News
Tyendinega Police and Lennox and Addington OPP have arrested two people following a pair of violent robberies yesterday afternoon. Shortly after 3:30 p.m., the pair are alleged to have refused to pay for gas at a station on highway 62 in Madoc. They also stole items from the store at the gas station. One person inside the store was seriously injured after being struck with a baseball bat and a second person was also assaulted. The same two individuals then apparently entered a store on Airport Road in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory later in the day and again struck and injured an employee with a baseball bat. Police were able to apprehend one of the accused in a pickup truck near the scene and the second person was arrested inside the store. A 59 year old and a 55 year old are facing a number of charges and are being held in custody pending a bail hearing.
And The Prince Edward County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged a second person in connection with an armed robbery and vehicle theft that occurred at a Picton gas station in the early morning hours of November 22nd. A 27 year old Picton man was arrested and charged then released from custody and is scheduled for a court appearance. Police charged a 22 year old Picton man shortly after the gas station was held up by a masked man armed with a handgun. The thief fled the scene in a stolen vehicle but was located shortly afterwards.
The County will begin relocating the inukshuk stone sculpture at the Picton Fairgrounds starting tomorrow. The inukshuk was installed near the Old Boy’s Memorial Entrance to commemorate the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver but was removed last month. It will be reinstalled near the entrance of the Prince Edward Community Centre alongside the tribute to the Olympic torch relay event that passed through Picton on it’s way to Vancouver. All entrances and facilities will remain open during the work which is expected to last about a week.
The provincial auditor general is calling the Ford government to task on health care. Auditor General Shelley Spence said in a report released today that the province is not properly overseeing doctor’s billings after her staff found numerous instances of doctors billing more than 365 days in a year or more than 24 hours in a day. One doctor billed for more than 500 patients in a single day. Spence said there may be reasons for the billings but ministry staff had not flagged the incidents and could not justify the apparently excessive amounts. Spence also questioned the government’s claim that waitlists for a primary care provider have been halved noting that the data was based on Health Care Connect registrations which she found only include 11% of those in need of a primary care provider. There was more bad news when it came to the government’s promise to add new undergraduate andpost graduate medical school seats. Spence found that planned number was much too low to solve the problem because it was based on an underestimate of the number of people in need of a family doctor. The ministry has agreed with the auditors findings and committed to improving the system.
And a hotel in England has an unusual take on the Christmas Tree. The Moor Hall Hotel in Birmingham has built a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree made from 100,000 balloons. Artist Naomi Spencer designed the tree and oversaw it’s construction. Spencer said building such a large balloon tree required a team of people including engineers, blowers and designers. The finished tree is the largest balloon tree ever and sits outdoors in a protective clear bubble to prevent the balloons from popping. Spencer said the project is meant to raise money for charity by having people sponsor individual balloons.
Sports
Tennis great Serena Williams may be planning a return to competition. The 44 year old Williams stopped competing in 2022 but has registered for drug testing with the International Tennis Integrity Agency, the first step to resuming competitive play. Serena’s older sister Venus started competing again in July of this year after a one and a half year break.
Former NHL coach and player Kevin Dineen announced today that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The 62 year old Dineen played in 1200 regular season games with several teams from 1984 to 2002 then coached the Florida Panthers for two seasons before guiding Canada’s Women’s team to Olympic Gold in Sochi. There’s no word on Dineen’s prognosis at this time.
Six Canadian teams in action in the NHL tonight. The Leafs will be looking to move out of the Atlantic Division basement when they face the Florida Panthers in the Sunshine State tonight. Both teams have 25 points but the Panthers have one more win. Face off for that game is at 7:30. In other Canadian match ups, Ottawa is in Montreal. The Senators and the Habs get underway at 7 o’clock. Calgary visits Nashville for an 8 pm start against the Predators. Vancouver is in Colorado for a 9 pm puck drop against the Rockies and Edmonton hosts the Minnesota Wild, also beginning at 9 pm.
And in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors will host the Portland Trail Blazers tonight. The Raptors have started the season strong with a 14 and 7 record but are still three games back of the hard charging Detroit Pistons. Detroit is idle tonight so a win would narrow the gap. Tip off is at 7:30 in Toronto.
