Kingston News January 8, 2020

Iran Situation

Canada’s chief of defence staff is reassuring military family’s troops are safe and accounted for after Iranian air strikes on Iraq. General Jonathan Vance made the comment on Twitter last night saying we remain vigilant.

Iran fired 22 ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops.  Iranian state T-V says the missiles were revenge for the U-S killing of General Qassem Soleimani.  President Donald Trump tweeted “All is well!” after the missile attacks.  He is expected to make a statement later this morning.

Iran – Plane Crash

Sixty-three Canadians were killed when a Ukrainian plane crashed just outside of Tehran in Iran just minutes after takeoff today.  Ukrainian and Iranian officials say they suspected a mechanical issue brought was responsible for the crash.

One Day Strike

High school teachers with the Limestone District School Board will be on the picket line today along with high school teachers at seven other boards in Ontario.

The one-day strike by members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation means all high schools in the Limestone District Board will be closed today.

Bishop Remi-Gaulin elementary and Marie Rivier Secondary will also be closed.

The strike does not include Catholic schools.  Their teachers belong to another union.

And…Pathways to Education Kingston is running normal programming today.

KPMG – City Hall Review

Kingston city council has given city staff the green light to start work on streamlining some processes following an audit by KPMG.

The audit determined updating and improving some processes could save from $225,000 to $560,000 a year.

The audit looked at administrative processes in housing, child care, social services and long-term care.

Council – Affordable Housing

Kingston city council has approved spending $3.4 million dollars to help create 28 affordable housing units.

The affordable unit will be part of a new 92-unit apartment building at 1752 Bath Road.

The decision to support the funding for the project was unanimous at the council meeting last night.

Fire – Knights Inn

An investigator from the Ontario Fire Marshalls Office is helping Kingston Fire and Rescue with the investigation of a fire at the Knights Inn.

The fire started in one of the rooms around 10:30 yesterday morning at the motel on Princess Street near Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard. Nobody was injured in the fire.

Paramedics were already at the motel to help a person who was having trouble breathing.

Fire – Weller Avenue

There were no injuries in a fire at an apartment building on Weller Avenue in Kingston’s north end.

Kingston Fire and Rescue was called to the six unit building around 4 a.m. yesterday.

Crews remained on the scene into the afternoon to make sure the fire was completely out.

The Fire Marshalls office is assisting in the investigation into how the fire started.

Stone Mills – Stolen Equipment

Lennox and Addington County OPP have seized over half a million dollars’ worth of stolen construction equipment at a commercial property in Stone Mills Township.

The OPP Street Crime Unit executed a search warrant after investigating a report of a recovered stolen vehicle and say the equipment comes from various commercial businesses.  They’re holding a news conference today to release more details and show off the stolen goods.