Cobourg Police Service has received a $100,000 grant from the Ontario government to expand a collaboration with Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre, an accredited violence against women agency in Cobourg that provides shelter, counselling, housing support, and prevention services in Northumberland County.

In 2017, Cobourg police and Cornerstone launched the Violence Against Women Response Enhancement Project as a one-year pilot project that brought experts in gender-based violence into the police service alongside officers, allowing victims of gender-based violence to receive direct and expert support from a counsellor while pairing victim advocacy with criminal investigation.

Since then, the program has continued to evolve with best practices and has adjusted to trends and community needs. In 2021, Cobourg police worked with Cornerstone to provide a safer space for victims during a sexual assault interview. Victims were provided with the option to have a support person from Cornerstone present during their interview for enhanced support, potentially reducing re-traumatization through the interview process.

With the $100,000 grant, Cobourg police and Cornerstone will be rebranding the Violence Against Women Response Enhancement Project as the Intimate Partner Abuse Response Strategy program and expanding the program’s geographical reach, establishing a full-time position, adding services for sexual assault victims, increasing training for officers on intimate partner abuse, and developing best-practice documentation for police, social service programs, and domestic violence and sexual assault prevention centres.

“With the funding, we are excited to expand this program to support victims and survivors,” says Cornerstone executive director Nancy Johnston in a media release. “The grant will allow us to create an innovative framework that can be applied by other interested police services over a larger geographical area, furthering our shared work of supporting our local and larger communities in creating a violence-free future.”

The $100,000 grant is part of the Ontario government’s $4 million Victim Support Grant Program to help support victims and survivors of intimate partner violence, domestic violence, human trafficking. and child exploitation. The Cobourg Police Service is one of 45 municipal and First Nations police departments and OPP detachments that received funding through this program in September for 2023-2024.

“Our partnership with Cornerstone is vital to supporting victims and survivors of intimate partner violence,” says Chief Paul VandeGraaf of Cobourg Police Service. “The support from the province through this grant money (increases) our ability to come together to stand against the intimate partner violence epidemic by focusing on collaborative solutions, increasing the number of people connected to Cornerstone services, enhancing training for officers to ensure the readiness of our team at Cobourg Police Service and in Port Hope to support the community.”

“We continue to foster a positive working relationship with Cobourg Police Service and we are truly appreciative of the Victim Support Grant program that will provide the opportunity to continue our partnership with Cobourg Police Service and enhance our ongoing collaboration with them and Port Hope Police Service,” Johnston says.

“Partnerships and collaboration can help us succeed in creating safe and resilient communities,” says Chief Tim Farquharson of Port Hope Police Service. “Cornerstone continues to support those impacted by gender-based violence and we are pleased to be a partner. Strengthening families, youth and individuals through programs and services always results in a stronger community. We are grateful for the province’s investment in Northumberland County through this grant. We will continue to work towards sustainable funding for the long term to support the safety, health, and wellness of our community.”

If you’re waiting to get a dose of the recently approved COVID-19 Moderna XBB.1.5 vaccine, which better protects against the new omicron XBB subvariant of the virus, the good news is that Peterborough Public Health has received an initial shipment of the vaccine.

The bad news is that the new vaccine may not be available to you unless you fall within the two highest priority groups eligible to receive the new vaccine.

“We are underway on vaccinating residents in the first two eligibility groups and have clinics ready for all residents ages six months and older,” reads a media release from Peterborough Public Health on Friday (October 6). “Priority for appointments will be given to those in eligibility groups one and two.”

The first and highest priority eligible group includes people who are hospitalized and hospital staff, along with residents, staff, and caregivers in long-term care homes and elder care lodges.

The next highest priority group are people at high risk of complications from influenza or COVID-19 or hospitalization — including residents and staff of congregate living settings, pregnant women, Indigenous people and their household members, people 65 years of age and older, and children from six months to four years of age — and health care workers and first responders.

The final and lowest priority eligible group are members of the general public who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine with the last six months. The vaccine will be administered to this group as soon as the supply permits. It’s not yet clear when that will be.

Residents who are eligible for a vaccination can book an appointment through the provincial vaccine booking centre call line at 1-833-943-3900 or online at ontario.ca/bookvaccine.

Two other vaccines that target the new omicron XBB subvariant of the virus may also soon be available. On September 28, Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for those six months of age and older, and is reviewing a submission from Novavax for its COVID-19 vaccine targeting the omicron XBB subvariant for people 12 years of age and older.

“Canada will have ample supply of the new formulation of mRNA vaccines available in fall 2023,” according to Health Canada’s statement about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approval.

As for influenza vaccines, Peterborough Public Health expects them to be available later in October.

A 99-year-old Kawartha Lakes man is dead after an accident on a farm north of Downeyville on Thursday evening (October 5).

Shortly before 6:30 p.m., officers from the Kawartha Lakes Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and emergency services were called to the farm off of Sturgeon Road for an accident involving a tractor that had rolled onto someone.

A 99-year-old man from Emily Township had been working on the tractor at the time of the incident.

The man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

OPP collision investigators and reconstructions were brought in to investigate and document the scene.

The OPP is reminding the public to be cautious when working around machinery.

The James A. Gifford Causeway in Bridgenorth will reopen to traffic just in time for the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Peterborough County announced on Friday (October 6) that emergency repairs on the causeway have been completed, with one lift of asphalt applied to the roadway. The causeway will reopen to traffic at 12 p.m. on Friday, although there will be intermittent lane closures.

The James A. Gifford Causeway, Peterborough County’s busiest stretch of road, was closed a week ago because of “a significant safety risk to the travelling public” that required “urgent unforeseen repairs.”

While those repairs have been completed, the county says additional work is still required to complete the remaining construction components associated with previously planned rehabilitation of the causeway. While that work is underway until mid-November, lane closures and traffic flagging will be in place.

“With high traffic volumes, it’s important to note that continued delays will occur,” states a media release from Peterborough County. “Motorists should expect delays and adjust their travel schedule accordingly.”

“Peterborough County would like to thank the community for its understanding and patience during this emergency closure and the ongoing construction rehabilitation.”

Peterborough police have announced a “no-tolerance approach” to the open-air use of illicit drugs in public spaces, effective immediately.

Chief Stuart Betts announced what police are calling the “Safer Public Spaces” approach on Thursday (October 5) at the Peterborough police station on Water Street in downtown Peterborough.

“We have seen a proliferation of open-air drug use in our community,” Betts said. “Cannabis Act aside, we see people who are consuming drugs, ingesting drugs, (and) smoking drugs in our parks, our playgrounds, our bus shelters, (and) in front of our businesses. It’s creating an environment where community members have expressed concern and fear.”

Under the new approach, if police see open-air illicit drug use in a public space, or receive a call from a concerned resident about it, officers will approach the substance user and request they stop using drugs in that location and move to a different one, offering them information on where to find community services including the Consumption and Treatment Services on Simcoe Street, which is a legal location for the use of illicit injectable drugs.

If the substance user does not comply with the request, as a last resort police will arrest the person and seize their illegal drugs for destruction. Police will then unconditionally release the person, unless they have committed another criminal offence or if there is an outstanding warrant for their arrest.

“We do not want to criminalize anybody who has an addiction — that is not our intent,” Betts said. “Our intent is to ensure that they are provided with the resources they need and the direction they need to where they can go to safely use these substances. To that end we will be providing our officers with information and documentation that they can hand out.”

VIDEO: Safer Public Spaces – Peterborough Police Service (October 5, 2023)

According to information posted on the police website, the new approach will initially focus on open-air illicit drug use in public spaces such as parks, playgrounds, bus shelters, and store fronts.

The homeless encampment on Wolfe Street “has not been factored into” the approach, Betts said, adding that “we’re in constant communication with the city as they continue to work on their plans and we will work with the city to support their plans.”

Police say residents, business owners, and members of city council have all expressed concerns about people openly using their drugs in public places in the community, and cite the results of a survey of city residents in which 48 per cent of respondents say they feel safe or very safe in the community, 67 per cent believe crime has increased in the community, and 71 per cent say their feelings about safety influence where they go and what they do in the community.

“The overall severity of crime has increased in our city over the past five years, while our clearance rates have continued to decrease,” Betts states in a media release, referring to the rate of known crime that results in an arrest. “We also know that much of the violent crime in our community, in the past few years, has been connected to the proliferation of illicit drugs. The drugs in our community are not only dangerous and unsafe, but they bring with them a level of violence to the people using them and by extension, to others in community. By using the safer public spaces approach we hope to give the community back a sense of safety.”

Police will be monitoring the Safer Public Spaces approach by recording the number of interactions between officers and substance users, whether the interactions resulted from reports by residents or from officers observing open-air drug use, the end result of the interactions (including whether the substance user left the location or were arrested), and where the interactions took place and the origin of calls for service from residents.

A Safer Public Spaces approach was announced by the Edmonton Police Service in September, although that initiative also includes “aggressive enforcement of those who are supplying and carrying out the drug trade.”

The Port Hope Drive In — the longest continually operating drive-in theatre in Canada and one of the last two drive-ins in the greater Kawarthas region — has closed.

That’s the word from Justin Ashley, owner and operator of Oshawa collectibles business Fly By Nite, who posted on the drive-in’s Facebook page on Tuesday (October 3). Ashley says he is a friend of the owner, a former manager of the drive-in for almost 10 years, and responsible for creating the theatre’s website and Facebook page.

“Unfortunately the Port Hope Drive In has been forced to close due to several years of poor business,” Ashley writes.

The Port Hope Drive In was open over the summer, but stopped updating its website and Facebook page in late August. In September, Pete Fisher of Today’s Northumberland reported the drive-in had closed early for renovations.

In his Facebook post, Ashley attributes the downturn in business at the Port Hope Drive In to the impact of the pandemic, with lockdowns preventing drive-in theatres from operating and new movies being unavailable for entire seasons, combined with the increasing popularity of streaming platforms for in-home entertainment. He also blames the high cost of living and increased gas prices for reduced attendance each season.

“There was hope the business would recover, however it’s clear now that won’t be the case,” he writes. “Sales and attendance continued to worsen over the last few years to the point where there is no longer enough revenue to cover the basic costs of operation.”

Located on Theatre Road south of Highway 401 about halfway between Port Hope and Cobourg, the single-screen drive-in theatre opened in 1947, one year later after the Skyway Theatre in Stoney Creek, Canada’s very first drive-in theatre. The Skyway Theatre closed in 1975, making the Port Hope Drive In Canada’s oldest continually operating drive-in theatre — until now.

“I know this is not the news you wanted to read,” write Ashley, who says he is repurposing the drive-in’s Facebook page for his own company’s new events business. “It’s sad news for all. These are the unfortunate casualties from a nationwide recession.”

kawarthaNOW was unable to contact the current owner of the Port Hope Drive In to confirm the theatre’s closure or any future plans for the business or property.