Following a mischief investigation, Cobourg police have identified two young teenagers who participated in a TikTok challenge that involves banging on residential doors and running away without getting caught.

Participants in the “door-knock” or “door-kick” challenge record themselves as they use their hands or feet to hit or kick doors and then post the video on social media. The mischief usually happens at night, frightening any occupants who may be at home and often causing property damage.

“Online challenges often target youth and can pose serious risks,” Cobourg police state in a media release. “Some challenges encourage harmful and sometimes criminal behaviours. Kids and teens may unknowingly put themselves in dangerous or illegal situations driven by the desire for online recognition.”

While the door-knock challenge has been around since at least 2021, there have been recent reports of incidents in local municipalities including Peterborough. In other jurisdictions, the challenge has resulted in dangerous confrontations between youth and homeowners.

In Cobourg, police received a number of calls in late January and early February from homeowners about two youths kicking their front doors and running away. In each instance, there was property damage. Using footage from CCTV cameras and residential doorbell cameras, police identified two 13-year-old youths.

In lieu of criminal charges, the teens will be subject to extrajudicial measures and sanctions that may include volunteer work, compensating victims, or participating in specialized programs.

The federal Youth Criminal Justice Act requires police to consider the use of extrajudicial measures where they are adequate to hold a young person accountable, especially a first-time non-violent offender.

These alternatives to the court system aim to promote learning and rehabilitation, reintegration into the community, and prevention of further offences by youth. Failure to adhere to extrajudicial sanctions would reengage the youth in the normal court process.

“As chief, I expect all our investigations to be victim centred,” says Cobourg Police Service chief Paul VandeGraaf in the release. “I am proud of all our frontline staff who did great work identifying the responsible youths and ensuring they are accountable within the principles and conditions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. I am confident that the extrajudicial measures, managed by Rebound Child and Youth Services, will be successful.”

One Million Meals Peterborough (OMMP) is calling on community members to support Peterborough’s largest annual food packing event in support of Kids Against Hunger Canada.

OMMP is currently striving to raise $24,000 before Saturday, April 6th, when volunteers will gather to assemble 50,000 meals using the money raised between now and then.

The event is an important one for Peterborough, said Tanya Nabein, a long-sitting committee member for OMMP.

“It brings together people of all ages, working together, to accomplish a mission of helping others in need,” Nabein told kawarthaNOW.

“There is a spirit of camaraderie that happens at these events that is very fulfilling, to know that you’re a part of the solution of helping people in need.”

While the event takes place annually on the first Saturday in April, OMMP also hosts many other events throughout the year.

Peterborough residents can help by becoming a monthly donor, raising money to host their own private event, and by raising awareness.

As for the upcoming meal packing day and what’s possible, Nabein said, “The best thing that we could expect from this year’s event would be that we raise the funds necessary to pack and ship 50,000 meals and that everyone who participates has a great time while doing good.”

According to its website, OMMP strives to inspire Peterborough residents to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

“By becoming a part of this event, not only will you contribute to a united cause, but you will also enjoy a fun and hands-on experience that promotes teamwork,” the group noted.

The event takes place at Rhema Christian School, which is located at 29 County Road 4 (just east of the Parkhill Road East and Television Road intersection).

Those who take part have the option to participate in one or more shifts with Kids Against Hunger Canada and assist in packing food for those who require nourishment.

OMMP invites residents to create their own fundraising pages and share the links with others through social media and email.

“It’s a simple yet rewarding way to witness the generosity of your family and friends as they contribute to this worthy cause.”

Kids Against Hunger Canada is a humanitarian food-aid organization which focuses on feeding children in need, both here in Canada and around the world. It is a registered charity and its head office is located in Peterborough. To learn more about Kids Against Hunger Canada, visit www.kahcanada.org.

For more information about One Million Meals Peterborough, to make a donation, or to register for the April 6th event, visit www.onemillionmealspeterborough.com.

Winter is returning to the Kawarthas, with Environment Canada issuing winter weather travel advisories and snowfall warnings for the region for Thursday (February 15).

Winter weather travel advisories are in effect for Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County, with snowfall warnings in effect for Haliburton County and Hastings Highlands.

An area of heavy snow will push through the region during the afternoon and early evening hours on Thursday. The majority of snowfall accumulations may fall within just a few hours due to high snowfall rates. Heavy snow will taper to light flurries through the evening.

For Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland, accumulations of 5 to 10 cm are expected with peak snowfall rates of 2 to 4 cm per hour. In Haliburton County and Hastings Highlands, accumulations near 15 cm are expected with peak snowfall rates of 3 to 5 cm per hour.

Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow.

Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions. Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve.

This story has been updated with the latest forecast from Environment Canada.

Peterborough Public Health (PPH) is extending its drug-poisoning alert after an additional five poisonings were noted on Tuesday (February 13), for a total of 19 since Saturday.

On Wednesday, PPH issued the extended alert following a trigger of its Early Warning Surveillance System.

Last Saturday, there were eight drug poisonings on resulting calls for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and hospital emergency department (ED) visits. The presumed substance causing the poisonings is orange and green in colour and sedative effects have been reported.

On Sunday, there were six drug-poisonings resulting in EMS calls and ED visits related to the same presumed substance as the day prior.

Then on Tuesday, there were five drug poisonings resulting in EMS calls and ED visits. A white/beige substance being sold as “down” was tested, confirming the presence of benzodiazepines — which are sedatives — along with fentanyl.

PPH recommends people always carry multiple naloxone kits. However, sedatives cannot be reversed with naloxone, PHH noted. Learn where to get a free naloxone kit at ontario.ca/naloxone.

The health unit issues drug-poisoning alerts with the intention of providing life-saving information about tainted drug supplies for those who use drugs, their loved ones, and service providers in the community.

Drug-checking services are available in Peterborough at the Consumption & Treatment Site (CTS), located downtown at 220 Simcoe St., from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on February 17 and 21 to 23. Test strips for fentanyl, benzos, and xylazine are available at the CTS during hours of operation from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with harm reduction support also available daily during those hours.

Other harm reduction support is available by calling the National Overdose Response Service at 1-888-688-6677 (NORS) and by calling The Krasman Centre’s Warm Line & Peer Crisis Support Services in Richmond Hill at 1-888-777-0979. The line is available 24/7, with online chat also available from 10 a.m. to midnight at The Krasman Centre’s website.

Crisis support is available 24/7 by calling the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline (call or text 9-8-8) or by calling the Telecare Distress Centre of Peterborough at 705-745-2273.

Last week, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) issued a warning about a toxic drug supply being suspected in the nearby community of Belleville.

Emergency services in the city of Belleville responded to a total of 23 overdoses, 14 of which occurred between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6th. The substance of concern circulating in that community was unknown at the time, HKPRDHU noted.

Belleville made national headlines after the city reached out to the provincial government for assistance in managing the volume of incidents, which stressed its emergency services to capacity.

City officials and community partners from local emergency services, as well as Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and Quinte Health, addressed the media during a press conference at city hall following the 23 overdoses.

“This is a very unfortunate event,” said City of Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis in a statement.

“It’s not the first occurrence and it won’t be the last. Like many municipalities across the province and country, we have a very serious drug, addictions and mental health crisis in our city,” Ellis said.

“Our police and emergency services are working around the clock and an immense amount of municipal resources are going toward this issue on a daily basis. We need support from the provincial government on how we move forward with this crisis. It is a crisis that is not specific to Belleville, it is a provincial and federal issue.”

There was nothing but smiles at Fairhaven Long-Term Care Home last month when generations came together for the meeting of a Peterborough centenarian and her 12-week-old namesake.

The namesake, Winnie June Rasenberg, took a taxing journey with her mother from Kingston Peninsula in New Brunswick specifically to meet the 101-year-old Winnifred Hunter who inspired her name.

“It was so special,” says the baby’s mother Megan Doughty. “The two of them were just beaming. It was perfect.”

Doughty, who was born and spent most of her life in Peterborough before moving east a year and a half ago, first became acquainted with Hunter at the end of 2021. When a roommate introduced her to Hunter’s niece (who is also named Winnie), Doughty learned the family was searching for someone who could help Hunter and keep her company.

A personal support worker at the time, Doughty took on the role, visiting Hunter once or twice per week at Kawartha Heights Retirement Living to help with shopping and “adorable” requests like delivering chocolate and fresh-cut flowers.

“She always wanted Laughing Cow cheese,” Doughty recalls. “But mostly I would just sit and chat. We would talk politics because she’s very sharp, very engaged, and she’d tell me her stories about her family. We just had this wonderful conversation, and I grew really fond of her.”

“I always looked forward to when she was coming,” Hunter tells kawarthaNOW. “It was a very nice deed.”

Like Doughty, Hunter is a Kawartha native, raised on a farm close to Springville in what was at the time North Monaghan Township. A chemist, Hunter worked in labs all over, including a munitions lab inspecting gunpowder during World War II, a public health lab in Toronto, a cosmetics labs in Edmonton, and the Quaker Oats factory in Peterborough.

She then spent close to 57 years, unmarried, in Dallas, Texas “to get away from the snow for a while,” before moving into Kawartha Heights Retirement Living in 2018.

“She is a fiercely independent woman which is a core value for me, and I wish it for my Winnie,” Doughty says, noting that even now at a 101 years old, Hunter is very self-reliant. “She’s indomitable, and never gives up. I was expecting to see a big change in her this time, but she was just as sparkling as ever.”

Hunter recently moved from Kawartha Heights Retirement Living into Fairhaven after recovering from a COVID-19 infection that put her in the hospital in October, just before her 101st birthday and the same week Doughty’s daughter was born.

Hunter has since “bounced back” and was eager to meet her namesake.

“I was really delighted, pleased, and honoured,” says Hunter, referring to Doughty and her partner naming their firstborn child after her. “It’s lovely to think of the baby out there who will grow up and be called Winnie.”

Doughty is hopeful that her daughter (who is affectionately called “Wee Winnie”) grows up to have more than simply a name in common with Hunter, including her longevity.

“I feel like a big part of Winnie’s longevity is attributed to her very radiant spirit,” says Doughty. “She speaks so genuinely with such a kind heart and has a deep sensitivity for the situation of others.”

It seems Doughty’s wish has come true already, as “Wee Winnie” was more than happy to have met the woman who inspired her name. Already Hunter was sharing stories with the infant and giving advice that only a centenarian can.

“That was lovely of her to bring the baby who was, of course, just a lovely child,” says Hunter. “She was happy the whole time she was here. She’s going to be a lovely little girl.”

“Winnie is such a beaming little soul and already loves to laugh,” Doughty says of her daughter. “She’s so smiley and social and really engaged, and that’s totally who the elder Winnie is in my mind, too. I hope that my Winnie always carries that spirit with her and that sincere positivity.”

While Doughty has many hopes for how Winnie will grow up in the footsteps of her eponym, Hunter has just one simple wish.

“I just hope her to be a kind child,” Hunter says. “I hope they all have a very good life in New Brunswick, enjoy themselves, and continue on their way.”

Four Peterborough police officers have been recognized for their bravery and commitment to public safety in connection with an armed stand-off at a Peterborough car dealership last August.

The four officers — police constables Mitchell Northey, Josh Gibbs, and Nick Gannon and police sergeant Mike Self — were recognized at the police services board meeting on Tuesday night (February 13).

On August 11, 2023, a 28-year-old man driving a Jeep who fled from police after a traffic infraction crashed his vehicle at Chemong and Towerhill roads. The man emerged from the vehicle holding a firearm and held up a taxi at gunpoint before making his way in the service garage of the nearby Peterborough Volkswagen dealership.

Frustrated when he was unable to obtain keys for one of the vehicles under repair, the man struck an employee of the dealership in the back of the head with the gun and was holding the employee at gunpoint when police arrived. Although the man released the employee after an officer ordered him to do so, he then turned the gun on himself and asked the officer to shoot him.

The officer replied that he was not going to shoot the man, but wanted him to drop the gun so they could talk. As the stand-off continued over the next several minutes, the man sprayed and poured the contents of various automotive fluids from containers on nearby benches before drinking from them. It was later determined the man had ingested antifreeze, engine coolant, and motor oil.

A second officer arrived at the scene and, along with the first officer, implored the man to drop the gun and refrain from drinking from the containers. The man then collapsed and dropped the firearm. When officers realized he was in medical distress, they administered CPR until the arrival of firefighters and paramedics. The man was transported to Peterborough Regional Health Centre where he was pronounced dead. It was later determined the man was suffering from mental illness and was having an acute episode at the time of the incident.

“If it were not for the brave actions of the officers involved, placing their own lives in direct danger to save the lives of others, it is possible that this incident could have ended more tragic(ally),” reads a statement from the Peterborough Police Service on behalf of the board.

“The actions of these officers were heroic and that is why the awards committee and the chief recommended that they all be recognized with a board commendation.”

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit completed an investigation into the incident in December and cleared the primary responding police officer (who was not publicly identified) of any wrongdoing, indicating he showed “due care and regard for public safety” during the incident, including concern for the man’s safety.

From a plumber to an instrumentation and control engineering tech, Homeward Bound Peterborough is celebrating the graduation of seven of its single mothers as they pursue new careers and, ultimately, new lives.

Homeward Bound is an award-winning comprehensive four-year program that aims to help precariously housed single mothers in Peterborough city and county achieve lasting economic self-sufficiency. The program aids mothers, aged 19 and older, who are facing multiple barriers such as unstable housing, a risky financial situation, and limited or no access to education, childcare, and sustainable employment.

The initiative strives to open doors for mothers by providing childcare, training, education and housing, and creates a pathway to independence and family security.

“It has been a dream of ours for a long time to bring the program to Peterborough,” said Maisie Watson, housing support worker, who has been with Homeward Bound since 2017 when the program was in its infancy stages in Peterborough.

Today, Homeward Bound is currently celebrating the first seven graduates of its program.

“We encourage our women to study in areas that aren’t usually traditional for women and that will give them a decent, sustainable full-time job,” Watson told kawarthaNOW. “We currently have two (women) in school — one in plumbing and one in carpentry and renovation.”

There are also two participants who are currently upgrading their skills and pursuing nursing as their careers.

“The whole goal is to break the cycle of poverty,” Watson said.

Homeward Bound Peterborough is operated by the Peterborough Housing Corporation (PHC), which is the largest community housing provider in the city and county of Peterborough. PHC owns and manages 1,200-plus units of senior, single, and family units, providing homes to more than 4,000 residents.

Starting with a vision of bringing Homeward Bound to Peterborough in 2004, PHC made a corporate commitment to make the vision a reality in 2018.

The program has four phases, each of which must be completed before the women move on to the next phase.

Phase one encompasses skills training and academic upgrading. Participants receive training in life skills, computer and financial literacy, employability skills, networking opportunities and academic upgrading for college entrance.

The second phase is community college. The women enroll in a two-year diploma granting program at Peterborough’s Fleming College, in a discipline that is geared towards meeting current demand in the labour market.

The third phase of the program is employment skills. This is a 12-week program designed to enhance employability by developing hard and soft skills that will allow them to be successful in the workplace. The fourth phase involves an internship, employment, and the departure from the program.

Homeward Bound aims to connect women with opportunities for full-time employment and support them to transition into their new lives.

Women live in furnished apartments, for a maximum of four years, until they graduate and find permanent employment. Certified childcare is offered on site for young children.

Each participant receives guidance, counselling, support and develops regular action plans throughout the four phases. Homeward Bound continues to be available to provide support to its graduates and their children after the program ends.

Homeward Bound was developed by Toronto social services agency WoodGreen and launched in 2004, as a four-year education and employment program that provides intensive wrap-around services to eliminate the barriers that single mothers face in trying to move out of poverty, according to the WoodGreen website.

Watson and her chief executive officer, along with Homeward Bound’s partners, visited WoodGreen’s Homeward Bound program several times before bringing the program to Peterborough.

To be eligible for Homeward Bound in Peterborough, women must be:

• 19 years or older
• Experiencing the effects of poverty
• A resident of the city of county of Peterborough
• A Canadian citizen, landed immigrant, or convention refugee
• Have a child or children under 17 years old, with at least one child living with the mother
• Have a high school diploma or equivalent, or be a couple of credits away from having a diploma
• Be capable of reaching college-level academics within six to eight months
• Be receiving or eligible to receive OW, ODSP, or EI benefits
• Have no unresolved OSAP debt
• Have no current criminal proceedings
• Be addiction-free for at least one year
• Be able to commit to participating in a full-time program.

Homeward Bound in Peterborough currently has space for four women and their children.

For more information or to apply, visit www.ptbohousingcorp.ca/building-healthy-communities/homeward-bound/.

As Homeward Bound does not receive ongoing government funding, the program accepts charitable donations. To learn more about how to support the program or make a donation, email Maisie Watson at mwatson@ptbohousingcorp.ca.

Lindsay residents who have noticed their tap water is cloudy or grey or smells like chlorine should not be concerned, according to the City of Kawartha Lakes.

“Water in municipal systems is prone to becoming cloudy or greyish-coloured due to unseasonably warm temperatures during the day and colder temperatures at night,” reads a media release issued by the municipality on Tuesday (February 13).

“Fluctuating temperatures can cause more air to be trapped in the water, resulting in the cloudiness. This has no effect on the quality of the water — it remains safe to drink.”

The city says the cloudiness should disperse when the cold water tap is run for a few minutes, or after the water is put into a jug or container in the fridge. Hot water that is cloudy can usually be resolved by lowering the setting on your hot water heater, according to the city.

The city is also reassuring residents who notice their tap water smells like chlorine. The chemical is added to the water to kill any harmful germs and make it safe for drinking.

“Chlorine levels are kept well within the regulated limits and are monitored 24 hours a day,” the city states.

According to the city, a chlorine smell in water is often caused by the dissipation of the gas from the water, changes in water temperature, high demand for water, or a change in operational demands.

To reduce the smell or taste of chlorine, residents are advised to keep a jug of water in the fridge as chlorine disperses over time.

“We’d like to thank the residents that have reached out about their drinking water in Lindsay,” says Amber Hayter, the city’s manager of waste and wastwater. “We completely understand it can be concerning; however, I want to reiterate that the drinking water in Kawartha Lakes is continuously monitored and remains safe to drink.”