Hello, Londoners. Oh my, we’ve had a time, haven’t we? It still felt like a quiet week, even if it was suddenly punctuated by a massive - and deeply concerning - explosion in a residential property. So let’s pick up the latest local news because here we remain in Canada’s London, where we much prefer a quiet life, even if we never seem to get one.
Welcome to London Ontario Online News and the ROUNDUP, with your weekly need-to-knows that equip you to lead us through… waves hand vaguely… all of this. I’m Mike and I support the good guys with communications services; every Friday, that’s you, as the leaders shaping our city, with a strong need for good information and a service that cuts through all the noise. (This.)
And this is London, Ontario, where we’re going into That Particular Long Weekend That Isn’t Really A Thing But We’ll Take It, and our local TV weather tells us it’s a sunny Friday and scattered showers throughout the weekend. We’re deep into the summer sleepytime, when much of our economic activity involves hoping the boss enjoys their vacation because everybody else certainly will. But life continues, so let’s do the same.
Let’s goooo.
Soundtrack of the week
First, we need to ease into this. It’s time to grab a beverage of your choice and relax. Take the rest of the afternoon off. Tell ‘em I said it was OK.
And here’s the late Glen Campbell, still swinging at the pitches as he aged. Gotta love the message in this one.
Thanks to our 400 subscribers!
Folks, you rock. This week we passed the (entirely pointless but somehow emotionally significant) milestone1 of 400 people subscribing to London Ontario Online News. Thanks for supporting us as we establish a small, locally-owned corporation that’s ready to highlight stories that matter in our community, whatever the big corporations may do next.
And thanks to our sponsors:
HAMILTON ROAD BIA
LONDON BICYCLE CAFÉ
SPERO LAW
DOWNTOWN LONDON
OLD EAST VILLAGE BIA
These guys are awesome, and just the start, we hope.
Now for the news.
Explosion on Base Line Road West
Undoubtedly the story of the week, the blast that rocked south London will be felt around the city for a while.
The reporting is highlighting past neighbourhood complaints and is already centred on how the property was maintained, as well as the duties of landlords under local bylaws, and the challenging issue of our unhoused neighbours making use of this particular area. I’m seeing comments from neighbours, the property owner and local councillor Skylar Franke.
Here are our three main local news outlets, with Daryl Newcombe at CTV London providing the most complete report, if you have the emotional strength for that website’s autoplay feature.
CTV London: Developer defends condition of house that exploded on Base Line Road West
CBC London: Owner of destroyed London, Ont., home ‘astonished’ by explosion
London Free Press: Homeowner didn’t disconnect utilities to house destroyed by explosion
This story is going to generate headlines for a long time, so we’ll keep watching. In particular, I’d expect this to show up at City Hall in short order, and I’ll point it out when it happens.
And, in all of this, there is a human cost. Sending good vibes and strength to the one person injured in the blast, who was still being described as “critical” at time of writing.
Human trafficking
We have two major local stories this week, so it’s worth highlighting the issue, which some may forget is a significant one in London, Ontario.
First, here’s federal funding for the London Abused Women’s Centre, to help victims and survivors of sex trafficking. LINK
And, in policing, the London Police Service has partnered with the organization NotInMyCity for training. LINK
Backyard Chickens - local government issues
We had a City Hall ELECTION SPECIAL this week, and you can find it here; thanks to its sponsor, Spero Law.
We’ve also had some election analysis from Jack Moulton at the London Free Press, which is part of that outlet’s special election coverage. LINK
EDITED TO ADD: Mayoral candidate Bronagh Morgan was interviewed by Craig Needles for his podcast here. (Apologies for missing that in the first version of this post.)
Let’s take a break
Paper media alert!
This week I had fun digging into my archives for an old story and thought it might entertain folks if I posted it here. This is from the Metro London way back in September 2013, and represents That Time I Interviewed A Nobel Prize Winner. Western’s excellent PR folks offered the opportunity and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I asked him what I thought people would ask him, if they had the opportunity that I had. This was the outcome.
Why bring this up now? Because it illustrates some of what we’ve lost as the internet changes from an information resource into… something new, commercialized by evil robots and led by profit. This story, which won’t drive hate-clicks or anything lucrative like that, is a footnote in the Wikipedia page explaining the Nobel Prize effect, which relates to changes in Nobel laureates and how they’re seen. However, the online version no longer exists and is a dead link on the page. This copy of a newspaper appears to represent the remainder of the authority cited.
Isn’t it pleasing to make this exist again in the world? I hope you enjoy reading it.
And Professor Klaus von Klitzing is still kicking at 83, which makes me happy. Here’s his Wiki page.
Let’s get back to serious news.
Homelessness
Ark Aid Mission is among the agencies sounding the alarm as federal funding comes to an end. Here’s the latest from CBC. We can expect this issue to continue to show up in local media, and it’s worth paying attention, especially during an election year.
This one may update suddenly. The funding runs out today and I notice a few influential folks involved, notably Peter Fragiskatos MP.
Look out for Steve’s Reflections, our Friday afternoon feature from The Loon’s Opinion Editor, Steve Cordes, which will address this issue in a special edition later today.
Crime and the Crime Severity Index
Dale Carruthers at the London Free Press picked up this excellent story about the Crime Severity Index. Our police chief likes to quote this key metric, and it’s been going down. But what happens when it rises? It did, for the first time in five years: LINK
And, there’s a good note in that story to take care around statistics.
Healthcare
Here’s a story, but is this healthcare? Is it public services? I’m overthinking - just know there is a new EMS system and the Freeps did a piece here about what it might mean for callers. Good local journalism there from Ryan Goodison. The subhed carries a load: Callers may be asked more questions, but officials say ambulance response times should not be affected.
And, from Jack Sutton at CBC London and deffo about healthcare, here’s a local story about physician burnout and calls for change.
Food insecurity
Bryan Bicknell at CTV London picks up this issue as health units call for action: LINK.
Here’s an extract from Bryan’s superb journalism:
Health units across southwestern Ontario have issued a joint statement calling for action to address food insecurity. They say one in four households struggle to afford basic needs. They’re proposing the following:
Increasing social assistance rates, including Ontario Works
Improving income supports for low and modest-income households
Implementing policies that reduce the cost of housing and essential living expenses
Opinion alert: Hungry kids in our community? I think that’s a hard ‘no’ from everybody and we should be concerned/glad2 to see this issue raised by public health authorities. Now for action, right?
And let’s close with…
The Lightning Round
Striking stories this week:
Tennocon is a humungous event taking place in London, birthplace of post-apocalyptic bang bang shooty shooty videogame Warframe, and this is unreservedly awesome. London’s geek culture deserves more light on it. We’re lucky to have Digital Extremes, the local company that created this phenom. Here’s a CBC story with lots of pics.
The London Humane Society is gathering donations for more than 20 dogs displaced by wildfires. Here’s an LFP story.
And one final celebration
Local boy Ryan Gosling, who was born in St. Joseph’s Hospital right here in London, has been announced as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Next Big Thing. He’s the new Ghost Rider, (opinion alert) a really stupid comic book character whose head is constantly on fire3, and it’s massive news for billion-dollar movies.
Find out more here, if you like, and frankly I’m puzzled that our local media doesn’t celebrate local celebs, even if they did move away at a young age. In the UK media, we would MILK THOSE STORIES DRY, as shown by many, many Scottish celebrities showing up constantly in their local papers4. So here at The Loon Imma pledge to bring this stuff up where we can and to say well done Ryan! We’re claiming him as a Londoner whether he likes it or not.
Enough
Oh bloody hell it had better be.
Have a fabby long weekend, you absolute legends. We’re back next week with more special stuff, and look out for Steve’s video, incoming today.
Happy Friday!
- Mike
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That article as a larger image file:
Thanks!
Not a milestone, I dunno what I’m on about
I bet there’s a German word for this.
I’m just not a Marvel guy. At one point, Ghost Rider had a car. Think about it. Stupid. (I do like Cosmic Ghost Rider but that’s wise-cracking Punisher in space and a long story.)
Such as the Inverness Courier going on and on about Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the Marvel movies.