Kingston News December 20, 2016

Councillor Resigns

There’s a seat to fill on Kingston city council after Richard Allen announced he is resigning immediately as councillor for Countryside District.

Allen has been hired as the economic development manager for Frontenac County and says he can’t work for the county and continue in his role as a city councillor.  He also says he and his wife are expecting their first child in the spring.

City council holds its regular meeting tonight and is expected to ask staff to recommend how to replace Allen.  The options include choosing the second place finisher in the 2014 municipal election…former councillor Jeff Scott….taking other nominations or holding a by-election.

Wynne Won’t Resign

Premier Kathleen Wynne is no quitter.

Wynne is rejecting suggestions she will resign to let someone else lead the Liberals in the 2018 Ontario election. The provinces premier told the Canadian Press in a year end interview she has no intention of stepping aside, despite polls that show her personal popularity rating in the low teens.

Bank Robberies – Suspect I-D

The suspect in a string of eight bank robbery that started in Kingston on August 25th has been identified.  30 year old Tristan Marois Drouin of Gatineau has been charged with eight counts of armed robbery.  The other robberies took place in Napanee, Richmond Hill, Oshawa, Trenton, Toronto, Bowmanville and Cobourg.

Taxi Hack

Amey’s Taxi says it was able to recover from a ransom ware attack that crippled its computer dispatch system and mobile app by re-installing its software.

Amey’s was hit with the attack Friday night…staff got a message that file were encrypted and a ransom demand was made…but the system was back up and running late Saturday morning after technicians re-installed the software.  Amey’s says it lost a major amount of business because its app wasn’t working and it had to manually log and dispatch all of its calls.

Kingston Police – 175th Anniversary

Kingston Police will be officially celebrating their 175th anniversary in Memorial Hall at Kingston City Hall at 1pm today.  Kingston Town Council proclaimed an act to establish a police force in the town of Kingston on December 20th of 1841.

Kingston Police has held a number of events to celebrate its anniversary over the past year and many have resulted in charitable donations using the proceeds from the events.

Following the celebration today…people will be invited to tour a special gallery in a renovated area of the basement at city hall that housed the original police force and Kingston jail.

Tweed – Carnegie Heroes

The man who rescued a three year old girl from being trampled by two runaway ponies at the fairground in Tweed in July has been honoured with a Carnegie medal for heroism.   The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund investigates stories of heroism and awards medals and cash several times a year.

51-year-old Calvin Stein of Madoc received the medal for saving the girl. Stein ran about 16 metres to the girl, scooped her up and threw her clear of the runaways.

The ponies hit and dragged Stein.  He suffered a concussion, facial fractures and lacerations. The girl suffered only minor injuries.

He is one of two Canadians among the 21 people recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.