With just a few more days left to enjoy/experience the remains of 2023, it’s that time of year where we typically take a quick review of the year that was as we contemplate the promise and hope of the year to come.

While not as key a player as it was the past couple of years, COVID remains a concern, but for the most part we’ve learned to live with it and really, there are enough other things to worry about these days!

As I review a year’s worth of columns, I see that last January I was writing about the phase-out of single-use plastic items, which I’m sure we’ve all noticed have become fewer and far between, but you could still find them. But, as of December 2023, those items can no longer even be sold.

Sure, this won’t save the planet, but baby steps anyway.

For long-time readers of Chatham This Week, 2023 was also noteworthy in the fact that former (and, I believe, founding) editor Peter Epp retired, having given tirelessly of his time to this newspaper and others before it.

Other big news of the year came in the ongoing saga of the Imagine CK project which was actually unveiled in 2022, but morphed into an entirely different proposal, the fate of which, as of this writing at least, has yet to be determined by council.

I won’t spend much time on this subject, as it has been recent column fodder and will no doubt be in the headlines again in 2024.

From council to chickens (and no, I’m not going to go there!), springtime in CK saw a survey making the rounds to determine whether urban and rural residents should be permitted to have these fine feathered creatures in their backyard.

Additionally, a petition was also in circulation urging council to allow it.

The latest I’ve heard on the matter was back in July when Chatham-Kent Public Health gave the proposal two thumbs........

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