http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/ Arts & Life brought to you by Tbnewswatch.com Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:38:27 GMT 5 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/images/tbnewswatchlogo.JPG http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/ http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187479 Two decades after she lost her father to Alzheimer’s disease, Sharon Dawson says people aren't as afraid to ask for help as they used to be. Dawson joined more than a hundred people at the Thunder Bay Alzheimer’s Society Walk for Memories event at the Intercity Shopping Centre on Sunday. She has participated in the society’s fundraising for the past 10 years. She started volunteering with the society in honour of her dad, John Arnold. He passed away 20 years ago after doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s. He was 64 years old. Dawson said when her father was diagnosed the disease was considered new and the Alzheimer’s Society was still in its infancy. She said there was a lot of stigma around the disease and people were unsure how to react around those who had Alzheimer’s. “People would turn away, they didn’t know what to say or how to help,” she said. “I think with the awareness now that the society has brought forward that stigma is reducing. People are becoming more open to the idea of being diagnosed. People aren’t afraid to reach out for help. The most important thing people can do is reach out to a family.” Dawson said she felt robbed because her children wouldn’t have a grandfather to play with. It’s important to know that life can go on even after being diagnosed, she said. By the end of the day, the walk raised more than $42,000. Alison Denton, executive director of the Thunder Bay Alzheimer’s Society, said they were pleased by the amount raised and felt confident that they would meet their goal of $50,000. Earlier in the morning, Denton said she expected about 200 people to come to the event, which was about the same as last year. “This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Denton said. “We start things off in January with an awareness month and then we cut things off at the first weekend in February. The $50,000 will stay here in Thunder Bay to support services and education provided to people who have dementia living in the district of Thunder Bay.”  Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter @Labine_reporter   Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:10:28 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187479 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187373 Leesa Roleck’s dream is to meet Dolly Parton. The 43-year-old has been a fan of the famous Tennessee singer since she was three years old.  She grew up watching and listening to Parton over the years and even saw her perform live on stage. Doctors recently diagnosed Roleck with a terminal illness. She said they asked her what her one wish was and it was to see the acclaimed Smoky Mountain Songbird before she died. “It would be my dream,” Roleck said. “It would mean the world to me. This is all I ever wanted even if it is the last thing I do before I die. Nothing means more to me than meeting Dolly Parton. She writes a lot of songs that have a lot of meaning to me. Sometimes I think she may know me personally.” She was able to arrange a meeting with Parton through the Dolly Parton Foundation. Everything was set to go except on how to get there. Roleck said she needed to raise about $5,000 in order to transport herself and her caregivers to Dollywood in Tennessee. In order to raise the amount needed, Roleck and her friends arranged for a benefit at the Confederation College cafeteria on Saturday. Roleck, who celebrates her birthday Sunday, wore a complete Dolly Parton outfit complete with a blonde wig and her idol’s beauty mark. Parton started her career as a singer at an early age singing on local television and radio stations. Those early success helped launched Parton to stardom. But it was Parton’s humanitarian work that Roleck said made the biggest impression on her. “She does a lot of charity work for a lot of people around the world,” she said. “She just does a lot for so many people and that’s what really drew me to her.” Roleck’s benefit wraps up at 4 p.m. Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter @Labine_reporter Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:11:22 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187373 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187235 Health care researchers gathered Friday to network and discuss their findings with local care providers and policy makers in an effort to improve patient services in this region. The 2012 St. Joseph's Care Group Research Showcase took place at the Nor'Wester Hotel.  Scientific Director Michel Bédard said sharing information at conferences such as this helps ensure valuable findings don't get lost in scientific journals, but rather are embedded into the health-care system. Wesway was one of several health-care organizations represented at the conference, which was attended by about 100 people.   Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:09:38 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187235 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187061 The trees in Thunder Bay aren’t going to start budding today, or even six weeks from now, despite what Canadian groundhogs are predicting, says a local climatologist. Thursday morning Wiarton Willie did not see his shadow in southern Ontario, therefore predicting an early spring. A similar prediction was made by Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam. Thunder Bay climatologist Graham Saunders examined the groundhogs’ predictions a couple of years ago and said they don’t have a good track record when it comes to predicting how long winter will last. “It’s also pretty difficult to condense the weather of the next six weeks into whether it’s early spring or not; in our area it’s unlikely we’ll have an early spring,” said Saunders. Environment Canada spokesman Geoff Coulson agreed. “I don’t think (the groundhog) could ever be right for Northwestern Ontario,” he said. It would have to take an incredibly warm March with no cold temperature dips for that to happen, he added, noting that is unlikely to happen. Normal spring-like temperatures in Northwestern Ontario don’t happen regularly until mid-April typically. Wiarton Willie is said to be about 37 per cent accurate in his predictions, but Coulson said that depends on what a person’s definition of spring is. “Traditionally, for me, spring is said to be arriving when we start to get those steady temperatures of high single digits and low double digits,” he said. Throughout history on March 16, the average temperature in Thunder Bay has been a high of zero with an overnight low of minus 11. “So a forecast of six more weeks of winter or an early spring in Northwestern Ontario doesn’t really pan out as well as it would perhaps in other parts of North America,” Coulson said. “I don’t know if anybody’s definition of spring, even in Northwestern Ontario, of spring is a high of zero and an overnight low of minus 11.” For April 16, the average local high is 9 degrees. But Coulson said the city has seen some rather high temperatures on that day as well, specifically 19.8 in 2002 and 14.5 in 2004. Thunder Bay and much of Northwestern Ontario has been experiencing warmer than normal temperatures this winter. January was five degrees warmer than usual, making it the warmest January since 2006. Cities and towns like Sioux Lookout, Kenora and Dryden also experienced warmer than normal temperatures, according to Environment Canada. “A number of locations across Northwestern Ontario did experience a much milder than normal month of January; it is traditionally our coldest month,” said Coulson. “It is the month we would expect to get some pretty bone-chilling temperatures.” The forecast for the next seven days calls for a lot of sunshine and milder temperatures to continue, Coulson said, adding more seasonal temperatures should return by the following week.   Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:45:43 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187061 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187087 When the Bearskin Airlines Hope Classic first started 15 years ago, organizers had no idea what they’d created. Attempting to raise $5,000 to support breast cancer research, they raised $39,000 that first year. It jumped to $90,000 by 2000 and by 2006, a whopping $210,000 was collected. Their annual total hasn’t dropped below $165,000 since, money that offers hope to those touched by the deadly disease. “Every year is special at the Bearskin Airlines Hope Classic because every year is different,” said committee member Sue Childs, a fixture at the annual event for as long as it’s been around. “We change things up so that nobody knows what to expect.” Well, other than those on the receiving end of the funds, namely the Linda Buchan Centre through the Northern Cancer Fund. “But it is also a weekend of 265 or 270 women getting together, raising money, having fun, laughing, crying. The camaraderie is unreal.” Story continues after video ...   They take what they can get, said Childs, whose best friend Buchan was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39, dying eight years later in 2002 from the disease. “We have some ups and downs. The year that Linda passed obviously the women worked harder. The year of the 10th anniversary, the women worked harder. So who knows? These are tough economic times for everyone, so anything is a bonus.” The three-day event, scheduled to start on Feb. 17 at the Fort William Curling Club, has worked miracles for cancer research, said Michael Power, the vice president of regional cancer care and diagnostic services at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “What you do for our cancer centre and our cancer patients is amazing,” Power said Thursday at a luncheon held to honour the Classic’s many sponsors. The advances made since 1997 have completely modernized the way cancer is detected and treated, he added. “We are now in a situation where we are diagnosing an overwhelming number of women with stage 1 and 2 of the disease, which is ultimately treatable and can save lives,” Power said, noting that well over 50 per cent of women who should be screened for breast cancer in Northwestern Ontario are getting the test done. Still, those numbers could be better, he added. “With your help we can to that number to 55 per cent to 60 per cent t0o 70 per cent and break through the provincial standard.” Joanne Lacourciere, the director of diagnostic imaging at the hospital, said the money has been put to great use. “In my mind I was doing the mental math,” she said. “With a little over $2 million we’ve bought two mammography units, we bought an ultrasound unit and a couple or reading stations for our radiologists to do their work. “We bought biopsy devices and I think about the Linda Buchan Centre and the infrastructure required to deliver high-quality care and I bet you the Hope Classic has paid for all of that. It’s been essential, I guess that’s the only way to say it.”   Follow Leith Dunick on Twitter: @tbnewswatch.com     Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:12:25 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=187087 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=186854 Maggie Ryan is $70,000 in debt and still working toward her bachelor of arts degree. Michael Snoddon owes $38,000 and counting. David Briand has to pay back $30,000 and he’s only in his third year of a civil engineering degree program. Crippling debt-loads are the reason the three Lakehead students joined forces with a 100-strong group of protestors to demand action from the federal to help stop skyrocketing tuition fees from overburdening students any further when they graduate. Story continues after video ...     Ryan said she’s had enough. “We as students need to be heard,” she said. “We need to tell the government how much we owe and ask why we aren’t getting the funding or the help we deserve.” Ryan said trying to pay back her debt post-degree is going to be disastrous. “I still have absolutely no idea how I’m paying it off,” she said. “I work full time flipping burgers and to me that’s where it seems like I’m going to be spending the rest of my life trying to afford to pay back what I owe to the governments,” she said. Briand is in a similar boat, although he owes less than half what Ryan does. It was important to come out and support the national day of protest, which has crowded streets from one side of Canada to the other. Students simply can’t afford to keep getting hit in the wallet as governments increase tuition fees year after year. “It’s terrible. It’s going to take me a hell of a long time to get out of this. It’s not something I’m looking forward to,” Briand said. “It’s a problem. Egged on by megaphone-toting fellow protestors, students filled the school’s Agora with a myriad of rally chants, ranging from “Education is a right, we will not give up the fight” to “We don’t want no mac ‘n cheese. Yo! Dalton, drop the fees.” Snoddon, the president of the Lakehead University Student Union, said the coast-to-coast action in Ontario is specifically aimed at getting the province to extend its much ballyhooed tuition grants extended to all students. Because he’s 24, Snoddon doesn’t qualify, under criteria set forth by the province. “And federally we’re asking the federal government to do something about the $15 billion in student debt that we owe,” he said. “We see in countries from other economies that are doing very well from investing in post-secondary education. “There’s strong correlation from this, so we’re calling on both governments, provincially and federally, to invest in post-secondary education.” Students were being encouraged to send faxes to Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Diane Finley to encourage action before January, when student debt levels are projected to hit the legislative ceiling.       Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:03:13 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=186854 http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=186694 Representatives from dozens of Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities met in Thunder Bay to help shed light on First Nation energy needs. More than 200 people attended the Nishnawbe Aski Nation conference at the Valhalla Inn. The three-day conference, which started on Tuesday, focused entirely on the energy needs of First Nation communities. NAN Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit said many who live in the far north rely on diesel or wood burning stoves for heat and some don’t even have power to their homes. “The top priority is shining a light on the communities,” Louttit said. “That’s what this is really about. There are communities in the dark in this century. Can you believe that? That is our top priority. We hope the federal and provincial governments will help us to prepare a plan.” There have been many chiefs meetings but it was the first time that representatives from of NAN communities met to discuss a single issue, he said. Louttit said all the energy alternatives – such as wind, solar and hydro – need to be explored and studied. He said the conference will be a success if they can network and share information on different projects. “They are on the grid on the eastside of NAN,” he said. “By sharing and networking as well as working with the government and companies we can all put something together that will be viable for First Nation people.” story continues after video ...     Michael Fox, a speaker at the conference, said he wanted to highlight the renewable energy potential in the Ring of Fire area. He said they could create alternative power sources and move away from diesel. In order to accomplish this, Fox said there are some policies they have to deal with. Specifically he mentioned the controversial Far North Act as a possible challenge to overcome. The Ontario Liberal government made the act law in 2010 in order to support First Nation land use planning and protect the land. “(The Far North Act) talks about community use around waterpower versus commercial scale power projects,” Fox said. “That’s something that I think each of the communities are going to have to grapple with in terms of commercial sized projects. I think waterpower projects can be one of those projects that you can do concurrent planning.” He said they will need to do some site investigations before going ahead with any projects. Once those investigations are finished, they communities will have to apply those sites for approval to the Ministry of Natural Resources. It is up to the ministry to see if the applications even are processed, he said. Fox added they have also discussed isolated grids to help provide power to communities. While talks are ongoing, Fox said he didn’t think these ideas have been fully studied. The conference continues Wednesday.     Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter: @Labine_reporter Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:02:20 GMT http://www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/Default.aspx?cid=186694