Philip Alves

Vaughan city councillors are pleased with a recent court decision that cleared them of wrongdoing and bias against Mayor Linda Jackson. Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers’ ruling, released last week, dismissed Jackson’s claims that council’s unanimous call in June to pursue charges after a court-ordered audit of her campaign finances hinged on a series of illegal actions.

Mayor Linda Jackson says she’s disappointed with a recent court ruling in her battle with the city and is considering her options.

It’s a development so bright even the Vatican is keeping an eye on it. Woodbridge’s St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School officially launched its new solar photovoltaic system Monday. The system, which includes five solar panels arranged in the shape of a cross above the school’s main entrance, is the first of its kind in the York Catholic District School Board.

Mayor Linda Jackson says she will release a statement later today in response to a court ruling by Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Lauwers released last night.

Every dark economic cloud has a silver lining, even in this gloomy recession. Small- and medium-sized businesses — those that employ fewer than 100 people — make up nearly 97 percent of Vaughan’s 9,000-plus business base. Each faces unique challenges but all can take steps to survive and prosper.

It’s all over but the waiting. Thornhill MP Peter Kent, a proponent of extending the Yonge subway into Richmond Hill, submitted the project as worthy of some of the billions in infrastructure dollars pledged in last month’s federal budget. The problem for subway trainspotters north of Steeles Ave. now, however, is competition for those dollars from across the country.

York Central Hospital ER patients with serious conditions are waiting longer to be discharged or admitted to a hospital bed than the provincial average. According to www.ontariowaittimes.com, a site launched last week by the province, patients with complex conditions face wait times of 15.3 hours at York Central, above the provincial average of 13.5.

With the economy on the skids, people everywhere are taking a fresh look at their financial situations. And that’s as it should be, says Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of Slice’s Til Debt Do Us Part. “I’ve been singing this song for a while and all of a sudden everybody’s just got the songbook,” she says. “It’s just common sense: you can’t spend more money than you make.”

Vaughanians living with chronic kidney disease will soon have access to life-sustaining dialysis treatment much closer to home. The province and York Central Hospital recently announced plans to launch a new dialysis unit at 9401 Jane St. this fall.

York police pulled the trigger this week on a program aimed at getting illegal firearms off the streets and legal ones into proper, secure storage. The Safe and Secure Gun Program has three components: gun surrender, enhanced tracking and analysis of stolen and recovered guns, and home and commercial security assessments.

Tiziana DiCastro has a tough job to do and she does it very well, her boss says. DiCastro is both a preschool teacher and supervisor of early childhood education at Royal Crest Academy in Maple.

The weather outside is still frightful but a sure sign spring is about to bloom is coming to Canada’s Wonderland.