December 1, 2023

December 1st is the 335th day of the year. There are 30 days remaining until the end of the year.

Santa’s got a busy weekend.

The Blenheim Santa Claus Parade is tonight at 7pm. Following the parade, Santa will help turn on the Christmas spirit at Talbot Trail Place.

The Festival of Lights was delayed because of the pandemic, they’ll finally get to light up the park tonight.

The Wheatley Santa Claus Parade will be Saturday at 6:30p.m.

For a full list of local parades, check out our list online.

Voting closes this weekend on Chatham-Kent’s annual ‘Name the Snow Plow’ contest.

Now in its third year, the tradition asks local residents to vote on witty and imaginative names for the municipality’s snow plow fleet.

The initiative, sponsored by Winmar, will see a snow plow named in all of Chatham-Kent’s wards. Residents are able to vote for the names they like the best here. Voting closes Sunday.

The Municipal budget has been approved.

After three nights of deliberations, council has approved a 5.53% tax hike for 2024.

The budget passed in a 10-5 vote.

The overall tax increase represents approximately $185 on an average home assessment (2016 value) of $176,200.

For more information on the 2024-2027 budget, click here.

As of yesterday morning, there is a new toll-free, three-digit suicide prevention helpline across Canada.

People having suicidal thoughts or other mental health distress can now call or text 988 to reach a trained responder 24 hours a day, seven days a week — no matter where they live in the country.

The network is designed to link helpline users with a responder as close to home as possible. The 988 helpline is available in English or French, other languages will be available soon. No one will be turned away.

The 988 helpline expands on the existing Talk Suicide Canada helpline. It had a toll-free 10-digit number and did not have 24-hour texting service.

About 12 people die by suicide in Canada every day, that’s about 4,500 lives lost each year. More than 200 people in Canada attempt suicide every day.

Bright Lights Windsor returns tonight.

Millions of lights light up Jackson Park in Windsor over the holidays. The city will flip the switch and turn on the lights during opening ceremonies at 6:30p.m.

Bright Lights is open nightly from 5:30-10pm and runs until January 7th. Admission is free.

For more details check out brightlightswindsor.ca.

Over 100,000 people visited Jackson Park last year for Bright Lights.

Categorised in: 5 Things You Need To Know

This post was written by Chris McLeod