School closures teach kids a lesson.

So after the ever diminishing education budget of the Canadian government, yet another school bites the dust. The initial assumptions for school closures in Vancouver was that 10 schools could end up closing. So far three schools are slated for closure in North Vancouver with Plymouth elementary, blueridge elementary, and now Fromme, yet according to School board chairwoman Susan Skinner, "Even if all three schools are closed, North Vancouver will still have about 1,000 empty desks." Now to me, that doesn't sound like a lot of progress is being made, which when the district is facing a $6,000,000 shortfall in 2010-11 can't exactly be claimed the way to go. Another problem for North Vancouver education is that the district of West Vancouver has managed to hold its own against private schools in the area, so obviously West Vancouver is looking like the better place to send your kids to school, and thats exactly what is happening, with North Vancouver losing around 547 students to the West according to a brief produced bt Plymouth school. Besides the problem in the West, the North Van district has trouble with losing kids to private schools, with around 20% of the districts children going private. It almost seems like no-one likes the North Van education system, yet it's not just that children in North Vancouver aren't going to school here, another problem that affects the number of empty desks in North Van schools is a fact that demographics in North Vancouver show as a huge problem here. With an average age in North Vancouver being slightly higher than it should be, and a lack of affordable housing within this wondrous North, not everyone can afford to stay, let alone send their children to a rapidly declining education system. Are school closures the way forward? Well with the board chairwoman voting against closure of fromme school, I'm probably going to go with her and say maybe not, we shall see.

The huge turbine that couldn't.

So Grouse mountain's new attraction, a thing of beauty you could say, and i would not disagree more. This honking piece of metal atop of one of the most beautiful sceneries I have yet to witness doesn't just ruin the Grouse skyline, it also doesn't work. This 65-metre turbine could just as well be another tourist attraction, being the only turbine in the world with a viewing platform. The 'Eye of the Wind', (clever name don't you think?) can be seen right at the top of Grouse, and to be honest isn't exactly pretty, snowboarders and skiers all around North Vancouver are probably very upset about it ruining one of the top 10 vancouver attractions, and is barely moving as it is. Having been up to the peak of Grouse myself and never actually seeing it move, i start to wonder whether it was a good idea in the first place. Aside from the fact that it barely moves, however, is the fact that even when it does miraculously move, it produces absolutely no electricity. The cost of this beast is also undisclosed, as Grouse mountain spokesman William Mbaho states that, "The cost should be irrelevant," claiming that he won't be, "disclosing any dollar figures." Now something that costed how much, we may never know, in my mind does not help the beautiful landscape of North Vancouver there's not much else that could go wrong, right? You could not be more wrong. Grouse's 'Eye of the Wind' is not actually connected to the provincial power supply. The original figures for the turbine was that it was supposed to provide up to 25 percent of Grouse mountain's power, not bad if you ask me, yet BC Hydro spokesman claims that the turbine does not yet meet safety requirements "The system that they are proposing is not the same that is required by all customers who have generators of that size on our system, and it's required for safety reasons and reliability reasons," he said. And these few itty bitty details aren't the only problems with Grouse's newest attraction. Apparently, the turbine is also a risk to birds and bats, two of which species are in danger, yet all Grouse mountain's spokesman Mbaho had to say was that, "It is a fact that birds and bats can be harmed if they fly too close to the turbine." After such negative evidence against the turbine, it's hard to say that it will have any positive effects on Vancouver's initiative against global warming, we shall see however, I'm just waiting for it to actually work to hedge my bets.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/04/14/bc-grouse-mountain-wind-turbine-stalled.html#ixzz0mSg11f5Q

Sharks lose their bite...yet again.

So, the excitement starts again with the beginning of the Nhl 2009-10 playoff series. The start of the playoffs kicked of with 2 games from the Western conference, and 2 from the Eastern. To say that these games didn't go to plan for the higher seeded teams would be an understatement. In the first 4 games of the series, only 1 higher seeded team came out on top with a 3-2 victory over Detroit, who, being a lower seeded team was still predicted to come out on top of this series. Perhaps the most disappointing, yet most expected letdown so far has to come from the Sharks. San Jose came out of the regular season with 113 points, just 8 behind the top team in the entire league, and a record of 8-1-1 coming up to the postseason, they had the one thing they failed to gain in the playoff chase lat hear, momentum. Now im not one to comment, with the Sharks' not making it past the second round in the last 4 seasons, coming out of the regular season with momentous accomplishments in the regular season, i wouldn't blame them for being a bit shaky. After last season however, the Sharks came in with plenty of words of encouragement with Manny Malholtra, the Sharks centre, commenting "We are what we are to this point, and the future is what we make it." And boy did they make it, San Jose came out of the game with a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche who failed to make the playoffs last season. Joe Sacco had high expectations for his teams chances against the Sharks, however, commenting that, "[He] thinks [San Jose] had higher expectations than what they've achieved. And it's going to be our job this year to make sure that happens again." The Avalanche showed that they could do just that with a shootout victory againts the Sharks in their last meeting before the postseason. San Jose have had many changes to their team though, with the addition of Dany Heatly, and Rob Blake overtaking Marleau's responsibility as captain of the new and improved Sharks franchise. A good addition you might think, however, Blake's presence did little for the Sharks, netting the game winner for the Avs, in his new San Jose Jersey. From the Sharks last few entrances into the postseason, we can't think to expect much from them, though as my playoff pool victory depends on them winning, I'll definitely be routing for San Jose, though in very low expectations.\

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/36527368/ns/sports-nhl/