Knives in School

Kingston Police and the Limestone District School Board are ensuring parents and students that any violent or criminal actions on school property will be investigated.

The message comes after a student was confronted by two other students with knives in a high school classroom sometime during the week of December 10th to 14th.

The incident wasn’t reported until this Monday.  One of the students was arrested on Monday…the other on Wednesday.  The 14 and 15 year olds face charges of possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace and assault with a weapon. The 14-year-old has also been charged with uttering threats.

 

Pedestrian Fatality – No Charges

Kingston Police say the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal collision with a pedestrian was not at fault and will not be charged.  The pedestrian was struck by the vehicle around 7:10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve on Princess Street just west of Bath Road.  A 32 year old woman suffered fatal injuries.  She was not from Kingston and her name isn’t being released.

A news release from Kingston Police includes a message saying for those living with mental illness please know services are available for help or assistance and refers people to Addiction & Mental Health Services – KFL&A or Crisis Services Canada.

 

Bathroom Voyeurism

A 21 year old Kingston man has been charged with voyeurism after a man tried to use his cellphone to record a woman using a washroom at Queen’s University.

It happened around 6pm on December 18th.

Kingston Police and Campus Security were able to identify the man and he was arrested on Wednesday of this week.

 

Ash Trees Cut

Crews have started to remove ash trees in Lake Ontario Park.

The ash trees were marked for removal because of the emerald ash borer infestation.

The city says the tree will be replaced with different species as part of Kingston’s plan to double its urban tree canopy by 2025.  The city has 3,500 ash trees on its property.

And there’s good news about 600 of those trees.  They’re in good condition and treatment to protect them from the ash borer will continue.

 

Cannabis Lottery

Ontario’s lottery for the first 25 cannabis stores in the province is taking place today.

Applications were submitted earlier this week and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission will pick the winners using a lottery system today.  It says results will be announced within 24 hours.

Only five licenses are available in Eastern Ontario and that means an applicant from Kingston may not get one of those five licenses.  The private stores are scheduled to open on April 1st.

 

Sir John A MacDonald Birthday

It is Sir John A. MacDonald Day in honour of the birth of Canada’s first prime minister.  Macdonald’s birth was registered in Glasgow, Scotland on January 11th, 1815.

Macdonald started his political career as an alderman in Kingston and then as the Member of Parliament for Kingston.  He became Canada’s first Prime Minister and was the leading figure in Confederation.  His place in Canadian history has been tempered because of his policies aimed at Canada’s Indigenous people…including residential schools.

Kingston launched the Macdonald legacy project in September as an effort to find ways to portray his legacy in Kingston.  It has received over 100 submissions.

 

https://www.cityofkingston.ca/-/city-to-begin-community-conversation-on-sir-john-a-macdonald-s-legacy