News Release
Min. of Environment

TORONTO, Feb. 5 /CNW/ - ‘Bag it back’ - a new deposit return program for recycling wine, beer and spirit containers - starts today. The program encourages Ontarians to return empty containers to The Beer Store for a refund, which means less waste going to landfill. By enhancing the Blue Box program’s effectiveness, deposit return will help increase Ontario’s waste diversion rate.

Where will the first pipes burst?
With weather this cold (-34C and -27F) and very little snow cover it is a miracle that we have not seen geysers popping up out of the streets yet.
It seems that we are now doing penance for the extremely mild and dry fall and winter we have had to date.

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Ten teams competed for the annual Rainy River Ladies Curling Bonspiel title over the weekend.
In the “A” event it was two local teams, Dawn Drennan and Julie Tiboni’s rinks.

By Ken Johnston
Editor

What can a baby teach kids in grade three? The answer is a great deal, especially how to be empathetic.
Empathy is the ability to identify with another person’s feelings. The ability to see and feel things as others see and feel them is central to competent parenting and successful social relationships in all stages of life.That is what the Roots of Empathy (ROE) program is all about.

News Release
NWHU

To kick off National Non-Smoking Week, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) wants smokers to butt out - and wants to reward them for it. Today launches the 2007 Driven to Quit Challenge, a province-wide challenge to the more than 1.6 million Ontario smokers to quit smoking. One successful quitter will drive away with a 2007 luxury sedan.

By Melanie Mathieson
Gardening Guru

The winter of 2006-2007 has started out as a bit if an unusual event. It has been hovering in and around the freezing mark, with only a few cold snaps and we have had more rain than snow so far this season. From a human perspective this has been an enjoyable winter so far. But how about looking at the weather from the perspective of a plant?

Submitted by
Ken Boshcoff M.P.

It is often said that some folks learn much more slowly than others. That certainly appears to be the case with the Conservative Government. For over nine months, I have been writing letters and articles, presenting petitions, and speaking in the House of Commons and across the riding about the challenges we are facing with Climate Change. Finally, it seems that the “lightbulb has gone on” for the Conservatives and they are starting to hear the warning bells that have been ringing for such a long time.

By Father Dan Debano
RR Ministerial

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, decided to pause by the altar and join the others who had come to pray.
Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle. The minister was shocked at what he saw. The old man hadn’t shaved in a while. His shirt was kind of shabby and his coat was worn and frayed. The man knelt; he bowed his head, then rose and walked away.

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The largest of our resident owls is the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) A large bird, with a wingspan which may reach nearly five feet, it strikes silently in the night at its unsuspecting prey. Owls have specially developed wing feathers with downy margins, so they don’t make the whistling sound that other birds make in flight. The general colour of the Great Horned Owl is a mottled brown of different shades. It has a white throat. The ‘horns’ are really tufts of feathers which stand up when the bird is perched, but are always flattened down in flight.

By Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep.

This week’s article is part 2 on congenital defects in cattle. Here are some of the more common genetic defects that can occur.
Hypotrichosis (Hairlessness). Hairlessness occurs in several breeds of beef cattle. It expresses itself as complete or partial loss of hair. Calves are often born with no hair but will grow a short curly coat of hair with age. Affected individuals are prone to environmental stress (cold and wet) and skin infections are more prevalent. A recessive gene causes hairlessness.