The City of Guelph puts out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…?

City of Guelph Hires New Deputy CAO

The fourth chair in the City’s executive team has been vacant for a couple of months (save for acting Deputy CAO Stephen O’Brien), but the City of Guelph announced this week that they’ve officially hired a new Deputy CAO of Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services. The new appointment is Jayne Holmes, who comes to Guelph after serving a number of positions with the City of Brampton, which is fitting since Holmes’ predecessor, Kealy Dedman, left Guelph to work for Peel Region back in April.

“We’re excited to have a driven leader with a passion for sustainability join our team,” said CAO Scott Stewart in a statement. “Jayne will play an integral part in setting Guelph up for future growth and helping us achieve the goals set out by the City’s Strategic Plan: Guelph. Future Ready. She’s committed to finding innovative ways to make Guelph a great place to live and the City a great place to work—we couldn’t be more excited for her to start.”

Same Guy Busted for New Incident of Anti-Asian Racism

Guelph Police arrested a man who was verbally assaulting a couple with racist slurs, and to their surprise, and perhaps delight, it was the same man that was charged with criminal harassment earlier this year for repeatedly bothering another Guelphite with anti-Asian racism. This latest incident happened on Tuesday morning in a secluded south end park. When the couple reported the incident, police found the 21-year-old suspect alone in the park at which point he told the police he was mad at Asian people because [checks notes] they brought COVID-19 to Canada. The man was charged with assault and criminal harassment, in addition to the other charges he was already facing.

City Wants Feedback on Wastewater Plan Update

The City of Guelph is looking for feedback about their update to the Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Management Master Plan. From now until June 11, you’re invited to watch the virtual open house and then fill out the online survey. This update will look at the long-term plan for how the City manages wastewater (anything you flush down your sinks, drains and toilets), and how they can do it in a sustainable way so that waterways and the environment are protected while the City adds capacity to handle Guelph’s growing population out to 2051.

PIN Hosting Live Weekly Q&As

The People and Information Network has started hosting live chats on their Instagram channel on Wednesdays at noon. If you have a question about volunteering in Guelph and Wellington – like how you can get involved, and whether or not it’s safe to volunteer with the pandemic still being a factor – you should tune in some Wednesday to ask your question.

PetSmart Gives Humane Society Some Money for Pet Care

The charity branch of PetSmart as donated $25,000 to the Guelph Humane Society, which will be used to cover the costs of getting 400 kittens ready for adoption including spay/neuter surgeries and vaccinations. The spring is a busy time of year at the Humane Society for new kittens, and the money will go to their medical care, upkeep, socialization, and, when the time comes, their adoption with a new family.

“With this funding, we are thrilled to support GHS’s efforts to help more kittens get adopted at such a busy time in the year and proactively reduce the homeless pet population throughout the area,” said Charlotte Palmer, Adoption Grants Manager at PetSmart Charities of Canada in a statement. “This work and GHS’s new building will help even more pets find loving homes while freeing up space for additional pets in need.”

Current and Upcoming Road Construction

*Two weeks of construction begins on Monday May 17 to build a sidewalk on the north side of Arkell Road.

*A noise exemption notice has been given to Metrolinx for work on the Speed River Bridge at Fountain Street. Constructions starts on Monday May 17 and will continue until December.

*Five days of construction at Kortright Road East and Fieldstone Road will begin on Monday May 17 to construct a new pedestrian crosswalk.

*Earlier this week, lane reductions begun on Arthur Street South as curbs are removed and repaired, manhole covers are raised, and roads are being repaved. The work will take two weeks to complete weather permitting, and two-way traffic will be maintained at all times.

*Lane reductions for similar reasons have also begun on Eleanor Court, Fobert Court and Eric Court today. The work here is expected to take up to four weeks weather permitting

Reminder: Help Raise Money for Guelph Arts

The annual Guelph Arts Council fundraiser, Collector’s Dilemma, is happening now, and it runs through May 20 offering 80 different pieces of art representing a wide range of media, styles, sizes, and values starting from $25. Click here and start bidding!

U of G Researchers Need Your Cats to Wear Cameras

The University of Guelph is tying cameras around the necks of cats to find out what they do when no one’s looking, and they’re asking cat owners to volunteer their animals to take part in the study.  Drs. Elizabeth Gow and Ryan Norris in the Department of Integrative Biology are attaching “cat cams” to the collars of various cats so that they can better understand how far cats travel, what dangers they face, what other animals they encounter, how they interact with other cats and what sort of prey they kill.

“We think some might be surprised to find what their cats really get up to,” said Gow in a statement. “We really want better estimates of how much wildlife cats take – and what kind of wildlife. We know it’s a lot and we tend to assume it’s just mice and birds, but perhaps it’s also butterflies, moths, amphibians – we’d like a better estimate of those.”

And pet owners, there’s something in it for you too. “The volunteer pet owners will be given a highlight reel of their cat’s behaviour at the end of the study. They will also be given the results from their cat’s personality test and entered into a draw for one of three $50 gift cards from Ren’s Pets,” added Gow.

Get more infomation at TheCatCamera website.