The widespread flooding across Hamilton last Thursday confirms that all parts of the city are threatened by the increasingly severe rainstorms resulting from global climate change.

City council has launched a legal challenge of the National Energy Board decision on the controversial Enbridge pipeline project across rural Hamilton.

If the LRT doesn’t proceed, it will be consistent with a string of previous transit-related city council decisions.

While councillors break HSR funding promises and put LRT on “life support”, at least one major Hamilton destination has shown that transit use can be greatly boosted with a little effort.

Facing widespread opposition, Enbridge officials are now playing defence over their 35 kilometre pipeline project across rural Hamilton.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of February 2017.

The Kathleen Wynne government is forcing Hamilton to freeze tenant taxes as the province seeks a way to make rental housing more affordable.

Councillors have pushed off final decisions on the 2017 budget until March 23. Those could include more staff cuts, less money than promised for the HSR, and either good or bad news for more than a dozen proposed spending additions.

Recommendations to clear trees and shrubs from dozens of locations along the edge of the urban escarpment were included in the approved 2017 capital budget but appear to contain serious errors including a misunderstanding of the regulatory role of the Niagara Escarpment Commission.

Councillors got an earful last week about their hesitation to fund transit when residents made presentations on this year’s city budget.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of January 2017.

Last year was the third consecutive that broke global heat records; last month was far warmer than normal in Ontario; and February has seen unbelievable temperatures in the Canadian high arctic and other parts of the globe.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of December 2016.

Funding commitments made to HSR riders when steep fare hikes were imposed over the last two years now appear headed for the dustbin as city council backs away from its half of the bargain.

City council’s rejection of ward boundary changes required to give equal voting rights to all Hamiltonians is being criticized as self-serving, but it could also easily backfire and threaten the re-election of many incumbents in next year’s municipal election.

The city got the short end of the stick in the approval of an oil pipeline across 35 km of rural Hamilton by a National Energy Board panel that even seems confused about the municipal boundaries.

Since an area-rating deal was struck in early 2012, the eight councillors in the old city of Hamilton have individually decided how to spend more than $50 million of city monies.

Contrary to last week’s CATCH report city officials say correction of illegal sewer hookups will continue despite council’s rejection of staff recommendations to make permanent the effort to reduce fecal contamination of local streams.

Council has quietly abandoned the clean-up of widespread fecal contamination flowing into local streams despite a successful corrective program that has operated for the last two years.

This is a regular CATCH summary of votes at committee and council meetings. This report covers the month of November 2016.