Gun Incident

The man at the centre of a gun scare at the Woolen Mill is giving a bit of praise to Kingston Police.

Animation artist Peter Bielicki says they were courteous and professional in dealing with him after he brought a replica gun into the building on Sunday night to use in his work as an animation artist.

Someone saw a man with a rifle and called police.  The tactical team surrounded the building and was able to contact the man around 11:30 Sunday night.  Officers seized a number of replica firearms and say the animator will get them back if they determine the guns can’t actually be fired.

Federal Election – Economy

A leading economist is questioning all the political posturing over the economy during the federal election campaign.

Don Drummond is the Stauffer-Dunning Fellow at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University, and a former chief economist at T-D Bank.  Drummond says so far most political comments have been largely misleading.

He says in the bigger economic picture, it doesn’t matter whether the economy contracted or grew by a small fraction of a percentage point or whether the federal budget is in or out of deficit by a few billion dollars.

Drummond says the bickering over these details causes voters to miss the main point — that the world is entering a period of sustained lower growth.

Harper – Gord Brown

Conservative leader Stephen Harper made a brief stop in Gananoque yesterday to wish Leeds-Grenville candidate Gord Brown a happy birthday.

Harper made a 20-minute stop at the Tim Hortons in Gananoque.

He spent some time with his wife Laureen shaking hands and then went behind the counter to greet staff and hand out a few cups of coffee to customers.

After the brief campaign stop – he was off to Toronto.

New Road Rules

Fines for distracted driving have jumped dramatically.

Starting today – if you get caught using a handheld device – the fine is 490 dollars and three demerit points.

Drivers will also face higher fines if caught passing too closely to stopped tow trucks and school buses and have to give cyclists a one-metre space when passing.

The fine for a motorist opening a door in the path of a cyclist has also gone up to 365 dollars and three demerit points.

 Scramble Crossing

Kingston’s new scramble crossing is now operating at the busy intersection of Union Street and University Avenue.

It was officially opened yesterday morning in the heart of the Queen’s University campus.

The scramble intersection lets pedestrians cross in any direction when all traffic is stopped. Drivers can’t turn right on a red light during the scramble crossing.

More Bus Pass Locations

Kingston Transit has increased the number of locations where people can buy multi-ride cards.

They’re available starting today at seven more Shoppers Drug Mart locations.

Transit manager Jeremy DaCosta says the new locations are well served by bus service.

You can find all of the locations on the KingstonTransit.ca website.