It's a bit wet today throughout the region, but we'll take that over the white stuff any November day. 

We start today in the education sector, with the union at St. Lawrence College calling out the administration for hiring people in senior leadership roles while support staff and middle managers have been laid off. 

Councillors in Cornwall are questioning whether holding the line on or decreasing property taxes may aid increasing housing developments. 

And a trustee from Brockville is the new chairman of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario

These and other stories from our newsrooms across Eastern Ontario can be found below. 

The top stories from across our region

The entrance to St. Lawrence College's Kingston campus. PHOTO BY MEGHAN BALOGH/The Kingston Whig-Standard

St. Lawrence College hires managers amid layoffs, union says

St. Lawrence College is creating new senior leadership positions while laying off 30 support staff and middle managers, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said this week. 

The academic and support unions representing the college’s staff and faculty say it has been “devastating” to morale that administration is increasing high-salary positions while cutting jobs in student-facing areas. The unions claimed in an open letter Wednesday that the administration had increased the number upper-level management roles at a time when dozens of positions were cut due to declining enrolment of international students. 

“While staff are being asked to find efficiencies, the expansion of high-salary, non-student-facing management positions stands in stark contrast,” the unions wrote in the letter. 

In the foreground, left, Coun. Sarah Good asks Cornwall economic development division manager Bob Peters questions during a council meeting on Tuesday Oct. 29, 2024. PHOTO BY SHAWNA O'NEILL/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

Taxation isn't impacting housing development in Cornwall: economic development

Cornwall economic development manager Bob Peters was given an opportunity to speak about property taxes and the housing market on Tuesday, and he didn’t shy away from the question.

The question came from Coun. Fred Ngoundjo, who asked Peters given the acknowledged housing crisis — seen in both a tight supply of new housing and increased costs of housing and rents — whether an increase to Cornwall’s property taxes would help.

“Do you think it would be smart from the council to balance or decrease taxation to solve housing crisis?” Ngoundjo said, in a second question on the topic.

Recycling changes, new organics program mess with Cornwall's waste-management budget

Starting next year, management of the collection of residential recycling from Cornwall’s curbsides will change hands. For 2025 it should not lead to any noticeable changes for residents though it does have a noticeable change for the City of Cornwall’s budget.

Those changes were highlighted for Cornwall city council on Nov. 14, but the bottom line is that change alongside the mandated addition of curbside organics collection is projected to add almost $1.5 million to the city’s waste-management budget for 2025, an almost 47 per cent increase.

Infrastructure and municipal works general manager Michael Fawthrop and waste management supervisor Dave Kuhn explained the changes, and also provided information about operational questions. While the city has been meeting with some non-residential property owners to discuss the pending changes behind the scenes, Thursday was the first time this information was shared in a more public forum.

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder newsroom would love to hear from you. To reach just this newsroom, email csf.news@sunmedia.ca.

Chris Cummings is the new chairman of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Brockville trustee is new Catholic board chairman

The region’s Catholic school board has elected Brockville-area trustee Chris Cummings as its new chairman.

Cummings, the trustee for Brockville, Leeds County and Smiths Falls, was elected to his first term as chairman of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario at its regular meeting Tuesday in Kemptville.

Cummings, who is serving his first term as a trustee, succeeds Sue Wilson.

Gananoque, TLTI reach cost sharing agreement

GANANOQUE – The recreation cost sharing agreement between the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands and Gananoque for the Lou Jeffries Arena, remains in place.

During Tuesday’s council meeting at Town Hall, Gananoque unanimously authorized the mayor and clerk to sign a four-year agreement with TLTI.

The wording of the draft agreement is like the previous ones. The agreement guarantees the town funding from TLTI for four years. The town carries all financial risk and no further funding requests will be made of the township above the contribution amount.

The Brockville Recorder & Times newsroom would love to hear from you. To reach just this newsroom, email rzajac@postmedia.com.

A development is proposed for a wooded area along Bath Road in Kingston. PHOTO BY ELLIOT FERGUSON /The Kingston Whig-Standard

Kingston council approves settlement for Bath Road development

KINGSTON — City council signed off on a settlement that would avoid an upcoming Ontario Land Tribunal hearing. 

Council voted 10-1 in favour of a settlement that is to allow a development to proceed along Bath Road in a wooded area adjacent to Collins Creek in the city’s west end. 

The development from Armitage Homes Ltd., Arcadis and property owners Frances H. Day, Clark Day and Robert R. Kennedy was proposed for the wooded area at 4085, 4091 and 4097 Bath Rd. 

Christmas hampers campaign sets goal of $215,000 to support 3,300 households in Kingston

Once again, we are preparing for the busy Christmas season and many of you are thinking about the true spirit of giving. We are so grateful for the many friends who have given of themselves and their resources over the years to brighten and encourage the lives of others who find this time of year so difficult to manage. 

As the holidays draw near, that spirit of giving has never been more important. The number of households in need of Christmas assistance continues to grow. Many more families in our community continue to be impacted by the current economic strain. We recognize the powerful impact of this campaign — not only on the people we directly assist, but also on our local community — in bringing people together to give hope to others.

The Kingston Whig-Standard newsroom would love to hear from you. To reach just this newsroom, email whig.local@sunmedia.ca.

Former Brighton councillor Byron Faretis has died after fighting cancer.