevin Foster said he was hopeful one of the consortiums would take over the airport as it was important for jobs in the area.
  
  He added the council was committed to keeping the site as an airport as it would be good for the economy."