News
Copy by Don Leslie
In local news, Prince Edward County OPP are investigating vandalism at the Johnston Street soccer fields in Picton.Police say sometime overnight on June 4, it appears a vehicle was driven across the fields causing significant damage, causing in an interruption in soccer programing.
Also on the local scene, CAA released its list of worst roads in Ontario as voted on by Ontarians yesterday and unsurprisingly, County Road 49 is number 3. Well, maybe it is surprising that is wasn’t first. The deteriorating 18.6 km of concrete roadway which serves as a vital entry point to the County has appeared on the top 10 list seven times in a row. There is still hope the road will be fixed. County Road 49 is expected to receive significant upgrades that are in the planning stages. After decades of lobbying upper levels of government for assistance, the province announced in January it is committing nearly $20 million toward fixing the road. Mayor Steve Ferguson has said he also plans to “urgently press” newly elected MP Chris Malette to encourage the federal government to pitch in on the $52.3 million tab. We were beat out by two streets in Hamilton, but achieved the worst status in the Eastern Region.
A Belleville man is facing charges as part of a province-wide investigation into child exploitation.The OPP, along with the Belleville Police Service and 20 other police services, worked together on the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet. The project resulted in an investigation that started on March 31 and ended on April 11, and resulted in the arrest of 36 suspects. Among those arrested is a 56-year-old man from Belleville, whose name was not released under a publication ban. He was charged with one count of luring a person under 16. Over the course of the investigation, police also identified nine victims of exploitation. The victims have been provided support and are safe.
The Central Lakes Association of Realtors which includes Peterborough and Hastings, Northumberland and Prince Edward Counties has released local home sales statistics for the month of May, showing a general increase in sales across the Quinte region Prince Edward County had the same number of sales in May as the year before. The average sale price did drop to $728,000 compared to May 2024’s average of $803,000.All areas did report decreases in average sales prices.
And finally, a rare black iceberg spotted 100km off the coast of Labrador last month is making a splash on social media after a fish harvester living in Carbonear, N.L., took a photo of it while fishing for shrimp. Scientist speculate that the berg came from a Greenland glacier and could contain ancient volcanic dust or meteor fragments several thousand years old. The hunt is on to find the drifting ice mass before it melts
Sports
Down the road at the TPC Toronto Golf Course, the 121st Canadian Open began round two this morning. There are 21 Canadian professional golfers and three Canadian amateurs in this year’s field of 156 golfers. Taylor Pendrith was the lead Canadian, tied for 8th at -5, 4 strokes behind the first round co-leaders. At round two this morning, the soggy course seems to have dries at golfers are posting low scores. Canadian amateur Justin Matthews currently leads all other amateurs in the field at -3.
The NBA finals got underway last night. The Indiana Pacers overcame a 12 point halftime deficit to defeat the hometown Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110. Despite Canadian sensation Shai Gileous-Alexander scoring 38 points for the Thunder, it was Tyrese Haliburton’s 3 pointer with 0.3 seconds left in the game that sealed the win for the Pacers
The CFL began its 67th season last night with the former Rough Riders (two words), the Ottawa Red Blacks losing 31-26 to the current Roughriders (one word) in Regina Saskatchewan. Tonight, two original CFL teams, the Montreal Alouettes welcome last year’s Grey Cup winners the Toronto Argonauts for their home opener. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a bye this first weekend as Saturday will see the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the road in Calgary against the Stampeders. In the inaugural season, Hamilton saw a merger of two teams, the Tigers and Wildcats to form their hyphenated moniker. Calgary’s team has always been the Stampeders The original BC Lions will host the Edmonton Elks who joined the CFL as the Eskimos
