Moose FM CFZN 93.5 - Haliburton

This Civic Holiday Long Weekend the Ontario Provincial Police will be working to help ensure that motorists and outdoor enthusiasts have a safe holiday.  Officers will continue to focus on “the big three” causes of injuries on the roads waterways and trails - aggressive driving, drinking and driving and improper use of seatbelts, restraints and floatation devices.  Aggressive driving includes the offences of speeding, following to closely and unsafe lane changes.  Off-road and waterway aggressive driving is defined as speeding too fast for conditions and operating vessels and all-terrain vehicles without due care and attention for other users.  These offences are the leading causes of serious crashes and fatalities on Ontario’s highways, waterways and trails.  Drinking and driving offences continue to be the leading criminal cause of death in Ontario.  Throughout the province, R.I.D.E. programs will be set up to target drivers who disrespect others by drinking and driving.  The proper use of seatbelts and child restraints will also be a focus as the OPP continues to see preventable injuries and deaths occurring in collisions where occupants are either not wearing seatbelts or are using them improperly.  OPP Deputy Commissioner Larry Beechey reminds everyone that incidents aren’t limited to our highways but also occur on our waterways and trails.  “During the recent Canada Day extra-Long Weekend, 16 people lost their lives on Ontario Highways, trails and waterways.  This is why we will be doubling our efforts at enforcement to prevent fatalities this long weekend.  Take time to keep each other safe and set a safe example for others.  Drive carefully, wear your lifejackets and seatbelts and ask others to do the same.”  

Monster Trucks are headed to Gooderham this weekend for Horseshoe Days. Starting Friday afternoon and going till Sunday the community of Gooderham will be a buzz with activities that are fun for the whole families. This year features rides inside real monster trucks, CPWA wrestling, celebrity pig races including a MooseFM entry, a demolition derby plus lots lots more. It all takes place at the Robert MacAusland Memorial Community Centre in Gooderham.

A Minden man has pleaded guilty to abandoning pelts and been given a suspended sentence. Shayne McKelvey pleaded guilty to abandoning the pelts of eight eastern coyotes. As part of a plea agreement, he has made a $1,000 donation to the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association. The coyotes were seized from the disposal site and will be used in research by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Court heard that an investigation into the report of abandoned wolf carcasses revealed that eight eastern coyotes had been discarded on private property in Minden. Although conservation officers found that all of the animals were harvested legally under the authority of a trapping licence, pelts cannot be abandoned or permitted to spoil unless they are of no commercial value. In this case, abandoning the pelts was not a legal option.

Justice of the Peace Diane Jackson heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Minden, on July 15. Regulated seasons are in place to ensure furs are harvested when they are of the highest value and at the same time to protect animals when they are most vulnerable. Regulations prohibiting the abandonment or spoilage of furbearing mammal pelts that hold commercial value are in place to further protect this resource.

On Saturday a 2-year-old boy drowned in Balsam Lake near the village of Rosedale. A Police investigation revealed that a family member had contacted the OPP on Saturday afternoon reporting the child missing from a residence in the village of Rosedale. During the call to police, the boy was found in the water near the shoreline of a waterfront property, located directly across from the boy’s home. The child, was transported to Lindsay’s Ross Memorial hospital and subsequently transferred to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto were he passed away on Sunday. A post-mortem examination is expected to take place today in Toronto.

With cell phones and Blackberries being a part of everyday life, local OPP detachment members are finding that 14.5% of their call volume is misdialed 911 calls. Since Thursday July 15, Huntsville OPP detachment members have attended over 25 misdialed 911 calls from a Blackberry, cell phone or land line. Once the Blackberry is locked, in order to unlock it, there is a prompt to unlock, make an emergency call or cancel. If the owner of the Blackberry or cell phone puts the device in their pocket the emergency call button can be easily pushed, which then is directed into the closest Communications Centre for response. The OPP is mandated to attend all 911 calls to ascertain if there is an emergency.

The OPP would like to remind the public to use caution in where they place their Blackberry or cell phone when not needing it, and to purchase to proper cover to assist in eliminating these time consuming calls. If a call is made from the cell phone and there is no voice contact on the line, it takes an average of 15 minutes for the Communications Centre to ascertain where the call is coming from before they can dispatch it to an Officer so that they can attend. Also to remind the public that 911 calls into the Communications Centre does delay the time needed for real emergencies.