Gina Burgio, Hamilton-Niagara-Halton-Peel Real Estate

If you’re like me, you’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring and all the activities that come along with it. But as we wait for the days to grow longer and the temperatures to improve, there are still some tasks on your home’s interior that need your attention. Here are a few household maintenance tips that will help your home run at tip-top efficiency:

· Remember to clean or replace the air filters in your furnace, and also in your range hood for top efficiency. If you have a forced air system with an air humidifier, clean out those filters too. It’s a good idea to do this every month.
· You can also help optimize your furnace’s performance by keeping your air ducts clean. Remove the register covers and vacuum inside the ducts whenever you do your carpets. A professional duct-cleaning from time to time will improve both heating and air conditioning efficiency, as well as remove potentially harmful allergens.
· Check the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. A good time to do this is when the clocks change at the end of Daylight Savings time. You can do the same when the clocks turn back again next fall.
· While your windows are still closed tight from winter’s stormy blasts, it’s a good time to inspect them to see if there’s any condensation or leakage on the inside. Caulk any seams or edges that may be letting cold air or moisture in.
· If you’ve been enjoying fires in your wood burning fireplace or wood stove, you’re probably due for a chimney cleaning. This is a task that’s best left to the ‘pros’, so plan on booking a cleaning for after your last fire of the season.

If you’d like more homeowner tips, or if the coming Spring has your thoughts turning to a change in your real estate needs, I hope you’ll pick up the phone and give me a call. I’m always happy to talk about real estate, and you may be surprised at some of the options that I can suggest.

The skinny on Hamilton: We're fatter than most AP Photo It's estimated that 74.3 per cent of adults in the Hamilton ... AP PhotoIt's estimated that 74.3 per cent of adults in the Hamilton area are either overweight or obese. That's three out of four people aged 18 and over.

March 29, 2010 Andrew Dreschel
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 29, 2010)

The numbers are staggering.

It's estimated that 74.3 per cent of adults in the Hamilton area are either overweight or obese.

That's three out of four people aged 18 and over.

We crush Toronto (50.9 per cent overweight or obese), flatten Montreal (51.6), squash Calgary (53.8), and easily roll over both the national (59.1) and Ontario (58.6) levels.

The figures come from a Statistics Canada study of 29 census metropolitan areas (CMA). Hamilton's CMA includes Burlington and Grimsby.

The news is not all belly-bearing bad.

For example, it's estimated that 24.5 per cent of kids between ages two and 17 in Hamilton are overweight or obese, slightly below the national level of 26 per cent.

And Statistics Canada says some of the numbers should be interpreted with caution.

Still, when Hamilton's chart-topping ranking for adults is combined with other studies, it's clear this city has an elephant, not a monkey on its back.

Why are Hamiltonians so tubby and blubbery?

"We're asking ourselves the same question as well," says Dr. Nihn Tran, one of Hamilton's associate medical officers of health. "It's a complex issue."

Tran says nothing really stands out to explain why the rates are so much higher than in other places.

But as with other communities battling the bulge, Hamilton's public health unit is both looking for answers and realizing that just telling people to eat healthier and be more active is not working.

Tran says it's well known Hamilton has a high poverty rate and that low income is linked to weight problems.

"We know if you can't get afford healthy nutritious meals, people tend to buy cheaper, more calorie-dense meals that increase obesity."

And the easy availability of food and snacks probably plays a part.

"The more easily accessible something is, the more likely you are to get it."

But Tran says researchers are still fine-tuning research methods that hopefully will determine to what extent other factors play a role.

For example, the same 2006 StatsCan report noted that U.S. data has found associations between obesity and urban sprawl, suggesting that an increased dependency on cars decreases opportunities and motivation to walk.

According to Tran, public health is starting to shift its strategy from relying on educating people to considering those kind of environmental factors.

That includes working with the municipality and schools to address issues such as increasing walkability, bike trails, active transportation and food policies.

It also includes pitching the city's two biggest initiatives -- participation in the Pan Am Games and building a light rail system.

Tran says the games will create more physical activity facilities while light rail will get people out of their cars, walking to and from transit connections.

Tran diplomatically declines to point the finger at good ol' greasy gluttony to explain the growing spare tire syndrome.

But he says bigger food portions and serving sizes, advertising and marketing all play a part in people making unhealthy choices.

Interestingly, recent immigrants are generally less likely to be fat than people born in Canada. At least at first.

"Then, at some point, they adopt our culture and move more to obesity and overweight."

StatsCan calculates overweight and obesity body mass index, a measure of weight adjusted for height.

For example, a person whose height is 1.78 metres (5-foot-10) would be considered in the overweight category if they weighed 79.1 to 94.8 kg. (174-208 lb.).They would be obese if they weighed 94.9 kg. and over (209 lb.).

Being overweight is associated with increased health risks. Obesity puts a person at high risk for developing health problems.

Tran says both categories can have a huge impact on a person's health -- diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease.

And then there's the other ripple effect -- more fat people means more stress on our already stretched health care system.

Police: Amber Alert for 2 Ontario boys is over

The search for two young boys abducted from a Kingston Children's Aid office ended Monday afternoon in the Town of Markham, northeast of Toronto. A sharp-eyed citizen recognized the abductor's vehicle from an online news report and phoned police, ending an Amber Alert issued earlier in the day.

The motorist spotted the wanted car just after 3 p.m., in the area of Markham Rd. and Steeles Ave. E., and followed it as he called 911, York Regional Police Sgt. Laurie Perks said.

"Our officers stopped the vehicle and arrested the gentleman without incident," Perks said, explaining the silver Chrysler was pulled over in the area of Hwy. 7 and Donald Cousens Pkwy, about 8 km from where it was first spotted and 250 km from Kingston.

"The children were in the car and they were uninjured," she added.

Perks said the man was taken into custody and charged with two counts of parental abduction and assault with a weapon.

The toddlers were placed in the care of Markham Children's Aid Society until they can be returned to Kingston CAS, Perks said.

She was unable to say if the accused father, who will remain in custody in Markham until Kingston police pick him up, was armed with mace when he was arrested.

The Frontenac County Children's Aid Society is defending its security after the man, having a supervised access visit with his children, abducted them from the agency's Montreal Street offices.

"Unfortunately something went wrong," said Yvonne Cooper, communications co-ordinator for the society.

"I don't know specifically what happened." Police say a CAS worker was threatened with mace.

Cooper said the society was providing services to the family and a supervised access visit was taking place.

Two staff members were involved.

"We've got security in the building but you never know what is going to happen," she said. "We take every precaution that we possibly can to make sure that our staff and our families and our children are looked after, that they are safe."

Cooper said that supervised visits take place in a room that is monitored by video camera and through a window from which staff can watch.

She said someone was watching this visit but she couldn't say what happened when the parent began to leave with the children.

"I don't know because I'm not sure specifically at what point in the visit it happened," she said. Cooper said staff would have tried to intervene.

"I don't know specifically what transpired there but Š they knew something was wrong and this wasn't going the way it was supposed to, so our staff did what they could and called the police as well," she said.

Cooper said commissionaires are on duty at the society's office building, which it shares with the City of Kingston. It also has a number of alarmed emergency exits.

"We do not have armed security staff at our building," she said.

Kingston Police issued their first Amber Alert in the department's history after the two boys were taken from the Children's Aid office at about 9:30 a.m..

The alert, which employs a provincial notification system, swiftly spread word of the abduction to news agencies, police and other organizations across the province. The alert was cancelled when the boys were found just after 3 p.m..

Sgt. Steve Montpetit said he quickly notified provincial police in Quebec about the Kingston case, out of concern that the father might drive to a Montreal-area airport.

Police said the father had come from Saskatchewan for the supervised visit and may have attempted to return there.

Cooper said the situation would be reviewed.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that Š our security's not good or anything like that," Cooper said. "What it means is Š we had a circumstance that we have to look at to see what we can do to make sure that it doesn't happen again." Guidelines for issuing Amber Alerts provide that there must be concern that a child is in danger.

"We use Amber Alert any time we feel that there is jeopardy or danger for the children," said Montpetit, the OPP officer based in Orillia who co-ordinates the program.

"Whether it's a parent abduction or a non-parental, just a family friend or even an unknown, we utilize the Amber Alert for those." Montpetit said the system was reviewed last year, in an effort to simplify the process, but it is still used infrequently. He estimated that there have been four alerts issued since last October.

He said police can contact his office about issuing an alert in any abduction involving a child when they have information either about the child, the abductor or the vehicle.

Police: Amber Alert for 2 Ontario boys is over
By ROB TRIPP and CHRIS DOUCETTE, QMI Agency

I'm just sending a note out there this morning, hoping we'll hear good news today about the 15 year old boy hurt in the big crash on the QEW a few days ago. I believe he underwent surgery yesterday and his condition was unchanged. I was late for a meeting on Wednesday waiting for this to be cleared and upon hearing what happened I was again reminded about priorities. As the mother of four boys my heart goes out to his family.

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/739653

From the Globe and Mail

STEVE LADURANTAYE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2010 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2010 3:09AM EDT

REAL ESTATE REPORTER

After a historic runup in prices, the Canadian resale housing market is set to cool down as a wave of new listings hits the market, providing badly needed inventory for hungry buyers.

The number of homes on the market nationally increased for the third consecutive month in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. The industry group said yesterday there were 4.7 months of inventory available in Canada in February, up from 4.5 months in January.

That trend has put buyers and sellers in an equilibrium not seen since before the market downturn began about two years ago. The ratio of new listings to sales, an indicator used by analysts to gauge the health of the resale housing market, left the "favourable to sellers" range to the "balanced market" range in February, according to National Bank Financial.

It's a sign of stability for a sector that has seen wild price appreciations as buyers competed ferociously for the few homes on the market.

"Further expected supply increases will continue to take the steam out of housing markets as the year progresses," said Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association. "There are still a number of major markets where sales negotiations favour the seller due to a shortage of inventory, but supply has begun rising."

More listings help prevent bidding wars and could slow house-price gains this year. The association expects prices nationally to decline slightly next year.

Still, some major markets such as Toronto and Vancouver will be slower to add listings this year, industry officials said.

"You still see a supply shortage in the big centres because the people who need to sell and move up just don't see anything they want to buy," said Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage. "But we're ahead of the curve on new listings in February, and March will be absolutely critical if that trend is to continue."

The Monday following Ontario's March Break is traditionally the busiest listing day in Canada, as the weather turns favourable and parents who will need to relocate their children realize the school year is coming to an end.

"That's the day everyone puts on their game face and gets chopping," Mr. Soper said. "It happens every year - it's like the summer blockbuster season."

The busy spring will have consequences, however. Many of the homes will be put on the market earlier than in other years as owners look to cash in on the hot market. The flurry of activity is expected to dampen sales in the last half of 2010.

"I think we'll see a sharp up-tick in sales, followed by a massive pullback," said TD Bank economist Millan Mulraine. "We're taking sales from the end of the year and moving them up. Then you should see a market that is more in line with fundamentals."

In the meantime, the number of home sales continued on a tear in February with a 44 per cent year-over-year gain from recessionary lows a year ago, CREA figures showed.

The average price of all homes sold on the Multiple Listings Service in February was $335,655, up 18.2 per cent from a year ago. The relentlessly strong price gains since last year's lows have fuelled worry about the formation of an asset bubble.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is watching the country's mortgage market carefully but does not believe there is a housing bubble, he said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Anything that helps prices stabilize would be a welcome development for policy makers, who are taking steps to make it more difficult to qualify for a mortgage in a bid to cool off the market.

While more listings are expected this year, buyers are expected to be out in full force for the foreseeable future.

Buyers are expected to rush into the market in the coming months to avoid changes to mortgage application rules in April, anticipated higher interest rates by midsummer and the introduction of harmonized sales taxes in Ontario and British Columbia in July.