The OPP are reminding the public that it is tax time again, which often means an increase of C RA (Canada Revenue Office) tax frauds. The OPP are reminding the public of the following: The CRA communicates with customers by mail. The CRA does not collect money by way of emails, text messages, phone calls, using money service businesses or by pre-paid debit/credit cards. The CRA do not call and threaten to put people in jail. Fraudsters tend to be aggressive in their behaviour on the phone, and they often create a sense of urgency which may cause the victim to not verify the story. Fraudsters use fear to intimidate victims into paying fake bills. The OPP are reminding the public to not provide any personal…

Things were just a little bit different at the regular Addington Highlands Council meeting meeting in Flinton this week. First of all, Council was missing Reeve Henry Hogg and Dep. Reeve Helen Yanch. So, at the insistence of Coun. Kirby Thompson and Bill Cox, Coun. Tony Fritsch took the chair. “I’ve done it before, it’s good experience,” Cox to Fritsch. Then, CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed had some news. “We’re finding ourselves in a little bit of a new situation for us,” she said. “Normally, our building department has operated at a loss. “But in 2017, we made some changes to policies and became more pro-active with building permits.” The bottom line is that the building department took in $156,000 in revenues, she said. After expenses, that…

Over the past 15 years, the custom animal carvings of Robin Deruchie have begun showing up at cottages and northern locations all across Ontario. He’s done demonstrations from Sarnia to Ottawa to Timmins. One park near Sarnia has 32 of his works spread throughout the park. Last Saturday, he was in Arden for the Frontenac Heritage Festival, a gig he’s done several times before. Many of his creations come to life at Wolf Creek Carvings, his studio/home in the Cloyne area, but he always draws a crowd at events, perhaps because he seems to be enjoying himself when he’s taking a chainsaw to a log. “Well, it is relaxing,” he said, taking a break from the owl he’s been working on. “I also do some…

“If we adhere (to these training requirements), I don’t see how we can continue to operate a fire department,” Addington Highlands Fire Chief Casey Cuddy told Council at its regular meeting Tuesday in Flinton. Cuddy was responding to an Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) memo on proposed mandatory training requirements for volunteer firefighters being proposed by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. “I understand the value of training,” Cuddy said. “But to continue the level of service we provide, you’re looking at 25 to 37 days of training at the fire college without exams. “We can’t possibly make the deadline (later this year).” Cuddy said that while some firefighters can be grandfathered in the requirements, (about 75 per cent of the Kaladar members),…

A request from the Too Far, Too Fast organization for Addington Highlands to declare itself an ‘unwilling host’ for any marijuana distribution operations once it becomes legal July 1 seemed to garner the most discussion at Council’s regular meeting Tuesday afternoon in Flinton. “Is there any point to declaring ourselves unwilling?” said Coun. Tony Fritsch. “The government did say municipalities would have some input but we haven’t heard from them yet and they likely wouldn’t listen to us anyway.” “A lot of things are like that,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. Clerk-treasurer Christine Reed said she understood that the 14 municipalities who would have sales outlets have had some input. “It used to be with alcohol a municipality could declare itself dry but who’s to stop…