By Mark Page, Valley Voice, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Birds need insects to eat and plants to use for nests. Insects must have plants to feed on, and plants require insects for pollination.
The precariousness of this ecological triad was the focus of the West Kootenay Climate Hub’s March 17 offering in their monthly webinar series on local environmental initiatives.
Continue reading Working to reverse the decline of the birds, bees and native plantsBy Morgan Sharp, National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The laboratory in a downtown Toronto university building is under construction, its emergency wash station getting an upgrade, but the daily testing of incoming wastewater samples for COVID-19 goes on unabated.
Samples arrive in Nalgene-sized bottles from sites all over the city — large treatment plants and community and congregate sites, such as university residences, shelters and long-term care homes — and Nora Dannah has to walk down to shipping and receiving to collect them.
Continue reading Just a day in the lab seeking COVID in sewageBy Katia Galati and Talha Hashmani, CJRU 1280 AM, Toronto through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
Ontario’s housing market has seen skyrocketing rent prices, lowering the margins of those who can afford a place to stay.
The situation is most prominent in major metropolitans, like Toronto where rent has gone up by nearly two per cent, according to a report by the the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released on February 2022. But while such an increase has made it difficult for many low and middle-income Torontonians, the need for housing remains.
Continue reading Toronto’s Unhoused and The Unprepared (P 4): Alternative Housing
By Katia Galati and Talha Hashmani, CJRU 1280 AM, Toronto through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
Toronto’s winter months amplify the unsafe living conditions faced by the city’s homeless population, many of whom are forced to brave a night without shelter or warmth. In a recent article by the Toronto Star, workers at St. Michael’s hospital reported a rise in cold-related injuries including frostbite, painful foot infections, and life-threatening hypothermia amongst those living out in the streets..
With the shelter system nearing capacity and facing staffing issues, those left on the streets are forced to seek alternative shelter arrangements. Shuttle buses, heating vents, and subway stations are some of the many popular spots the unhoused go when they are met with little support from the city.
Continue reading Toronto’s Unhoused and Unprepared (pt 3): The winter planBy Katia Galati and Talha Hashmani, CJRU 1280 AM, Toronto through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
At the brink of capacity, the City of Toronto’s shelter system faces two crises: an increase in opioid overdoses and the challenge of housing the unhoused. At the forefront of these two crises is the question of how the city plans to make its shelter system not only safer for residents but also for surrounding neighbourhoods.
Continue reading Toronto’s Unhoused and Unprepared: The Tale of Two Crises
