When the previous owner of a small cafe inside the Windsor Public Library announced he would be retiring soon, longtime employee Donna Owens knew she wanted to take over the business. The perfect time came when the cafe’s lease expired.

Shortly after, Owens found suitable space directly across the street from its former location. The new space is now open in the same building as Everest College at 875 Ouellette Ave.

“Opening a business is hard,” said a smiling Owens as she poured coffee for customers. ”I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s been really busy. The good thing is I’m not just starting a brand new business. We have a lot of customers that have been waiting for us to reopen,” she said.

Central Cafe offers simple, homestyle food for busy downtown workers and students.

On the menu are daily soups, sandwiches, pasta salads and chicken quesadillas. Fresh fruits, butter tarts and snacks are also available.

“Our pasta salad is very popular and we make it fresh every day.”

Central Cafe is open daily from 8am to 6pm.

Essex Hall — the longest building on campus — is being recommended for placement on the City of Windsor’s heritage list.

The four story brick structure built in the early to mid 1960′s has housed the Faculty of Engineering, various science facilities and the University Players’ theatre.

Essex Hall was constructed on what is still visibly (but not legally) Patricia Street and was built with clearly disinct mid-century modern elements.

The main entry of the building features a canopy of what look like V’s (or as some students have described them, ‘open books’. University of Windsor crests also are carved into stone at side entrances.

The building connects to the vast network of underground tunnels around the University and forms part of the original collection of buildings from the date of the University’s establishing (Cody Hall, Biology Building, Drama Building).

Back in November, the University announced that the south wing of Essex (nearest to Wyandotte) would be reconstructed once certain facilities move to the new Centre for Engineering Innovation.

Buildings added to the municipal heritage registry may not be demolished without specific permission from City Council.

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• 

  Windsor Canadian Music Festival

  • Date:

    Thursday February 9th, 2012

  • Time:

    See Description

  • Location:

    University of Windsor School of Music

  • University of Windsor

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Casa’s Thurs Open Mic Comedy Night

  • Date:

    Thursday February 9th, 2012

  • Time:

    See Description

  • Location:

    Casa’s Restaurant & Night Club

  • 2477 Dougall Avenue

  • Detroit, Ontario

• 

  Revival Thursday – HYPE, DJ ZEE

  • Date:

    Thursday February 9th, 2012

  • Time:

    10:00 AM

  • Location:

    Revival Social Lounge

  • 300 Ouellette Ave. Suite 140

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Toast & Jam

  • Date:

    Thursday February 9th, 2012

  • Time:

    See Description

  • Location:

    Mick’s Irish Pub

  • 28 Chatham Street East

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Windsor Canadian Music Festival

  • Date:

    Friday February 10th, 2012

  • Time:

    See Description

  • Location:

    University of Windsor School of Music

  • University of Windsor

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Ron Sexsmith wsg Pat Robitaille

  • Date:

    Friday February 10th, 2012

  • Time:

    8:00 PM

  • Location:

    The Loop

  • 156 Chatham Street East

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  We Are Music!

  • Date:

    Friday February 10th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:00 PM

  • Location:

    The Boom Boom Room

  • 315 Ouellette Ave.

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  We Are Music!

  • Date:

    Friday February 10th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:00 PM

  • Location:

    The Boom Boom Room

  • 315 Ouellette Avenue

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Put Your Hands Up For Haiti Charity Event

  • Date:

    Friday February 10th, 2012

  • Time:

    10:00 PM

  • Location:

    Revival Social Lounge

  • 300 Ouellette Ave. Suite 140

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Windsor Canadian Music Festival

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    See Description

  • Location:

    University of Windsor School of Music

  • University of Windsor

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  WCMF – School of Music Faculty Concert

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    7:30 PM

  • Location:

    Assumption University Chapel

  • 400 Huron Church Road

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Coach and Horses Presents : Metal Armageddon

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:00 PM

  • Location:

    The Coach & Horses

  • 156 Chatham Street East

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Nightbteed Live

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:00 PM

  • Location:

    La Rocca Family Restaurant and Bar ~ located in the heart of McGregor~

  • 9530 Walker Road

  • McGregor, Ontario

• 

  Second Annual Anti Valentine’s Day

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:30 PM

  • Location:

    Mick’s Irish Pub

  • 28 Chatham Street East

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Smokin’ Purple Monkey Gang Rock the Canusa Bar

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    9:30 PM

  • Location:

    Canusa Bar

  • 400 Tecumseh Road East

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  Vitality Signing Party

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    10:00 PM

  • Location:

    The Boom Boom Room

  • 315 Ouellette Ave.

  • Windsor, Ontario

• 

  FREE SHOW – Pat Robitaille, Efan!, and Mike Hargreaves Jam Night

  • Date:

    Saturday February 11th, 2012

  • Time:

    10:30 PM

  • Location:

    Phog Lounge

  • 157 University Ave W

  • Windsor, Ontario

666 Chippawa Street (Google Street View)

A Veteran Cab Company driver is facing a charge of robbery after a dispute over a fare late last night on the city’s west side.

Just before midnight, police were called to an apartment building at 666 Chippawa St. for a report of a male cab driver who had assaulted a female passenger and taken her purse.

The 41 year old female told police that she had called a cab to pick her up at her residence in the 1100 bock of Oak Street at 10:25pm and take her to 666 Chippawa Street. During the trip, the woman and the driver began to argue over the route that the driver was taking.

The argument escalated during the trip and the woman became concerned for her safety as she felt the driver was acting in an aggressive manner. The cab driver then stopped the vehicle at the intersection of College at California Streets and ordered her out of the car.

The woman refused as she did not have a cell phone and feared for safety. The driver then continued on to the Chippawa address and upon arrival, he demanded a debit card for payment. Due to the driver’s aggressive behavior, the woman was not comfortable in turning over her debit card.

The driver exited the driver’s door of the cab and the woman exited the rear passenger door running toward the apartment building. She entered the front door of the building with the cab driver in pursuit. She attempted to hold the door closed but the driver pried the door open, and punched the woman in the neck causing her to fall to the floor.

The driver then grabbed the woman’s purse and returned to the cab, throwing her purse on the floor of the vehicle. The woman was able to run out to the cab and retrieve her purse as the driver searched for his cell phone that he had dropped outside the vehicle.

The woman’s screams alerted a resident inside the apartment building who called police. The driver then left the scene but returned later after being contacted by the officers. The woman was visibly shaken by the incident but did not require medical treatment.

Abdillahi Miigane aged 50 years of Windsor is charged with one count of Robbery.

Wednesday, the Windsor Essex Mobility Group, the Government of Ontario and the Parkway Infrastructure Constructors presented Windsor-Essex Parkway Public Information Open House at the Macedonian Centre.

Plans for the W-E Parkway going forward into 2012 include:

• development of a “gateway” feature for the Highway 3 Bridge over the 401 that signifies entering the Windsor region
• construction of five permanent pump stations to service roadway and tunnel areas in the event of significant rainfall or flooding
• construction of “Power Distribution Assemblies” (large metal boxes along the route) to provide power to tunnels, trail lighting and pump stations — designed with emergency backup generators
• design of a landscaped hill at Outer Drive to utilize excavated earth from the Parkway (will be build after Howard Avenue diversion and roundabout is complete)
• controlled burns as a land management technique will take place between March and April 2012
• utility and sewer relocations including work at Spring Garden Road and Cabana
• Excavation of sunken roadway for the Parkway at locations including (Highway 3 and Howard, Highway 3 and Huron Church, Huron Church and Geraedts to Cabana, construction at Grand Marais Drain, embankments from Cabana to Ojibay)
• pile driving operations have begun and will continue in roughly the following order at these sites:
• Bridge West of St. Clair College
• Bridge East of Huron Line
• Tunnel at Villa Borghese
• Tunnel at Hearthwood Estates
• Tunnel at Oliver Estates
• Tunnel at Labelle Street
• Tunnel at Labelle and Lambton
• Tunnel West of Huron Church
• Temporary road closures at streets near Huron Church/Highway 3 over the next six months will include:
• Montgomery Drive
• Pulford Avenue
• Grand Marais Road
• Lambton Road
• Geraedts Drive
• Cabana Road/Todd Lane
• Highway 3 at the 401
• To build the parkway, several road diversions will take place:
• Todd Lane to Cabana (crossing Huron Church) will be moved to the north in June 2012 for one year
• The road from Highway 3 leading into St. Clair College will be moved to the west by a few hundred meters starting in June 2012
• Sandwich West Parkway (the road from Highway 3 to get to Windsor Crossings) will be moved a few hundred meters in October 2012

For more information, visit the W-E Parkway Website

Plans for streetscaping on Wyandotte West between Sunset and Campbell were released to the public at an open house, Wednesday night.

The popular stretch of Wyandotte West, home to many businesses which cater to University of Windsor students, has not had any significant landscape changes in many years.

This project, originally planned to replace sewers and watermains, was transformed into a full streetscaping redo in 2011′s City of Windsor Capital Budget.

Streetscaping includes extended sidewalks, reduced on-street parking, “nodes” on street corners to help bring identity to the area, new “argyle” patterned sidewalk lights, several sidewalk trees inside raised planters, decorative benches that will match the architectural elements of the University of Windsor, “leaning rails” for people waiting for Transit Windsor in front of the University’s proposed parking garage and Innovation Centre, bike racks and more.

The roadway will be reconstructed with new sewers and watermains, curbs and gutters, fresh asphalt and will be designed for “shared” vehicle/bicycle traffic due to the narrow roadway.

Phase 1 of the Wyandotte Streetscape project (Sunset to Randolph) will start in May and should be completed for September.