City Council

Kingston City Council has approved the 2016 budget and a 2.5% tax hike.

Council wrapped up three days of budget deliberations last night and unanimously approved spending for the expansion of the Kingston airport.

The operating budget is just over $348 million and the capital budget is almost $68 million.

The 2.5% tax increase will add about $80 a year to the property tax bill for an average home.

Officer Charged

A Kingston Police officer charged by South Frontenac OPP with uttering threats is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law.

42 year old Andrew Donald Wilby was charged after the OPP investigated a complaint about threats in South Frontenac on November 10th.

Wilby has been placed on administrative duties by Kingston Police.

He’s the Kingston Police officer who was fined $1,700 and had his driver’s license suspended for a year for hitting a man he was chasing with his police cruiser on St. Patrick’s Day of 2012.

He also pled guilty in 2008 to making a death threat against his fiancé in January of 2004.

Animal Cruelty

A Kingston man has pled guilty to permitting an animal to be in distress.

Sean Mills pled guilty last month after being charged in July by the Ontario SPCA.

Mills has been fined $200, ordered to pay 11 hundred dollars restitution and placed on probation for a year.  He is also prohibited from owning or caring for animals for 10 years.

An investigator found a black lab/chow cross living in unsanitary conditions at a home in Kingston.  It was losing large patches of hair and required veterinary care.

Richardson Stadium

The demolition work being done for the revitalization of Richardson Stadium is almost complete.

A crane will be brought in today to remove the press box that has overlooked the Stadium for the last 44 years.

The demolition makes way for construction of the new stadium.  It is scheduled for completion in August of 2016 – in time for the university football season.

Encore Winner

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the U-S. but a Kingston woman is giving thanks to the luck of the draw.

Beverley Shortt won $100,000 with her Encore numbers on the November 21st Ontario 49 draw.

Shortt says she’ll be sharing her good fortune with family.

The winning ticket was purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart on Division Street.

Farmers Market

The farmers market that operates on Sundays at the Memorial Centre will be on the move for the winter.

It is operating inside the Bennet Barn at the Memorial Centre until December 20th.

Plans are now in place to move it to Princess Street United Church for January and February because the barn can’t be heated properly.

A public meeting is being held at the church tonight to get feedback on what the market should feature.

Napanee – Baby Death

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for next spring for a Napanee woman charged with first-degree murder in the death of her newborn baby.

The hearing for Kirsten Pemberton is scheduled to start on April 4th.  She was arrested in Alberta two days after the body of an infant was discovered at a home in Napanee last May.  In addition to murder, Pemberton is charged with neglecting to obtain assistance in child birth, concealing the body of a child and indignity to a body.