Slow down, don’t drink and drive, give yourself extra time to get there, and by all accounts BE SAFE.

That’s the message from OPP this weekend as they will be out in full force this weekend.
South Porcupine OPP Constable Marc Deptie says they will be patrolling trails as well as roads and waterways.
Last year, Canada Day weekend had three fatal accidents on the roadways, one marine fatality, and one dead as a result of a trail accident.

If you want to add a little flavour to your weekend and beef up your Canada day plans you are going to want to make plans to go to the McIntyre Arena.

Timmins Rotary Annual Ribfest kicks off today and runs all weekend.

From wrestling, to food, to live music and fire works, there is something for every member of the family.

event organizer, Luc Chalifoux says he’s not worried about a little foretasted wet weather this weekend, and hopes that people will come out to enjoy the large variety of food and entertainment.

Visit Ribfest.ca for full details and a detailed schedule of events.

Ribfest opens at the Macintyre Arena Today at 4pm, and will fun until 11pm Sunday Night, Rain or Shine.

The Porcupine Health Unit is looking to recruit new volunteers for Breastfeeding Buddies, its mother-to-mother telephone support program for breastfeeding mothers in our district.
The Breastfeeding Buddies program provides one-to-one telephone support to breastfeeding mothers from trained volunteers who have successfully breastfed their own child for at least six months.
According to Marisa Bedard, a Public Health Nurse with the Growing Healthy Families Program, “Mothers are beginning to realize the benefits of having both professional and peer support when learning to breastfeed. Our Breastfeeding Buddies have provided meaningful support and encouragement to new breastfeeding moms in our area, helping them to have a more positive breastfeeding experience. With the increased demand from mothers for a buddy, we currently need more volunteers.”
Peer telephone support programs for breastfeeding mothers have been shown to increase how long mothers will breastfeed. The Porcupine Health Unit’s version of the program is based on a similar support program in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Health Unit which has been in operation for more than ten years.
“Our buddies receive training, support and recognition from the Porcupine Health Unit along with continuing education from public health nurses and an opportunity to share their experiences with one another. Most importantly, buddies receive the reward of helping other moms reach their breastfeeding goals,” says Bedard.
When asked why she chose to volunteer for the program, one mother replied, “I needed help breastfeeding my babies and would like to help another mom.” Other buddies report a deep satisfaction in being able to help.
The Porcupine Health Unit is committed to support breastfeeding mothers and their families. Breastfeeding Buddies is one of several initiatives the Porcupine Health Unit is implementing to help create a supportive community for young families in our district.
The Porcupine Health Unit is located in Northeastern Ontario, serving the entire Cochrane District and Hornepayne, in Algoma District. The main office is located in Timmins, Ontario, with branch offices in Cochrane, Hearst, Hornepayne, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Matheson, Moosonee and Smooth Rock Falls.

For further information, please contact:
Marisa Bedard
Public Health Nurse
Porcupine Health Unit
(705) 267-1181 ext.63
marisa.bedard@porcupinehu.on.ca

Steven Page (fromerly of the Barenaked Ladies) will be headlining the finale concert of the Timmins 100th annivarsary concert.

The announcement came Wednesday morning from event organizer and owner of BazPop productions Mike Bazuik who says he’s very excited.

Along with Page, Nebraska based pop-rock bank Freak About will play as well as Neverest (drummer is Timmins born and raised Brendan Colameco).

It will be an all ages, licensed event sponsored by Molson will have an outdoor beer garden for, as Baziuk puts it, ” those who want to have a little more fun than the rest”.

Bazuik adds that he’s not worried about Timmins history of poor turn outs for major concerts in the past because he’s done his research.

He hopes to attract between 2000 and 5000 people to the Hollinger Park (more specifically Fred Salvidor diamond) by booking acts that speak to the younger, ticket buying population.

Additionally, Bazpop is working to hopefully arrange shuttle buses to provide transportation to Timmins for the event from outlying communities.

Tickets will be available from a number of business around the city including the Shania Twain Centre, The MacIntyre Areana, Ticketweb.com, eventsonline.ca.

You can visit Bazpop‘s facebook page for updates and more information.

The concert has been sanctioned by the City of Timmins, but is not involved in any of the planning.

From the canadian press**

“Rescue workers have removed what appeared to
be a body from the rubble of a caved-in mall in the northern Ontario
city of Elliot Lake.
Officials have not confirmed any details, but television footage
showed some rescue workers taking off their hard hats as the
stretcher was carried out.
Cranes have been toiling overnight to pull debris and clear a
path for crews and search dogs to go into the wreckage.
The risky operation was initially called off on Monday over
concern that a precariously balanced escalator might collapse on
rescue workers.
But an outpouring of concern from the community prompted Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty to secure more resources for the rescue
mission.
The mall’s roof collapsed Saturday afternoon killing at least one
person and officials have confirmed that at least two people were
trapped inside.”

By Tom Parisi

The Timmins Museum and National Exhibition Centre has come long way since reopening its doors in September.

In only less than a year, they museum has attracted more than 16,000 visitors not counting school groups.
Curator Karen Bachman said they’ve been getting calls from schools all year to bring students to see what makes Timmins, Timmins.

“In the past it was me calling the schools, now my phone won’t stop ringing. The new building has recieved very positive reviews from the locals and tourists, it’s bigger, brighter and more appealing to the eye.”

Along with the new building, Bachman has a new role within the museum community. She was elected to the Canadian Museum Association. The association deals with higher levels of government to provide funding to museums accross the country. Bachman said for Timmins to be on the board , we couldn’t ask for more.

“We get a little more exposure and recognition around the country and for that there is no replacement. I’m thrilled to the part of this board.

In the coming weeks the museum will be activley involved the 100th anniversary celebrations with bronze statue unveilings, and the 100 faces of Timmins.

Cheryl St-Amour, from the Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC), travelled to Bathurst New Brunswick with representatives of Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations to promote the City of Timmins, and specifically, www.jobsintimmins.com.
Bathurst is home to the Brunswick Mine, an Xstrata Zinc operation. In March 2012, the company announced that Brunswick Mine would close in 2013 after almost half a century of mining activity.   More than 800 people will be seeking to use their skills at other projects.  These employees consist of a variety of skilled and unskilled workers, equipment operators, professionals and other mining related positions.

Xstrata Zinc is working to assist employees and their families transition to new opportunities and have been holding both internal and external job fairs for employees.  While Kidd Operations promoted their vacancies to the workers, the TEDC highlighted the City of Timmins and its attributes, outlining the similarities between Timmins and Bathurst.  “We wanted to ensure that potential workers had in-depth knowledge of the community.  Our partnership with the TEDC allowed them not only to learn more about working at Xstrata, but also about Timmins.  The TEDC provided insight on housing, recreation, education, health and so many other aspects about living in Timmins”, stated Brian Fleury, Senior Human Resource Advisor.

“We are thankful to Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations, for providing us with the opportunity to showcase our community and www.jobsintimmins.com.  Working together will increase the probability of attracting these experienced mining employees and their families to Timmins. The TEDC will be following up our trip to Brunswick Mine with ongoing promotion of www.jobsintimmins.com in the Bathurst media.  We encourage all our employers to continue to post their vacancies on the website” stated Fred Gibbons, Chair of the TEDC.

Cheryl St-Amour of the TEDC says their trip was a success and they hope to have convinced numerous skilled workers to join them after the mine closes in 2013.

The TEDC is planning to continue to promote the job bulletin website—jobsintimmins.com— as a key part of their recruitment presentations re encouraging local businesses to take advantage of this opportunity together.

Normally temperatures around the mid 20′s and dry conditions create the perfect summer season in northern Ontario. Bu so far this year, Northern Ontario has had more Toronto type weather including humidex readings and haze.

EZ Rock reporter Rebecca Fryer spoke with Meteorologist David Phillips at Environment Canada about the abnormal humid weather Northern Ontario was experiencing so far this summer.

Phillips says that its air from the States, bringing with it a very different type of heat that many northerners aren’t used to and higher temperatures.

He says that high humidity heat is harder on our bodies because sweat isn’t able to evaporate off of our skin. Wet heat is more intense than dry heat.

It also creates and develops health problems much faster like heat stroke, heat exhaustion, prickly heat rash, and other uncomfortable heat illnesses.

If you have a few minutes, you should definitely listen to the full interview we have with Environment Canada’s David Phillips who explains in detail what you need to know about our summer weather this year.

Link to interview:

http://soundcloud.com/rebeccafryer/david-phillips-humidity

By:Christina Hajjar

We’ve all heard the lectures. Smoking is bad for you.

Now, new legislation means packages of cigarettes and little cigars has to carry warning labels that cover 75% of the packaging.

The warnings are large, vivid and dramatic, explaining some of the dangers of smoking while providing the smoker information on how to quit.

Tine Brunet with the Porcupine Health Unit says this area has a higher smoking rate than the provincial average and hopes the new labeling with help lower the numbers.

“In the Porcupine Health Unit area we have about a 28% (smoking rate) which is a huge increase, so we have a lot of work to do. This is just one way to really encourage smokers to quit with the quit line added and the new graphics.” She said.

Brunet also said research proves the warning labels work. Statistics Canada says 1 in 5 Canadians over the age of 12 smoked. That’s nearly 5.8 millions people. That number is down from 25.9 percent in 2001 when warning labels were first added to packaging.

The Porcupine Health Unit does offer quit smoking clinics that set up programs to help people quit smoking. They also offer nicotine replacement therapy at a reduced cost.

By: Christina Hajjar

A 68-year-old grandmother of eight is the latest subject of a bullying video gone viral.

In the video, a group of 13 year old boys taunted and bullied Karen Klein, who was brought to tears.

After seeing the video, a Toronto man started a trust in hopes of raising $5000 to send Klein on a vacation.

The fund has grown to more than $400,000.