News

Copy by Craig Foster

The City of Belleville and the Belleville Chamber of Commerce have announced that an events management contract between the two will not be renewed. A joint release on Monday states that the chamber completed a strategic planning process that reaffirmed its primary focus to continue its commitment to advocacy work to support community prosperity. The scaling back of events in 2024, as well as inflation, was also cited. The deal had been in effect since 2007 and saw the chamber manage Canada Day, Waterfront Multicultural Festival, Family Fun Fest, and the Santa Claus Parade.

Belleville City Council approved endorsing an application to the Rural Transit Solutions Fund as well as pre-budget approval of the 2026 capital budget for transit fleet replacements. This would include two hybrid bus and three mobility bus replacements. The funding is broken down as follows: For each bus, 80% of funding would come from the Rural Transit Solutions Fund and 20% would come from provincial gas tax funding.

The City of Quinte West has launched a new pre-consultation process to streamline and enhance the development application experience for developers and homeowners. The process offers anyone planning to develop or make changes to their property the chance to schedule a free pre-consultation meeting to discuss their plans with city staff. By meeting with city staff before submitting a formal development application, applicants have the chance to discuss applicable planning, engineering, or environmental considerations for their project, understand necessary requirements and potential challenges, and ask questions to strengthen the success of their application. Through this new optional collaborative process, the city hopes to help applicants avoid costly revisions during the formal application stage and reducing possible delays in the approval process.

China has lodged a diplomatic protest against Canada for including Chinese companies in new sanctions against Russia, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday. On Monday, Trudeau announced new sanctions targeting 76 individuals and entities who the government says are providing support to Russia’s military, are involved in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children or support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime. The prime minister also announced Canada is sanctioning 109 vessels based on their involvement in transferring sanctioned Russian goods, including hydrocarbons, saying that revenue fuels Russia’s war machine.

Two people have been arrested in relation to the arson attack on the Russian consulate in Marseille on Monday, according to French prosecutors. The prosecutor’s department did not give any further details about who was arrested, apart from saying in a statement on Tuesday that they were two key individuals. On Monday, three projectiles were thrown over the perimeter wall of Russia’s consulate in Marseille, France’s second largest city by population. Two of the projectiles exploded, according to police, and no one was injured.

A vigil marking the third anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine was held at Market Square in Belleville on Monday. The community held candles while speakers played sounds of the war in Ukraine. Myraslova Symonenko of Humanity for Free Ukraine spoke to people gathered at the vigil of stories of her recent visit to Ukraine

Sports

Mark Scheifele couldn’t have picked a more dramatic way to become the Winnipeg Jets’ franchise leader for goals on Monday. Scheifele recorded his 329th career goal on a rebound 1:33 into overtime to give the Jets a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks and boost the team’s franchise-record win streak to 10 games.

The Anaheim Ducks have acquired goaltender Ville Husso from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for future considerations. Husso will report to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Husso, 30, has appeared in nine games with the Red Wings this season, posting an 1-5-2 record with an.866 save percentage and 3.69 goals-against average.

The NHL Department of Player Safety has suspended Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras for three games for interference against Michael Rasmussen of the Detroit Red Wings. The play in question occurred late in the second period of the Red Wings’ 5-4 overtime victory on Sunday. Zegras was not penalized on the play.