The London area economy is forecast to bounce back to 2.8% this year, one of the best rates in the country, says the Conference Board of Canada.
The board's annual forecast on major metropolitan areas shows that auto centres are on the rebound, with Windsor leading the nation next year with a 3.9% increase in GDP and Oshawa at 3.5%.
The report said a rebound in both manufacturing and the service sectors will boost the London-St Thomas area growth rate to 2.8%, up from 2.2% last year and a decline of 4.4% in 2009.
Unemployment is also forecast to fall below 7% this year.
The report said London's manufacturing sector had a strong rebound last year, up 6.7%, after plummeting 15.2% in 2009.
"As world economies improved last year, London's goods sector began to recover as well, with the manufacturing sector posting its first increase in five years."
The sector is expected to grow by 3.4% this year.
The report also forecasts that housing starts in the London area will post a solid gain with 2,300 starts, bucking a national trend.
In the longer term, GDP growth is expected to trend around 3% from 2012-2014 and unemployment will continue to fall gradually.
Up to the minute news and information for London Ontario Canada and surrounding regions.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Somolian Pirates kill 4 Americans on hijacked yacht
Four Americans on a yacht taken over by pirates were killed near Somalia, CNN reported Tuesday, citing U.S. defense officials.
The Americans were apparently shot during negotiations, CNN reported.
The Americans were apparently shot during negotiations, CNN reported.
Man gunned down in shootout
The province's Special Investigations Unit has taken over an investigation after a man died following a shootout with police in Grey County Sunday night.
OPP officers responded to a business on Highway 6/10 south of Rockford just before 8 p.m. after a report that a male employee had been shot.
The OPP were told the suspect the suspect was still inside and surrounded the building, Suddenly a pickup truck drove past the officers and headed north.
Police pursued the vehicle north of Owen Sound toward the hamlet of Kemble, where the truck hit a spike belt that had been deployed.
Around 9:50 p.m. the pickup stopped on a nearby sideroad.
The male driver got out of the truck holding a firearm. A number of shots were fired by both police and the suspect before he fled on foot.
The Tactics and Rescue Unit and the OPP Canine Unit found the body of the man at about 10:30 p.m..
OPP officers responded to a business on Highway 6/10 south of Rockford just before 8 p.m. after a report that a male employee had been shot.
The OPP were told the suspect the suspect was still inside and surrounded the building, Suddenly a pickup truck drove past the officers and headed north.
Police pursued the vehicle north of Owen Sound toward the hamlet of Kemble, where the truck hit a spike belt that had been deployed.
Around 9:50 p.m. the pickup stopped on a nearby sideroad.
The male driver got out of the truck holding a firearm. A number of shots were fired by both police and the suspect before he fled on foot.
The Tactics and Rescue Unit and the OPP Canine Unit found the body of the man at about 10:30 p.m..
Murder trial set Dec. 5
STRATFORD — The trial of a father accused of killing his one-month-old daughter won’t start until December.
Robert Rivet is expected to have a jury trial with jury selection starting Dec. 5. The trial is expected to wrap up Dec. 16.
“It’s the next available time when Superior Court is sitting and witnesses and defence council are available,” said Crown attorney Henry Van Drunen.
Following a preliminary inquiry, Justice Kathryn McKerlie ruled Rivet would stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder.
Skyla Rivet died Jan. 16, 2010. She was rushed to Stratford hospital and then transferred to Children’s Hospital in London with “critical injuries” the night of Jan. 15.
An autopsy determined trauma was the cause of death.
Van Drunen said because this is a smaller jurisdiction judges are pulled in from surrounding areas, so the times are booked in advance and Superior Court doesn’t sit every day. Because this is a fairly lengthy trial it was more difficult to find a time to accommodate it.
If the trial were only two days long it would have been scheduled sooner, Van Drunen said.
“It’s not out of the ordinary at all,” he said.
Robert Rivet is expected to have a jury trial with jury selection starting Dec. 5. The trial is expected to wrap up Dec. 16.
“It’s the next available time when Superior Court is sitting and witnesses and defence council are available,” said Crown attorney Henry Van Drunen.
Following a preliminary inquiry, Justice Kathryn McKerlie ruled Rivet would stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder.
Skyla Rivet died Jan. 16, 2010. She was rushed to Stratford hospital and then transferred to Children’s Hospital in London with “critical injuries” the night of Jan. 15.
An autopsy determined trauma was the cause of death.
Van Drunen said because this is a smaller jurisdiction judges are pulled in from surrounding areas, so the times are booked in advance and Superior Court doesn’t sit every day. Because this is a fairly lengthy trial it was more difficult to find a time to accommodate it.
If the trial were only two days long it would have been scheduled sooner, Van Drunen said.
“It’s not out of the ordinary at all,” he said.
Escaped killer on the loose in Ontario
Police are on the hunt for a missing convict serving a life sentence for igniting a blaze that killed his ex-girlfriend's lesbian lover.
Brent Crawford, 30, failed to return Friday while on a three-day pass from a Ontario federal minimum-security prison, said Det. Mark Clendinning, with the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement squad.
He was due to return unescorted from Peterborough, Ont., back to Beaver Creek Correctional Institution, near Gravenhurst, about 166 km north of Toronto, Friday at 5 p.m.
As of Sunday afternoon, investigators said Crawford has not been located.
Clendinning said it was bizarre for the prisoner not come back, as he was eligible for parole, having served 10 years of his life sentence for first-degree murder.
But also strange is Crawford's love triangle that led to his conviction.
On Aug. 19, 1997, Crawford knocked over a candle to start a fatal fire in Killaloe, Ont., that killed Nancy Fillmore, who was sleeping and drunk.
He was allegedly urged to do it by his former lover and her ex-girlfriend Cherrylle Dell, who was 27 years older than him.
In videotaped evidence never shown at trial, Crawford confessed to police that he murdered Fillmore. He also told investigators that Dell paid him $750 to kill her former lover.
Crawford, whose legal first name is Ashley, was sentenced in May 2001 to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.
Dell is also serving a life sentence for murdering her husband Scott Dell, on Dec. 29, 1995, by lacing a bottle of wine with anti-freeze. Police learned of the murder from Fillmore six months before she was slain.
She also pleaded guilty for counselling Crawford, who was 16 years old at the time, to intimidate her former lesbian partner.
She is eligible for parole in 2022.
Crawford is a white man, 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds., with blue eyes and brown hair.
He is known to have contacts in eastern Ontario, including Pembroke, Trenton and Brighton.
Brent Crawford, 30, failed to return Friday while on a three-day pass from a Ontario federal minimum-security prison, said Det. Mark Clendinning, with the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement squad.
He was due to return unescorted from Peterborough, Ont., back to Beaver Creek Correctional Institution, near Gravenhurst, about 166 km north of Toronto, Friday at 5 p.m.
As of Sunday afternoon, investigators said Crawford has not been located.
Clendinning said it was bizarre for the prisoner not come back, as he was eligible for parole, having served 10 years of his life sentence for first-degree murder.
But also strange is Crawford's love triangle that led to his conviction.
On Aug. 19, 1997, Crawford knocked over a candle to start a fatal fire in Killaloe, Ont., that killed Nancy Fillmore, who was sleeping and drunk.
He was allegedly urged to do it by his former lover and her ex-girlfriend Cherrylle Dell, who was 27 years older than him.
In videotaped evidence never shown at trial, Crawford confessed to police that he murdered Fillmore. He also told investigators that Dell paid him $750 to kill her former lover.
Crawford, whose legal first name is Ashley, was sentenced in May 2001 to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.
Dell is also serving a life sentence for murdering her husband Scott Dell, on Dec. 29, 1995, by lacing a bottle of wine with anti-freeze. Police learned of the murder from Fillmore six months before she was slain.
She also pleaded guilty for counselling Crawford, who was 16 years old at the time, to intimidate her former lesbian partner.
She is eligible for parole in 2022.
Crawford is a white man, 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds., with blue eyes and brown hair.
He is known to have contacts in eastern Ontario, including Pembroke, Trenton and Brighton.
Man arrested after 78-year-old shoved off cliff
Police said an elderly man remained in hospital Monday with a fractured pelvis after an irate man pushed him off a cliff in Victoria, B.C.
At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Victoria police responded to a beach after reports of an unconscious man.
A 29-year-old Saanich, B.C., man was arrested.
Witnesses told police a man was yelling and swearing at people on the beach, and randomly directed his anger toward a 78-year-old senior, pushing him off a cliff.
The pair tumbled down the embankment, with the suspect landing on top of the unconscious man.
Another man attempted to assist the victim, and was also attacked. He was able to flee and call 911. Police arrested a man a short time later.
Police said the man in custody and victim are not known to each other.
The man, who has not yet been identified, faces aggravated assault charges.
At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Victoria police responded to a beach after reports of an unconscious man.
A 29-year-old Saanich, B.C., man was arrested.
Witnesses told police a man was yelling and swearing at people on the beach, and randomly directed his anger toward a 78-year-old senior, pushing him off a cliff.
The pair tumbled down the embankment, with the suspect landing on top of the unconscious man.
Another man attempted to assist the victim, and was also attacked. He was able to flee and call 911. Police arrested a man a short time later.
Police said the man in custody and victim are not known to each other.
The man, who has not yet been identified, faces aggravated assault charges.
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