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Family book clubs, robots that can be coded and online read-a-longs in French and English are just a few of the supports available to parents and kids through the Brantford Public Library.
Although students have returned to in-person classes, parents might be looking for additional tools to supplement what their children are learning in the classroom. All of these items are free with a library membership and memberships are free for anyone living in Brantford. In fact, every family member can get their own library card.
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The city has approved an $86.7-million capital budget that will be invested in infrastructure upgrades and renewal projects.
Councillors were able to do some paring to the budget, which started at about $88.2 million.
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Try refreshing your browser. City approves $86.7 million capital budget for 2021 Back to video
The budget, an increase of about $3 million over last year, includes plans to purchase, build, maintain, repair and replace assets, including buildings, roads and bridges.
At several meetings last month, staff from city commissions and departments, along with local boards and agencies, presented their individual budgets to councillors.
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Three popular children’s authors are taking part in online events co-ordinated in part by the Brantford Public Library.
Registration is now open through the library’s website or by calling 519-756-2220, ext. 2.
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Try refreshing your browser. Registration open for children s authors events Back to video
First on Jan. 24 on 1 p.m. will be the annual event co-ordinated by the Family Literacy Day committee and will feature Ruth Ohi, author of the popular Fox and Squirrel series. She also has illustrated more than 60 books that have been published all over the world,
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Just six months in Brantford, and more than 11,000 kilometres from her former life in northern India, Manisha Vats can’t contain her enthusiasm for her family’s new chosen home.
“Canada is great,” she said. “It’s a cold country but the people are not cold. They’re very warm. It’s fabulous, the love we’ve got here.”
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Try refreshing your browser. Immigration Partnership helps newcomers settle in city Back to video
Vats, her husband, Gaurav Sharma, and their five-year-old daughter, Rhythm, are representative of newcomers being welcomed by Canada. A quarter of the country’s immigrants arrived from India in 2019. The other top source countries are China, the Philippines, Nigeria and the United States.
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The city is beefing up security downtown to curb a rise in nuisance and petty crime in and around the core.
Brantford police statistics show there’s a disproportionately high number of occurrences in Ward 5, which includes downtown, Eagle Place, East Ward and Echo Place, compared to other parts of the city.
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Try refreshing your browser. City to beef up security downtown to curb petty crime Back to video
The number of calls to police over the past three years to report property damage, drugs, intoxicated persons, unwanted persons, theft under $5,0000, and mischief indicates occurrences in Ward 5 were two to five times higher than those in the city’s other four wards.