Kids: register for school backpacks

Each year the United Way of Quinte helps area children who may not be able to afford the many supplies needed to start the school year.

Spokesperson Amy Watkins says 10-dollars gets them a backpack full of 50-dollars worth of supplies. That includes binders, markers, pencil cases and other items. Registration for the junior kindergarten to grade eight backpacks is being held in Belleville today …until 6 PM at Community Development Council of Quinte on Albion Street. Another will be held July 22-nd. Other registrations are being held over the next three weeks in Bancroft, Trenton, Madoc and Picton

Canada day: check out driving skills

People enjoying Belleville’s Canada Day celebrations tomorrow will also have an opportunity to learn a bit about crime prevention and driving skills.

Belleville City Police will be on hand at Zwicks Park with a couple of fun driving tests for young and old. Inspector Marlene Grey says there’ll be a driving course for children with jeeps from the Children’s safety Village. There will also be test-driving with the “drink goggles” which replicate driving after drinking alcohol. Inspector Grey says police will also be handing out information regarding the “Lock it or Lose it” campaign to prevent car theft

Ryan Gallaher Back in Canada

A 35-year old Canadian….seriously injured in a mo-ped accident while teaching english in Vietnam is back on Canadian soil. Ryan Gallaher, whose mother Lisa Hamilton lives in Stirling, was airlifted from Thailand to Paris to the London Health Science Centre in southwestern Ontario this week. He was admitted to the London hospital last night.

Prince Edward-Hastings MP Daryl Kramp says there were many obstacles to overcome in getting Gallaher back to Canada but finally this week they were able to arrange the necessary documentation to get the medically equipped and staffed Air France flight to transport the injured man.

Gallaher has been in a coma since a mo-ped accident in Vietnam on June 3rd while making his way to work. He had been in the country for about two years under the assumption that he and his Canadian colleagues were covered with medical insurance and proper work permits. Since Gallaher’s accident, his teaching colleagues have learned that none of the arrangements had been made by the private school.

Medical bills from the nearly month long escapade have hit the $160,000 mark. Hamilton’s colleagues at ITS, a trucking company on Bellevue Road in Belleville, have been raising money for the family through charity barbecues and raffles. Another charity barbecue is set for Friday at ITS.

Bye Bye to Cigarillos on Canada Day

Canada Day, marks the end for flavoured cigarillos that appeal to young children.
That’s the day the provincial government ban on the flavoured smokes kicks in. Cigarillos, or little cigars, are tobacco products marketed to youth with flavours such as strawberry, mint, vanilla and sour apple. Prior to the ban they were marketed like candy…they could be purchased individually or in small packs, making them appealing to the young. Public health officials consider them a health concern because of their appeal and affordability.

Concerns Linger about Napanee Facility

The story is not quite completed for an industrial waste spill clean-up company hoping to locate in Napanee. The town planner is still reviewing the impact of the proposal by Scan Inc on the town. Some residents of Napanee are concerned about the trucking of liquid waste to the transfer facility in the town’s industrial park. Planning department spokesman Gib Garrett says it’s a matter of “separating ” the material at the facility….there will be no “disposal” of material at the site. Some people are concerned about the vast amount of waste material that will be there. Garrett says fthe company has a provincial certificate of approval, but the issue will come back to town council this summer with a full report from the planning consultant.

Longterm Care Bed Program

Many Long Term Care patients are in hospital beds longer than they need to be, and there’s a move in the Quinte area to do something about that. Many long term care patients occupy hospital beds that could be used by more “urgent care” patients. The Local Health Integration Network has come up with a program to have these patients move temporarily into beds at Hastings and Centennial Manors. LHIN Chair Georgina Thompson says it’s for a maximum of 90-days. Thompson says these are patients in the “medium” long term care designation and the hope is that they can go home after that. If not, they will be re-assessed. Three beds at Hastings Manor and two at Centennial have been freed up for this program.

Quinte West Signage on Canada Day

It’s going to be an enLIGHTENING experience tomorrow night in Trenton. A project, spearheaded by Quinte West Economic Committee member Dave Shoniker to install bright LED lighting on the Veterans Skyway bridge into downtown Trenton will come to a conclusion. Mayor John Williams says the the huge lettering…GATEWAY TO THE TRENT SEVERN…and the Quinte West logo…will be lit up tomorrow evening..on Canada Day.
The LED signage on the bridge will be seen on the Belleville side of the bridge. The project cost around 50 thousand dollars.

Paving Scam Hits Trent Hills

Two men are in custody after a fraud scheme didn’t quite work in Trent Hills. Northumberland O-P-P say the suspects were making rounds to local businesses offering “discount” paving jobs with left over asphalt. After completing one job at the parking lot of an un-named business… the men submitted a bill for a much higher amount than first quoted. Feeling ripped off… the owner called O-P-P… and the un-named suspects were arrested. Police have say similar incidents to these have already occurred across the province… and are asking anyone who may have been a victim of this scheme to contact them.

School Bus Driver Charged with Careless

It was a tough last day of school for a school bus driver in Belleville. City Police charged the driver after the bus…loaded with children….slammed into the rear of a car…which slammed into the rear of a dump truck at the intersection of Dundas and Bay Bridge Road yesterday. No one was injured. The bus driver is charged with careless driving.

Police Make Arrests in Belleville

Three Belleville men face charges after an incident at an apartment in the downtown-area. Officers were alerted to a disturbance on Coleman Street, in the mid-afternoon, involving a former roommate who returned to gather some belongings. He had arranged for four people to assist him and the situation escalated into to a physical confrontation. 27-year old Jason Clancy, 20-year old Jacob Hopkin and 23-year old Joseph Hopkin face charges including assault and being unlawfully in a dwelling. All three will appear in court August 26th.