News From Our Neighbors

BARACK OBAMA RE-ELECTED 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

In a very close race, after a slight hesitation to accept defeat by the Romney campaign, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Mitt Romney conceded the race and President Obama was re-elected. These are remarks from the end of the President’s victory speech:

And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America.  And I ask you to sustain that hope.

 I’m not talking about blind optimism -- the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.  I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.  I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us, so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.  

 America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made, and continue to fight for new jobs, and new opportunity, and new security for the middle class.  I believe we can keep the promise of our founding -- the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or where you love -- it doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white, or Hispanic or Asian, or Native American, or young or old, or rich or poor, abled, disabled, gay or straight -- you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.   

 I believe we can seize this future together -- because we are not as divided as our politics suggest; we’re not as cynical as the pundits believe; we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions; and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states.  We are, and forever will be, the United States of America.  And together, with your help, and God’s grace, we will continue our journey forward, and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

 Thank you, America.  God bless you.  God bless these United States.  

FRANKLIN COUNTY ATTEMPTING TO “CUT COSTS”

An article by Denise A. Raymo from the Press-Republican, where she attended a 2013 budget hearing for Franklin County, reported that there might be a “push to seek reimbursement for expenses that involve the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation at Akwesasne.”

She wrote that, “District Attorney Derek Champagne said the county spends about $1.8 million on prosecutions, defense and supervision of North American Indians in the criminal-justice system.” Champagne believes the state or federal governments should be asked to cover those costs and even volunteered himself to travel to the state and federal capital to lobby for it.

According to Raymo he said, “cases involving reservation residents make up about 18 percent of the Probation Department caseload, 14.25 percent of the jail costs at the Sheriff’s Department, 19 percent of his caseload in the DA’s office, 19 percent in indigent-defense costs and 19 percent of the Public Defender’s Office expenses.

I’m asking why should taxpayers pick up this bill? The state of New York should step up to the plate.”

ONTARIO POWER GENERATION ADVISES THAT ICE BOOMS ARE TO BE INSTALLED IN SECTIONS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER

November 2, 2012 – Cornwall - Ontario Power Generation wishes to advise hunters, anglers and recreational boaters on the St. Lawrence River that ice booms will be installed in narrow stretches of the river, starting on November 12, 2012.

These booms, which will be placed in the river off Galop Island, in the North Channel, near Johnstown and at Prescott, are chain-and-wood devices used to prevent the build-up of ice during the winter. They ensure an even freeze on the river, helping to improve power generation during the winter months.

All users of the river should take extra care in the narrow reaches where the work is being undertaken to install the booms.

Ice booms are placed in the same narrow reaches of the St. Lawrence River each November and removed in the spring when the ice has melted, before the St. Lawrence Seaway shipping season commences.

Ontario Power Generation would like to remind boaters to take every precaution around its dams and generating stations, and to practice safety on Ontario’s waterways.

SEAWAY CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT WILL CREATE NEW COMMERCIAL SPACE

One of Cornwall’s busiest intersections is about to get a facelift with a major redevelopment of the Seaway Centre commercial plaza at the intersection of Brookdale and Vincent Massey.

The Seaway Centre is 12.6 acre site that is home to three commercial buildings totaling over 155,000 sq. ft. Major tenants include Metro, Value Village, Dollarama and Pet Valu. The property has over 750 parking spaces

The proposed development calls for a significant reworking of the existing 75,000 sq. ft. building on the eastern portion of the property, which currently houses the StarTek call centre.  A new facade would be built, allowing for the creation of new retail units ranging in size from 2,500 to 25,000 sq. ft. The StarTek offices would remain in the rear portion of the building, which was formerly home to a department store. Edward Goldberg of Diamond Trust Seaway Inc., the owners of the property, expects to begin construction in the next few months.

HIGH RISK OFFENDER ARRESTED FOR BREACHING

Cornwall, ON- Members of the Cornwall Community Police Service Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit have arrested Michel Joseph Maybury, 58 of Cornwall, on November 6th, 2012. He was bound by a lifetime Prohibition Order with the conditions of prohibiting him from attending a public park or public swimming area where persons under the age of fourteen are present or can reasonably be expected to be present, or a daycare centre, school ground, playground or community centre. He was also bound by another Probation Order with the relevant condition to keep the peace and be of good behavior. It is alleged that on November 4th, 2012 he was found in a local restaurant near a children’s play area. Police received information and an investigation followed. He was charged with 2 counts of Breach of Probation Order and held in custody until court later today.