Snow – Weather Statement

Snow is on the way according to Environment Canada.

A special weather statement says snow will start later today.

5-10cm is expected tonight and 5-10cm tomorrow.

Death Threat – Guilty

A 39 year old Kingston man has pleaded guilty to make a death threat in an e-mail to Kingston city councillor Kevin George.  The man was given a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation.

He has also been ordered to write a letter of apology to George.

The city councillor received the threatening email in June after voting in favour of the third crossing bridge.

The man was opposed to the project and wrote…”that’s why I encourage people to pick up a gun and shoot politicians”.

Prison Farm – Plant Based Agriculture

A group of people in Kingston will stage a march on Friday to deliver a petition calling for only plant based agriculture if prison farms are re-instituted.

The group Evolve Our Prison Farms says it wants the farms to be a sanctuary for any animals brought onto prison farms for rehabilitative programming.

The march will go from Collins Bay Institution to the office of Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen on Friday afternoon.

The group will deliver a 10,000 signature petition calling for sanctuary for Pen Herd cows…as part of a restored prison farm program.

Fraser Institute – School Report

The annual Fraser Institute report on schools in Ontario is out and there are three elementary schools in Kingston tied for the top local rating…

Lancaster Driver Public School, Madeleine de Roybon and Winston Churchill are ranked 101st out of over three thousand schools.

Each school had a rating of 8.7 out of 10.

The rankings are calculated using provincial test results in reading, writing, and math.

19 schools in Ontario scored a 10…many of them were private schools in the Toronto area.

http://www.compareschoolrankings.org/

Operation Red Nose

Operation Red Nose provided a total of 112 rides on Friday and Saturday night.

30 volunteers worked on Friday night and 47 volunteers were involved in helping the designated driver program on Saturday night.

The total number of rides provided so far this season is 209 and $5,600 in donations has been collected.

Organizers say more volunteers are needed for December 15th and 16th.

Anyone who wants to help has to fill out a registration form available through the Operation Red Nose Kingston website.

www.rednosekingston.com

HVAC Upgrades

The heating, ventilation and air conditions system at Kingston General Hospital will operate more efficiently thanks to a $390,000 investment from the provincial government.

The money will be used to retrofit 18 air handling units with new controls and instrumentation.  The upgrades will make the system more energy efficient and is expected to save $78,000 a year in energy costs.

401 Safety

The Ontario government has announced several measures to try and make the 401 safer.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced in Kingston on Friday the province will conduct a series of targeted commercial vehicle enforcement blitzes throughout the winter.

It is also adding a forecast of driving conditions to the MTO road reports that will also be available on Ontario 511.

Today…the OPP will announce a new initiative called Operation Safe Trucking.  They say it will involve an innovative way to spot distracted drivers.

Filed under: 20cm, 401 Safety, 5-10, Fraser Institute, HVAC Upgrades, Operation Red Nose, Prison Farm, School Report, Snow, Weather Statement