Snow Day

It is a snow day for students attending schools in the Limestone District School Board, Hasting and Prince Edward District School Board and the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

Tri-Board Student Transportation Services announced early this morning due to the forecast it would not be operating any school transportation today.

 

Highway 15 – Fatal Crash

A 19-year-old man from Elgin has died in a crash on Highway 15 between Sunbury Road and Sutherland Drive.

The crash happened at approximately 10:45 last night.

Frontenac OPP say a northbound vehicle collided with a southbound truck.

Percival Logan French of Elgin was the lone person in the motor vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.  A news release from the OPP says the driver and passenger in the truck were not injured.

Highway 15 was closed overnight while police investigated but re-opened to traffic this morning.

 

Fire – Unity Road

A fire in a house on Unity Road resulted in three people being taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.  A report says a young boy was also airlifted to Sick Kids hospital for treatment of burns.

The fire started in the basement of the house shortly before noon on Saturday.

Damage has been estimated at $50,000 and an investigation into the cause is continuing.

 

Search – No Rescue

There was relief for emergency services personnel in the Gananoque area on Monday after a report of a potential snowmobile accident involving a snowmobiler going through the ice on Landon Bay off the 1000 Islands Parkway.

Search and Rescue from CFB Trenton was also dispatched to the area to help in the search.

A thorough investigation determined there was no person involved and the search was ended.

 

Indigenous Protests

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is set on finding a resolution to the anti-pipeline blockades that have shut down the country’s train system and temporarily blocked bridges and highways.

The comments came as Trudeau emerged from a closed-door meeting with members of his cabinet in Ottawa yesterday.

Protesters blocked the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing for about three hours yesterday in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.

Another group of protesters temporarily shut down the border crossing between Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York, on Sunday.

The rail blockade in Tyendinaga Township is continuing today.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller met with Tyendinaga Mohawk representatives for nine hours on Saturday.  Miller said modest progress was made toward ending the dispute, but difficult issues remained unresolved.

 

License Plates

Ontario’s new license plates are getting a thumbs down from Kingston Police Sgt. Steve Koopman.

Koopman posted a picture of a vehicle on Twitter and you can’t read the license plate.

Koopman said in his Tweet…the picture was taken while he was off duty in a relatively well-lit parking lot with his headlights on. He asked if anyone consulted with police before designing and manufacturing the new plates saying they’re virtually unreadable at night.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) says they did get feedback from police and the public – but take this feedback seriously and are looking into it.

A spokesperson for the 407 toll highway says its cameras have been able to read the plates without any problems and the MTO says tests with police license recognition technology showed it could also read the plates.