News

Copy by Lawrence Zwer

An early morning fire yesterday in Picton needed crews from both Bloomfield and Picton to attend to bring the blaze under control. Thankfully, the residents were able to evacuate the house on Cumberland Street and called 911. Damage was mostly confined to the exterior and attic of the home and no injuries were reported.

Belleville will discuss increasing its support for the Humane Society of Hastings Prince Edward (HSHPE) at its meeting this afternoon.. Society officials have appeared in front of local councils recently describing a tough financial situation due to rising demand for its services and lagging revenues. Increasing impound fees paid by member municipalities to the society is a primary way Staff is recommending to balance the books.

A proposed private member’s bill by the provincial NDP seeks to ban parking fees at hospitals for patients, visitors and staff. NDP MPP Jeff Burch from Niagara Centre tabled a motion on Wednesday to eliminate the fees for patients, families and hospital workers — the party’s second attempt to address the issue in less than a year. Hospitals in Ontario began charging for parking in the 1980s after a push from the provincial government at the time “to get hospitals to be run more like businesses,” said Dr. Michael Rachlis, a public health physician and professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Parking could cost as much as $1,000 a month in some hospitals until 2016, when the Ontario government, under Kathleen Wynne, put restrictions on the fees. Now, he said parking fees at hospitals typically max out at around $350 a month.

In international news, the truce between India and Pakistan held yesterday after a cease-fire was announced by US President Donald Trump on Saturday. Both India and Pakistan claimed the ceasefire as a victory, fuelling a surge of nationalistic fervour on both sides of the border. India’s defence minister said on Sunday the “roar of Indian forces reached the very headquarters of the Pakistani army”. In Pakistan, parades were held near the border to shower the military with flower petals, and the prime minister declared May 11th to be a day “in recognition of the armed forces’ response to recent Indian aggression”. Residents near the disputed frontier said that while a ceasefire was welcome, it did not solve the underlying problem of the often bloody dispute between India and Pakistan over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which goes back to the partition of India in 1947.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in person for peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, after a weekend of diplomatic flurry. His comments came after Putin rejected a demand from Ukraine and European allies to sign a 30-day ceasefire, but said Russia was ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine. Putin said delegations from the two countries should meet on Thursday in Turkey. Although European leaders insisted there should be no negotiations until Putin agrees to a ceasefire, Donald Trump put pressure on Zelenskyy to agree “immediately” to negotiations this week in a post on Truth Social. Shortly afterwards Zelenskyy went public with his surprise offer.

And finally, the Glenora Ferry is out of service until 5pm tomorrow due to scheduled maintenance.

Sports

Let’s start with the NHL playoffs. Game 4 of the round two matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers went last night in Sunrise, Florida. Joseph Woll had a solid outing for the Buds, but they couldn’t stay out of the penalty box and couldn’t put the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky (bob-ROV-skee), losing 2-nothing. The series is tied at 2

Earlier in the day, Roope Hintz opened the scoring for Dallas at 2.27 of the first period, leading the Stars to a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets and giving the team a 2-1 series lead. Tonight the Caps play the Canes and the Vegas Golden Knights will visit the Edmonton Oilers.

Thanks to 2 runs each from Addison Barger, George Springer, and Nathan Lukes, the Toronto Blue Jays swept their three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, taking the birds back to 500 on the season. The Jays have today to do laundry before welcoming the Tampa Bay Rays to the Rogers Centre tomorrow.

Back to hockey, the Toronto Sceptres travelled to Minnesota yesterday to play the Frost in game three of their best of 5 series. The Frost went out to a 3-nothing lead before Toronto scored one near the end of the first. Both teams scored two in the second and two in the third with Minnesota winning a wild one 7-5. Minny has a 2-1 lead in the series.