Niagara College Students Prepare for Icewine Harvest by ALEX EDDIE Icewine Harvest
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http://www.newsatniagara.com Feb. 2, 2007 Volume 37, Issue 7 SeeSee PagePage 2424 See Page 15 The Best Way To Connect With Niagara See Page 15 St. Catharines Council Exploringexploring IsraelIsrael to honour ‘Polka King’ By STEPHEN DOHNBEG the city’s new hospital. Staff Writer “Suggestions have already One of the fi rst items on the started to pour in,” McMullen fresh St. Catharines City council’s confi rmed. agenda in the new year seems The ever-humble polka king to have come by a fun, random responded with his typical accident: honouring 20-time humility. Grammy-nominated polka king “At this stage of the game, I’m not Walter Ostanek. asking for anything.” To Ostanek, it Jan. 26 saw Ostanek’s 50th sounds like such recognition would anniversary as a bandleader, and be icing on the cake. on Feb. 22 Ostanek celebrates his “I’ve accomplished everything 50th wedding anniversary. that I’ve really wanted to do. I’m If those weren’t already just a happy camper.” milestones, now the city, aided by He referenced his joy of living Mayor Brian McMullen, agrees in St. Catharines and his hope of that Ostanek should be honoured engaging in more charitable causes in some way. as he takes more time away from According to McMullen, the the recording and touring circuit. recognition initially was an idea “Dreams don’t always come of St. Catharines resident Jenny true, and sometimes the dreams do Hendrin. “She simply wrote in come true, and in my case I love expressing that someone explore what I do. I love the accordion. a way to do this, and I decided to I love polka music, and I love take it upon myself to just initiate entertaining for the people, and that.” little by little things have happened McMullen has requested the for me. city’s input. He has asked that “I am very happy that someone suggestions be called into City is taking an interest. If it happens, Hall at the mayor’s offi ce at fi ne, and if it doesn’t, you won’t 905-688-5600, or e-mail him at hear me complain because I am [email protected]. already very happy.” “Walter’s all about fun, and McMullen expects that the polka’s fun, so I thought we could selected idea will be announced by have some fun with it.” late spring. Ideas coming in range from When asked about budgetary In Israel’s newest and most secular city, Tel Aviv, funky apartment buildings, monstrous hotels and the traditional statues, or park or limits or cost concerns, McMullen trendy bars line the shore of the Mediterranean sea. For more photos and the full story on Israel, street designations, to the more noted, “Walter is very loved. We see page 8 unconventional, like a yearly music could certainly expect support Photo by Robyn Hopper festival, or the naming of a wing of from the private sector.” Niagara College students prepare for icewine harvest By ALEX EDDIE icewine harvest. ago. The winery program, map since we are able to do it Staff Writer Icewine grapes are left on fi rst launched in 2000, takes consistently every year.” What you pay for in price, the vine and picked off at a in 35 students a year. They Because Niagara is the INDEX you get right back with an temperature no warmer than are taught how to harvest only college in Canada to elegant taste. minus 8 degrees Celsius, icewine grapes in the only teach how to harvest regular During the week of Jan. 15, when the grapes are frozen college in Canada to offer the wine grapes and icewine Editorials pg. 6 students at Niagara solid. When wine grapes are lesson. grapes, one might expect the College’s pressed, they burst, releasing “It’s a very elegant and teachers to feel the pressure Columns pg. 7 Niagara-on- all the juices and water from very expensive product,” of being market leaders, but, the-Lake the grape. While they are says Ogryzlo, adding that according to Gill, they feel no Health pg. 14 campus were being pressed, only the purest an average bottle of icewine pressure. outside in the nectar is squeezed out since costs around $60. An average “We like it. Students get Noise pg. 16 below-freezing 80 per cent of the water inside bottle of wine costs $12. hands-on experience with it, weather, minus 8 the grape is still frozen. Ogryzlo says that Niagara and it’s a very positive thing Politics pg. 19 degrees Celsius to This year, the college used icewine has been hailed as for the students and for the be exact, picking a cabernet franc grape for the “nectar of the gods” and industry.” Super Bowl pg. 20 grapes off the its harvest. The expected “liquid gold.” You can visit these and vine for this year’s production is over 50 cases. Steve Gill, manager of other wineries in the Niagara Jon Ogryzlo, dean of the winery and vineyards at the region: Château des Charmes For OCAA standings Environment, Horticulture college since 2000, says that Wines, Henry of Pelham check and Agri-Business division, Canada wins the top awards Winery, Coyote’s Run Estate newsatniagara.com has seen many harvests since for icewine each year and Winery, and Jackson-Triggs the division started 10 years that it has “put Canada on the Niagara Estate Winery. Page 2, news@niagara, Feb. 2, 2007 Canada lacking preparation for next epidemic By KRISTEN COUGHLAR Williams explained that experts say that the emergence of unlikely we would be the fi rst place it would present itself,” Staff Writer a pandemic is imminent with “signifi cant morbidity.” because, unlike Toronto, we do not have a large amount of Experts say it’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when. “What we don’t know is what that will mean in terms of international travel. The Jan. 9 fi nal report by Justice Archie Campbell on the a profi le.” “We would be a participant, not a leader,” Williams 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak Williams went on to say that SARS was a hospital-spread explains. has people wondering if Canada will be prepared for a similar disease, and a pandemic is expected to be community While signifi cant strides have been made to improve the epidemic. spread. health care system’s ability to handle future epidemics, In a phone interview, Dr. Robin Williams, medical offi cer When asked what kind of effect an event like SARS would “We are not yet as safe as we should be,” Campbell says in of health at the Regional Niagara Public Health Department, have on the Niagara region, Williams says, “It would be the report. says, “Many steps have been taken by the government.” Since the 2003 outbreak that killed 44 people in Toronto, the government has made the following improvements to the public health response system: PR pro shares helpful hints with students • Passing legislation to make the Chief Medical Offi cer of Health more independent • Increasing funding to local public health units by over 65 per cent • Establishing the Provincial Infectious Disease Advisory Committee • Creating an Emergency Management Unit to improve communication • Passing the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act • Making Ontario a leader in pandemic preparedness • Working to supply N95 respiratory masks to the front line • Changes to Health System Improvements Bill. On the local level, Williams says there has been “non-stop planning since 2003.” This can be seen through enhancements in public health services including infection control and pandemic planning. There is also the new $15-million Jeff Morgan Emergency Students from the Public Relations (Graduate Certifi cate) program heard fi rst-hand experiences from a public Department at The Greater Niagara General Hospital relations consultant’s presentation on Jan. 16. From left are students Nik Duncan, Katharine Griggs, Rachel equipped with isolation rooms connected to air-handling Gencarelli, speaker Michael Shipticki, vice-president of Strategic Objectives, student Melinda Bruhlman and and fi ltration systems to hold people suspected of having Colleen Lowe, professor. contagious illnesses. Photo by Laura Narducci Hibernation . Out of the Cold helps homeless By STEPHEN DOHNBERG Warmer temperatures Staff Writer The week of Jan. 24 brought an Arctic air mass, pushing temperatures as low as minus 19 Celsius in the Toronto and Niagara region. While temperate conditions have prompted other concerns over the loss of tourism affecting animals dollars to global warming trends, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the normally cold temperatures and alerts bring a demand for extra services for homeless and street people. The Niagara Chapter of the Out of the Cold program provides safe haven for those who By SHAWN DIXON awake, confused and using their much- fi nd themselves trying to survive the sub-freezing temperatures. Staff Writer needed energy. As Susan Venditti, chair of the Niagara Chapter, explains, Out of the Cold “is a church- There are hundreds of hibernating “Animals [that should hibernate] run based program that provides food and shelter to the hungry and homeless every night animals and insects in Ontario, and t h e out of fuel and outright die, or they don’t from Nov. 1 to March 31.” current high temperatures have energy for mating,” said Storey. As Venditti explained, many locations provide respite. “A different church opens its are thinning their The current temperatures do not doors to anyone who comes, welcomes them and provides them with a meal, with or numbers. affect the hibernating patterns of without an overnight stay.” “Animals hibernate larger animals such as bears and For those who do seek shelter, the churches participate in a set rotation.