Municipal Election

 

Voters across Ontario will cast their ballots in municipal elections today.

Voters in London, Ontario, are the first in Canada to use ranked ballots in a local election.

Voters in Kingston have a referendum question on the ballot on whether the city will use ranked ballots in the next municipal election.

Voters are also electing the mayor…city councillors and school board trustees.

City Councillor Ryan Boehme was the only person to run in Pittsburgh district and has won by acclamation.

The Polls open at 10am and close at 8pm.

You can also vote online until 8pm.

The city says more than 11,000 people have already voted during Advance Voting Day and online.

 

Homecoming

 

Kingston Police estimate as many as 10 thousand people took to the streets during Queen’s Homecoming on Saturday afternoon.  Police closed down Aberdeen Street – but by 4pm they had the street cleared after charging people under Kingston’s Nuisance Party Bylaw.

They managed to keep the streets open for the rest of the day.

A Tweet from police said several people had suffered head injuries from beer bottles that were thrown and one person was injured when they fell off the roof of a shed.

Frontenac Paramedic Services says at times there were ten ambulances at the emergency department because of partiers who were injured or had overindulged.

It said paramedics dealt with 60 plus calls in the University district between 11am and 6:30pm.

 

Seatbelts

 

Kingston Partners for a Safe Community says a survey has found a 1.5% increase in the number of people wearing seatbelts in Kingston.

It counted 2077 drivers and passengers at the intersection of Bath Road and Sir John A and Highway 2 and Fort Henry Drive last Thursday.  24 people were not wearing seatbelts.

The organization says 98.8% of people were buckled up…up from 97.3% a year ago.

But…it says even having just 1.2% of the population not wearing seatbelts means over 1,480 Kingstonians are risking their lives by not buckling up.

 

Kids for Kids

 

The chair of Kingston’s Kids for Kids Organization has been chosen as a finalist for one of Ontario’s Tourism Marketing and Travel Awards of Excellence.

Garry McColman is one of three nominees in the Tourism Champion category.

The award winner will be announced at a gala event in Windsor on Wednesday.

Tourism Kingston estimates the Kids for Kids hockey tournament has generated 40 million dollars in tourism related revenue for Kingston since it started 20 years ago.