Richard Leitner

Canada

Reporter at The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, ON)

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Articles

Stoney Creek residents ‘at wits’ end’ on Taro dump odours

Feb 3, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

GFL is coming under fire for claiming odours from its Taro industrial dump are now “minimal to moderate” and “fleeting” even as public complaints continue to pile up. “I sincerely believe the residents are at their wits’ end at this experience,” area Coun. Brad Clark told company officials at a Jan. 30 online community update meeting on GFL’s progress in addressing odour complaints, an ongoing issue since 2023.
Flood risks sink fifth Dundas plaza redevelopment bid

Jan 31, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

Flood risks are again sinking another bid to redevelop the Beer Store plaza on Cootes Drive in Dundas. Citing the potential threat to people’s safety, Hamilton Conservation Authority directors have denied a permit application for a six-storey condominium building on the 0.49-hectare property, located at the northwest corner of Cootes and East Street North.
Hamilton Children’s Museum expansion marries new and old

Jan 29, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

The $5.8-million transformation of the Hamilton Children’s Museum is taking shape, with a wraparound addition at the former farmhouse at Gage Park nearly complete. Museum staff, who have hosted regular off-site events during construction, are expected to return in April and begin installing exhibits for an anticipated fall reopening as work shifts to other finishing touches, like outdoor landscaping.
Hamilton Children’s Museum expansion marries new and old

Jan 29, 2025 | hamiltonnews.com | Richard Leitner

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Macassa Lodge gets extra time for employee training

Jan 23, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

The city says it will comply by July 1 with a provincial order to train about 500 employees at Macassa Lodge on managing violent patients. Prompted by an anonymous complaint, the training directive was among nine orders issued by a Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development inspector after a November visit to the Upper Sherman Avenue long-term-care home. The original deadline for compliance was Jan. 3, but the city was granted an extension.
Taylor Draak didn’t want to go to a hospital in Florida ‘over constipation.’ Hours later, the Dundas woman was near death

Jan 20, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

Rapidly bleeding internally and in “excruciating pain” as a helicopter readied to airlift her to a second hospital, Taylor Draak gave her mom a final goodbye on her boyfriend’s cellphone through her oxygen mask. “I just kept asking everyone if I was going to be OK, but then I knew by people’s faces that I wasn’t. Either I was going to make it or I wasn’t,” the 26-year-old Dundas resident recalled thinking as she asked for the near-deathbed farewell.
Hamilton set for arctic chill after brief warmup

Jan 16, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

Brace yourselves. Environment Canada says it’s going to get “significantly” colder than usual in Hamilton after a brief warmup on Friday and Saturday, when forecasts call for daytime highs of 2 C. “Then we get a low-pressure system with a really strong cold front. It’s a sharp one that’s really going to plummet the temperatures,” meteorologist Trudy Kidd said, noting Sunday’s forecasted high is only -7 C.
Macassa Lodge ordered to train workers to manage violent patients

Jan 13, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

The city says it’s “working diligently” to comply with provincial orders to train more than 800 workers at Macassa Lodge on how to manage violent patients and to update procedures for reporting incidents. An anonymous complaint prompted a Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development inspector to issue nine orders after a November visit to the city-run Upper Sherman Avenue long-term-care home. The inspector set a Jan.
What did people borrow last year from the Hamilton Public Library?

Jan 13, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

Hamilton author Anuja Varghese’s “Chrysalis” managed to buck a trend toward national and international bestsellers by becoming the second-most borrowed adult-fiction book at Hamilton Public Library branches in 2024. Only British author Lee Child’s “The Secret” topped Varghese’s short-story collection, which was also the third most popular ebook. The winner of the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award was also selected as the Hamilton Reads 2024 title.
Five key Waterdown projects to watch in 2025

Jan 8, 2025 | thespec.com | Richard Leitner

Driving into Waterdown is going to become a bigger challenge in the latter half of 2025 as the city repairs a Dundas Street East bridge. The repairs are one of three major road projects on the area’s councillor radar. Ted McMeekin said other key priorities for the coming year include a new recreation centre and the planned police and fire station to be built near the southeast corner of Highway 6 and Parkside Drive.