News

The Ontario Provincial Police held dedication ceremonies for two Lennox and Addington area bridges that are being named for local police constables who lost their lives in the line of duty. The bridge at highway 401 and Newburg road will be known as the Constable Richard Arnold Beard bridge and the bridge at Highwy 401 and County Road 41 will be named the Constable Mont Alexander Wood bridge. Beard was a Napanee police officer who died from injuries received while responding to a break in at a jewelry store in 1921. Wood was a Lennox and Addington officer killed by an approaching vehicle while stopped to help a stranded motorist near Northbrook in 1951. Family members and community leaders attended the dedication ceremony and the placement of memorial signs at each of the bridges.
It may be Road Safety Week in Canada but Belleville Police still had to deal with a two car collision early this morning that blocked the intersection of Church and Victoria streets. Emergency vehicles responded to the crash but there is no word on the cause of the collision or any injuries.

The City of Belleville is moving ahead on creating more affordable housing in the City’s west side. Council approved a community improvement plan for two parcels of land on the former Queen Mary School Property on Octavia Street yesterday clearing the way for city staff to request proposals for a section of vacant land on the site and the former school properties. An existing park and playground are not being sold and are not included in the area available for development. The successful bidder will be chosen based on the number of units to be created, the long term affordablility of the bidder’s plan, and the features that address vulnerable populations. Proposals that re-use the existing school building will receive preference. The intent is to sell the lands to the successful bidder at a reduced or nominal cost by providing the developer with rebates for achieving key project milestones. Council expects the project to create a minimum of 45 affordable housing units and up to 145 units may be possible if all of the property can be utilized.

Instructure, the company that owns the Canvas software recently hacked at schools and universities around the world including several Canadian institutions, announced today that it had reached an agreement with the hackers that would see the data returned and any copies destroyed. A representative of the hacking group, Shinyhunters, confirmed the deal and told the Reuters news agency that all data had been destroyed and the group would make no further attempt to extort individual institutions or use any of the data collected. Instructure would not confirm that a ransom was part of the deal but experts believe it must have been. Most experts recommend against paying ransoms because it encourages further attacks. The hack was one of the largest ever and was thought to affect personal information of more than 275 million individuals.

And, Tim Horton’s will soon face a new but familiar competitor in Canada. Quebec based restaurant company Foodtastic announced today that they have signed a deal with US donut chain Dunkin’ Donuts that will see Foodtastic begin franchising outlets later this year or early next year. Dunkin’ Donuts was founded in 1950 and once had hundreds of outlets in Canada but left in 2018 after Quebec fanchisees sued the chain for lack of promotion. Dunkin’ is the largest donut chain in the US with over 14,000 outlets.

Sports

In Stanley Cup play there are two games on tap tonight. The Sabres are in Montreal for game four of that series. The Canadiens lead Buffalo 2 games to 1. The puck drops at the Bell Centre at 7 pm. And Anaheim and Las Vegas get underway for game 5 of their series at 9:30 in Las Vegas. The Ducks and the Golden Knights are tied at 2 games apiece.

In the PWHL the Montreal Victoire and the Minnesota Frost play the deciding game of their 5 game series tonight after yesterday’s scheduled match was postponed when several Montreal players fell ill with an intestinal bug. The winner of tonight’s game will face the Ottawa Charge in the Walter Cup finals. The Victoire and the Frost face off at 7 pm in Montreal

In basketball news, Vancouver born Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clark has died at the age of 29. Clark was drafted in 2019 and was one of four Canadians named to the NBA World team that year. No cause of death was given.

NBA playoffs continue tonight with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs tipping off for game 5 of their conference semi-final at 8 pm in San Antonio. The Timberwolves and the Spurs are tied at 2 games each.

And in Major League Baseball the Blue Jays host the Tampa Bay Rays for the second game of a three game series. The struggling Jays will be looking to get back in the win column after losing to the American East leading Rays last night. First pitch goes out at 7:07 pm.