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Originally Posted by macca
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...the Scratch Supper Club, interesting. Hope some actual info gets added to that site soon.
On a different note, here are a couple relevant SP articles:
Time to jump at opportunity
By Gerry Klein, The StarPhoenix July 16, 2009
At 2 a.m. on Jan. 22, 1944, Allied troops hit the beaches around Anzio, Italy, just half an hour's drive south of Rome.
Within 10 hours, U.S. Army Maj.-Gen. John P. Lucas, commander of the invasion force, had already achieved more than a day's worth of objectives. But rather than boldly strike north to Rome, or even secure the Alban Hills that overlooked the coastal plain where he had landed, Lucas cautiously opted to secure the beachhead and continue to land troops and materiel.
The Germans, caught absolutely flatfooted and knowing this force threatened to break their solid Gustav Line, capture Rome or both, rushed back in force into the Alban Hills. For the next four months, what in Lucas's words began as "one of the most complete surprises in history," turned into a war of attrition, with German artillery able to reach every square inch of the beachhead that Lucas was so determined to secure before he moved on.
This episode reminds me of the nuclear debate in Saskatchewan. It seems that those who see the benefits of the technology to the province have been so fixated on consolidating their positions within their respective corporate, academic or political silos that they have surrendered the high ground to the anti-nuke forces.
Saskatchewan can ill-afford a sustained war of attrition like the one it suffered in the 1970s, when it last lost the opportunity to capitalize on its vast uranium resource. This time, however, the potential opportunities are even greater and a loss would be much more serious and widespread.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the proposal being worked on by the province and the University of Saskatchewan to build a research reactor on the campus. This idea didn't just sprout from the concern for Canada's medical isotope supply with the Chalk River reactor's extended shutdown, or even from the federal government's decision to mothball the new Maple reactors.
Scientists on the U of S campus, with support from allies from across Canada, have been working on a proposal to build a nuclear reactor in Saskatoon for more than a year. Such a reactor is seen as the natural next step for an institution and community that already host Canada's largest research facility.
Such a reactor would be used to enhance neutron research for Canada's material science capacity. This capacity, by the way, is not only crucial to the sustainability of Canada's industrial and scientific competitiveness, as Brock University physics professor Thad Harroun explains in an opinion piece in Wednesday's Globe and Mail, it is perhaps the greatest impact to be felt from the shutdown of the National Research Universal reactor at Chalk River that had also been supplying medical isotopes to much of the world.
Canada needs such a research facility, and it should have one that is state-of-the-art.
For many reasons, Saskatoon is the best place in Canada to build it. For one thing, great synergies are to be found in building such a research facility close to a synchrotron. Many scientists who work at one facility can also use the other. It's for that reason that France and Sweden both are building neutron beam centres in conjunction with existing synchrotrons.
Canadian proponents already are calling for their proposal to be named the Canadian Neutron Source, to reflect the CLS.
Saskatchewan and Saskatoon also have a long history of supporting this type of cutting-edge nuclear research, which has resulted in the U of S having one of the strongest clusters of physics academics in Canada. And at this particular juncture, the province also has a government at its helm with the requisite will and the wherewithal to support such an endeavour.
But it's worth remembering that former premier Allan Blakeney, too, was a proponent of making Saskatchewan more than just a place to mine uranium. However, his government's efforts to expand the industry got knocked off course by sniping from the hills.
It's also worth remembering that, as natural and obvious as are Saskatoon's advantages, Canada is filled with forces that would rather the enterprise fail than see it come to the middle of the prairies. Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal cabinet minister who fought hard to have the synchrotron built at the U of S, and his collaborator, Doug Richardson, both have told me they met strong resistance within the government and in Ontario from people who believed that if a synchrotron was so important to Canada, it shouldn't be built in Saskatoon.
It was built here, however, and for that the provincial and university officials can take a great deal of credit. But it still took a Herculean effort from federal MPs on both sides of the House, from city council, which became the first to make a significant capital contribution to the construction of a national research facility, local businesses and a population that was well informed and absolutely committed to ensuring that Saskatoon would become more than a service centre for agriculture and mining.
The city still has a chance to advance its growing reputation as a centre of scientific excellence, but it needs to step up soon. The neutron source is an endeavour City Hall, the business community, our federal MPs and citizens should be supporting, along with officials from the university and provincial government.
The CLS has gained an international reputation for the scientific work conducted here. It has attracted some of the brightest minds in the country and the world, it has been incredibly successful at attracting the needed funds to expand, it hosts one of the world's few biomedical beamlines, and it brings into Saskatoon at least $25 million each year for operating costs -- money that would go elsewhere were it not for the dedication of our leaders a decade ago.
It's time for the community to step up again. We can either boldly press forward or languish on the plains, getting sniped at from the high ground we surrendered in silence.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
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Landlord fails to save building from demolition
Grover attempted to get court injunction to stop destruction of westside property
By Jeremy Warren, The StarPhoenix July 21, 2009 8:44 AM
An hour into the demolition of an infamous westside rental property Monday morning, the large backhoe tearing down the home sank into the basement and fell on its side, momentarily stopping the destruction.
Then, before noon, property owner Jack Grover appeared with a Queen's Bench Court order demanding the demolition be stopped immediately.
"This building just doesn't want to go down," said a neighbour. "Tooth and nail, it's fighting to stay."
For two years, the five-unit residence at the corner of Avenue D North and 27th Street West crept toward demolition, which was delayed by a court appeal from Grover.
The city finally won its right in June to tear down the house that's referred to by some neighbours as "condos for the downwardly mobile," and the home of "late night street theatre," a name referring to the constant drama in and around the building.
The court order presented Monday morning briefly stopped the day's work before another judge granted the city permission to continue, with the final wall falling around 3:30 p.m.
Stubborn until the end, the building's demise has been in the works for several years and anticipated by neighbours in Caswell Hill.
Arlene Johnsrude has lived in the area for 20 years, just down the block from Grover's property, which he has owned for 20 years.
Frequent break-ins, vandalism, discarded needles and prostitution have all been linked to tenant activity in and around the house, said Johnsrude. "You just never knew what was going to happen (at the house)," she said. "This is a good day. Nobody should have to live in a place like that."
During the past 10 years, the illicit activity decreased, thanks to different tenants, but those people were evicted, said Johnsrude.
"The city, I guess, needs to concentrate on building more affordable housing," she said.
Demolition started with the three rear units at around 8:30 a.m., and the first load of rubble was hauled away an hour later.
Roughly a dozen neighbours stood in dust-heavy wind gusts throughout the morning to witness the demolition, most happy to finally see the building razed.
After a failed attempt to push the backhoe out of the basement by using the long hydraulic arm as leverage, the operator dug out a wide area in which to turn around and emerged to the applause from spectators.
A short while later, the backhoe was back tearing down the building. It gripped large chunks of wooden beams and pipes with the metal bucket and claw, bringing down a flood of pink wall insulation.
Three of Grover's employees stood around with residents and one agreed the building's destruction was needed.
"It had to go," said Grover's handyman, Chris Schaun. "People don't want this sore thumb on the block."
But the city was unreasonable in its maintenance demands, he added.
"We had five orders at once for structural, electrical, plumbing (work)," said Schaun. "The city closed it down so we couldn't meet the deadlines. We couldn't get ahead of it."
The city originally planned to demolish the building in July 2008, calling it structurally unsound, and evicted the residents, but Grover appealed the decision and the demolition was delayed a year.
In June, the appeal failed and the city hired a contractor to level the building.
"Usually, by the time we get to this stage, there is no willingness from the owner to do it himself," said fire marshal Wayne Rodger.
"This only happens when we have no options left."
The demolition bill -- it cost $40,000 for the last city-forced property dismantling, a two-story single-family dwelling -- is given to the owner, who still owns the lot.
"It's so impatient and so immature to do that, to go demolish the building," said Grover in a phone interview. "They didn't like me and they didn't like the property."
The city wasn't present in court Monday morning, but once it learned of the order Grover had obtained, the city solicitor's office went to another judge and, in a conference call with Grover, it was determined demolition could proceed.
Grover maintains the city is responsible for damages to his property, especially after the first order was issued on Monday.
Demolition and damages are two different legal issues, said city solicitor Theresa Dust.
Coun. Darren Hill has worked with area residents who wanted to see the property demolished, and he toured the property a day before it was condemned.
He saw standing water in the basement and doors that didn't shut, among other problems.
"It's sad to see the elimination of rental stock in the city, but there has to be basic standards of quality," he said.
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© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
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