Ontario premier Doug Ford (second from left), Fleming College president Maureen Adamason (third from right), and Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott (far right) were among the dignitaries at Fleming College's Frost Campus in Lindsay cutting a ceremonial ribbon at the Shakir Rehmatullah Atrium, named in recognition of the founder and president of FLATO Developments Inc. (fourth from left) which has donated $1.2 million to the college for a capital innovation fund and a scholarship program. (Photo: Office of the Premier)
FLATO Developments Inc. is donating $1.2 million to Fleming College in Lindsay — the largest single gift in the college’s history.
The announcement took place at the college’s Lindsay campus on Thursday (April 21), which was also attended by Ontario premier Doug Ford, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott, and Fleming College president Maureen Adamson.
Launched in 2005 and based in Markham, FLATO Developments Inc. develops housing projects across southern Ontario, including in Lindsay and Cameron within Kawartha Lakes. The company has previously made donations to Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay and Kawartha Lakes Food Source, among others, and most recently entered into a 15-year $1.375 million sponsorship agreement with the Academy Theatre in Lindsay, which is now called FLATO Academy Theatre Lindsay.
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“At FLATO we believe in supporting the communities where we build,” says FLATO Developments Inc. founder and president Shakir Rehmatullah in a media release. “Education is a very important part of the community and we’re excited to support Fleming College and help provide students with the resources they need to succeed.”
Of the $1.2 million donation, $720,000 will be put toward Fleming’s FLATO Capital Innovation Fund. The fund will allows Fleming faculty to teach students using the latest equipment that reflects the highest industry standards and practices, and provides reliable financial support for purchases in a rapidly shifting economy.
The remaining $480,000 will be used to create the FLATO Student Scholars Program, which will provide scholarships to several hundred incoming students at Fleming College’s Frost Campus over the next 10 years.
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“With this donation, FLATO Developments Inc. and its founder Shakir Rehmatullah cement a legacy here at Fleming College,” says Fleming College president Maureen Adamson. “We are grateful for this gift, and we are grateful to find a partner in FLATO which shares our belief in supporting our community.”
In recognition of the donation, Fleming College will name the main foyer at Frost Campus as The Shakir Rehmatullah Atrium.
“This is not just an investment in Fleming College,” Adamson says. “This is an investment in people, in their hopes and dreams, and in their future careers.”
Detective sergeant Josh McGrath of the major crimes unit of the Peterborough Police Service speaks at a media briefing on April 21, 2022 across the street from a home at 124 Park Street South, where two Mississauga were shot the previous afternoon, with one later dying in hospital from his injuries. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of Peterborough Police Service video)
Peterborough police have released more details about a shooting incident that took place on Park Street South on Wednesday afternoon (April 20).
At a media conference on Thursday, police said a 31-year-old Mississauga man died as a result of the shooting, which is now being investigated as a homicide.
At around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, police received a 9-1-1 call from home at 124 Park Street South between Princess and Romaine. After arriving, police found two male victims — a 31-year-old and a 29-year-old, both of Mississauga — with gunshot wounds.
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Both victims were taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre, where the 31-year-old man succumbed to his injuries. The 29-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated and released.
Police are seeking four male suspects in the shooting, all between 20 and 30 years old, who police say may be from out of town. Police say there is no risk for public safety at this time, as they believe the two victims and the four suspects are associated with each other.
Police are continuing the investigation and will release more details when available.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Constable Mike Penney at 705-876-1122 x232 or anonymously on the Peterborough Police Crime Line at 705-876-1122 x555 or at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.stopcrimehere.ca.
VIDEO: April 21, 2022 media briefing with Detective Sergeant Josh McGrath
The main entrance of Peterborough Regional Health Centre. (Photo: PRHC)
Due to a record number of COVID-19 patients, extremely high patient volumes in the emergency department usage, and pandemic-related staff shortages, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is asking the public to consider available alternatives before seeking care at the hospital if their situation is not an emergency.
“PRHC, like hospitals across Ontario, is very much still in the midst of the pandemic,” says Dr. Lynn Mikula, the hospital’s chief of staff and chief medical executive, in a media release issued on Thursday (April 21).
“While mandates have lifted in most public spaces, PRHC is not operating in its pre-pandemic state, and in fact a number of key factors continue to converge at the hospital as we grapple with the effects of this sixth wave of COVID-19.”
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As of Wednesday, there were 37 inpatients at PRHC with COVID-19, with one COVID-19 outbreak in Unit C3 of the hospital.
“With very high patient volumes and acuity and a higher-than-usual number of patients who require isolation protocols to prevent the spread of illness inside the hospital, individuals who come to the emergency department for care should expect to wait longer than usual to be seen for all but the most acute illnesses and conditions,” read the media release.
The hospital is asking anyone who is considering coming to the emergency department for non-urgent healthcare to consider other options, such as contacting their family doctor if they have one or calling the free Telehealth Ontario service at 1-866-797-0000 for round-the-clock health advice or information.
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Dr. Mikula also says hospital workers have seen an increase in aggressive and abusive behaviours from some members of the public.
“PRHC staff and physicians are working incredibly hard right now, putting in long hours under increasingly challenging conditions in order to provide life-saving care for hundreds of patients each day,” she says. “I would like to be clear that violent and abusive behaviours, which create an unsafe and disruptive environment for our healthcare workers, patients and caregivers, will not be tolerated.”
Robert Gibson, Green Party of Ontario candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha. (Supplied photo)
The Green Party of Ontario has announced the nomination of Robert Gibson as the party’s candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha for the 2022 provincial election.
Gibson, who has a bachelor degree in environmental science from Trent University, is a freelance journalist and long-time contributor to Arthur, Trent University and Peterborough’s independent student newspaper, where he also served as treasurer and internal affairs commissioner on the Arthur board.
He has reported on environmental issues, including environmental deregulation and the vulnerability of Ontario’s wetlands, and hosted the ‘Environmental Soup’ podcast through Trent Radio for a number of years.
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“Doug Ford’s sprawl agenda and failure to protect wetlands has serious local consequences in Peterborough-Kawartha, including severe, expensive flooding,” Gibson says in a media release. “Ontario Greens are the only party with a real plan to protect the nature that protects us.”
According to the Green Party website, Gibson’s other priorities are supporting a better pandemic response, challenging urban sprawl, and ending Ontario’s affordable housing crisis.
The 2022 provincial election will be held on Thursday, June 2nd. There are currently six candidates for the Peterborough-Kawartha riding: incumbent Dave Smith of the Conservatives, Greg Dempsey of the Liberals, Jen Deck of the NDP, Robert Gibson of the Green Party of Ontario, Tom Marazzo of the Ontario Party, and Dylan Smith of the None Of The Above Party.
The lone male suspect in the robbery of a convenience store on William Street North in Lindsay on April 20, 2022. (Police-supplied photo)
Kawartha Lakes police are seeking a suspect in the armed robbery of a convenience store in Lindsay on Wednesday morning (April 20).
At around 8:50 a.m., police responded to a report of a robbery at a William Street North convenience store in Lindsay.
The lone male suspect had approached the counter and brandished a weapon, demanding money and cigarettes from the clerk before leaving the store. He was last seen exiting the store running eastbound on Wellington Street.
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There were no physical injuries reported.
The suspect is described as a white man, approximately 5’8″ with a medium build. When he entered the store, he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with “Zoo York” logo, grey sweatpants, and a black face mask.
Police collected physical evidence from the scene and, after searching the area, located discarded clothing matching that worn by the suspect in the convenience store.
Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to contact the Kawartha Lakes Police Service at 705-324-5252. To provide your information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a tip online at www.khcrimestoppers.com.
In his new book "The Book of Nature Connection", Camp Kawartha executive director and nature sommelier Jacob Rodenburg provides 70 sensory activities you can use to connect with nature, including collecting fragrant natural items to create your own "scent cocktail." (Photo: Jacob Rodenburg)
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s story is by guest writer Jacob Rodenburg, “nature sommelier” and executive director of Camp Kawartha.
You were born to sense the world deeply around you.
Stop for one moment and step outside. Cup your hands, squeeze your fingers together and slip them behind your ears. Now push your ears forward. Notice how much better you can hear? Can you hear the whoosh of wind as it the strums the boughs of a nearby pine?
Move your head slowly from side to side. Look around you — all the way around. Marvel at the incredible shades of colours, the sheen of light reflecting off that pine, the deep blue of the sky and the folds of white and grey in the clouds overhead.
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Rub your fingers along the grooves of your fingertips. Feel the nerve endings — receptors called Meissner’s corpuscles that respond to the slightest pressure such as a gentle caress or the sweep of a cool breeze.
Take one large breath and focus on the smell of the air around you. With every breath in and out (we take 20,000 of these per day), we pick up odours — the latest research suggests we can detect millions of them.
Rub your tongue across the roof of your mouth. Can you feel the texture of your taste buds? Crammed in our mouth and shaped like tiny volcanoes, our more than 10,000 taste buds help us to detect the faintest of flavours. For example, our tongue can help us detect bitterness in as little as one part per 2 million.
Sensory activities like creating a “nature frame” can help us see nature in a new way. (Photo: Jacob Rodenburg)
Our environment is a delightfully textured tapestry of sound, sight, taste, feel, and smell. But in our modern, technologically saturated world we really only have time to use two of our senses, namely our sense of sight and our sense of hearing. In fact, most of the way we experience the world today is squeezed into two dimensions and confined to a flat and glowing screen.
With all our time spent in front of screens, we tend to forget that nature has graced us with these marvellous sensory abilities — senses that enable us to connect to the world around us in a deep and abiding way, and in a way that technology simply cannot replicate.
Perhaps we intuitively know this, but there is mounting evidence suggesting that time spent in nature enhances our physical and mental health. Just breathing in forest air strengthens our immune system. Simply seeing the colour green releases serotonin, the feel-good hormone. Time spent in nature helps us to focus better, improves our sleep, and boosts our mood and energy levels. In a world where more than half of us live in urban areas, now more than ever, we need nature.
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Think about your senses as “nature’s pipeline” — your most direct connection to the natural systems that sustain us all. To soak the world in through all of our senses takes practice, mindfulness, and deliberation. Some people have argued that in today’s modern world, we and our children are suffering from a measure of sensory anaesthesia — a dulling of our senses. Remember this: with time spent in nature with all of our senses awakened, we feel more alive and more in tune with the world around us.
Could it be that we along with our children are feeling a sense of loneliness and alienation because we feel disconnected from the very life systems that nurture and sustain us all? By immersing ourselves and our children again and again in natural spaces, we’ll come to cherish these sanctuaries and reimagine them, not just as places to go but as part of our family, our community.
To really savour nature takes practice. In my new book, The Book of Nature Connection – Sensory Activities for all Ages published by New Society Publishers, I offer up creative and engaging ways to activate your senses so that you can deepen your connection to nature.
Jacob Rodenburg’s new book “The Book of Nature Connection – 70 Sensory Activities for all Ages” is now available in print and digital formats from New Society Publishers. (Photos via New Society Publishers)
Call in birds by becoming a “bird whisperer.” Explore the very small by creating a micro trail. Savour the scents of the forest by making smell cocktails, and find out how to “frame” nature so you can view it in a whole new way.
Find out how you can distinguish between the different smells, shapes, and textures of various conifer needles such as spruce, hemlock, pine, and cedar. Reach under a “feely” blanket and see if you can recognize the various textures and shapes of natural objects hidden underneath.
By coming to nature with all of your senses primed and activated, you’ll come to appreciate nature in a whole new way. You’ll be nourished, inspired, and refreshed — feeling as though you belong to something larger than yourself. In belonging, you’ll feel more complete.
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Jacob Rodenburg’s The Book of Nature Connection – 70 Sensory Activities for all Ages was published on April 19, 2022 and is available in print and digital formats from the New Society Publishers website at newsociety.ca.
Peterborough police continue to investigate a shooting incident that took place on Park Street South on Wednesday afternoon (April 20).
At around 1 p.m., police received a 9-1-1 call from a residence on Park Street South between Princess and Romaine.
“Several” people were taken to hospital according to police, who have not released any information on their condition.
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The suspect or suspects in the incident are still at large, but police believe the shooting was not random and say there is no concern for public safety.
Police will be holding a media briefing on the incident on Thursday morning.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Constable Mike Penney at 705-876-1122 x232 or anonymously on the Peterborough Police Crime Line at 705-876-1122 x555 or at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.stopcrimehere.ca
North Kawartha Carolyn Amyotte stands beside one of the signs indicating new "community safety zones" along Highway 28 where fines for certain driving infractions are doubled. One zone covers 3.5 kilometres of the highway as it passes through Apsley and the other zone covers 5.8 kilometres of the highway from Haultain through Woodview. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of Facebook video)
If you use Highway 28 to travel to and from your cottage, be aware there are now two new “community safety zones” along the provincial highway in North Kawartha Township — where penalties for some driving infractions will be doubled.
On Wednesday (April 20), North Kawartha Mayor Carolyn Amyotte posted a video update on Facebook announcing the community safety zones and describing where they are located.
Amyotte says the first zone covers 3.5 kilometres of Highway 28 as it passes through the Village of Apsley, with the second covering 5.8 kilometres of the highway from Haultain through the Hamlet of Woodview.
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Signs have been installed at the boundaries of each zone.
The Ontario Provincial Police have described the two areas as “hot spots” for collisions — including a head-on collision last August that killed a Stoney Lake couple in their 60s. According to the OPP, along with animal strikes, the top reasons for collisions are speeding too fast for conditions, inattentive driving, following too closely, and driver fatigue.
“I’m here to tell you enforcement begins now,” Amyotte says in her Facebook video. “There will be no grace period — the increased penalties will be applied immediately. After years of advocacy and hard work, this is a major accomplishment for the well-being and safety of our community and for the tens of thousands of people that travel Highway 28 each year.”
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Last May, Amyotte — who is also chair of the North Kawartha police services board — said the township would be requesting the provincial government designate certain stretches of Highway 28 as community safety zones.
Through a 1998 regulation under the Highway Traffic Act, municipalities can request areas on provincially maintained highways be designated as community safety zones.
In the zones, which are identified through signage, many set penalties are doubled — including for speeding and careless driving.
VIDEO: North Kawartha Mayor Carolyn Amyotte
Hey North Kawartha! This important announcement has been a long time coming! Please check it out and spread the word.
A power outage at Trent University in Peterborough on Wednesday afternoon (April 20) has resulted in the closure of university’s Symons Campus, according to a campus advisory.
Trent University’s Durham campus and Catharine Parr Traill College in downtown Peterborough are unaffected by the power outage.
All exams on the Symons Campus are cancelled for the remainder of the day and for Wednesday evening. Instructors will notify students with further information about next steps regarding affected exams.
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Bata Library is also closed for the rest of Wednesday. The library can be reached remotely until 9 p.m. by emailing library@trentu.ca.
Residences at the Symons Campus in Peterborough remain open for residence students and meals will be served until 8 p.m. in Lady Eaton College and Otonabee College dining halls, for residence students in LEC, OC, Champlain, and Gzowski College. The university is asking Annex students to eat at home.
Students needing a place to study may access space and wi-fi at Traill College (open until 10 p.m.) or the Peterborough Public Library (open until 8:00 p.m.).
Peterborough Transit continues to provide service to and from the Symons Campus. Students can get to Traill College directly by taking the number 9 or 11 bus from Bata Loop.
The Trent Athletics Centre is closed, and any events or activities on the Symons Campus in Peterborough are cancelled for today.
The university is investigating the power outage. Updates will be available at www.trentu.ca/advisory/
The driver of an e-bike involved in a collision last week has succumbed to his injuries, according to Peterborough police.
The collision between the e-bike and a motor vehicle happened around noon on Thursday (April 14) at the intersection of Sherbrooke and Stewart streets in downtown Peterborough.
The driver of the e-bike was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre with serious injuries as a result of the collision.
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Police have identified the victim as a 54-year-old Peterborough man, but have not released his name.
The intersection was closed to traffic for several hours after the collision.
The police investigation into the collision continues.
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