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Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa says he's confident there will be an agreement that will head off a strike at the LCBO that could begin at midnight.

Sousa adds the union representing liquor store workers must realize there is no money for pay raises. The LCBO says negotiations are continuing, and is cautiously optimistic a deal will be reached in time to avoid a walkout.

In the meantime, they're advising people to stock up for the long weekend if they need to.

http://www.cfra.com/News/Ottawa-Regional-News/Sousa-confident-LCBO-strike-won-t-happen

Officials from Atomic Energy found themselves with some explaining to do on Wednesday, when they went before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to discuss a serious mistake in a control room earlier this year.

Randy Lesco, Vice-President of Operations and Chief Nuclear Officer for AECL, and David Cox, Senior Director of NRU Operations told the commission that there was no danger when an operator at Chalk River labs mistakenly closed a vital pumping system. Lesco says there were no safety consequences to workers, the public or the environment when the system that cools the immense heat generated within the NRU reactor's core was mistakenly closed. He says a senior official quickly spotted the error and corrected it and that cooling to the reactor was maintained at all times.

AECL admits that while nothing actually happened as a result of the February 27th incident, there was certainly potential for something more serious to happen and therefore it needs to be thoroughly investigated. The probe has so far has ruled out operator fatigue, a fitness-for-duty issue or sabotage. The commission also chastized the crown corporation for not making the incident public before the media reported on it.

http://www.pembroketoday.ca/default.asp?pid=523084&wireid=00041_RAP_AECL_PANEL2web_091026

The County Of Renfrew is focusing on the joy of reading, sharing and nature, as they launch Book Trees in four municipalities across the county.

The idea behind the Book Tree's are to be able to share books freely across the county by taking books from a tree and returning them to another book tree or even putting your previously read books in the tree's for someone else to enjoy.

Judy Mulvihill the County of Renfrew Manager of Childcare Services says the concept, which originated in Germany seemed to fit this area perfectly.

Pembroke, Petawawa, Killaloe, and Arnprior will all be taking part and the books will be shared freely between the "Book Tree's" in those communities.

The trees launched today will be put in place over the next month.

http://www.star96.ca/Star96-LocalNews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545184

Hundreds of police officers are combing properties across southern Ontario gathering evidence and using forensic analysis to try to figure out how Tim Bosma wound up dead, while his family is struggling to understand why.

But those answers won't come quickly, a forensics expert says.

Bosma, 32, a church-going family man from the Hamilton community of Ancaster, went missing more than a week ago after he accompanied two men on a test drive of the truck he had posted for sale on Kijiji and AutoTrader. On Monday, Hamilton police announced that Bosma was dead.

The Bosma investigation is now largely focused on a farm near Cambridge, Ont., owned by the family of 27-year-old Dellen Millard. Millard was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in connection to Bosma's disappearance. At least two other suspects are being sought.

The Hamilton police forensic unit has set up a large tent at the rear of the property, and officers are sifting through buckets of material while searching the property on foot and by horseback. Other search warrants are being executed in the case, police have said.

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/05/16/hamilton-tim-bosma-case-analyzed.html

High water levels are causing some issues at the Pembroke Marina.

Because of the high water levels the City of Pembroke will not have slips at the Marina available for occupancy during the Victoria Day Long weekend.

Seasonal launching of boats at the Marina will not be available as was previously scheduled however daily launching of boats is still available as of Friday and boaters are urged to exercise caution and use wise judgment when out on the river.

The City can't commit to an exact date to when slips will be available and they will provide an update once they do open the Marina.

http://www.star96.ca/Star96-LocalNews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544967

The Town of Petawawa is bracing itself for the policing cost increase come 2014. The government made it well aware that the Ontario Provincal Police will become the highest paid police force in the province.

That being said, the Association of Municipalities Ontario recently sent a letter to council regarding the changes. The projected salary for 2014 is expected to jump by 8.55 per cent bringing the average salary for a provincial constable to $94,702 from $87, 240. A sergeant will now earn up to $106,483, up from $98,093 and a detachment clerk will also see a pay increase to $60,181 from $55, 439. Salaries have been frozen for the OPP since 2012.

http://www.pembroketoday.ca/default.asp?pid=522257&wireid=02341_P_Policing_Costs1_104442

Renfrew OPP Officers have completed their investigation in to the report that a man tried to lure a young girl with candy in Renfrew on Monday. OPP say the investigation has concluded that the incident did not happen. They are thanking the public for their assistance.

http://www.star96.ca/Star96-LocalNews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544886

After negotiations between student groups and the provincial government, Higher Education Minister Pierre Duchesne has announced that about 120,000 post-secondary students in Quebec will get an additional $160 per school year, or $20 a month, for living expenses.

Part-time students who have to travel to their university or CEGEP will have an extra $728 per school year for travel expenses.

The cost of the additional aid to students will be about $25 million, which the government will generate by reducing the income tax credit parents or students may claim on tuition paid, from 20 per cent to eight per cent.

Duchesne said that after last year’s tumultuous Maple Spring, with nightly demonstrations against the Charest government’s proposed tuition hike, the Parti Québécois government was able to sit down at a summit with the student associations in February to negotiate the agreement announced Tuesday.

Gerry Sklavounos, the Liberal higher education critic, said the government was taking money away from people not eligible for student aid and transferring it “to the red squares that were in the streets in the spring.”

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Quebec+students+more/8382448/story.html#ixzz2TNmnkrUE

Quebec plans to keep using mammography machines that are under scrutiny across the border in Ontario, despite questions about their effectiveness in detecting breast cancer.

On Tuesday, hours after Ontario announced it would spend $25-million to replace the 76 machines across the province and encouraged women to get retested, Quebec Health Minister Réjean Hébert insisted such actions were unnecessary.

The machines at issue are used primarily in the two provinces, and employ a digital technology known as computed radiography or CR that, according to a first-of-its-kind study, is 20-per-cent less effective at detecting breast cancer than other devices.

Three-quarters of Quebec’s 144 mammography machines, or 108, use CR technology, according to the province.

By contrast, about a quarter of Ontario’s 316 mammography machines are CR devices.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-stands-by-mammography-machines-that-ontario-is-replacing/article11925373/#dashboard/follows/

There is little appetite in east Ottawa for a new bridge to Gatineau.

East-end councilors would rather see millions spent on bringing LRT to Orléans than building an interprovincial bridge over Kettle Island, which was confirmed Tuesday as the National Capital Commission’s preferred location for a new crossing.

The other two shortlisted corridors connect with Hwy. 174 through the greenbelt.

No bridge is still the best option, according to counselor Rainer Bloess.

Ottawa-Orléans MP Royal Galipeau, however, has said Kettle Island is the only way to go.

Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Peter Clark doesn’t like what a Kettle Island crossing would mean for his community, which includes the proposed corridor’s southern access on the Aviation Pkwy.

Clark criticized the NCC for not listening to the concerns of residents.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/05/14/east-ottawa-councillors-united-against-new-bridge