Around 11 am on March 18, a major outage knocked out power for thousands of Hydro One customers for about an hour. The outage affected customers from Ottawa’s east end all the way to Plantagenet, until it was restored at noon.

Hydro One did not release the cause for the outage, but Hydro Ottawa stated that it was due to a loss of supply from the provincial power grid.

On February 23 at around 10 a.m., officers from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to an animal complaint in Clarence-Rockland. During the investigation, officers found that the dog had sustained serious injuries that lead to the incident.

As a result, Francis Prevost, 35, from Clarence-Rockland was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and is scheduled to appear in court in L’Orignal on March 22.

On February 10 the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in Hawkesbury executed a search warrant in conjunction with the Child Sexual Exploitation Unit and the Digital Forensics unit. Officers seized a quantity of suspected drugs and electronic devices, and as a result, they arrested 35-year-old Andrew Smith.

Following the investigation, Smith was charged with possession of child pornography, failure to comply with a release order, possession of a schedule III substance, and three counts of possession of a schedule I substance. He will remain in custody following a bail hearing and was scheduled to appear in L’Orignal court on February 14.

The OPP urge parents to take a proactive approach by speaking with their children regarding Internet safety and online exploitation. Crime Stoppers and Cybertip host resources to assist parents in educating their children, and the OPP urges anyone with information regarding a case of internet child exploitation to anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca, or through cybertip.ca.

The OPP will continue to aggressively identify and pursue individuals who use technology to exploit children.

On February 13, the Honourable Filomena Tassi visited the Brassiere Tuque de Broue Brewery in Embrun to announce a financial support program centered around rural economic development. Tassi, who is in charge of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), was joined by deputy minster Nancy Gardiner, chairperson of the Prescott-Russell Community Development Corporation (PRCDC) Eric Drouin, and MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Francis Drouin.

“It’s great that we’re able to make this announcement here at this amazing brewery, your story is really amazing,” said Tassi. “I’m so happy to join you here in this beautiful rural community here in Embrun. This community is a great example of why increasing support for rural businesses is so important.”

Tassi went on to announce an investment of nearly $40,000,000 over the next three years into Southern Ontario’s 36 community future development corporations in three networks, which Eastern Ontario is included in. This will go toward business counselling, access to capital, and economic development and strategic planning support.

“I can’t wait to see the success stories that come out of this much-needed investment, and what our fantastic entrepreneurs will build and create right here in Embrun,” Tassi said.

With this investment, FedDev Ontario will be able to fund many more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in southern Ontario. There are three application streams for three different kinds of funding: business scale-up and productivity, regional innovation, and community economic development and diversification. In each stream, businesses must describe the project they wish to undertake and how it will benefit the region, and demonstrate that they have the management and technical capacity to complete the project.

“I must state that the dedicated and knowledgeable staff and board members of the 36 southern Ontario CDCs and association are proud to be a part of one of Canada’s strongest, most efficient, and most valuable community futures program,” said John Candie, executive director of the PRCDC. “With over 1,400 employees, 3,000 volunteers, and once again with today’s exciting funding announcement, we will continue to make a difference in our rural communities.”

At Russell Township’s regular council meeting on January 30, council approved a salary increase of approximately 20% for Graduate and Non-Graduate Educators. According to the Township, this is the first step in its plan to attract and maintain daycare personnel, as well as increase daycare spaces in the township. The Township is also looking into assisting employees with schooling costs toward obtaining their Graduate Educator Status.

“While the Township of Russell has no obligation to provide such services, Council feels the support of our residents in this area is an invaluable necessity for the continued growth of our community,” said Mayor Pierre Leroux. “While these steps bring us closer to addressing the current shortage we find ourselves in, we need your help. If you have viable ideas or suggestions on how to address these issues, I would love to speak with you. You can reach me at pierreleroux@Russell.ca.”

The Township has some further steps planned pending Education Ministry approval. The Township wants to reopen the private daycare at Mother Teresa Catholic School for an additional 186 daycare spaces, which will include preschool and before/after daycare services. As well, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario has requested that the Township take over as the daycare provider at St-Joseph Russell Catholic Elementary School, which will allow them to increase the current offering of 108 space to 270 spaces.

The Township is also looking into possible solutions for the future, like turning current arenas into daycare centres following the construction of the Recreational Complex and mounting recruitment campaigns throughout colleges in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR).

On January 31, the Russell Curling Club welcomed the Scotland East Tour as they arrived to compete in Game #28 of the Strathcona Cup. Committee Chair Jim Campbell was very excited to host this installment of the cup, and said, “I think it’s fabulous, a wonderful thing. It’s great for the club, great for the community, great for everybody.”

The Scots arrived at 10:30 am and enjoyed lunch provided by the Russell Curling Club before being piped onto the ice, a tradition where the curlers file to their places accompanied by bagpipes. Then, the sixth-grade students from Russell Public School sang the national anthems of both countries, Oh, Canada and The Flower of Scotland, before the game began in earnest.

The Strathcona Cup began in 1903 when the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC) answered Canada’s invitation to compete against our national teams. Scotland selected a team of 25 curlers to represent them, led by the Rev. John Kerr of Dirleton, and sent them overseas to Canada. Due to the slow nature of ocean and railway travel at the time, the team landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia around the end of December 1902 and remained in Canada for two months. The Scots traveled through Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Winnipeg before crossing the border to Minneapolis, St. Paul in Chicago, and New York City.

The tour was so successful that five years later, in 1908, the RCCC decided to return the favor and invite a team of Canadian curlers to Scotland for a second Strathcona Cup. The tradition has continued in this fashion for 120 years with Canada and Scotland taking turns hosting, although it’s a little different nowadays. There are three Tours of the Strathcona Cup: the East Tour started from Halifax, the Central Tour started from Toronto, and the West Tour started all the way in Tunnel Town, British Columbia. All three Tours will meet up in Ottawa for the final game on February 2.

“It is an incredible honour for our community to be part of this prestigious international tradition,” said Russell Mayor Pierre Leroux in an email. “I want to extend a warm welcome our international guests. It is a pleasure to have you here for this wonderful event.”

One person is in the hospital after an assault occurred at a residence on Plantagenet Concession Road 9 in Alfred-Plantagenet Township. Shortly after 10 pm on January 23, officers responded to reports of an assault with a weapon occurring at the residence.

Two men fled the scene in a pickup truck before the police arrived, and one victim was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

The Hawkesbury Crime Unit is investigating under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), with assistance from OPP Forensic Identification Services (FIS) and the Regional Support Team (RST). Investigators believe this is an isolated incident and there are no concerns for public safety.

Anyone with any information should contact the Hawkesbury OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Shortly after 2:30 pm on January 21, officers of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in Russell responded to a traffic complaint on a local snowmobile trail, where they arrested an Embrun man for impaired driving.

Marek Hercun, 47, from Embrun was charged with drunk driving and driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of over 80. His license was suspended for 90 days, and his vehicle was impounded for 7. He’s scheduled to appear in court in L’Orignal at a later date.

Mayor Pierre Leroux of Russell Township has sent out a press release notifying residents that five Scottish curling teams will be visiting the township to compete in the Strathcona Cup next week. The world’s oldest international men’s curling bonspiel, the Strathcona Cup lasts an entire month and takes place once every five years.

This year’s bonspiel brings 60 curlers from Scotland to play against Canadians in curling centres across Canada. The Russell Curling Club was chosen to host Game 28, which will be played on January 31.

“It is an incredible honour for our community to be part of this prestigious international tradition,” said Leroux in his email release. “I want to extend a warm welcome our international guests. It is a pleasure to have you here for this wonderful event.”

En décembre 2022, le Groupe communautaire des crimes de rue (GCCR) de la région de l’Est a commencé à enquêter sur une série de vols commis dans l’est de l’Ontario depuis octobre 2022. La vidéosurveillance des magasins de Casselman, Winchester, Arnprior, Renfrew, Kemptville, Rockland et Hawkesbury a montré un homme entrant dans le magasin, remplissant des sacs de bouteilles d’alcool haut de gamme et partant sans payer.

La PPO a publié des photos de l’homme sur ses comptes de médias sociaux, demandant l’aide du public pour l’identifier. Le 10 janvier, Alexandre Lalonde, 33 ans, d’Ottawa, a été arrêté et accusé de sept chefs d’accusation de vol de moins de 5 000 $. Il est détenu en vue d’une enquête sur le cautionnement.