Clipped From The St.Catharines Standard Newspaper

Niagara smokers could get free medication to help them kick the habit by joining a landmark Ontario study.

Niagara’s public health department will be screening local smokers for eligibility in the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients study, the first of its kind in Canada.

The study, which started last year, tracks the most effective means to quit smoking, said Linda Rix, Niagara’s manager of tobacco programs.

“I really would like to see a high turnout,” she said.

“This is a great opportunity for smokers who want to stop … but don’t necessarily have the means to help pay for these (nicotine replacement therapy) products.”

Residents approved for the study receive nicotine gum, patches or inhalers for up to five weeks to help battle their addiction.
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Clipped From The Welland Tribune

A Garden City company is inviting Niagara residents to an online casting call for TV hosts.

“If you’re comfortable in front of a camera, have an outgoing or quirky personality, we encourage you to get involved,” says Theo Diamantis, creative director of digital media at 180 Marketing.

The agency is looking for people of all ages, genders and ethnic backgrounds to host online television shows it’s producing for a variety of clients in Canada and the United States.

Programming is modeled after popular television shows similar to Entertainment Tonight and Fashion Television.

The agency is casting for three roles in the immediate future and hopes to develop a deep local talent pool from which to draw upon for future productions.

Niagara residents are asked to submit a photo and brief profile from which applicants will be prescreened. They may also submit links if featured in online video content such as YouTube.

Budding television personalities can download application forms or submit their profile online at www.do180.com. Forms will be accepted starting Wednesday and must be submitted by Dec. 5.

A short list of candidates will be invited to a 15-minute screen test at a St. Catharines studio on Dec. 15.

Standing for “brand on demand television,” 180 Marketing has developed a technology platform and business model called BODtv, which capitalizes on the Internet and changes to the way people consume news, educational and entertainment content.

Clipped from the Welland Tribune

A house party attended by a number of high-schoolers ended abruptly Friday night with the stabbing of a 17-year-old male .

Niagara Regional police responded to a northend residence on Gordon Place at about 11 p.m.

Police said the teen was stabbed after an altercation at the party.

He was taken to St. Catharines General Hospital with what police called a “serious but non-life threatening” wound to his back.

He was treated at hospital and held for medical observation.

Derek Veenhof, 19, of St. Catharines, is charged with aggravated assault. He was held in custody overnight and was to appear in a St. Catharines courtroom today for a bail hearing.