LOCAL HEADLINES

LA SALLE CAUSEWAY – OVERNIGHT CLOSURES APRIL 26 to 29

The La Salle Causeway will be closed up to four overnight periods – 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. April 26 through 29 – to ready the bridge for boating season. During the closure, crews will open the bridge for emergency vehicles and, periodically, to pedestrian traffic. See more details on this Public Works and Government Services Canada closure at the end of this message.

Kingston Assault Arrest

A 19 year old Kingston man has been charged by police for continuous assault on his ex-girlfriend.

The woman told police about the escalating abuse that began in December which included damage to her property, physical abuse and even death threats.

Police arrested the accused on Wednesday and  subsequently charged him with five counts of assault, forcible confinement, uttering threats to cause death, mischief, and breach of probation.

Providence Care Update

A small group were able to see the current development of the new 620,000 square foot Providence care Hospital,  due to be completed in one years’ time.

A tour of the facility revealed inpatient and forensic units, a therapy pool, gymnasium as well as public spaces and private rooms featuring views of Lake Ontario!

According to officials it will be the first hospital in North America to bring long-term, specialized inpatient mental health care into the same building as complex care and physical rehabilitation.

Come November,  EllisDon will turn over the hospital to Providence car to begin staff training. Patients will be moved in in next April.

Frontenac Country – Planning Committee

Recent changes to the new Provincial Planning act has resulted in creating some new planning committees, in  Frontenac County councilors can’t agree on who should be on the  board.

Some council members are concerned whether the mayors of the county’s four member townships should automatically be part of the new committee. Frontenac County council will meet again next month to discuss these topics and further details regarding the committee!

Journalism Awards – Whig Standard

Several of Kingston’s journalists and writers for The Kingston Whig Standard walked away with provincial journalism awards over the weekend.

Both senior writer Paul Schliesmann and freelance columnist Ben McLean earned Ontario Newspaper Awards for their work in 2015!

Schliesmann was also named as a finalist for journalist of the year, won the Tony Fredo Memorial Award for feature writing for the second year in a row as well as an ONA for health news and lifestyle reporting!

Ben McLean won the K.A. (Sandy) Baird Award for humour writing and his first ONA for his column titled “Losing big to a four-year-old in a card game.”

Meanwhile, Whig journalist Elliot Ferguson was a finalist in two photography categories, Deputy news editor Tim Gordanier was a finalist in the social media category and Michelle Hauser was a finalist for the Joan May Memorial Award for column writing.

Lyme Disease Conference in Kingston

Queen’s University along with the KFL&A Public health made Kingston home to a two day long conference in order to gather research on Lyme Disease.

The Lyme disease symposium brought Canada’s leading experts together to  discuss ways of improving diagnostics, recognizing at-risk regions more efficiently with possible surveillance systems, and how to effectively communicate the risk of the disease to the community moving forward.

The debilitating disease is caused by bacteria from an infected tick bite and continues to progress as a major problem in our area with the KFL&A region having one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in Canada. It is not clear however if the rise in cases over the last 2 years is due to more awareness and diagnoses or an increase in numbers.

Organizers hope the conference will inspire  the health unit to possibly enforce future Lyme disease prevention programs in elementary schools which would even include a daily tick check.

Petawawa – Fatal Crash

The O-P-P are investigating a fatal crash on Highway 17 in Petawawa.
A 19-year man was killed when his vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer early Saturday morning.

The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.

Police say the truck driver and a passenger in the big rig were treated for non life-threatening injuries.

Smith Falls – Fire

About two dozen people have been left homeless by a fire that gutted a row house complex in Smith Falls.
Fire crews got the call late Friday night.  All the residents were safely evacuated, but the building was destroyed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. (1310 News)

PROVINCIAL HEADLINES

Doctors Billing Rally

Hundreds of doctors, health-care workers and patients rallied outside of the Ontario legislature to protest cuts made by the Liberal government.

The group Concerned Ontario Doctors warned that “unilateral cuts” to health-care spending are jeopardizing doctors’ ability to provide quality care to patients.

Saturday’s rally was staged the day after Health Minister Eric Hoskins revealed that more than 500 doctors billed the province more than a-million dollars each last year.

Hoskins said the top-billing doctors represented less than two per cent of Ontario’s physicians, but accounted for nearly 10 per cent of billings.  (The Canadian Press)

GM – Oshawa Shutdown

General Motors is shutting down production at its flex line in Oshawa for two weeks due to a part supply issue caused by the recent earthquakes in Japan.

The automaker says the shutdowns, which start Today, also include three assembly plants in the U-S.

The Chevrolet Impala, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS are built on the flex line.

G-M says the stoppage isn’t expected to have any material impact on its full-year production plans in North America or its second-quarter or full-year financial results. (The Canadian Press)

Marijuana Dispensaries
The number of storefront marijuana dispensaries in Ontario has spiked recently, which is prompting calls for the government to regulate the shops.

As it stands, storefront dispensaries aren’t covered by any current legislation.

Specifically in Toronto, Opponents say the dispensaries are technically illegal and should be closed immediately.

But medical marijuana advocates say the answer is to introduce regulations to standardize the quality of the product they sell and the criteria for clients looking to buy it. (The Canadian Press)

INTERNATIONAL  HEADLINES
Cabinet Retreat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal cabinet will soon open Day Two of their retreat in a luxury Rocky Mountain resort in Alberta.

Among the topics being discussed in Kananaskis is the economic downturn Alberta is suffering due to plunging oil prices.

Premier Rachel Not-ley met privately with Trudeau last night before telling many cabinet members that robust national economic growth partly hinges on a healthy Alberta economy.

She spoke of the desperate need for a pipeline to get oil sands crude to tidewater and for a quick start to job-creating infrastructure projects. (Canadian Press)

US – Vote GOP

U-S Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s tweeted response to the latest attempts to keep him from clinching enough delegates before the Republican convention is “desperation,” spelled in capital letters.

He was reacting to the announcement from rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich of a joint manoeuvre to try to deny Trump the necessary delegates and throw open the July convention.

Kasich will give Cruz a clear path in Indiana, while Cruz will stay out of Kasich’s way in Oregon and New Mexico.

The plan, however, doesn’t address the five primaries being held tomorrow. (Canadian Press)

Obama’s Visit to Germany

Today’s the final day of U-S President Barack Obama’s visit to Germany — and he’s using it to meet with top allies Germany, Britain, Italy and France on issues he says are a strain on European unity.

They include refugee migration, Syria, Russia, Ukraine, and countering the Islamic State group.

Obama has announced deployment of 250 U-S military personnel, mostly special forces, to Syria to advise and assist in the fight against I-SIL. (Canadian Press)