A 21-year-old Ottawa man had his car impounded and his permit seized for seven days after he was flagged down for travelling at 176 kilometres per hour February 13 on Highway 401 in South Glengarry.

A tentative agreement has been reached between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4155, representing 250 education workers, and their employer, the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO).The workers have been on strike since February 7.

The workers have been on strike since February 7.

No details of the agreement will be released until the members have had an opportunity to review and ratify the tentative deal. Ratification meetings will be scheduled Monday, February 13.

Two schools on the block S.J. McLeod in Bainsville and North Stormont Public in Berwick are among 12 schools recommended for closure in an Upper Canada District School Board staff report. Other area schools will be preserved, according to the staff report that is to be discussed February 15. "While there were areas within the district–wide Accommodation Review where staff were able to arrive at a clear set of recommendations for the Board of Trustees via this report, there were other areas in the District that require further study beyond the scope and/or timelines of this Accommodation Review," the report reads. It is the intention of staff to continue to review the status of student programming and the District’s capacity for operating schools within regions that include Char-Lan and Glengarry.

The full report can be accessed here.

The Township of North Glengarry has issued this update:
"Investigations are ongoing with the assistance of the township’s auditors into inconsistencies in the status of some tax accounts related to the manner in which payments and interest were applied and reported. The Township CAO (Daniel Gagnon) notes that, “It is too early to speculate on the root causes but I can confirm that any errors found will be corrected and adjustments made accordingly to the required accounts.”

A special Council meeting is being held on Monday, February 13th at 4:00 pm in the Sandfield Centre to brief Council and review some of the legal and procedural options open to Council and staff for managing the corrections needed. The Township regrets any inconvenience caused by these inconsistencies and will continue to update the public on a regular basis."

A Canadian Blood Services blood donor clinic will be held Monday, February 20 at the Glengarry Sports Palace in Alexandria from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

To book an appointment today, locate a clinic, check your eligibility, and more, download the GiveBlood App or visit blood.ca

Bad road conditions
Adverse weather across the United Counties has caused several highway accidents yesterday and today. SD&G OPP officers responded to a total of 35 (Stormont-11, Dundas-9, Glengarry-15) mishaps.

One of them was a single vehicle collision involving a commuter on County Road 31 (north of County Road 43) in the Winchester area at 6:30 a.m. today (February 8). Two adult passengers suffered minor injuries.

We have got a whole edition of old news, 125-year-old news to be exact, in our 125th anniversary edition.

A movement has started in Glengarry and Stormont counties to revive the Junior Farmers Club. The Junior Farmers club is for young people ages 15-29 who have an interest in agriculture, or just want to be a part of the action. To recruit new members, a fun night will be held February 13 at 8 p.m. at Tagwi Secondary School. Those in attendance will play volleyball, eat snacks, and discuss the future of the club.

As employees picketed its head office in L’Orignal Tuesday morning, Le Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien said that its schools remain open and buses would continue to roll.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)  Local 4155 members began demonstrating after contract talks broke down last week.
Each side was blaming the other for the impasse at the French-language Catholic board which administers 25 elementary and eight secondary schools, with a total enrolment of over 10,000, in Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry and Prescott-Russell.

CUPE 4155 represents supervisors, school administrators, clerks, maintenance workers, library technicians and IT technicians at the CSDCEO.
The CSDCEO is still the only school board in Ontario without a local collective agreement with its education workers. “But now its refusal to reach a deal at the bargaining table has taken its employees – members of CUPE 4155 – to the brink of a strike,” the union stated.
But the board replies that union negotiators chose to leave the bargaining table.

At a session February 1, conciliators proposed new dates for negotiations. These dates were accepted by the CSDCEO, but were rejected by the union, the board says. CUPE subsequently issued a notice of intention to strike.

“During the many negotiating meetings, CSDCEO has always negotiated in good faith and proposed different solutions. We believe it is possible to avoid a labor dispute, since all monetary issues have already been determined by central agreements. The CSDCEO remains willing to negotiate with CUPE and does not want a labor dispute,” insisted board director of education François Turpin.

If the labour dispute continues, all necessary steps will be taken to ensure the safety and welfare of students and staff, the board said.
“We have been extremely patient with our employer, so that we could avoid just such a labour dispute,” said Raymond Giroux, president of CUPE 4155.

“But after 12 bargaining dates and the impasse we reached in negotiations – even working with conciliators – we realized that, unfortunately, the time had come to take job action, up to and including a full strike.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees could take job action today (February 7) at schools operated by Le Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO). The French-language Catholic system, which includes École Elda Rouleau in Alexandria, is still the only school board in Ontario without a local collective agreement with its education workers. After two years in negotiations with the board, CUPE 4155 has given the required five days’ notice of a strike, which is scheduled to take place beginning Tuesday, February 7. More details as they become available.

Conditions were perfect for Saturday's seventh annual Beaver Swamp Hockey Tournament near Alexandria.

Details in the February 8 edition of The News.

Social media is fun, but if you want real news, you have to read a newspaper.

Here is the proof. Honest.

http://newspaperscanada.ca/news/trust-news-media-presentation-updated/

On the night of February 1-2, a red 2013 Polaris 9XE side-by-side ATV (Ontario plate #86YY6) was stolen from a commercial site on County Road 19, South Glengarry Township, reports the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry Ontario Provincial Police detachment.

North Glengarry Township is working on correcting errors that have been detected in its tax bills.

“After a routine internal review, the township has identified discrepancies in the status of some tax accounts. The discrepancies typically relate to the manner in which payments, penalty and interest were applied and reported,” the municipality says in a press release.

“We are assessing the situation and working with our auditors to determine the nature and the scale of the issue,” relates  Treasurer Annie Levac.

The township is also determining the most appropriate way to rectify the mistakes and is communicating with individuals regarding their tax accounts.

Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Gagnon notes that “the township needs to carefully balance privacy laws and its legislated duty to operate as transparently as possible and will continue to update the public and council as needed as the situation unfolds.” The problem was red-flagged when pre-authorized payment accounts for 2017 were being set up, he explains.

When they received their interim tax bills, some ratepayers complained that they were being charged interest on overdue taxes, when in fact they were not in arrears.

“We are digging into it, dealing with this on a case by case basis,” relates Mr. Gagnon.

Congratulations to Claire Crowley, of Alexandria, who won $125 when her name was randomly picked from the list of The News' subscribers in our first 125th-anniversary draw. Every subscriber is eligible to win the monthly draws. The next draw is February 24.