Kingston news

• Odessa blends tradition, wildlife education and roaring engines at 191st annual fair

  27-07-2026 13:55 via thewhig.com
  
  From prize-winning preserves and children’s baking exhibits to birds of prey soaring overhead and cars colliding in the demolition derby, the 191st Odessa Fair offered a mix of agricultural tradition and family entertainment that has drawn visitors to the village for generations.Hosted by the Odessa Agricultural Society, the three-day fair featured tractor pulls, horse and pony events, poultry and rabbit shows, a vendor market and homecraft competitions, alongside attractions such as Meet
  
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• Nominations close for Kingston city council election

  21-08-2026 20:18 via thewhig.com
  
  KINGSTON — A lower-than-normal number of candidates have filed to run for city council in the coming municipal election.Thirty-seven candidates stepped forward to contest the seats around the city council table.Nominations for the Oct. 26 municipal election closed at 2 p.m. Friday.In the last election, in 2022, 44 candidates were on the ballot.In the 2018 election, there were 43 candidates.This year’s election is to include two districts where incumbent candidates are unopposed.Incu
  
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• CSC takes action to 'stamp out harassment and bullying'

  21-08-2026 20:02 via thewhig.com
  
  Changes are taking place behind the walls of Joyceville Institution, including other prisons across the province. That’s according to the Correctional Service of Canada , following a third-party review of harassment, bullying, and overall workplace culture.The changes come following the investigation into the death of one of its correctional officers, Bradley Gleeson, who took his own life in 2025 due to workplace harassment and bullying. The tragedy came as a shock to his family and the
  
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• Kingston police seize crystal meth, fentanyl following investigation

  21-08-2026 19:57 via thewhig.com
  
  The Kingston Police Street Crime Unit, with help from the Emergency Response Unit, has seized crystal methamphetamine and fentanyl in coordination with a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) investigation.According to police, the seizure was the result of a search warrant at a residence in the area of Montreal Street in Kingston on July 30.As a result of the search warrant, officers seized 15.7 grams of fentanyl, 155 grams of crystal methamphetamine, along with Canadian currency.Police ar
  
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• City's art fund announces recipients of festival, operating grants

  21-08-2026 19:12 via thewhig.com
  
  The City of Kingston Arts Fund, which was restructured in November, has announced the recipients of this year’s operating grants and festival grants, and put out a call for applications for two others.Between operating and festival grants, $567,170 was awarded. Project grants and the new “creation & development” grant stream will hand out $171,201 once the successful applicants are chosen.Festival grants have two categories: “established” ones are eligible for
  
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• Forever Hip opens with thousands singing, savouring Kingston band

  21-08-2026 19:03 via thewhig.com
  
  Ten years after The Tragically Hip took the stage for their final concert, thousands returned to downtown Kingston Thursday night to celebrate a band whose music remains woven into the city’s identity.Springer Market Square filled with fans, local musicians and visitors from across North America for Rockin’ the Square, the opening event of the city’s Forever Hip commemoration.The three-day celebration was organized by the City of Kingston, Tourism Kingston and community partne
  
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• KHSC cardiology team's expanded space expected to shorten wait times, improve outcomes

  21-08-2026 18:32 via thewhig.com
  
  For the personnel in the cardiology department at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, their ability to keep up with demand for major surgical procedures wasn’t a matter of expertise nor technology.Quite simply, it was a matter of real estate.Wait times for cardiac surgeries — stents, implanting pacemakers or maintaining devices, and, especially, ablations for arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation, murmurs and associated conditions — came down to the availability of operating r
  
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• No dress rehearsal: Kingstonians reflect on the Hip's final bow

  21-08-2026 16:55 via thewhig.com
  
  A decade after The Tragically Hip’s final concert became a shared national moment, Kingston will relive the night that stopped much of Canada in its tracks.The City of Kingston, Tourism Kingston and community partners are marking the 10th anniversary of the band’s Aug. 20, 2016 farewell performance with a three-day “Forever Hip” celebration from Aug. 20 to 22, featuring concerts, film screenings, walking tours and a public rebroadcast of the historic show.The final Kings
  
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• ‘A million ears on a million different kinds of sounds’ — How The Hip’s music became part of Canada’s social fabric

  21-08-2026 16:55 via thewhig.com
  
  When the young members of what would become The Tragically Hip began playing music together, they were among the last generation for whom music was experienced fundamentally.“How did they get to be what they were?” Robb MacKay pondered in a recent conversation with the Whig-Standard.MacKay is an adjunct lecturer in musicology at Queen’s University’s School of Music and an elementary teacher in the Limestone District School Board whose research examines the history of pop
  
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• Annual car show raises funds in fight against melanoma

  21-08-2026 13:33 via thewhig.com
  
  Car enthusiasts are once again coming together for an annual car show that will help drive the fight against melanoma , with proceeds going toward research to find a cure for the deadly disease.The 12th annual Limestone City Car Classic will take place on Sept. 5 at the Kingston Memorial Centre Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is an event that holds special meaning to its organizers Brian Beatty, Mark Hitchcock, and Gary Barker.“I lost my daughter to melanoma,” said Beatty. Mel
  
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• Inmates dies while serving time at Joyceville Institution

  21-08-2026 13:07 via thewhig.com
  
  A 78-year-old inmate from Joyceville Institution’s Assessment Unit has died, according to Correctional Service Canada .According to CSC, the inmate passed away on Aug. 19 while in custody of apparent natural causes.The individual’s name has not been released due to a court-ordered publication ban in order to protect the identity of the victim(s).At the time of death, the inmate was serving a six-year sentence that began on Aug. 1, 2024.The inmate’s next of kin and the coroner
  
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• Hey man, thanks: Hip legacy lives on in its hometown of Kingston

  21-08-2026 13:05 via thewhig.com
  
  The definition of a memorial is “something designed to keep the memory of a person or an important event alive,” and in this case of The Tragically Hip and its hometown of Kingston, there are many examples of both.The physical memorials for the band throughout Kingston include multiple murals, two different types of street signs, a whole section in the From Miles Around museum exhibit at City Hall, a pier named after the band’s frontman, special self-guided and guided walking
  
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• BY THE NUMBERS: Hip-story in the making: the nuts and bolts behind The Tragically Hip’s final show

  21-08-2026 13:04 via thewhig.com
  On Aug. 20, 2016, Kingston became the focal point of a nation as The Tragically Hip took the stage for a hometown concert that would be watched by millions across Canada.While fans remember the emotion of Gord Downie’s performance and the significance of the night, the show itself was also a massive production involving dozens of technicians, truckloads of equipment and a small army of workers behind the scenes.From the stage construction to the catering operations, every detail was caref
  
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• Music journalist recalls The Hip's early days making splash in Toronto

  21-08-2026 13:03 via thewhig.com
  
  It’s only to be expected that Michael Hollett would become emotional when discussing The Tragically Hip’s final concert back in 2016 and the subsequent death of frontman Gord Downie.“Even all these years after, it’s so hard losing a friend, but Gord was able to do it on his own terms and left it all on the stage in Kingston,” said Hollett, founder of North by Northeast music festival and the arts magazine NEXT. “Gord was exhausted (after the final concert). I
  
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• Long Time Running: A Tragically Hip timeline

  21-08-2026 13:03 via thewhig.com
  
  Here’s a timeline of The Tragically Hip’s 42-year trip, from high school friends to the pinnacle of Canadian music.1984: Guitarist Rob Baker and bassist Gord Sinclair – who first played together in the band Rick and Rodents while attending Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute – join up with high school friends Gord Downie (vocals) and Johnny Fay (drums) , along with saxophonist Davis Manning, to form the first lineup of The Tragically Hip. The band took its name
  
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• Downie's wardrobe was all by design

  21-08-2026 13:02 via thewhig.com
  
  While The Tragically Hip’s emotional 2016 Man Machine Poem tour cemented Gord Downie’s place in Canadian history, it also left an enduring visual legacy through the unforgettable wardrobes he wore on stage. From his distinctive hats, sharply tailored suits and well-worn boots, every piece contributed to an iconic look that became one of the defining visual symbols of the band’s final chapter and was a striking departure from his typical jeans and t-shirt look he had been known
  
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• Gord Downie's enduring legacy continues to inspire Canadians

  20-08-2026 20:55 via thewhig.com
  
  For many Canadians, Gord Downie was more than the lead singer of The Tragically Hip — he was a storyteller whose music captured the people, places and experiences that helped define the country’s identity.As a musician who helped shape Canadian rock for more than three decades, his music celebrated the country’s landscapes, history and everyday life.Songs like Bobcaygeon, Ahead by a Century, Courage (for Hugh MacLennan), and Wheat Kings have become woven into Canada’s cu
  
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• Financial pressures in Ontario health-care system continue to rise: CUPE report

  20-08-2026 19:51 via thewhig.com
  
  A new report shows Ontario hospitals are facing growing financial pressures as rising costs place additional strain on a system already operating near or above capacity.The report, created by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is calling on the province to increase annual hospital funding by about six per cent to maintain existing service levels. CUPE has outlined issues with both the provincial system at large and in Kingston, as Ki
  
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• WSIB cuts hundreds of jobs across Ontario, including in Kingston

  20-08-2026 19:34 via thewhig.com
  
  The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has announced that it will be losing its employees at its Kingston location, along with nine others across Ontario as it consolidates its operations.“ The WSIB is modernizing how we deliver service and we have made the difficult business decision to consolidate some claim and account management functions. We recognize this is difficult news for affected team members and their families,” said a spokesperson. “We will treat everyone fairl
  
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• New mobile app seeks to make logging wildlife fun

  20-08-2026 19:24 via thewhig.com
  
  A new game based in nature is aiming to encourage players to get outside while collecting data that could help researchers track wildlife.Denis Allaire, an independent software designer and environmental technician student at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall, created the game WildQuest with co-founder Kimberley Mattis. Allaire handles the software, while Mattis deals with other areas including government compliance in different countries and assists with the game’s design.“My goal i
  
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• Music@work: Inside the making of the Hip's historic final performance

  20-08-2026 18:07 via thewhig.com
  
  Long before The Tragically Hip took to the stage on Aug. 20, 2016, the people responsible for the band’s final concert already understood they were preparing for something unlike any event Kingston had ever seen.The sold-out hometown performance at the then Rogers K-Rock Centre was the final stop on the band’s Man Machine Poem 14-date tour — launched after enigmatic frontman Gord Downie revealed he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.What unfolded that night became a
  
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• Weekend spotlight, Aug. 21 to 23: Things to do in Kingston area this weekend

  20-08-2026 14:27 via thewhig.com
  
  1. Forever Hip in the Square Friday, noon to 8 p.m. in Springer Market Square, 1 Market St. : Visit Springer Market Square for a heartfelt celebration of The Tragically Hip’s enduring legacy in Kingston, featuring archival videos and clips on the big screen, Music Walking Tours, and a local Merch Market supporting Kingston musicians and makers. At 8 p.m., settle in under the evening sky for a free screening of Long Time Running (2017), the documentary film chronicling The Tragically Hip&rs
  
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• Lightfoot Band carries Gordon Lightfoot’s legacy forward as milestone anniversary renews focus on Edmund Fitzgerald

  20-08-2026 14:18 via thewhig.com
  
  More than three years after the death of Gordon Lightfoot, the musicians who spent decades at his side are finding that audiences still want to hear the songs, the stories and share the memories of one of Canada’s most celebrated songwriters.That demand is bringing The Lightfoot Band to Kingston’s Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Aug. 30, where the group will present what drummer Barry Keane describes as a three-part experience: the music, the stories behind it
  
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• A decade after final conversation, Peter Mansbridge still awed by his friend Gord Downie's courage and resolve

  20-08-2026 13:48 via thewhig.com
  
  For Peter Mansbridge, his interview with Gord Downie in the fall of 2016 was a professional test unlike any other. Its conclusion, the interview subject insisting on a kiss on camera, is an enduring image and a unique experience for the iconic newsman, yet perhaps the least remarkable aspect of day that remains fresh in his memory.The emotional gravity of the session with Downie and The Tragically Hip landed with Mansbridge when the production crew was setting up the lights and the cameras hadn
  
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• Paul Langlois: 'That night couldn't have gone any better'

  20-08-2026 13:47 via thewhig.com
  
  “They were quite the setlists,” Paul Langlois said as he stared at a white wall filled with reprints of the songs The Tragically Hip played during their final tour a decade ago. “Like Kingston. Look at it — there’s three encores.”Langlois explained that he’d written out all the setlists for the band’s final 15 concerts in one night, and with one rule: to include at least one “obscure” song each night. For a band as beloved as The Tragi
  
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• 'He never let the disease hold him back': Doctor reflects on Downie's legacy, built during brain cancer battle

  20-08-2026 13:46 via thewhig.com
  
  When Dr. James Perry and Gord Downie first met, the path forward was unclear, but the destination was known.Perry, a neuro-oncologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and the chair of the Canadian Brain Tumour Consortium, knew that Downie would be facing the end of his life while in his care. It’s a scenario that he has played out with hundreds of patients over the years — the harsh reality of an incurable glioblastoma brain tumour diagnosis.What Perry didn’t a
  
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• Special Investigations Unit clears a police officer after a 62-year-old woman died in Lake Ontario crash

  19-08-2026 20:56 via thewhig.com
  
  The Special Investigation Unit has cleared an Ontario Provincial Police from any wrongdoing after a 62-year-old woman died following a collision that landed her vehicle in Lake Ontario.The investigation stems back to April 21, just before 11 p.m. An officer was travelling westbound along Highway 33 in Napanee when he noticed a white Subaru Forester swerving on the roadway in the area of 234 Main St.As a suspected impaired driver, the officer, who was in a marked cruiser, activated his emergency
  
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• Spirit Halloween not returning to Kingston, citing lack of suitable commercial space

  19-08-2026 20:52 via thewhig.com
  
  The Spirit Halloween pop-up store will not be making a return to Kingston this fall season. According to local franchise owner, Nick Hemm, he was unable to secure a suitable, adequately sized retail space in time to make a physical store viable, even though he began searching five months ago.Last year, the franchise set up shop in the former Hudson’s Bay at the Cataraqui Centre , but this year temporary storefront plans fell through.“Somebody else has rented the first floor and we t
  
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• Recapturing the glory: Businesses ready to remember final concert

  19-08-2026 14:20 via thewhig.com
  
  KINGSTON — Local businesses are looking to recapture some of the magic of that night 10 years ago when The Tragically Hip played for the final time.It won’t be the exact feeling, but the concert and the viewing party in Springer Market Square left a lasting memory for anyone who was there and the 10th anniversary is a chance to relive it a little bit.“I just remember the energy in Kingston and how it really brought the community together, the whole city together, really, and h
  
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• Kingston prepares to get Hip again

  19-08-2026 14:20 via thewhig.com
  
  KINGSTON — In 2016, Megan Sirett was in the crowd in Springer Market Square watching the broadcast of The Tragically Hip’s final concert.“I remember it being magical,” Sirett said in an interview. “I think it was a really incredible event and obviously I think Kingston really welcomed all of those crowds so beautifully.“I just remember it being such a respectful group and, obviously the tone of the event, we knew that someone was facing a terminal illness, wh
  
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