Boy Dies

Sydenham is mourning the death of a 12 year old boy following a crash on Highway 38 at McIvor Road Sunday night.

The Limestone District School Board has confirmed Travis Babcock was removed from life support.  His parents making the agonizing decision after his organs had been donated.

Travis Babcock was a student at Loborough Public School.

A number of things are taking place in the community to recognize the boy and a go-fund-me account has been set up to help support the Babcock family.

It had raised over $23,000 by 8:30 this morning.

https://www.gofundme.com/5k8dyxgs

Memorial Centre Town Hall

The debate over using a portion of the Memorial Centre property for Kingston’s new high school comes to a head tonight.

City councillor Peter Stroud is hosting a town hall meeting on the subject.

Stroud voted against use of the Memorial Centre – but has stated he will bring forward a motion for council to reconsider if he’s convinced it will reflect the consensus of all constituents.

His town hall meeting is tonight at 6:30 in then Wilson Room of the Library on Johnson Street in downtown Kingston.

New Chief

Kingston has a new fire chief.

The city has hired the fire chief from Guelph to replace Rhéaume Chaput who retired earlier this year.

Shawn Armstrong has 27 years of experience in emergency services and became the fire chief in Guelph in 1997.

He officially takes over the job in Kingston on December 1st.

United Way

The United Way KFL&A campaign has just crossed the $2 million mark.

The campaign thermometer hit $2,049,714 yesterday,

That’s 60% of the $3.4 million goal that was announced at the Campaign kick-off on September 11.

The United Way is encouraging people to make their donations with the campaign wrap up scheduled for November 30th.

Hip at HDH

Members of the Tragically Hip will be at Hotel Dieu Hospital today for the grand opening of three newly renovated spaces in the Child Development Centre.

The Hip and the Smilezone Foundation donated the funds for the renovations.

Millhaven – Partial Lockdown

A partial lockdown has been put in place at Millhaven maximum security.

A news release from the correctional service says it was put in place around 8am yesterday to allow staff to conduct an exception search.

The release says the search is being done to ensure the safety and security of the institution and regularly scheduled visits may be affected.

Mental Health Services Protest

Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union who work at Providence Care Mental Health Services say they are working in dangerous conditions.

They held an information picket outside the site on King Street yesterday claiming a shortage of staff has resulted in violent assaults on almost a daily basis.

A hospital official told the Whig Standard there have been a few incidents but says many haven’t resulted in any injuries and they meet with staff on a regular basis to make sure there is a safe workplace.