WALLACEBURG

Ontario's new minister of the environment says the ministry responded appropriately during last summer's water scare in Wallaceburg. "I have been apprised of the matter and I am confident that appropriate measures have been undertaken by the ministry to address the situation," Leona Dombrowsky wrote in a letter to the Chatham-Kent health board in regard to the Aug. 14 vinyl chloride spill, which resulted in a water ban in Wallaceburg six days later. But local officials aren't buying it and called for better monitoring and enforcement. Said Wallaceburg Coun. Chip Gordon, "If you're not thinking the water's a concern, come on down and drink it 24/7, knowing that you could be playing Russian roulette with your health."

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Precautions against the flu seem to be paying off for local seniors' homes. At Fairfield Park, 85 per cent of staff and 98 per cent of residents were vaccinated in the fall. In Dresden, Park Street Place retirement residence has a stuffed bear reminding visitors to use anti-bacterial lotion before entering. Sheila Satchell, Chatham-Kent Health Unit's universal flu program co-ordinator, said there have been cases of influenza A in the municipality but no deaths as there have been in other communities.

STRATHROY

Expansion and renovation work at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital will soon be underway now that the Health Ministry has given its approval. Construction involving the emergency and ambulatory care units will begin this spring, with completion early in 2006. Out-patient and emergency visits have soared to 30,000 patients a year, about 10 times the number the place was designed for. The province has committed to providing half the $7.5 million for the project as long as the community matches that amount.

HENSALL

Habitat for Humanity, an agency that helps provide the working poor with affordable housing, may have a presence in Huron County within a year. Politicians, tradespeople, educators and church members were among the 70 people who attended an information meeting here to assess local needs. Speakers suggested community and corporate partnerships in building projects could make all the difference to people who now live in substandard housing. Judi Walker, one member spearheading the project, said this is a challenge. "We all have a gift to give," she said, adding the three most important words someone could ask are, "May I help?"

GRAND BEND

Pirates are on their way to Grand Bend for the 2004 Winter Carnival Feb. 6-8. The festival, begun in 1986, has a swashbuckling theme this year. Snow sculptures, dog sledding and a Feb. 7 parade are among the scheduled events.

SARNIA

Local artisans and craftspeople may soon be selling their wares on the boardwalk. Council is looking at creating a boardwalk market and concessions strip on the Front Street boardwalk, between Cromwell Street and Rainbow Park. Coun. Joe Murray said the area could become a tourist destination. "Seeing that boardwalk being underutilized breaks my heart."

DUBLIN

Flat Stanley just might be the most popular kid in the Grade 2-3 class at St. Patrick's school in Dublin. But Stanley Lambchop is only three feet tall and literally paper thin. Teacher Colleen Scott said at the start of the school year she introduced her students to Flat Stanley, the paper boy, giving him a desk to sit at and treating him as any other student. Then everyone started reading the books on which he was based (www.flatstanleyproject.com) and they've all wanted a turn taking him home for a few days. Students write in journals what they did with Flat Stanley, then return him to class for the next student.

MONKTON

Harness racer Ross Battin is eager to get back to the track after a spill that left him with a broken heel and wrist. The 49-year-old father of two from RR 2, Monkton, was racing his horse Real Artistic at Western Fair Raceway in London on Jan. 3 when he was involved in a collision. "It was really no one's fault," he said of the accident. "That's just how things happen sometimes." He hopes to be racing again in a few months, although wife Marg figures it will be longer than that. Battin has been racing most of his life. "We always had horses around. My dad use to deal in horses," he said. "And I get a kind of thrill out of racing, to tell you the truth. It just becomes a way of life after a while."

CHATHAM-KENT

Chatham-Kent has fast become the classic car capital of Canada. Rob Myers and his world- renowned restoration company, RM Classic Cars, is organizing a three-day event in mid-July that promises to put Chatham-Kent on the international automotive map. Two exhibitions -- one featuring 1,500 antique automobiles and another featuring 50 of the world's rarest and most beautiful automobiles -- will take place July 17 and 18. Included in the latter show will be a 1948 Delahaye automobile that was a wedding present to actress Rita Hayworth from her husband, Prince Aly Khan. The Delahaye is considered priceless. Myers expects the two shows will attract 10,000 visitors and hundreds of automotive journalists from around the world. Begun as a two-bay garage in 1979, RM Classic Cars is the largest antique car restoration company in North America.

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A public library may now be one of the last places you'll hear the word "shhhhhhhh," says Kathryn Goodhue, the new director of library services. "The library is the centre of the community. Nobody is shushing you in here. You can visit here and no one will bug you. No one will try to sell you anything." Goodhue, who comes from Kingston-Frontenac but went to school in Dresden, said libraries are good value for the taxpayer dollar. "If you are a voracious reader, the library is your friend."

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The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) of Ontario wants to cover Iran with blankets. The group plans to ship 50,000 blankets to earthquake victims in Iran and is looking for donations of another 18,000 blankets. Chatham-Kent MCC representative John Wiebe says the group is looking for blanket donations and will soon be expanding its aid to include other relief projects in the hard-hit area of Bam, Iran. An earthquake there on Dec. 26 killed about 30,000 people and left as many as 100,000 homeless.