VANESSA PURDY (read by Tyler Irving): Toronto Farmer’s Markets could be granted a waive in their fees thanks to city councillor Mike Layton. Layton is trying to save farmers’ markets thousands of dollars in parking fees by introducing an annual permit designed solely for selling local produce.

Recently, transportation officials became aware that the traditional street event fee of $81.33 didn’t really apply, as it was intended as a not for profit rate, one that doesn’t technically apply. This has resulted in the application of a daily charge for farmer’s markets, one that could leave them out of business. It could be upwards of $2,000 for parking alone. In general, farmer’s markets have annual budgets of less than $10,000.

Toronto is home to 30 farmers’ markets, in operation from May to October, and a minimum of 5 would be affected by these changes: Trinity-Bellwoods, Withrow Park, Riverdale Farm, East Lynn and Sorauren Park. Councillor Layton has proposed a one-time fee to be enacted annually and with consultation by transportation officials, set at a daily rate of $71.97. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY (read by Tyler Irving): ECO Canada, a group that is part of Canada’s sector council initiative established in 1992 and develops programs to help people build environmental careers, announced their annual Environmental Employer of the Year Award winners. They have picked companies for dedication to environmental human resource excellence. These awards are chosen based on employee evaluation.

The winners this year are SIMS Recycling Solutions, a recycling company spreading 5 continents, in the large company category, and Environmental Dynamics Inc, a western Canadian environmental consulting group, as a small to medium category. Grant Trump, President and CEO of ECO Canada, says: “Well-developed HR practices are the basis for any company’s success, but particularly when you consider the recruitment and retention demands of our industry today,”. And this is the spirit behind the largely employee-driven Environmental Employer of the Year Awards. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY (read by Tyler Irving): The Council of Canadians is calling for significant resources to be allocated toward protecting the Great Lakes as a Commons, a Protected Bioregion and a Public Trust. This announcement cames just as the Federal Government prepared to announce its new budget. The CC describes the how and why of this demand in their report today entitled Our Great Lakes Commons: A People’s Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever.

The report is a call to understanding and action on the new demand to designate the Great Lakes as a lived Commons, to be protected, managed and appreciated, especially by those who live around them. The protection would be based on the Public Trust Doctrine, and it must be proven that the lakes are integral to the livelihoods of those plants and animals living near them.

In the water chapter in the Alternative Federal Budget, the CC calls for $3.375 billion in funding throughout five years. This funding would go toward the cleaning of polluted rivers and lakes, and protecting Canada’s waterways from species that are invasive, and toward the Great Lakes clean up.

The long-term goal of CC and other groups is a full treaty between the United States and Canada declaring the Great Lakes to be a lived Commons. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (read by Danielle Bonnett): A freight ship has broken up on Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, spilling as much as 800 tons of oil. Nightingale Island is part of an island chain belonging to the United Kingdom. The M.S. Oliva ran aground near the island last week, and has since broken in two. All of the ship’s crew were rescued safely.

The ship has already released 800 tons of oil, with another 800 tons slowly leaking from the wreck. The spill has washed into penguin habitats, and has coated an estimated 20,000 rockhopper penguins with fuel oil. The island chain is home to large numbers of penguins, including the endangered rockhopper.

One salvage ship has been dispatched from South Africa, with another on its way. The response now will focus on cleaning up the spill, as well as trying to save as many oil-coated penguins as possible. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (read by Danielle Bonnett): The ongoing nuclear accident in Japan is reviving debate in the United States over where to store nuclear waste. A contributing factor to the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan has been the large amount of spent nuclear fuel stored on-site. This spent fuel is kept immersed in storage pools, and is meant to be for temporary storage. But Japanese officials failed to find permanent storage sites for the waste, allowing it to accumulate on site. Japanese technicians are now working desperately to keep the on-site waste cool and contained.

The situation has reminded politicians in the United States that many American nuclear power plants are accumulating even larger stockpiles of on-site nuclear waste. This has led to arguing in Congress over the search for a permanent nuclear fuel dump. Debate is now going on over the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Though many in Congress support the project, Nevada politicians and even President Obama have been fighting to cancel it. In the mean time, the United States will have to figure out where to permanently store its growing piles of nuclear waste in order to avoid disasters like those in Japan. [ index ]