Latest / North Shore News / October 29th, 2025

Transcript

October 29th, 2025 · North Shore News

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  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
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  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Loyalist Township Council heard a
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  presentation from a member of the public regarding
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  crosswalks in honour of Canadian veterans. Isabella
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  Harpell spoke about the sacrifices made by veterans
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  and asked that Council consider implementing
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  these crosswalks throughout the Township by next
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  year. Harpell noted that recognition should extend
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  beyond November 11th. The World Wars are a part
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  of our history and the men and women that fought
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  and died should be remembered, not only on November
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  11th. but through the year we need to honor and
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  prioritize the men and women that have sacrificed
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  the ultimate by giving their life. We need to
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  demonstrate to our courageous veterans that they
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  are deeply appreciated and will always be appreciated.
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  Harpel went on to speak about the two new veterans
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  crosswalks in Kingston and others popping up
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  across the region. From the research that I have
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  completed just this past week, the City of Kingston
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  will be placing the veterans crosswalks this
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  year. The cost of the crosswalks range around
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  $3 ,000. The city of Kingston, they purchased
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  the crosswalks themselves. Belleville, I spoke
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  to Bill McDonald there. The cost for their crosswalks
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  were $5 ,000 to $6 ,000. He couldn't remember
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  exactly what it was. Their crosswalks, were funded
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  by community groups and they were constructed
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  and painted just prior to November 11th and when
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  I did research there are many little hamlets
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  that are now implementing this procedure of veteran
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  crosswalks. Crosswalks at the corner of Ontario
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  and Lower Union streets in Kingston were recently
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  opened along with a short ceremony. Deputy Mayor
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  Nathan Townend agreed that remembering veterans'
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  sacrifices should extend beyond Remembrance Day
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  on November 11th. It's appropriate to remember
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  the sacrifice of our armed services beyond the
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  11th. And we should do everything we can to honour
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  the memory of their sacrifice and our duty to
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  remember. Council agreed to refer the matter
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  to staff so they could review existing sidewalk
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  replacement schedules and examine any other opportunities
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  to install a Veterans Crosswalk in the Township.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Loyalist Township has announced the new
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  name for the Aquatic Centre at the W .J. Henderson
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  Community Centre. Through a gift agreement for
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  naming rights with Barr Homes and a $250 ,000
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  donation from the company, the space will be
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  named the Barr Homes Aquatic Centre. Council
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  approved the 10 -year agreement at their latest
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  meeting. CAO Rebecca Murphy spoke about the agreement
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  with Barr Homes. Barr Homes has agreed to sign
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  on, be a major donor in the Tier 3 category,
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  to name the Aquatic Centre at... at the facility
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  at the WJ. This is very great. We're very gracious
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  and very thankful to BAR for stepping up and
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  being part of this vital community project and
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  we're excited to be naming it and recommending
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  that it be named the BAR Holmes Aquatic Centre.
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  The renewal of the entire center has been a large
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  ongoing project for the township. The revitalization
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  campaign was approved by council on December
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  10th, 2024, with a goal of raising $2 million.
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  The new space will feature an eight lane 25 meter
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  pool, a new warm water leisure pool, updates
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  to arena infrastructure, enhanced accessibility,
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  updated change rooms, green energy upgrades,
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  and a new indigenous legacy space in partnership
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  with the Downey Wenjack Fund. Residents can expect
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  to see the new name used in township marketing
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  materials. It will be displayed inside on the
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  west wall of the space, as well as a location
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  on the exterior of the building to be agreed
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  on at a later date. Barr Homes will also be recognized
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  on the donor wall to be located in the atrium
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  of the building. Barr Homes has over 70 years
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  of history in the construction industry within
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  Kingston and the surrounding areas. According
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  to the company, they build approximately 60 homes
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  annually in Kingston and Loyalist Township. For
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  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Loyalists Township has announced that their
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  annual holiday celebration, Light Up the Season,
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  will be returning on Saturday, November 29th
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  from 3pm to 5pm at Fairfield Park, 4574 Bath
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  Road in Amherst View. Admission and all activities
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  are free and no registration is required. This
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  festive family -friendly event will include wagon
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  rides, festive music, milk and cookies, hot chocolate,
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  marshmallow roasting, ornament making, and visits
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  with Santa and his reindeer. Lights in the park
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  will continue to shine nightly until February.
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  Guests are encouraged to park at the W .J. Henderson
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  Community Center and take advantage of the free
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  shuttle service running every 15 minutes starting
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  at 2 .45 p .m. Parking at Fairfield Park is reserved
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  for accessible parking only, and parking along
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  Highway 33 is not permitted. For more information,
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  visit loyalist .ca slash events. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Torrent
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  Productions is returning to Lennox and Addington
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  with their second annual Merry Magical Pantomime.
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  This year the company is presenting Jack and
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  the Beans Talk, a Merry Magical Pantomime. Shows
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  will take place at the hall at Emanuel United
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  Church, 63 Factory Street in Odessa. It will
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  be premiering Tuesday, December 23rd at 7pm and
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  run for 15 shows until January 4th. Established
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  in 2008, Torrent Productions is a professional
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  theatre company composed of Rob Tor and Stephanie
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  Graham. They've developed and produced new musicals
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  at the Toronto Fringe Festival and Next Stage
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  Theatre Festival in Toronto, as well as an annual
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  holiday pantomime in Toronto from 2016 to 2019.
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  Both Tor and Graham have extensive theatre credits
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  from the Stratford Festival, Charlottetown Festival,
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  Neptune Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Mervish Productions,
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  Thousand Islands Playhouse, and many other companies
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  across Canada. Most recently, Graham was the
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  co -director and choreographer of the sold -out
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  run of Mary Poppins at Thousand Islands Playhouse.
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  Tor has spent seven seasons as a performer at
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  Thousand Islands Playhouse as well as many other
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  theatres across the country. For showtimes and
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  more information, visit torrentproductions .com.
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  T -O -R -R -E -N -T productions dot com. For
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  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Loyalist Township is notifying residents
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  that construction activity will begin soon on
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  Main Street in Bath as part of servicing for
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  a new subdivision. Work will involve tie -in
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  of new sanitary and water services for housing
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  in the area. There will be lane reductions and
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  lane diversions in place, which may cause traffic
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  delays in the area. Motorists are encouraged
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  to allow a little extra time for travel, follow
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  posted signage, and use caution when driving
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  through the construction zone. Work is planned
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  to continue into November. For Amherst Island
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  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative I'm
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  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Loyalist
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  Township has announced dates for their fall town
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  hall meetings. The meeting for Odessa will take
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  place Tuesday, November 4th from 630 to 8 p .m.
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  at the Odessa Municipal Office, 263 Main Street
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  in Odessa. There will be a meeting in Bath Wednesday,
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  November 5th at 630 p .m. at the Bath Fire Hall,
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  241 Church Street in Bath. The meeting for Amherst
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  Island will take place Wednesday, November 12th
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  from 630 to 8 p .m. at the Amherst Island Community
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  Center, 5955 Front Road on Amherst Island. To
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  submit questions in advance, residents can visit
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  engage .loyalist .ca. For Amherst Island Radio
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  and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted
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  Evans. This is North Shore News. Residents of
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  Greater Napanee will see a change in their recycling
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  pickup on January 1st, 2026. Starting in the
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  new year, Circular Materials Ontario will take
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  over Greater Napanee's blue and grey bin programs.
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  MTERA Environmental will be collecting all recyclable
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  materials. To help residents prepare for the
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  transition, the Town is holding information sessions
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  on October 23rd and November 4th from 6 p .m.
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  to 730 p .m. at 99 Advanced Avenue. These sessions
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  will provide an opportunity to learn about the
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  transition, how it may impact residents, and
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  how related concerns will be addressed in the
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  new year. Deputy Director of Environmental Services,
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  Growth and Infrastructure Services, Andrew Girouard,
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  spoke about the changes for 2026 and the possibility
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  of more changes in the coming years. 2026, we
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  shouldn't, residents should not see a change
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  in their collection dates, the streams of recycling
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  or what recyclables are collected. Beyond 2026,
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  Circular Materials Ontario and MTERA can decide
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  to change collection dates routes. streams, how
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  it's collected, so on and so forth. CAO Matthew
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  Grant explains challenges staff are facing and
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  how they're moving forward in the new year. There's
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  going to be some change management challenges
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  that will present themselves as this rolls out.
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  One of the things that will be important for
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  us is a pretty robust communications plan combined
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  with a pretty significant advertising plan just
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  to ensure that people understand what we are
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  and are not responsible for. You know, we will
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  need to make it clear for people what we are
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  and are not able to do because I appreciate some
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  people will be coming to us to maybe look for
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  us to assist and make sense of this. And unfortunately,
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  we won't be in that position. And so it'll just
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  be really important that we be clear with people
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  about where they can go for the right information,
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  who is now in charge of this, you know, recycling
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  more generally. And that work is already underway.
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  You know, I will give kudos to the team. It's
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  a bit of a moving target. But, you know, we're
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  staying on top of the changes which have been
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  numerous. Non -eligible sources such as industrial
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  and commercial properties, not -for -profit organizations,
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  municipal and government buildings, commercial
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  farms, daycares, places of worship, campgrounds,
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  and trailer parks will no longer receive curbside
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  collection. Residents who live in mixed commercial
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  and residential buildings will still receive
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  curbside collection, while the commercial section
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  of the building will not. The town will still
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  be responsible for collecting garbage. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Earlier
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  this year, Loyalist Township was named one of
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  169 Ontario municipalities to receive strong
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  mayor powers. Ontario's Ministry of Municipal
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  Affairs and Housing made a presentation to Loyalist
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  Township Council with a focus on how these powers
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  can help the province reach its goal of increasing
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  housing supply. Deputy Mayor Nathan Townend voiced
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  his concerns about the focus of the presentation.
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  I never think it's appropriate to score political
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  points by asking pointed questions to public
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  servants. But I will just note that consistently
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  in the last several years, housing starts are
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  down in Ontario. So the evidence that these stronger
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  powers are advancing that goal of increasing
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  housing supply is certainly suspect. And this
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  is fairly complex. But one simple thing municipalities
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  have said consistently that will help build more
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  housing is to fund municipal infrastructure to
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  support that housing. The province originally
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  introduced strong mayor powers in 2022 for the
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  cities of Ottawa and Toronto. Through 2023, 44
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  additional municipalities received these powers
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  and as of May 1st this year, 216 of Ontario's
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  414 single and lower tier municipalities now
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  have this legislation. The presentation was part
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  of a series of outreach sessions the province
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  is doing for municipalities who are new to the
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  strong mayor powers. It included an overview
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  of what strong mayor powers are, as well as references
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  to other municipalities and how they're implementing
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  the powers. Mayor Jim Hagedorn spoke about the
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  work of staff as they move forward on the matter.
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  Still as we're proceeding through this, the new
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  strong mayor power, I keep coming up with more
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  questions and fortunately so far Staff have always
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  been able to do some research, and we've been
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  able to work to figure them out, but it'll take
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  a little while before all the municipalities,
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  I'm sure, come to full terms with what it is.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 13:35
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social
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  Services are still looking to create 49 child
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  care spaces by December 31st, 2026 as part of
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  their expansion under the Canada Wide Early Learning
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  and Child Care System. The group is looking to
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  find an operator who can expand or open new child
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  care spaces in the area. The group are looking
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  for applications before October 31st. The Canada
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  Wide Early Learning and Child Care System gives
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  families access to more affordable and high quality
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  child care options, helps lower child care fees
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  for parents and of children under the age of
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  six, increases childcare spaces, supports the
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  childcare workforce, and supports inclusive childcare.
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  As of March this year, the system has created
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  about 39 ,500 new affordable childcare spaces.
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  This goes towards their goal of creating 86 ,000
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  spaces by the end of 2026. As of January 1st
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  this year, The system capped fees at $22 per
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  day, bringing the provincial average to $19 per
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  day. By March 2026, the system is looking to
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  lower that average to $10 per day. Families and
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  individuals may be eligible for reduced fees
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  if their licensed child care provider is enrolled
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  in the system and charges more than $12 per day
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  for child care, with the child being under the
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  age of six or turns six years old and is enrolled
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  in a licensed preschool, kindergarten or family
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  age group or a licensed home child care premises
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  until June. 30th. Costs can depend on a family's
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  income and can be reduced by 50 % for eligible
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  children in system -enrolled programs. For Amherst
• 15:16
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
• 15:19
  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. This
• 15:23
  has been North Shore News and Interviews. If
• 15:27
  you have an idea for a story or want to create
• 15:29
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