Local
The tornado-damaged Merivale transmission station is still undergoing repairs and required a temporary outage Oct. 14. The outage will affect over 2,000 Hydro One customers and 48,000 Hydro Ottawa customers. It was planned to happen 4 a.m and will last up to 30 minutes. Customers affected will be contacted prior to the outage. Work at the station will take several months to complete with potentially more temporary outages to occur.
National
Ontario will be joining Alberta, B.C and Manitoba in recognizing Sikh motorcycle riders’ civil rights and religious expression. The helmet exemption was promised by Doug Ford during his spring election campaign and will come into effect on Oct. 18. In a statement, Premier Ford assured that road safety is of utmost importance, “but our government also believes that individuals have personal accountability and responsibility with respect to their own well-being,” he said.
International
Hurricane Michael hit Florida’s north-west coast Oct. 10 Its death toll has risen to 16 and is expected to climb. The hurricane was one of the most powerful in U.S. history. Winds were recorded as high as 250 km/h. More than a million customers are without power and rescue efforts are currently underway. Gov. Rick Scott tweeted that food and supplies will be airdropped to towns in need that have been left inaccessible by the storm.