Latest / North Shore News / October 28th, 2025

Transcript

October 28th, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:07
  Welcome to North Shore News & Interviews on Amherst
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  Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated on
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  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. Loyalists Township has announced
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  that their annual holiday celebration, Light
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  Up the Season, will be returning on Saturday,
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  November 29th from 3pm to 5pm at Fairfield Park.
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  4574 Bath Road in Amherst View. Admission and
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  all activities are free and no registration is
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  required. This festive family -friendly event
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  will include wagon rides, festive music, milk
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  and cookies, hot chocolate, marshmallow roasting,
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  ornament making, and visits with Santa and his
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  reindeer. Lights in the park will continue to
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  shine nightly until February. Guests are encouraged
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  to park at the W .J. Henderson Community Center
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  and take advantage of the free shuttle service
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  running every 15 minutes starting at 2 .45 p
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  .m. Parking at Fairfield Park is reserved for
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  accessible parking only, and parking along Highway
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  33 is not permitted. For more information, visit
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  loyalist .ca slash events. 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. 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 7 p .m.
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  and 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 cra
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  - from the Stratford Festival, Charlottetown
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  Festival, Neptune Theatre, Theatre Aquarius,
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  Mirvish Productions, Thousand Islands Playhouse,
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  and many other companies across Canada. Most
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  recently, Graham was the co -director and choreographer
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  of the sold -out run of Mary Poppins at Thousand
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  Islands Playhouse. Tor has spent seven seasons
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  as a performer at Thousand Islands Playhouse,
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  as well as many other theatres across the country.
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  For showtimes and more information, visit torrentproductions
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  .com. T -O -R -R -E -N -T productions dot com.
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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 in conjunction with Lennox
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  and Addington County and Jewel Engineering have
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  drafted a design to reconstruct Main Street in
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  Odessa from Durham Street to Mill Street. This
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  includes reconstruction of all buried utilities,
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  roadway construction and the proposed closure
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  of Durham Street at Main Street. The Township
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  will be hosting a public information session
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  on October 27th at the Odessa Agricultural Society
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  231 Main Street in Odessa. The meeting will take
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  place from 5 .30 p .m. to 7 p .m. Residents will
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  have a chance to share their feedback on the
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  draft design and review the proposed road closures.
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  The proposed design aims to enhance pedestrian
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  safety and improve traffic flow near schools
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  in the area. For more information, visit Loyalist
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  .ca. 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 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 first will take place in Wilton
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  Wednesday October 29th at 6 .30 p .m. This meeting
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  will take place at Wilton Hall 251 Simmons Road.
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  The meeting for Odessa will take place Tuesday
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  November 4th from 6 .30 to 8 p .m. at the Odessa
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  Municipal Office 263 Main Street in Odessa. There
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  will be a meeting in Bath Wednesday, November
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  5th at 630 p .m. at the Bath Fire Hall, 241 Church
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  Street in Bath. The meeting for Amherst Island
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  will take place Wednesday, November 12th from
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  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 slash town hall. 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. Residents
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  of Greater Napanee will see a change in their
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  recycling pickup on January 1st, 2026. Starting
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  in the new year, Circular Materials Ontario will
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  take over Greater Napanee's blue and gray bin
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  programs. M -Terra Environmental will be collecting
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  all recyclable materials. To help residents prepare
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  for the transition, the Town is holding information
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  sessions on October 23rd and November 4th from
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  6pm to 7 .30pm 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 and the
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  possibility of more changes in the coming years.
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  2026, residents should not see a change in their
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  collection dates, the streams of recycling or
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  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,
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  how 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
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  some people will be coming to us to maybe look
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  for us to assist and make sense of this. And
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  unfortunately, we won't be in that position.
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  And so it'll just be really important that we
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  be clear with people about where they can go
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  for the right information. who is now in charge
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  of this recycling more generally. And that work
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  is already underway. I will give kudos to the
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  team. It's a bit of a moving target, but 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
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  new strong mayor power, I keep coming up with
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  more questions. And fortunately, so far, staff
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  have always been able to do some research and
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  we've been able to work to figure them out. It'll
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  take a little while before all the media spellies,
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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
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  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
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  Learning and Child Care System. The group is
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  looking to find an operator who can expand or
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  open new child care spaces in the area. The group
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  are looking for applications before October 31st.
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  The Canada -wide Early Learning and Child Care
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  System gives families access to more affordable
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  and high -quality child care options, helps lower
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  child care fees for parents and of children under
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  the age of six, increases childcare spaces, supports
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  the childcare workforce, and supports inclusive
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  childcare. As of March this year, the system
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  has created about 39 ,500 new affordable childcare
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  spaces. This goes towards their goal of creating
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  86 ,000 spaces by the end of 2026. As of January
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  1st this year, The system capped fees at $22
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  per day, bringing the provincial average to $19
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  per day. By March 2026, the system is looking
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  to lower that average to $10 per day. Families
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  and 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
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. This
• 12:04
  has been North Shore News and Interviews. If
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  you have an idea for a story or want to create
• 12:10
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• 12:18
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