PCVS: Shock and questions
Man charged in rest home murder -ON February 18, 2008 Doug Schmidt , Windsor Star An autopsy will be held Tuesday in London on Windsor's first murder victim of the year, an elderly resident of the Marentette Rest Home. Leo Joseph "Joe" Kearley, 74, was found dead after police responded at 5:45 a.m. Monday to a 911 call about an assault in progress at the multiplex residence, located just north of Tecumseh Road East. Two other male residents, ages 80 and 64, were taken to Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Jeffery Downs, 34, was arraigned Monday on a count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Det. Pat Keane said blunt force trauma appeared to be the cause of death and that no weapon was found. Downs was identified by other residents at the scene and arrested without incident in a common area. "I feel sad. It shouldn't happen here ... we're trying to live a peaceful life," said Stephen Swartz, a resident of the home for the past two months who was also briefly the roommate of the man taken into custody. "He was an alright guy," Swartz said of the deceased. One rest home resident told The Star that it was a fight over cigarettes that sparked the deadly incident. When asked if there was a fight over cigarettes, Keane, who is with the department's major crimes branch, said: "I don't know that." Many of those living at Marentette Rest Home suffer from mental illness, said Swartz and police. Keane said it was staffed at the time by caretakers, who were the ones who called 911 about the assault in progress. Forensic identification officers attended the scene and visited with the victims at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital. Keane said early indications are that the homicide "appears to be a tragic, isolated incident" and not related to the rest home's operational procedures. "Everybody gets along here," Swartz said of the usual goings-on at the rest home facility. British Columbia will be available to provide an analysis of B.C.'s provincial budget on Tuesday, February 19. 4:10 PM PT Read
No charges for smoking at school October 4, 2006 The Western School Board will not be charged for continuing to defy a provincial ban on smoking on school property at Westisle Composite High. Students at Westisle — on Route 2 in Elmsdale west of Summerside — are smoking on school grounds despite a provincial ban that came into effect in July. The board feels it would be dangerous to chase smokers off school property because their other option would be to smoke on the shoulder of the highway. Health Minister Chester Gillan told CBC News Tuesday the board is in a grace period, and he's not going to enforce the smoking law for now. He said the board will have to start working on an alternative plan to comply with the smoking rules. Read
High school defies P.E.I. smoking ban
October 2, 2006
Westisle High School, in Elmsdale west of Summerside, has decided to defy a province-wide ban on smoking on school property rather than have its students smoking on the shoulder of a highway.
'We believe we're exercising due diligence.'- Dale Sabean, Western School Board
School officials have tried to ban smoking on school property before, and say it led to some near misses for students. In July, the Prince Edward Island passed a new law banning smoking on school grounds anywhere in the province. The Western School Board asked for an exception, but the province said no.
"The dilemma the board has is that the only space that would not be school property would be the side of Highway 2," said school board chair Dale Sabean.
"Although there is a reduced speed in that area because it is a school zone, it is a main highway. It has a lot of traffic, and we do see concerns if we are asking students to wait by the side of the road."
Sabean says the school board has decided to simply defy the law. He says trustees believe student safety comes first, so as many as 150 Westisle students are continuing to smoke on school property in a school board sanctioned smoking area.
"We believe we're exercising due diligence in this case," said Sabean.
Sabean said the board knows it could face charges under the province's Smoke-free Places Act, but it's willing to take its chances. It has also asked the province to reconsider its position. Read
Time has healed PCVS' wound as a 'positive energy' takes firm root
11/23/05
By Lauren Gilchrist
For the Peterborough Collegiate and Voctational School community, the past 12 months have been marked by grieving, healing and moving forward.
In late October 2004, an elderly man collapsed and died after a confrontation with a 16-year-old male PCVS student in an alley adjacent to the McDonnel Street school.
The student, whose named remains protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was originally charged with manslaughter in connection with the incident but charge was later dropped following consultation with the Crown Attorney and medical professionals.
The alley, which was used by students as a smoking area, also served as an access point for residents whose homes front onto nearby Aylmer Street.
"This was a tragic, unfortunate, one-time incident," notes Rusty Hick, superintendent of student achievement for the local public school board.
"The students were horrified by what happened there."
Following the death of 70-year-old Ross Dix, the local public school board held a forum at the school in early November 2004 where students and community members gathered to discuss the incident.
Since then, a number of efforts have been made by the school to move forward from the tragedy, and re-establish a positive relationship between the school and its neighbours.
"I think it did bring the school together, there's no question," says PCVS principal Anita Simpson.
"It took a lot of time before it moved into that positive energy."
Immediately following the incident, perimeter duty was established.
Prior to the Oct. 28, 2004 incident, Ms Simpson or her vice-principal Annie Johnston walked the perimeter of the school to ensure students were where they should be. Now, each day, a different teacher at the school is on perimeter duty, walking the grounds and through alley where students are no longer allowed to congregate.
"The more adults you have, the better effect you have," explains Ms Simpson.
"I think it helps."
Out of the community forum, a community committee was established. This group has met a number of times since to discuss issues that came out of that forum and strategies to move forward.
One initiative discussed at the meetings was finding a way to make the neighbours feel more a part of the PCVS. The high school now issues invitations to the neighbours, inviting them to the school's holiday concert and musicals.
"To try and encourage them to come into the school," explains Ms Simpson as to the motive of that action.
A Culture and Climate Committee, comprised of students and staff at PCVS, has also been formed. This committee looks at how a positive school image can be created inside the school as well as outside its walls in the community at large.
"For the majority of the student body, they were devastated by what happened as well," says Ms Simpson.
One the major changes immediately following the incident was finding a new area where students can smoke.
"We had no plans of ever putting them back in the alley," says Ms Simpson.
Provincial legislation prohibits smoking on school property, so students must stay on public property.
"We prefer no one smoke but that's not facing reality," explains Mr. Hick.
PCVS student smokers now gather on the McDonnel Street street to light up. The sidewalk is public property, owned by the City of Peterborough.
"The way our school is set up, there is no other alternative," explains Ms Simpson.
But both Ms Simpson and Mr. Hick agree that having students smoke on the sidewalk is not the best situation either. A group of students standing on the sidewalk could block the way for pedestrians trying to walk along McDonnel Street.
Mr. Hick explains that PCVS is currently working with the City to establish a place for students to smoke, taking into account both the safety of the students and the community.
Ms Simpson says the school is proposing to have a portion of the grass running parallel to the sidewalk on McDonnel Street paved. Students could smoke on that paved strip as they would still be on public property. Ms Simpson says the new area could be used as a social area by all students, not just for smokers.
"We're working with the City to pave a wider social area so that students and the community can co-exist," says Ms Simpson.
"The (school) board has been very supportive."
Mr. Hick says the local public school board faced a similar challenge of trying to find a safe place for students to smoke at Thomas A. Stewart (TAS) Secondary School.
The solution at TAS was to build a cement pad that is an extension of a sidewalk for students to gather.
"It's in a safe environment...the students are well back from the road," says John Ringereide, TAS principal. The pad was laid in the fall of 2004.
"We're not trying to condone smoking but, at the same time, we're trying to find the best solution," he says.
The day after at PCVS: Shock and questions
Nov 3, 2004
Lance Anderson and Clark Kim
Friday was an eerie day at Peterborough Collegiate for student Jade Jager Clark.
The day after a 70-year-old man collapsed and died after a fight with a 16-year-old male in the back alley, rumours were flying around the school as to what happened.
It was also the same day as Peterborough Collegiate's commencement, with many seniors coming into the school to celebrate their grandchildren's academic achievements.
Jade says a dark cloud is hanging over students, some feeling slighted that the actions of one individual have given the school's students a bad name.
"It's unfortunate it had to happen. A lot of people think (the teen) represents the population. But I'm still proud to be a PCVS student," she said.
On Monday, students were still talking about the Thursday afternoon incident, added Jade. They share mixed emotions about the event that left Ross Dix dead.
A 16-year-old student was charged with manslaughter, but that charge was withdrawn based on a consultation with medical professionals and the Crown Attorney on Friday. Peterborough police Sergeant Rob Hotston said the case is still active and the possibility of further charges hasn't been ruled out.
"It depends on what evidence is revealed. It's not a question about (the teen) getting off," he added.
But that's the perception some students have. A 16-year-old eyewitness to the back-alley fight told Peterborough This Week he and his peers were shocked that police were withdrawing the charge.
The witness said the man was turning into the alley in his truck and pulled forward into an alcove where a group of teens had gathered before backing into his laneway. That's an area students use to smoke, but it is also a laneway for Aylmer Street residents to get into their driveways.
The eyewitness said the truck "brushed" against a student's coat.
"Words were exchanged and the old guy stepped out of the truck. (More) words were exchanged and the old guy hit the student in the side of the face with a punch," said the witness.
He added the teen was on roller blades and backed off. He sat down, took off his roller blades, put on his shoes and went back over to the man who was still standing there.
"He went and hit the old guy in face," he said.
Other students stepped in and broke up the fight.
"I looked over at the old guy who clutched his chest and he slid down the side of his truck," said the witness.
Emergency personnel were called and arrived on scene. Some students had already started to perform CPR on Mr. Dix.
He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"Some people were really traumatized by this," said the witness.
"It reflects badly on teenagers as a whole and our school...there's a huge stigma attached to everyone at that school now. But the vast majority of students were trying to help this guy."
The backdoors of the school leading to the alleyway has been locked since the incident.
"Out of respect for the community we redirected all of the students to the front of the school," said Anita Simpson, school principal.
Student smokers will most likely have to remain out in front of the school "probably indefinitely" out by McDonnel Street, she added.
To compound the problem, provincial legislation prohibits anybody from smoking on school property, which forces students to stand on public property.
"That's the problem every secondary school in Ontario faces," Ms Simpson said.
"In a perfect world, the students wouldn't smoke."
Since taking over as principal of Peterborough Collegiate in September, Ms Simpson said she didn't receive any phone calls or complaints from neighbours about smokers in the laneway beside the school.
But she had been notified the community has brought up the issue in the past.
With very little real estate, she noted, there are literally no other options at the current time.
"We are looking for a long-term solution."
Mr. Dix, a resident of Peterborough for the past 20 years and co-founder of Markdale Home Hardware, is survived by son John and daughters Laura and Beverly.
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