Stroud – Bag Tags

Two Kingston city councillors are recommending the city adopt a bag tag system for garbage.
Councillors Peter Stroud and Jim Neill say South Frontenac has successfully implemented the system and it has led to a reduction in the amount of waste and a saving for the municipality.
Neill chairs the city’s Environment, Infrastructure & Transportation Policies Committee and Stroud is a member of the committee.
The motion they’ll float when the committee meets tonight would mean any bag of garbage put at the curb would need a tag.
The city is currently studying how to divert 65% of trash from going to landfill.  The current waste diversion rate stands at 55%.

Kingston Girl – Liver Transplant

A three-year-old girl from Kingston is back home after spending a month in hospital following a liver transplant, but her twin sister is still waiting for a liver donor.   Their father, Michael Wagner, says Phuoc left Toronto’s Sick Kids hospital on Friday – a month after receiving a part of his liver.  Phuoc and her twin sister, Binh, suffer from a genetic disorder that affects vital organs and can be fatal.  Wagner says the family is confident a donor for Binh will be found soon.

Repatriation Ceremony

A repatriation ceremony will take place today at CFB Trenton for the Canadian soldier killed by – so called – friendly fire in Iraq.
A plane carrying the body of Sergeant Andrew Doiron is schedule to land at CFB Trenton this afternoon and the repatriation ceremony is set for 3:40 p.m.
From there…a motorcade will take his body down the Highway of Heroes to Toronto.


CMHA Session

The Canadian Mental Health Association – Kingston is holding a fund raising event tonight to help establish a women’s support group.  Former Chatelaine magazine editor Rona Maynard will speak about her lifelong struggle with depression.  Women have been invited to also share their stories.
Georgette Fry’s Shout Sister Choir will finish off the night.
The Women and Wellness fund raising event starts at 7:30 tonight at Our Lady of Fatima Parish Hall on Division Street.

Mischief Charge

A 28 year old woman who was taking a shower in an apartment that wasn’t hers…has been charged with mischief for damaging a Kingston police cruiser.
Police say the woman was kicked out of the apartment in the 700 block of Portsmouth Avenue at around 9am on Sunday…but locked herself in a car.  She was arrested after police got the keys to the car and was about to get a simple warning from police.  Instead she was charged with mischief for ripping an emergency light off of the police cruiser.

Home Care

New funding for the Southeast Local Health Integration Network will help support patients living in their homes in the region from Kingston to Port Hope.
The province is given the network 3.8 million dollars…much of it for Community Care Access Centres.
The funding is aimed at keeping patients at home and not in hospital beds.

Housing Starts

It’s not a great sign for the local economy…the Kingston area had the fewest housing starts in a one month period in the past ten years during the month of February. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says only 52 units were under construction last month compared to 306 in January.
The agency is blaming the bad weather last month for the downturn in housing starts.  It says demand for homes remained strong and it expects construction of new housing units will recover with better weather.

Stolen Watches – Man Arrested

A 31 year old man from Battersea has been charged with stealing multiple watches from The Bay at the Cataraqui Centre at the end of February.
A Kingston police officer responding to an accident call at Montreal Street and Weller Avenue on Saturday afternoon recognized a man walking in the area from surveillance photos.
He was arrested and has been charged with theft under five thousand dollars, possession of stolen property and breach of probation.