News
Copy by Craig Foster
Belleville city council approved a recommendation to seek public feedback on the proposed levels of service for the Asset Management Plan. Regulation laid out by the province of Ontario in 2018 requires municipalities to develop a complete asset management system over a series of milestones/deadlines. By July 1, 2025, the city must update its asset management plan to report on both current and proposed levels of service, and their related costs. Under the current proposed plan, the city would invest just over $1.1 billion over 10 years maintaining and improving municipal services and facilities. In order to meet its deadline, city staff will look to release a public survey that would be online for three weeks beginning late in March and continuing into April. There will be eight questions for residents to answer with city staff hoping for 700 to 1000 residents to respond to the survey. After receiving the results, staff will put together the final proposed level of service to be brought forward to council in May. The final asset management plan would then be presented in June, ahead of the July 1 deadline.
The Trenton DBIA held its Annual General Meeting at its head office in downtown Trenton on Tuesday. It was the first Annual General Meeting under the new board of directors since a mass exodus in October 2024. The board for the DBIA consists of Chair Suzanne Andrews, Vice-Chair and city-elect Shelley Stedall, city-elect Zack Card, Abby Hare and Krystal Turrcott. At its meeting, Vice-Chair Shelley Stedall outlined the 2025 budget for the DBIA showing a 9.16% increase from the 2024 budget. The chair of the board for the Trenton DBIA, Suzanne Andrews, said that it has approved the formation of an new Events Committee for 2025 consisting of board members Abby Hare, Angela Wildish (owner of Vicacious), and Amy Clark (co-owner of Ma’s Pantry). The committee will be looking at marketing the downtown through event engagement and community involvement. This would include events like “Magic Moon” which will return this year under the rebranded “Spring into Summer”, the 2025 Festival on the Bay and Fall Ladies’ Night.
Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, health officials in the enclave said, and the Israeli army, which resumed attacks against the territory, said it targeted a Hamas military site in the north. Three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Sabra suburb in Gaza City, while another airstrike left two men dead and wounded six others in Beit Hanoun town in the north, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas site in northern Gaza, where they detected preparations for firing into Israeli territory. Israel resumed airstrikes a day earlier as both sides traded blame over breaking the first phase of the ceasefire agreement and shattering nearly two months of relative calm.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Wednesday of launching air attacks that sparked fires and damaged infrastructure just hours after their leaders agreed to a limited ceasefire to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire sought by U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call with the Russian leader on Tuesday. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to the U.S. proposed 30-day ceasefire before the Putin-Trump call and later supported the more limited ceasefire on energy targets.
In one of its last acts in office, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government decided to give Canadians a break at the bank. According to an order-in-council dated March 12, two days before Trudeau resigned, banks won’t be allowed to charge more than $10 if someone doesn’t have enough money in their personal accounts to cover a cheque or a pre-authorized debit. Most banks charge non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees of $45 to $48 per transaction if an account holder does not have overdraft protection, which typically comes with its own monthly fee. Banks will also be prohibited from charging NSF fees more than once within a period of two business days and in cases where the overdraft is less than $10.
Sports
Nick Suzuki’s power-play goal late in the third period lifted the Montreal Canadiens past the Ottawa Senators 6-3 in a high-intensity rivalry matchup on Tuesday. and snap Ottawa’s six-game winning streak.
Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm all had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers won their third straight game in convincing fashion, drilling the Utah Hockey Club 7-1 on Tuesday.
Brock Boeser scored twice and notched an assist as the Vancouver Canucks handed the league-leading Winnipeg Jets a 6-2 drubbing on Tuesday.
Nazem Kadri and Matt Coronato scored first-period goals and the Calgary Flames beat the New York Rangers 2-1
