Windsor police are urging revellers to use common sense and safety when they hit the town Thursday for St. Patrick’s Day.

“We just want everyone to have a safe and fun night,” said Const. Andrew Drouillard. “We’re encouraging everybody to enjoy their night responsibly. The biggest message there would be for people not to drink and drive.”

A flood of people will likely pour into downtown Thursday in a drunken celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Drouillard said police will treat it like a Saturday night, which means overlapping shifts and more officers dedicated to downtown.

Police are asking people to help keep things safe by planning ahead and arranging to have a designated driver, take a cab or get someone to pick you up.

Drouillard also urged people to keep an eye on their drunk friends.

“Take care of each other, take care of your friends,” he said. “Sometimes you get people who are intoxicated that might stray away from their friends and be walking on their own. We always encourage people to take care of each other.”

Score one for the power of social media — and for supporters of Leamington tomato products.

As a result of public outcry over the decision by Loblaws to stop selling French’s ketchup, Canada’s largest grocer has reversed itself — suddenly announcing on Tuesday that it will re-stock the condiment made from Leamington tomatoes.

A promotional image for French’s buffalo ketchup.

“We’ve heard our Loblaws customers,” said Loblaws spokesman Kevin Groh in an email statement.

“We will re-stock French’s ketchup and hope that the enthusiasm we are seeing in the media and on social media translates into sales of the product.

“We will work with French’s to make sure we are in-stock as soon as possible.”

The reprieve was particularly gratifying for John Romanelli, a disgruntled Loblaws customer whose viral video had called for a boycott of all the company’s stores over the lack of French’s ketchup.

“Unbelievable,” said Romanelli, a 45-year-old Toronto resident, on Tuesday afternoon. “You know, I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s online craziness.”

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Romanelli’s video had garnered more than 219,000 views — less than 24 hours after it was uploaded to Facebook.

The video shows Romanelli ranting in front of a Loblaws store as he gestures with a bottle of French’s ketchup.

“Everybody’s switching over to French’s ketchup because of what Heinz did to Leamington, Ont.,” says the tattooed labour activist.

“I shop at this Loblaws here twice a week for the last 10 years. I called them today and said, ‘We’re done — until you put French’s back on the shelf.’ Let’s do this, people. Proud to be Canadian.”

Romanelli said on Tuesday that he hadn’t expected the video to spread so widely or Loblaws to respond so quickly, but he’s glad to have done his part for Leamington.

“The funny thing is, I don’t even like ketchup that much,” Romanelli said with a laugh. “But what I do love is Canadian workers.”

Leamington Mayor John Paterson on March 15, 2016.

Romanelli wasn’t alone. Along with a storm of complaints on social media, Toronto-area MPP Mike Colle sent a letter to the president of Loblaws saying he was prepared to lead the boycott over the French’s ketchup issue.

“I think your company has made a huge miscalculation and underestimated the value that we put on supporting local foods and local jobs,” Colle wrote.

Leamington Mayor John Paterson had also planned on sending a letter to Loblaws — until he learned of Tuesday’s reversal.

“This is a huge win for the consumer,” Paterson said. “It was their voices that made the change happen. And it’s a very big win for the tomato growers here in Leamington and the surrounding area, and the Highbury Canco plant.”

As for why Loblaws wanted to stop selling French’s ketchup in the first place, Paterson said he won’t speculate. “This is a Loblaws decision. They said no — now they’re saying yes. We’re good with that.”

But Essex MPP Taras Natyshak wondered aloud if Heinz was a factor in the original decision.

“Heinz has been caught in a PR nightmare of their own creation,” Natyshak said on Tuesday. “I think what we’re seeing here is some corporate warfare playing out on the shelves of our local grocery stores.”

Regarding the suggestion that low sales of French’s ketchup was the rationale for not stocking it, Natyshak said he finds that shocking. “Inexplicable is the right word … I don’t think there’s ever been a higher demand for a bottle of ketchup.”

Essex MPP Taras Natyshak with a one-litre squeeze bottle of French’s ketchup.

French’s ketchup has been the subject of a grassroots consumer campaign in recent months due to the condiment’s reliance on Leamington tomatoes.

A Facebook post about French’s ketchup by Orillia resident Brian Fernandez went viral — extolling the virtues of the product and raising awareness of its impact on Leamington’s economy.

First established in 1908, the historic Heinz tomato processing facility in Leamington was to be shut down in 2014.

The move was the result of cost-cutting measures by the new owners of Heinz — Warren Buffett’s multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The closure would have resulted in the loss of 740 jobs, were it not for Highbury Canco buying the plant. The facility is now integral to a tomato paste contract with French’s Food Company.

Last week, Natyshak launched a petition demanding that the cafeteria and dining facilities at Queen’s Park switch to French’s ketchup in support of Leamington workers and farmers.

The University of Windsor announced that it has already done so.

“Consumers are more and more interested not only in knowing where their food comes from, but also knowing that it supports communities in their province,” Natyshak said.

dchen@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/WinStarChen

It’s lunch and you’re looking for a deal. Maybe you have a hankering for tacos or Asian Fusion but you’re with a friend who needs a gluten-free option. Can you sit out on a patio?

A new mobile food and drinks app unveiled Tuesday in Windsor called EatDrinX has you covered. There’s nothing like this food and beverage network for restaurants and diners in Windsor or North America for that matter, said EatDrinX co-founder Matt Guignard of Windsor.

“We’re coming to innovate the industry. This is something that we have first to market,” Guignard said Tuesday from the Downtown Windsor Business Accelerator. “Nobody’s offering a two application platform for restaurants and consumers to connect.”

Guignard, 33, who saw the need for the app while marketing beverages and alcohol and working with restaurants, teamed up with Pramod Mendonca, a 32-year-old University of Windsor computer science grad, to create the app over the last six months. 

EatDrinX allows consumers to explore new food experiences, find deals on food and drinks, learn about upcoming events or live entertainment and even earn money by becoming an ambassador and reaping some of the share of getting a restaurant to sign up with the app. The pair expect that option to be popular with university students who like to try new places and could use the cash.

For restaurants, it’s an easy way to showcase their daily deals, feature dishes with photographs and even have their menu on the app, Guignard said. It so easy to upload new information to both the app and Twitter and Facebook at the same time that you can hold your breath while updating your specials, the co-founders joked.

“It’s taking their information from the chalkboard to the app,” Guignard said.

Matt Guignard, left, and Pramod Mendonca have developed EatDrinX, a geo-location app that allows restaurants to showcase their menus, daily specials and more on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

Old, stained menus could be bypassed once inside the restaurant for the complete menu on your phone, he said.

The new EatDrinX app is free for consumers and is available now for Android users and coming soon for Apple devices. Restaurants in Windsor are getting a free trial for EDX Places, their version of the app, which will cost them about a dollar a day.

The pair said they have 75 restaurants in Windsor/Essex and are adding more. They hope to launch the app in 25 cities in the first year within about a five hour drive from Windsor where there are about 40,000 restaurants.

The two who run their business out of the Downtown Windsor Business Accelerator hope to add five to six people to the tech startup in the next year.

“We’re trying to change attitudes,” he said. “When you tell somebody you’re working on a tech venture in Windsor people don’t really understand it.

“It’s a changing of perceptions and a changing of attitudes that something of the scale can be done in Windsor. There’s talented people here.”

The pair were making sure Tuesday that participating restaurants share their St. Patrick’s Day specials.

The website is at eatdrinx.com and people interested in becoming brand ambassadors can contact info@eatdrinx.com.

shill@postmedia.com

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Geoffrey Lodu pulls a rose out of a container of liquid nitrogen and slams it against the laboratory counter. It shatters.

The 20-year-old laughs, then his eyes bulge as PhD student Alex Stirk eats a frozen graham cracker and spews steam out his nose and mouth.

Lodu, who came to Canada three years ago from Uganda, was one of 39 students visiting the University of Windsor’s science department Wednesday.

The day’s events aimed to get newcomers to Canada interested in the sciences — and thinking about eventually studying at the University of Windsor.

Lodu plans to do that next year. The Grade 12 student has been admitted to the physics program.

“I think it’s really cool for us to listen to the professionals and give us a brief intro of what to expect from university,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

The partnership began when computer science Prof. Ziad Kobti met Hugo Vega, general manager of settlement, integration and community services at the YMCA of Windsor and Essex County. 

A group of young new Canadians participated in a career exploration day at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

The program was advertised through the YMCA, targeting many programs that are attended by new Canadians.

The university paid for everything: transportation, lunch and the activities.

Vega said at the university’s science department, there’s low enrolment among new Canadians.

“People, especially newcomers, they say, become a doctor, become an engineer, become a lawyer. But did you know you can work across the border and make $100,000 after graduating if you work as a computer programmer?” he said. “It’s understanding that there’s a lot more than the traditional jobs and careers that people look at.”

That was the goal of the day. The students first learned basic coding concepts in a computer science class by designing a game. Then they ventured to workshops in chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, and with the Windsor Cancer Research Group.

In the first session, Binazir Haidari, 15, clicked through options to set up her game.

“I think it’s really cool we can test this and see whether we like it or not, see whether it’s something we’d like to do,” Haidari said.

A group of young new Canadians participated in a career exploration day at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

Beside her, Umul and Kainat Abdul Ali, 16 and 14 respectively, squealed with joy as their game displayed flashes of happy and sad faces.

“It’s very important to expose them at a young age, so they get an idea of what is biology like, what is chemistry like,” Kobti said.

He’s done previous workshops with high schools. Teachers can bring classes to take part in workshops on campus.

For Lodu, one of the coolest parts of the day was squishing a blue balloon into a tub of liquid nitrogen.

“I thought if you put a balloon in the freezer, it would pop,” he said. Instead they watched chemistry student Stirk bounce it lightly as it re-inflated, spewing off steam through the process.

“It’s cool.  It was interesting to see it come back to its original form.”

In another corner of the room, four 14-year-olds pressed up against a glass panel to watch a gummy bear disappear in pink flames.

“This was so cool,” said Grade 9 student Oussama Salman. “We never do this stuff in school.”

ctthompson@postmedia.com

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The Windsor-Detroit Tunnel will be closing overnight five days a week beginning in August for replacement of its original concrete roof.

“It’s a scheduled project and if you look at tunnels in the United States and Canada they have a lifespan, just like the roof on your house has a lifespan, and so this is just a scheduled replacement,” said tunnel president Neal Belitsky.

The roof replacement will be part of extensive renovations to the tunnel which will begin in May.

“In the first part of the project is work that will be behind the scenes and so there will be no interruption to the travelling public,” said Belitsky.

“From May through sometime in August. Then sometime in August we plan on doing scheduled removal of the tunnel ceiling and that will run through, we’re anticipating, through to December.”

The tunnel will be closed from 9 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. from Sunday through Thursday.

“So we will be open on weekends, we plan on being open for the morning commuter rush,” said Belitsky.

“And the contractor will have to work around any special events that happen during that period.”

Attending an evening event in Detroit during the construction period days will require returning to Windsor on the Ambassador Bridge.

“If folks are getting there for a game that’s a 7 o’clock tipoff they’ll have to come back by the bridge,” said Belitsky.

“We will have an active campaign to keep the public aware of what’s going on. We’re already co-operating with the bridge as well as customs on both sides and for folks travelling from out of the downtown core to make sure that we have information for all the highway message signs.”

The tunnel was built in the late 1920s and opened in November 1930.

In addition to the ceiling replacement there will be electrical, communications, lighting and masonry upgrades.

The cost of this project remains unknown because the highly specialized work will go through a bidding process, Belitsky said.

The work will be overseen by Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineering, the same company that constructed the tunnel.

“They are one of the pre-eminent tunnel engineering firms in the world, and this kind of work has been done on other tunnels of similar vintage,” said Belitsky.

This will be the first time the tunnel will be closing for work since 1993 when the road was resurfaced.

“So all of our projects since then we have been able to accommodate with little to no disruption,” said Belitsky.

“This one is kind of different.”

chthompson@postmedia.com

A Windsor woman who is battling back from a debilitating brain stem stroke got to hang out and chow down with the Windsor Express basketball team Wednesday night.

Darquetta Banks suffered the stroke last April 6 at the age of 24 in her apartment in Toronto, where she was preparing to study fashion design and merchandising at Ryerson University.

On Wednesday night, Banks, her extended family and the entire Windsor Express lineup gathered at Sanckbar-B-Q on Chatham Street to promote her cause and an upcoming fundraiser.

“In the end, we’re just so proud of her for her fight, her spirit and the way she’s handling this whole thing,” said Darquetta’s sister Dashelda.

“We just wanted to come out and support her and let her know we are rooting for her to get better and we are along with her on her journey.”

Darquetta was visibly moved when the Express players gathered around her wheelchair.

“They said she would be paralyzed from the neck down, she’s not paralyzed,” said Dashelda. “They think that she should be able to regain a large portion of her movement. She is fully conscious and aware.”

Darquetta Banks is surrounded by the Windsor Express basketball team at SnackBar-B-Q restaurant in Windsor, Ont. on March 16, 2016.

The Windsor Express got involved when team president and CEO Dartis Willis was contacted.

“We never turn our back on anything,” said Willis. “I’m a Detroiter, but I know Windsorites stick together. For me, it was very easy.”

Willis contacted Snackbar-B-Q owner Mark Boscariol and Wednesday’s event took shape.

“When someone comes to you with this, you say yes,” said Boscariol.

“Dartis is a regular customer at the Willistead (Boscariol’s other restaurant) and he called me out of the blue and I said yes.”

Windsor Express shooting guard Tony Bennett and a teammate accompanied Darquetta on her ride from the hospital.

“We look at her energy and her mind is there,” said Bennett. “She responds, she laughs, she is there. It’s just a question of getting her body back to where her mind is at. On the ride here, we were just counting our blessings.”

Darquetta’s stroke was so serious because she was alone in her apartment when it happened.

“That’s why the stroke is so severe, because she didn’t get to the hospital for 24 hours,” said Dashelda.

A benefit will take place April 23 at the Caboto Club. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased on the website hearts4darquetta.com or by calling Dashelda Banks at 519-990-7477.

chthompson@postmedia.com

Windsor Star’s award-winning photographers covered the city and county Wednesday. Check out the gallery.

A group of young new Canadians participated in a career exploration day at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

A group of young new Canadians participated in a career exploration day at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

A group of young new Canadians participated in a career exploration day at the University of Windsor on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. They had a chance to learn about computer science, chemistry and environmental science. Jan Adam, from left, Mustafa Maan, Israel Fowler and Mareo Zaya freeze roses during an experiment with cryogenic freezing as Alex Stirk, a Ph.D. student at the university provides direction.

Kerry Clinansmith uses a vaporizer to inhale cannabis at Vapelated Vapor Lounge in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

Leo Lucier shows off some bongs at his newly opened Vapelated Vapor Lounge at 26 Chatham St. E. in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

Leo Lucier (left) looks on as his friend and staff member Kerry Clinansmith tests out a brand new vaporizer at Lucier’s Vapelated Vapor Lounge on Chatham Street East, March 16, 2016.

Leo Lucier behind the bar at Vapelated Vapor Lounge in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

A sign warning motorists not to idle their car is seen at Windsor City Hall in downtown Windsor, Ont., on March 16, 2016.

Darquetta Banks is surrounded by the Windsor Express basketball team at SnackBar-B-Q restaurant in Windsor, Ont. on March 16, 2016.

The local Chamber of Commerce is rolling out its wish list a week before the federal government is set to deliver its budget.

It’s a chance for Windsor to remind the government it’s hoping to see a focus on manufacturing and jobs, said Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The wish list coincides with the release of a report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce with 12 recommendations from businesses across the province. 

Here are some of Marchand’s hopes for the budget:

Leveraging the Pacific trade deal into a manufacturing strategy

The chamber has already called on the federal government to hold off ratifying the Trans Pacific Partnership, an international trade deal involving 12 countries, until after the U.S. election.

Now is the right time to leverage that deal into a “targeted and coherent strategy” for the manufacturing sector, Marchand said.

Businesses are divided over the deal, with about 40 per cent saying they feel it will have a positive impact on Canada, according to the chamber’s report.

Make economic development funds more equal

Money isn’t distributed fairly for economic development across the country, according to a report by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. 

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario got $17.61 per capita, while in Quebec the comparable agency got $37.16 per capita.

Marchand said he’s hoping to see the federal government work more closely with the government of Ontario to address differences with respect to economic development.

Improve the skills gap

Windsor loses around $600 million every year from businesses who can’t find workers to fill their open jobs, according to a previous Chamber report.

Sometimes companies can’t bid on big projects because they don’t have enough employees to do the work. Sometimes it means the company can’t expand as much as it would like.

Marchand said he wants to see the federal budget tackle the skills gap.

Part of that would come from making the temporary foreign worker program more flexible, according to the chamber’s report.

Expand access to broadband Internet

Some farms in Essex County don’t even have Internet access, Marchand said. That can make it much harder to get work done or improve productivity.

About half of companies said Internet speed or connection hindered their ability to do business, according to a Leger poll.

Marchand is hoping to see an expansion of broadband Internet services to regions with businesses that could benefit.

Lower small business tax rates and keep the province competitive

Marchand said he’s hoping to see the government keep its promise to reduce the small business tax rate from 11 per cent to nine per cent.

The report also proposes better tax incentives for venture capital and angel investors, to help spur innovation.

ctthompson@postmedia.com

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Plans are underway to overhaul a heavily travelled section of County Road 20 between Leamington and Kingsville and the county is seeking public input on the project.

Dillon Consulting Ltd. has been hired to conduct an environmental assessment, seek opinions from residents and develop and evaluate alternative solutions and designs for the reconstruction of the road from Kratz Sideroad in Kingsville to Sherk Street in Leamington.

“We’ve been aware for a number of years that County Road 20 is in need of repair,” Warden Tom Bain said following Wednesday’s council meeting. “This study will take a look at it and make recommendations with regards to what needs to be done.

“(It will) take a look at walking trails alongside of it or bike paths or whatever best fits the environment that’s there, whatever best fits the needs that are there.”

Bain said the road is heavily travelled and an important link to the area communities.

“It’s very important for the south side of the county … and extremely important in the area of tourism, winery business, the boating industry,” he said.

“We want to do the whole thing, what ever work needs to be done.”

Public consultations through open houses will be scheduled, with the first slated for this spring. No dates have been set yet for those. Once the environmental study is complete, the report will be available for 30 days for public review.

Council approved $250,000 in the 2016 budget for the study, said CAO Brian Gregg.

Bain estimated the process will take six months to a year to complete.

Dillon Consulting has created a study website at www.CR20.ca to share all study information.

jkotsis@postmedia.com

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Stephanie Seguin wishes she could go back and talk to the sad and devastated woman she was when she feared her unborn child had Down Syndrome.

Four years later, she can’t even imagine feeling that way. At the first glimpse of her newborn, the Windsor woman knew her daughter had Down Syndrome but those sorrowful, scared feelings fell away when she gazed upon her Hazel. 

“If I could go back to myself then, I really wish I could just say it’s going to be OK and you don’t know what the beauty of your life is about to become. But trust me it’s going to be beautiful,” Seguin said Wednesday.

That beauty and the belief that Down Syndrome is something to be celebrated in the community is the message Seguin will be trying to spread Monday (March 21) during World Down Syndrome Day, a day officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. It’s also Rock Your Socks day, a chance to wear some colourful or mismatched socks to show your support for people with Down Syndrome and raise awareness about inclusion and respect for people who have the genetic condition.

“The feelings that I had when I was pregnant, they sort of just disappeared when I saw the baby that was attached to the diagnosis. For me, it’s very important that people realize that kids with Down Syndrome are just that, children with Down Syndrome, and Down Syndrome doesn’t define who they are.”

Stephanie Seguin plays with her daughter Hazel Tuesday in Wheatley.

Seguin, 36, writes a blog at chasinghazel.com to share the truly happy and not so happy moments of parenting a child with Down Syndrome. Hazel is much like other four-year-olds. She likes to jump on the bed with her two-year-old sister Nola, even though she’s told not to do that. She’s a picky eater and she loves Elsa from the movie Frozen. She knows the words to Adele’s Someone Like You, the song her mother would sing to calm her baby girl in the hospital and, in Hazel’s own way, she sings another Adele hit — Hello.

Seguin has participated in Rock Your Socks before but this year she wanted to ramp up the awareness so she starting sending out news releases. She estimates 40 to 50 places in Windsor/Essex have indicated they’ll be participating on Monday.

Seguin hopes the socks event helps raise awareness that kids with Down Syndrome are more like other kids than they are different. Her other insights include:

1. People with Down Syndrome are worthy and should be included in all aspects of life. “They do grow and they do get driver’s licences and they will get jobs and they will have relationships. They might get married. They go to college.” 
2. It’s a myth that people with Down Syndrome are always happy. They have feelings like anyone else and can be embarrassed, sad and hurt.
3. They live satisfying lives and even more so in some respects, she said. “They kind of don’t sweat the small stuff and they seem like they love with their whole heart and they feel with all their emotions. It’s just such a beautiful way to live.”
4. Behind any child with special needs or an intellectual disability are parents who have worked tirelessly to make sure their son or daughter reaches their potential.
5. The R word is very offensive, Seguin said. March 2 is Spread The Word To End The Word day and Seguin said it’s never OK to use the derogatory term. 

shill@postmedia.com

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Stephanie Seguin holds her daughters Hazel, right, and Nola, 2, in Wheatley.

FCA Canada has informed Windsor Assembly workers that the regular summer plant shutdown is scheduled for the last week of July and the first week of August, Unifor Local 444 president Dino Chiodo said Thursday.

The plant will be idle during the weeks of July 25 and Aug. 1, Chiodo said.

“This is a little later than usual; normally we have the shutdown during the two middle weeks in July, but there’s not a lot of difference,” he said.

Chiodo said the plant is meeting the timelines for production of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

“There’s a lot of work that has to go into a brand new vehicle,” he said. “They want to make sure it’s built properly the first time.”

The Pacifica, which replaces the outgoing Town and Country, is expected to arrive in dealerships this spring.

The Windsor plant employs 6,000 workers who build the Dodge Grand Caravan and Pacifica on three full shifts.

Downtown Windsor will have another place where people can vape or smoke medical marijuana — if Leo Lucier can pull off plans for his Vapelated Vapor Lounge.

“I want to set it up like a European cafe,” says Lucier, 46, proprietor of the new business at 26 Chatham St. E.

Lucier said he intended for the lounge to open on Thursday, but he admitted there’s a lot of work to be done. “We’re winging it,” he said.

Although mostly stripped of decor, the address still bears the bar, tables, and chairs of its former business, Fidel’s Havana Lounge. Instead of alcohol, the shelves now carry an assortment of  bongs and candy bars.

Lucier and his staff tested out a Volcano brand vaporizer for the first time on Wednesday afternoon. “I’d rather smoke a joint,” confessed Lucier, himself a medical marijuana license holder. “I’m conventional. I’m old school.”

Leo Lucier (left) looks on as his friend and staff member Kerry Clinansmith tests out a brand new vaporizer at Lucier’s Vapelated Vapor Lounge on Chatham Street East, March 16, 2016.

Similar to Higher Limits — Windsor’s first cannabis vaping lounge, which opened at 251 Ouellette Ave. in January  — Lucier’s place will offer medical marijuana license holders a spot to gather and partake of their prescribed cannabis.

Lucier’s permit from the health unit describes his business as a food store, but his Ontario business licence describes it as a “compassion club for medical use of pot.”

However, unlike the “Marijuana Compassion Club of Windsor” that police busted for trafficking in 2005, Lucier assured that Vapelated Vapor Lounge won’t be selling or dispensing marijuana.

“Everybody automatically thinks a ‘compassion club’ is all about selling marijuana. I’m not about that,” he said. “I’m not going there.”

Lucier said he will have similar rules as Higher Limits: No alcohol, no tobacco, no minors, and customers bring their own pot.

Kerry Clinansmith uses a vaporizer to inhale cannabis at Vapelated Vapor Lounge in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

The “compassion” part of the business has to do with Lucier’s philosophy. He describes himself as a Christian and intends to hold charitable events at the lounge.

He’s also hiring friends who need employment. Lucier said he’s brought in three people as staff so far.

Kerry Clinansmith, 44, has been living on disability support and is a medical marijuana license holder.

“We (license holders) have nowhere to go right now. It’s kind of a grey area,” Clinansmith said. “We have kids, we can’t smoke at home in the dwelling. We go outside, I don’t think it’s very good.”

Sean McLellan, 55, will be helping with the lounge’s day-to-day affairs. “I’m getting an opportunity to get back to work.”

Lucier — who works in tool and die — said he has invested about $30,000 into Vapelated Vapor Lounge so far.

Last week, the province’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced it will propose changes to the Smoke-Free Ontario that would make medical marijuana vaping lounges illegal.

But Lucier said he’s not concerned. “I don’t see the Ontario government changing this law very soon. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Leo Lucier behind the bar at Vapelated Vapor Lounge in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

Just a block away, Higher Limits co-owner Jon Liedtke said he wishes Lucier well.

“It’s not really competition,” Liedtke said. “The more cannabis-friendly establishments that open up in Windsor-Essex, the better.”

On Tuesday, Liedtke went to Toronto to meet with members of the Cannabis Friendly Business Association and discuss how they will deal with the impending provincial legislation against medical marijuana vaping lounges.

“It’s always encouraging to find allies in a David and Goliath situation,” Liedtke said. “I came away from it happy that there’s going to be some kind of organized response.”

Leo Lucier shows off some bongs at his newly opened Vapelated Vapor Lounge at 26 Chatham St. E. in downtown Windsor, March 16, 2016.

dchen@postmedia.com

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Dan Bolyantu thinks it would be a great idea to encourage more Windsor drivers to stop idling their vehicles when they’re not moving.

And then he apologizes for idling his Dodge Grand Caravan Wednesday as he waited for his passenger outside 400 City Hall Square. Right next to the posted sign asking motorists to “Please Turn Engine Off When Stopped.”

“She said she was coming right out,” says Bolyantu, explaining why he’s sitting in his minivan, waiting, with the motor purring.

Fifteen years after Windsor became one of the first Canadian jurisdictions to create an anti-idling bylaw, administration is asking city council to toughen it up. One of the recommendations is to shorten the engine idling forgiveness time from the current five minutes down to a single minute, after which the offender could face a $100 fine.

“This is long overdue — five minutes is hard to enforce,” said Citizens Environment Alliance co-ordinator Derek Coronado. “We had to have world experience when we first put it out there … we put it out there perhaps too long,” he added.

Toronto, the first Canadian city to set a time limit on vehicle idling in 1996 (Guelph enacted its anti-idling bylaw in 1998 followed by Windsor and Stratford in 2001), now enforces a one-minute idling limit, as does Sarnia and Burlington. London is among a handful who have a two-minute idling limit, while Hamilton, Ottawa, Oshawa and others crack down after three minutes.

“It’s a rather onerous process now for police or bylaw (enforcement) having to wait five minutes,” said Dustin Carey, the City of Windsor’s environmental and sustainability co-ordinator.

How onerous?

Between 2001 and 2013, a meagre total of two charges were filed against motorists exceeding the five-minute idling limit.

The challenge is that police or bylaw officers have to be present to witness the five-minute transgression, a very long time to stand by for a relatively low-level offence, and municipal bylaw enforcers are not allowed to pursue transgressors on the public rights-of-way. Since 2009, according to Carey, 157 complaints for excessive idling were called into the city’s 311 service.

As for the police, “it’s a fairly low-priority issue for them,” said Carey. Windsor Police Service spokesman Const. Andrew Drouillard said the department’s main concern in that regard has been with motorists who leave their vehicles running and unattended — for example, when dashing into a convenience store for a quick purchase. Thefts are the fear here, not polluting the environment.

Both Carey and Coronado said turning off the ignition when a vehicle is standing still is one of the simplest ways of improving air quality in an urban area, and it’s also a benefit to the owner in fuel cost savings.

Catalytic converters and other emission control technologies have helped reduce the amount of airborne contaminants released by vehicles, but transportation is the No. 1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario, said Coronado. Today’s vehicles might be cleaner, but there are more of them on the streets, and vehicle exhaust is a chief contributor to the air pollution cocktail that can trigger smog alerts and asthma attacks.

Natural Resources Canada reports that idling over 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more carbon-dioxide emissions (CO2) than simply turning off the ignition and then restarting. Taking other factors into account, such as component wear-and-tear and maintenance cost increases, idling more than 60 seconds is a money-loser for the vehicle owner.

Despite the meagre number of fines the bylaw has netted so far, education, rather than enforcement, is seen as the key component that will have the most significant impact of Windsor’s anti-idling bylaw, said Carey. The report going to a council standing committee next week suggests educating children will lead to more parents ending their idling.

Carey said a Hamilton study showed “significant spikes” in air pollution levels outside schools at times when vehicles were stacked up to either drop kids off or pick them up.

And fear not, lovers of the morning Timmy’s coffee run.

After studying the matter, Carey said it was decided to apply “blanket exemption” for vehicles lining up at drive-thrus. “We didn’t want to interfere with critical business practices,” he said.

But to make enforcement slightly easier, the proposed new bylaw gets rid of the current forgiveness of motorists idling excessively when the mercury hits 27 C or drops below 5 C (except for those who have a doctor’s note justifying the engine-fuelled air-conditioning or heating while idling).

dschmidt@postmedia.com

twitter.com/schmidtcity

Infants aren’t toddlers and shouldn’t be lumped together in daycares, say parents, local politicians and daycare workers who gathered at a Thursday rally against proposed provincial changes to child care.

Children, staff and parents gathered outside ABC Day Nursery on Lauzon Road along with CUPE officials, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Cheryl Hardcastle and Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky for a rally against the changes they say will harm children, decrease the quality of care and push daycares to increase their fees and perhaps not offer care for infants.

“Kids are going to get run over,” Alicia De La Hamaide, a registered early childhood educator, said of putting infants with energetic toddlers who are walking and may be in the biting and hitting stage. “There are less people there to protect them and more kids there to hurt them.”

De La Hamaide, who started a provincewide petition to try to stop proposed Ministry of Education changes to age groupings and staff to child ratios, asked parents, grandparents and educators to make their voices heard against the changes before an April 1 comment deadline. 

ABC Day Nursery students stand in front of podium as Cheryl Hardcastle, MP (Windsor-Tecumseh), right, speaks to a rally demonstrating against proposed changes to licensed child care centres. Behind left, moderator David Petten, CUPE Local 543, waits to introduce the next speaker.

Currently, infants are defined as newborns to 18 months but De La Hamaide said new regulations for licensed child care would define infants as newborns to 12 months old. It means they would be put in rooms with toddlers six months earlier and toddlers would in turn be mixed in with preschoolers six months earlier at age two, she said.

“With these new changes spending quality time with these infants will no longer be possible,” said De La Hamaide, who works for ABC Day Nursery. “We as early childhood educators will be too busy performing crowd control.”

Kim Gilbert is a registered early childhood educator, a union rep for 80 CUPE Local 543 child care workers in Windsor and a new mom of her four-month-old son Milo who was wearing and “I’m not a toddler” shirt. When her maternity leave is done she worries her son will be put in with toddlers, which will hurt the quality of care and push him into a room with active toddlers and less staff.

“It is time we stand together to fight back and say no,” Gilbert said to a cheer from the crowd.

The Ministry of Education is getting comments on phase two of changes to the Child Care and Early Years Act.

“The proposed changes would not result in babies and toddlers being cared for in larger groups with fewer adults,” ministry spokeswoman May Nazar said late Thursday in an emailed response. “They would provide better protection by increasing the minimum number of qualified staff from one to two in infant, toddler and preschool age groups.”

Wearing his St. Patrick’s Day tie, Nico, 3, is assisted by registered early childhood educator Wendy Oakey at ABC Day Nursery on Lauzon Road on March 17, 2016.

She said the government is “proposing changes to age grouping, ratios, group size and staff qualifications to strengthen quality, increase access and reflect the feedback we received from child care licensees and other early years partners in response to past consultations.”

Gretzky, who is the Ontario NDP education critic, said it’s not too late to oppose the changes which she called a step backwards.

“It’s quite concerning to hear that now we’re going to take even younger children and, as Cheryl (Hardcastle) has pointed out, it’s basically warehousing them. We can’t make this change,” Gretzky said.

So far the petition has more than 1,000 signatures and parents who took petitions Thursday were asked to drop them off at any ABC Day Nursery in Windsor or the CUPE Local 543 office on Parent Avenue by March 23 so they can be presented to Gretzky March 29 at 3:30 p.m. For more information, see www.ontariocanada.com or visit www.childcareontario.org.

shill@postmedia.com

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Patrick Quinn is lucky to be alive and believes his dog Brutus is the reason. 

“I saved him and he saved me,” said Quinn, looking down at the loveable mutt sprawled on the grass outside his Essex home. “I may not have been alive if it wasn’t for Brutus.”

Quinn, 57, was at a self-described “low point in his life” about four years ago when he decided to adopt Brutus, a hulking, black boxer lab mix, from the Windsor and Essex County Humane Society.

“I wasn’t exercising and I was really depressed,” he said. “Brutus was at the very end of the room and he had his head on the ground and didn’t even lift it. It was like he was saying, ‘There’s no hope that anyone is going to adopt me.’ He reminded me a lot of myself.”

On the drive home, Brutus sat in the car and stared at Quinn. When they got home, Quinn took him out for a walk so he could get comfortable with the neighbourhood. After the walk, he hung the leash up.

Patrick Quinn and his dog Brutus prepare to take a walk in their Essex neighbourhood. Quinn credits Brutus for saving his life.

“The next day, he came in and just stared at me,” he said. “I told him to go get his leash. His ears perked up and he left. Next thing I know he’s back in the room with the leash in his mouth. I couldn’t believe it.”

Quinn and Brutus started to walk every day for almost an hour. They walked in rain, snow, and sleet. Those walks helped with Quinn’s depression and alerted him to a potentially deadly health issue. 

He began feeling a burning pain in his chest and back while taking those walks and went to see his doctor, who ordered a stress test. Quinn was told he was at risk of a heart attack if he didn’t have triple-bypass surgery immediately. 

“I was a ticking time bomb,” said Quinn. “He made me walk and I pushed it to the point that I would keep getting this burning in my back which ended up getting me to go to doctor. I could have been the guy that went to bed and never woke up.”

Quinn is in better shape and spirits than ever and Brutus still fetches that leash every day.

“He bugs me every day to go,” Quinn said. “There are lots of days I don’t want to go but I do because of him. It motivates me.”

Quinn believes it was fate that sent him into the humane society looking for a friend.

“I wanted to give him hope,” he said. “Maybe I was looking in the mirror at myself and I wanted hope. He saved me. He’s my best friend.”

The pet adoption process is simple and within 24 hours the animal can go home with the new owner, said Melanie Coulter, executive director with Windsor/Essex County Humane Society.

The society is open Saturday to Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. for adoptions. It is located at 1375 Provincial Rd.

“We always have dogs that are looking for a home and a family to be with,” Coulter said.

ksteele@windsorstar.com

twitter.com/winstarkelly

Undergraduate students at the University of Windsor have voted in favour of implementing an unlimited bus pass.

The vote, part of the alliance’s 2016 elections, saw 56 per cent of students vote in favour of the pass. There were 1,706 votes in favour and 1,329 against.

Students voted on Wednesday and Thursday on whether to adopt the universal transit pass that would provide unlimited rides for a fee per semester.

Graduate students will vote on the bus pass at a later date.

The proposed U-pass was to cost students $82.50 per semester, or $165 from September to April if only undergraduate students voted for it.

If the graduate students vote in favour of it, the cost will be cut to $66 per semester or $132 for the academic year.

Students living outside of Windsor will have the option of opting out.

Windsor Star’s award-winning photographers covered the city and county Thursday. Check out the gallery.

Wearing his St. Patrick’s Day tie, Nico, 3, is assisted by registered early childhood educator Wendy Oakey at ABC Day Nursery on Lauzon Road on March 17, 2016.

ABC Day Nursery students stand in front of podium as Cheryl Hardcastle, MP (Windsor-Tecumseh), right, speaks to a rally demonstrating against proposed changes to licensed child care centres. Behind left, moderator David Petten, CUPE Local 543, waits to introduce the next speaker.

Barb and Rob Stewart celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Kildare House on March 17, 2016.

A local St. Patrick’s Day legend, Kevin Shannon of PaddyWhacked, performs at Dominion House Tavern on Thursday, March 17, 2016.

Lac Pham, left, Patti Melo, Jen McGee, Ryan O’rien, Craig Gillissie and Shawn Parent, right, toast during St. Patrick’s Day fun at Kildare House March 17, 2016.

Kevin Shannon and Ted Lamont of PaddyWhacked performed an exhausting 12 hours during St. Patrick’s Day March 17, 2016. The duo were photographed at Dominion House Tavern, one of the oldest taverns in Ontario.

Dan Byrne, left, Shannon Michalewski and Todd Cloutier enjoy St. Patrick’s Day festivities at Dominion House Tavern on Sandwich Street March 17, 2016.

James Smith, left, and Jeff McKague, toast the music of PaddyWhacked at Dominion House Tavern on Sandwich Street March 17, 2016.

Barbie Stewart during St. Patrick’s Day fun at Kildare House March 17, 2016.

Proprietor Vito O’Maggio during St. Patrick’s Day festivities at Kildare House March 17, 2016.

Kim Carrier, left, Michelle Impens and Shannon Lorenzi move to the music of PaddyWhacked at Dominion House Tavern on Sandwich Street March 17, 2016.

Denny Lafleur, a Grade 12 student at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Secondary School, is shown on March 17, 2016. Despite having no formal dance training, Lafleur has landed roles in the American Ballet Company’s upcoming production of Sleeping Beauty being staged at Detroit’s Opera House.

Windsor paramedics and firefighters are shown on a path between University Avenue West and Wyandotte Street West just east of Cameron Avenue on Thursday, March 17, 2016. They were responding to a man that was found unconscious near the walkway. They were able to wake the man up and help him into an ambulance. The incident occurred at approximately 10 a.m.

Windsor paramedics and firefighters are shown on a path between University Avenue West and Wyandotte Street West just east of Cameron Avenue on Thursday, March 17, 2016. They were responding to a man that was found unconscious near the walkway. They were able to wake the man up and help him into an ambulance. The incident occurred at approximately 10 a.m.

St. Clair College Saints Meighen Boyd battles with Cegep de Sainte-Foy’s Djamila Amidou-Triquet during the CCAA Women’s Basketball Championships held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on March17, 2016.

St. The Clair College Saints get their emotions up before battling Sainte-Foy in the CCAA Women’s Basketball Championships held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on March17, 2016.

St. Clair College Saints Torrie Handsor shoots over Sainte-Foy defenders during the CCAA Women’s Basketball Championships held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on March17, 2016.

St. Clair College Saints Rylee Welsh reaches over Cegep de Sainte-Foy’s Isaeve Sirois during the CCAA Women’s Basketball Championships held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on March17, 2016.

St. Clair College Saints Nicole Tamm shoots over Sainte-Foy defenders during the CCAA Women’s Basketball Championships held at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on March17, 2016.

The Windsor Spitfires and Kitchener Rangers get jammed up on the boards during the Ontario Hockey League game at the WFCU Centre on March 17, 2016.

The Windsor Spitfires celebrate a first period goal against Kitchener Rangers goaltender Luke Opilka during Ontario Hockey League action at the WFCU Centre on March 17, 2016.

The Windsor Spitfires Aaron Luchuk handles the puck while Kitchener Rangers Miles Liberati and Ryan MacInnis defend during the Ontario Hockey League game at the WFCU Centre on March 17, 2016.

Future development of the region’s billion dollar greenhouse and agricultural sectors will be jeopardized if a proposed $12.3-million natural gas pipeline project in Leamington is denied by the province’s energy regulator.

An application filed in January by Union Gas for a seven-kilometre pipeline, which would serve the growing greenhouse and agricultural markets in Leamington, is awaiting approval by the Ontario Energy Board.

“The expansion of the sector has driven the need for more natural gas in the area,” said Justine Taylor, energy and environment co-ordinator for the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers association.

A denial of the project “would mean that expansion in the Kingsville and Leamington area would be limited” and growers would have to look to other areas of the province to expand, or they would have to look across the border, Taylor said.

The region is the centre of the province’s greenhouse industry, with 2,000 acres of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers growing indoors. Taylor said greenhouse production methods rely heavily on energy, particularly natural gas.

Taylor said a strong case has been made to allow Union Gas to construct a larger pipeline in Leamington that would provide the much needed capacity for heating and other energy needs in the south end of the county.

“The OEB needs to see evidence that there is a need and the growers have demonstrated that to Union Gas,” she said. “That was done before the applications.

“This winter’s been very gentle, so it’s not been so bad. Ideally (we’d like to see it completed) before next winter.”

In its application, Union Gas requested approval by June so that construction can begin this summer.

Matt Marchand is pictured in this 2014 file photo.

“The energy infrastructure in the county certainly needs some attention,“ said Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Marchand said an increase in the natural gas supply is needed to power the growing agricultural sector and not just greenhouses.

“We have about a billion dollars, at minimum, industry in agriculture in the county,” he said. “Our goal is to double those exports by 2020.

“As the world population grows demand for food will really expand and we’re going to be in a strong position here in Windsor-Essex to capitalize on that.”

Marchand said 70 to 80 per cent of agricultural products produced here are exported.

“Energy infrastructure needs to keep pace with our ability to grow, produce and export our agricultural products,” he said.

Rakesh Naidu, interim CEO of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation, said his group has been working with Union Gas and also had meetings with provincial officials to discuss both the need for more natural gas and hydro service.

New companies and existing companies that want to expand “don’t necessarily have enough (capacity),” Naidu said. “This is critical. It’s really needed for us to make a case to bring in more investment.”

Essex Warden Tom Bain is pictured in this file photo.

Essex County Warden Tom Bain said job creation is one of the top priorities in the region and if companies can’t or won’t locate here or are unable to expand their operations, there will be no new jobs.

“We’ve found now that one of the big areas for us to concentrate on in economic development is expansion of what we have,” said Bain, who also sits on the board of the economic development corporation.

“About 90 per cent of the new jobs (in this area) are created from expansion, but you have to have the hydro power, you have to have the gas, you’ve got to have those there for them to expand.”

County council agreed Wednesday to send a letter of support to Union Gas for a second proposed natural gas pipeline expansion that would more than double the size of the main line that supplies gas to all of Chatham-Kent and Windsor and Essex County.

If approved, that project would begin in 2017.

The proposed expansion would involve replacing the current 16-inch diameter pipeline with a 36-inch diameter pipe that runs from the Township of Dawn-Euphemia to Chatham-Kent.

And while Bain said the county isn’t in a crisis situation yet, there could be days of high peak demand where industries will not get all of the natural gas they need.

“We need this pipeline because as each municipality in Essex County, as Windsor, as Chatham-Kent continue to add more homes, more development, more industry, it keeps tapping into what’s there,” he said.

“We need a larger supply coming down our way.”

jkotsis@postmedia.com

twitter.com/JulieKotsis

The submission deadline is fast approaching for artists who’d like to participate in the 2016 edition of Windsor’s Artists, Visions, Energies & Sculptures (w.a.v.e.s.) festival.

Those who want their project included and funded have until March 31 at 3 p.m. to send an application to the city’s recreation and culture department at 2450 McDougall St.

It’s the second edition of the riverfront-based w.a.v.e.s. festival which temporarily transforms and illuminates the Windsor Sculpture Park.

Taking place over the course of two days, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, the festival is meant to feature outdoor light, video, and interactive installations, multimedia performances, mobile works, educational workshops, and “the unexpected.”

The city’s recreation and culture department is asking creative folks to come up with “new ways to inspire and engage the public in examining (the park’s) cultural significance.”

A scene from the City of Windsor’s w.a.v.e.s. festival in 2014.

There are three funding categories: $4,000 for large installation or performance pieces; $1,500 for emerging artists or community groups; and $500 for individual or student-led projects.

The application form can be downloaded from the culture section of the City of Windsor’s website (www.citywindsor.ca) or by clicking here.

Project selection will be done by festival curators and the city’s cultural affairs team.

Late applications can be sent in, but the date they are received will be a factor in selection.

Proposed projects should demonstrate at least three of the following criteria:

• Contains new artistic practices that will build Windsor’s reputation for innovation.
• Reflects the city’s people, history, culture, or topography.
• Celebrates Windsor’s communities in an inclusive and diverse manner.
• Engages residents and visitors in an activity.
• Communicates and educates about “Windsor’s cultural scene.”

Applications and further inquiries should be directed to Veronica Samek, program development supervisor for City of Windsor recreation and culture, 2450 McDougall St., 519-253-2300 ext. 2746, vsamek@citywindsor.ca.

Reporter Brian Cross is in Chatham covering the sentencing hearing for trucker Leszek Urbaniak, of London, who pleaded guilty to careless driving in connection with the fatal 2014 Highway 401 crash that killed 13-year-old Alyssa Smulders and her uncle Marc Lafontaine, 35.