If those behind the idea of turning the arena in MacTier into a legal marijuana grow-op thought they had a fight on their hands before, No. 4 has just jumped over the boards. Bobby Orr was famous for scoring big goals and, if necessary, dropping the gloves, too. This time he's prepared to do both. In his more than half century of celebrity, Orr rarely speaks out or steps into controversy. However, when it comes to closing down an arena and community centre on his home turf to rent out to a company so they can grow medicinal marijuana, it brings out the anger in the Hockey Hall of Famer. [continues 729 words]
Teens need to realize dangers HEIDELBERG - Christine and Klaus Padaric don't care who knows their 17-year-old son, Austin, died of a drug overdose during a party at an Elmira apartment last month. They want people to know. Especially teenagers like their son. For them, Christine has a message: "Kids, this is real. This happens. It's now happened to one of yours.'' Austin's death, from an accidental overdose of hydromorphone pills, has been a real wake-up call for many of her son's friends, she said during a recent conversation with her husband, Klaus, at the dining room table of their comfortable Heidelberg home. [continues 1039 words]
If those behind the idea of turning the arena in MacTier into a legal marijuana grow-op thought they had a fight on their hands before, Number 4 has just jumped over the boards. Bobby Orr was famous for scoring big goals and, if necessary, dropping the gloves, too. This time he's prepared to do both. In his more than half century of celebrity, Orr rarely speaks out or steps into controversy. However when it comes to closing down an arena and community centre in his home turf to rent out to a company so they can grow medicinal marijuana, it brings out the anger in the Hockey Hall of Famer. [continues 729 words]
If those behind the idea of turning the arena in MacTier into a legal marijuana grow-op thought they had a fight on their hands before, No. 4 has just jumped over the boards. Bobby Orr was famous for scoring big goals and, if necessary, dropping the gloves, too. This time he's prepared to do both. In his more than half century of celebrity, Orr rarely speaks out or steps into controversy. However, when it comes to closing down an arena and community centre on his home turf to rent out to a company so they can grow medicinal marijuana, it brings out the anger in the Hockey Hall of Famer. [continues 730 words]
Despite public outcry, the company proposing to turn the community centre and arena in a small Muskoka town into a medical-marijuana facility is still interested. Mettrum Ltd., a bio-pharmaceutical company formed solely for the purpose of researching and producing medical marijuana, was invited by the Township of Georgian Bay to consider the aging 10,000-square-foot community centre and arena in MacTier, about an hour north of Orillia, as a possible plant location in mid-March. Following a heated meeting May 4 with Mettrum representatives and township officials that brought out close to half of MacTier's 700 residents, Mayor Larry Braid indicated to The Packet & Times the company was no longer interested in pursuing the site. [continues 414 words]
'Mandatory minimum' laws need an overhaul. Congress is ready. Will the president make good on his promises? There are few topics on which leading Democratic and Republican voices agree these days. But the recently introduced Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013 - which would authorize federal judges to impose prison terms below statutory mandatory minimums in some cases represents a new bipartisan effort at addressing America's overcrowded prisons and bloated budget. Passage of the act, though, will depend on President Obama and his Justice Department getting behind it. [continues 874 words]
