West End Y – Closing

The west end YMCA in Kingston will be closing effective August 16th.

The YMCA of Eastern Ontario says the decision was made following long deliberations and there was no single deciding factor in the decision…but it says it came down to the viability of the location for the YMCA as a charity.  The closure will impact about 1,750 members of the Y’s location on Progress Avenue.

A series of meetings are to be held this week to provide members with more information.

They’ll be offered a 50 per cent discount to continue their memberships at the Wright Crescent and St. Lawrence College locations and full time staff will be offered positions at those locations.

The Y is considering a new central location to take the place of the main branch on Wright Crescent.

 

Driver Charged

A 33 year old Kingston man is facing seven charges…including impaired driving…possession of crystal meth, dangerous driving and possession of property obtained by crime after the OPP stopped a vehicle north of Napanee.

Lennox and Addington OPP say they were responding to a complaint from Kingston Police around 9am on Saturday when they spotted the vehicle in Napanee and followed it.

Daniel Grant Bateman is was held in custody for a court appearance at a later date.

 

Charged – Spits on Officer

A 22 year old Kingston man is facing charges after assaulting someone in the area of Princess and Clergy Streets and getting into a fight with police.

Police arrested the man near Brock and Montreal Streets around 5:30 Saturday afternoon.

A news release from police says the man fled from police, tried to punch the officer and spit in the face of the officer several times.

He’s been charged with assaulting police, resisting arrest, breach of probation and breach of conditions from a previous arrest.

 

Inmate Death – Millhaven

A 25 year old inmate has died at Millhaven Institution.

The Correctional Service says Shawn Quehe had been serving a sentence of 4 years, 3 months and 17 days for the armed robbery of a gas bar in Sudbury while he was on parole.

He had been behind bars since November 7th of 2016.

No cause of death has been released.

The Correctional Service says as with all cases of the death of an inmate…it will review the circumstances and police and the coroner have been notified.

 

Safe Kids – Parachute Canada

An organization called Parachute has teamed up with Ontario Hydro on Safe Kids Week in Kingston.

It’s aimed at preventing injuries to children.

The program was launched yesterday at the Rideau Heights Community Centre in Kingston.

Parachute says close to 700 kids up to the age of six in Kingston are taken to the emergency department every year because they have been injured from a fall.  It says the most common of the injuries for Kingston’s youngest children happen when they fall from furniture, fall on stairs and slip or trip as they’re on the move in their homes.

They recommend blocking stairways with gates, placing furniture away from windows and clearing electrical cords from walking areas.

http://www.parachutecanada.org/injury-topics/item/2709

 

 

Urban Hippie – Expansion

Good news for Kingston based Urban Hippie Granola.

It has announced an agreement to expand into 14 Sobeys and Foodland stores in Ottawa.

Urban Hippie says the expansion is due to its successful participation in the Local Supplier, Eat Better, Feel Better, Do Better program.

The company is in its fourth year of operation and owner Casey Krebs says the company has been busy working on developing new flavour combinations in their test kitchen.

 

Canada Day – Kingston

The City of Kingston has announced its plans for Canada Day.

Activities will take place from 11am to 5pm at Grass Creek Park.

A free shuttle bus service provided by McCoy Bus Service will run from the downtown Staples parking lot to Grass Creek Park.

The city’s fireworks display is scheduled to take place at 10pm at Confederation Basin.

 

Festival Funding

The Ontario government is giving four Kingston festivals grants totaling $137,000.

The Corks and Forks International Wine Festival is getting the largest amount of funding from the Celebrate Ontario program $40,425.

The Kick and Push Festival will receive $36,250.

The Kingston Canadian Film Festival is getting $33,379 and Artfest Kingston will get $26,821.