Gord Downie – Kingston Mourns

Springer Market Square in downtown Kingston was filled with people for a candlelight vigil last night in Gord Downie’s hometown.  People gathered to pay tribute to the lead singer of the Tragically Hip, who died on Tuesday night at age 53 after a battle with brain cancer.

Many people in the crowd joined together in a big sing-a-long.

City Hall was illuminated in red and white to honour Downie.

City hall was illuminated in red and white to honour Downie.  The city had special cards made for people to take away – on the card…the phrase…Gord, we’ll miss you.  Kingston Transit buses have the same phrase on their front message boards.

Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen rose in the House of Commons in Ottawa yesterday to pay tribute to the lead singer of The Tragically Hip.

So, for some – it seems nothing else matters…and a city is in mourning – but we are also celebrating the life of a great man…Canada’s poet who wrote the soundtrack to many of our lives.

In Gord We Trust.

Granddaughter – Sex Assaults

There is other Kingston news this morning….and it’s a tough story to tell.

A 75-year-old Kingston man has been charged with sexually assaulting his adult granddaughter twice in one day.  Police say the assault took place in late August while the victim was living at her grandparents’ home and was reported on October 7th.

The 75 year old man turned himself in on Tuesday and has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and forcible confinement.

Grandparent Scam – Arrest

A 46-year-old man from Verdun, Quebec has been arrested after defrauding an elderly Kingston woman of just over $10,000.   The woman is in her 70’s and got a call on January 26th from a woman who sounded like her daughter claiming she’d been arrested for impaired driving.  She then got a call from a man saying he was the woman’s lawyer and wound up transferring more than 10,000 dollar to the man before she contacted her son-in-law and they determined it was a scam.

The man was arrested in Montreal earlier this month and brought to Kingston where he was charged with fraud exceeding $5000.

Unsafe Trucks

The results of safety checks on big trucks in the region has produced some disturbing results…Dozens of unsafe vehicles were taken off the roads after failing commercial vehicle inspections in Belleville, Madoc and Quinte West as well as in Kingston.

18 inspections were conducted in Kingston and of those vehicles…15 were taken off the road for major defects.

Filed under: Arrest, Berdun, Gord Downie, Granddaughter, Grandparent Scam, Kingston Mourns, Unsafe Trucks