Staying Inside Even More

I am sure that you know by now that this is been a very difficult winter and early spring for me. I am not going to write a lot about it again because I have written about this subject quite a few times already over the last few months.

It is now mid-April and it still does not seem like this winter is going away quickly this year. I looked at the weather forecasting recently and it showed rather cool temperatures until early May when it is to get a bit warmer. Even then, I am not so sure that I will want to go out for long walks as I have done in the last few years. Before I do so, I just want to be able to enjoy my walks as I look around and see the flowers starting to grow.

As I am sure that you understand, dear reader, my life is so much different now. I certainly do not have the need to be a "worker." I have been employed for so many years before. Moreover, my illness, from which I have made quite a recovery, still has made it somewhat difficult for me to carry on the way I did, even relatively recently. Accordingly, I have been required to look at everything going around in my life in order to stay well. I have done so and honestly have enjoyed what I have found and carried on these days.  Sure it is a lot different, but I have learned how to change my life to deal with it.

Perhaps you do not find what I am writing about on this particular matter all that interesting, dear reader. That of course is not a big surprise for me. However, I do like talking about it quite a bit because I am hopeful that what I am writing about will help you if you ever get into my kind of condition one day. 

Now, let me talk about some of the interesting stories that I have seen recently.

NEW WINDSOR TAX HEIGHT

Oh my, the taxes have gone up a lot higher than expected for homeowners:

"What was announced in January as a tax increase of just under one per cent, when council approved Windsor’s 2018 budget, has almost doubled for homeowners.

Thanks to a redistribution of taxes approved by council Monday night, the 0.9 per cent increase jumped to 1.7 per cent for residential property owners." (Brian Cross, Windsor Star, March 27, 2018) 

The reason for this is the following:

"Under pressure from the province, council agreed to reduce the tax rate for apartment buildings (classified as multi-residential properties), which means owners of other types of properties have to pick up the slack."

It will be interesting to see what landlords do. Will they reduce the tax rate for their tenants, and the money to be received from them, or will they somehow just leave it at the same amount even though their tax rates will be reduced?  They can probably make the argument about how much money they lost over the past years and it only would be fair for them to make it up for today.

HOW TO FORCE MOROUN TO ACT FAVOURABLY

It really is quite funny. I am sure that this is a technique being used by the newspaper writer in the US to get the Moroun Family to do what he wants. Clearly, he wants them to sell immediately the Michigan Central train station to start up a major project in Detroit.

His column is designed to force them into doing so and in the way that he and others want them to act or else to be afraid if they have any reason whatsoever for not doing so:

"I’ve long argued that as long as this ghoulish edifice sits there empty and blighted, Detroit’s comeback will remain uncertain. It is by far the toughest redevelopment challenge.

Bringing the train station down or bringing it back to life will be the signature event in the city’s turnaround, proof that this revival has reached the point of inevitability, and that from here on nothing is impossible.

It will also signal Detroit has stopped clinging to its past, stopped revering the obsolete remainders of an era that will never return, and is focused instead on building a city that makes sense for its future." (Nolan Finley, Detroit News, March 31, 2018) 

Strange, isn't it. The new technique is now to focus on this building rather than the 2nd Ambassador Bridge. This seems to be huge big issue perhaps because the Moroun opponents know that they have already won the rebuilding of the Ambassador Bridge. Here again is what the writer wrote:

"If this plan doesn’t come to fruition, if the Morouns refuse to cooperate, it should be the end of the line for Michigan Central. Detroit has reached the point where it can no longer tolerate speculators holding onto decrepit structures that hold back the city’s progress.

If the Morouns won’t sell, and if they won’t rehab Michigan Central themselves, the city should use its building code to make their obstinance very expensive. Paper it with violation tickets."

Nothing like putting pressure on them to do what other people want them to do with respect to the rebuilding in Detroit. 

I wonder what will really happen. Will the Moroun family still remain involved with the old building or will they sell it at a very nice amount of money after holding on to it for so many years.  One thing that has to be remembered about them is that they are not in the same real estate business the way other developers have been acting. They are prepared to buy property in an area that they think will be valuable one day and hold onto it as an investment for as long as it takes to do so.  They have held this real estate property on now for over 20 years, so it should be interesting to see what they do shortly and how much money they make.

WHO WOULD VOTE LIBERAL IN WINDSOR NOW

It really does not make sense at all if one lives in Windsor as far as I am concerned. I hardly think that this is going to make people who are going to vote be friendly with the Liberal Government and re-elect them.

Here is what I mean:

"Windsor area sees scant funding for roadways in 2018 Liberal budget" (Julie Kotsis, Windsor Star, March 29, 2018) 

If that happens, does anyone really expect the Liberal Government to arrange for a new road to be built between here and Toronto or to even have a new Hospital built here. I sure don't. All that I see happening is a nice political game that is being played to try to get votes for the Government before the election to help them win majority seats. They would try to get these votes without changing their plans on these 2 complexes until after it is all over with them as the victors.