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Making ends meet can be hard, especially when pets are involved. On Friday afternoon, families on assisted living and the homeless can bring their pets to the Ray-Cam Cooperative Centre on East Hastings for a free examination. The checkups will take place from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Medication will be available on site.

Not only in Vancouver

The Ottawa Mission held a free veterinary clinic Saturday for homeless people and other individuals unable to pay for regular veterinary visits for their dogs and cats.

Three local veterinarians and two veterinary technicians volunteered their time to treat 31 people’s pets, which included 24 dogs and 16 cats. Between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., the clinic offered vaccinations, general checkups and basic grooming.

Clinic clients had referrals from the Ottawa Mission or another area community centre and were registered with Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

The Mission hosts the free vet clinic about four times a year, once each season, but they have not yet set a date for the fall clinic.

Gassing up in the last few days has gone from painful to torture but relief is on the way. If you can avoid it, don’t top up your gas tank until tomorrow.Liberal MP and gas guru Dan McTeague says we should expect a significant decline in prices at the pump.

“I’m expecting that the oil companies remit the money that they’ve been taking from Canadians to the tune of some 20 cents a litre.”

He says people should wait until after midnight to gas-up. He also insists there’s so much more the government can do to protect the consumer against price gouging.

The spike is blamed on Hurricane Ike, which missed a vital concentration of oil and petro-chemical refineries in the Houston area.

Gas is over $1.50 a litre in many places around the Lower Mainland, but at least we’re not southern Newfoundland. Gas there is $1.66 a litre.

From http://www.news1130.com

news from Saturday - 13 September -

Gas prices were expected to jump as much as 13 cents a litre across Canada and parts of Metro Vancouver over the weekend as Hurricane Ike threatened to strike U.S. refineries along the Texas coast.

Drivers in some parts of the country, including Greater Victoria, already faced soaring gas prices Friday because of the storm. Gas prices at the pumps around Victoria leapt 13 cents to $1.52 a litre overnight Thursday from $1.38 — the average price at the pumps for drivers in Metro Vancouver Friday.

In Metro, gas prices remained relatively steady, with the highest prices at $143.9 a litre at a Coquitlam Shell station in Coquitlam, followed by $1.42 a litre at six stations across North Vancouver, according to Gasbuddy.com.

A group of nudists from Surrey is planning a protest today over the plan to remove dozens of trees on White Rock’s “hump”.About 30 trees have already been cut down in the area south of Marine Drive near Lions Park, and another 30 have been tagged for removal.

According to the Province newspaper, Burlington Northern Railway ordered the area cleared over concerns the trees would ruin the view from a new condo development nearby.

“Surrey United Naturists” say the hump is always under assault and this plan is just the latest.

From http://www.news1130.com

Photo from http://flickr.com/photos/joyce-h/2644401215/

Taking advantage of the KRAZY! show at the Vancouver Art Gallery, a massive selection of local artists, big and small, along with tables and tables of dealers are going to be gathering this Sunday , August 24th. And you’re invited! Between 11Am and 5PM you can come meet the artists and peruse the swag for the way too reasonable price of free!

The list is way too long, but you can find out who all will be there at the official website! Regular rates still apply if you want to check out the KRAZY exhibit.

Photo from http://flickr.com/photos/rog45/2220328952/

West Vancouver police have launched a new interactive website designed to increase the flow of information between the force and residents.The site, which was launched on Friday, includes reviews of cold-case murder investigations, mug shots of wanted criminals and electronic feedback forms so people can comment on their experiences with police and civilian staff.

The 44,000 residents of West Vancouver can also sign up for “E-Policing” to receive electronic newsletters about crime activities, trends and prevention via e-mail, police said.

“This was our way of connecting more so than we ever have in the past with the larger community,” West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed said of the website, which he estimates cost the force less than $10,000.

“It’s not about just seeing a police officer on the streets, it’s connecting from a BlackBerry or a laptop.”

About 900 people are already being e-mailed lists of crime statistics through the city’s block watch program, but now the same information will be presented graphically using new mapping software, Cpl. Fred Harding, a spokesman for the force, said.

And in a month or so, Google Earth is expected to be integrated into the mailings so residents can see crime statistics coordinated with satellite images of West Vancouver, Harding said.

“When Kash Heed took over last year, this department was in the dark ages in many ways,” Harding said.

“Our old website was stale, and the way we communicate through our website is vital to how we look and how we operate.”

The revamped site was modelled partly after the Los Angeles police department’s, which also includes the E-Policing model, Harding said.

West Vancouver police have also begun posting jobs for both policing and civilian positions on the website, along with information on how to apply, in hopes of attracting “the very best candidates” in every possible way, Harding said.

A similar move by Vancouver police early this year resulted in “a dramatic increase in applications,” said Howard Chow, a recruiter for Vancouver’s force.

The website can be found at www.wvpd.ca

from http://www.canada.com/vancouversun

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouvergo/2452935703/

A Vancouver woman is among five finalists for a contest seeking the world’s greenest person.Emily Jubenvill, 22, is the Canadian finalist of the contest sponsored by website 3rdwhale.com. The website’s founder, Simon Fraser University professor Boyd Cohen, said Jubenvill’s passion for community gardens may have given her the edge over other entrants.

The average transportation required for food to reach the dinner plate, and the fact that much of it is heavily pesticide or fertilizer intensive, are among the most problematic issues the world must address in the coming years, Cohen said.

“Community gardens are going to be a big part of the solution, and she’s proactive about doing that,” he said.

Six hundred entries from around the world were whittled down to the five finalists, following two rounds of online voting. The next round will select the winner, who will have a pod of Arctic beluga whales adopted in their name.

Jubenvill, who works for a bioenergy company in North Vancouver, said she’s pleased she tried a different approach than other the entrants.

“I got an email forward around Earth Day, and thought it’d be pretty cool to see how I fared against the other eco-concious Vancouverites,” she said.

“But I found (the entries) were kinda boring to read, with the same format, same information. I said, ‘Well, that’s lame. I’m going to make a movie.’ ”

Her short YouTube video about her lifestyle, which includes maxims such as buying locally, avoiding harmful chemicals and composting, clearly struck a chord with voters.

Cohen said the common thread among finalists is their willingness to apply their passion for sustainability to their careers and personal lives.

He said he wants the contest to make stars out of people who are going above and beyond to live a green lifestyle, likening it to an “American Idol for green people.”

The winner will be announced on Sept. 16.

from http://canadianpress.google.com