Council – Housing Task Force

Mayor Bryan Paterson says he’ll set up a task force in the next 100 days to tackle Kingston’s housing shortage.

Paterson revealed his plan during his inaugural address last night.

He says the task force will focus on building more housing and more affordable housing.

Paterson also hopes to put to rest the battle over how high buildings should be by engaging the community in a broad discussion about intensification and what it should look like.

 

Signal Crossing – Sir John A. Blvd

A group of citizens is demanding Kingston take action to end accidents involving pedestrians on Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard.

A 31 year old woman suffered serious injuries crossing Sir John A near Norman Rogers Drive on Monday morning. Police say a driver had stopped and waved the woman across the street but she was hit by a vehicle in the other lane.

Bruce Bursey and Candice Christmas have led a campaign to make crossing Sir John A. safer since 2015.  The speed limit has been reduced from 60 to 50km/h.  Bursey and Christmas say that isn’t enough.  They say Kingston’s traffic engineering staff have recommended a vehicle and pedestrian activated traffic signal be installed at Sir John A and Norman Rogers…but have been told there is no money in the current budget.  They say that is unacceptable and are calling on the city to find the funds for the crossing.

 

Bath Institution – Drug Bust

Five people have been busted near Bath Institution in a joint investigation by the OPP Penitentiary Squad and Correctional Service.

Investigators seized over 54 grams of cannabis resin, 170 grams of tobacco and a variety of pills on November 19th.  The stuff would have been worth over $24,000 inside the prison.

50 year old Scott McLaughlan of Loyalist Township faces five counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.  The four others face a variety of drug trafficking charges and are from Windsor and Essex.

Police say further charges are expected as the investigation continues.

 

Domestic Assault and Harassment

A 36 year old Kingstonian faces assault and harassment charges after ongoing threats to his ex-partner.

Kingston Police say he assaulted the woman in early September and choked her.

When their relationship ended in late October the woman got hundreds of text messages.  Police also says this creep also created fake Facebook profiles to harass her family and friends.

A warrant had been issued for his arrest about a month ago and he turned himself in to police on Monday.

 

Careless Driver

He’s certainly old enough to know better.

A 70 year old man from Kingston has been charged with careless driving after a vehicle clipped a traffic cone and narrowly missed a construction worker on the 401.

The OPP says it happened in a clearly marked construction zone on the 401 Westbound at the Odessa exit last Thursday.  The mirror on the vehicle fell off when it clipped the traffic cone but the vehicle kept going before being stopped by police shortly after the incident.

 

Tree of Hope – Damaged

The Christmas tree named Hope…the namesake of the Family and Children’s Services holiday fundraising appeal in Kingston was recently vandalized.  The electrical supply and wiring were damaged.  Staff noticed it yesterday morning.  But – there is a happy ending.  Boyd Electric of Kingston fixed the damage and re-wired the tree for free.

 

Windmills Sold

A former Kingston City Councillor and downtown business owner has announced he has sold his business.

Ed Smith says he has decided to move on to new things and has sold Windmills Restaurant and Catering to Dave McNamara and Brad Frazer. Smith says Windmills Restaurant will close on January 27th.

McNamara and Frazer will be giving it a facelift and will be reopening towards the end of March or early April.

Smith has operated the business for the past 25 years.

 

Queen’s Homecoming – 2019

Queen’s University has announced Homecoming will take place from October 18th to 20th next year.

It says Homecoming weekend will feature a wide selection of events, including a football game against the York Lions at Richardson Stadium.

Principal Daniel Wolfe says the university is working closely with alumni, students, staff, faculty and city partners to confirm programming and event details and to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.