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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-01-06, Page 5Wednesday, January 6, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 5 Body of man found in truck that drove off pier, retrieved from Lake Huron Darryl Coote/Kincardine News A pick-up truck is hoisted by a heavy crane from Lake Huron Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, hours after it drove off Kincardine's north pier earlier that morning. Health unit warns about deadly heroin in Grey -Bruce Grey Bruce Health Unit is warning about a potentially lethal heroin mix available locally which is blamed for one man's death and a num- ber of overdoses in Grey - Bruce in December alone. Grey County Emergency Services contacted the health unit about heroin circulating in the community following protocols triggered when there's a health concern the public should know about, Dr. Christine Kennedy, the acting medical officer of health, said in an interview. The warning also advises drug users, their families and friends that a free "rescue kit" containing clean syringes and two vials of Naloxone, which can reverse opioid overdoses, are available by calling the health unit at 519-376-9420. Kennedy had few details about the three people who overdosed Dec. 21, but she believed both of those who survived were still in hospital early that day. While all three overdoses happened in Owen Sound, it's "just a matter of time" before the heroin in question is available throughout Grey - Bruce, she said. "We're asking family and friends who know individu- als who use drugs to be pro- active and reach out to these people to make them aware of the danger of this particu- lar heroin" Kennedy said in a news release. "We're very concerned. We don't want to see anyone else harmed," she said. "Addi- tional strategies to reduce risk include taking smaller doses and not being alone when taking drugs." When people call for a res- cue kit, nurses will provide intensive harm prevention education for drug users and people who care about them, Kennedy said. The Owen Sound police service issued its own news release Monday which warned about potentially deadly drugs in the city. It says the drug may be "heroin or cocaine or a drug held out to be those drugs." Officers investigated after a male overdosed on the west side at 12:30 a.m. and, nine hours later an overdose involv- ing a male and female on the east side of the city. All three were taken by ambulance to hospital. Police said later a young male died in one of the incidents. Their investigation continues. Kennedy she understands anecdotally that the extreme cold last winter changed drug use pattems in Grey -Bruce. "When the temperatures (dropped) in late January, early Februaryit ... disrupted actu- ally the distribution networks from Cambridge and Hamil- ton so that the price of oxyco- done and other opioids that were available on the street went up exponentially," she said. 'And what that meant was that there was an immediate shift away from more tradi- tional, less injectable opioids to heroin." The size of the intravenous drug user population is hard to be certain of, as are the num- ber of local overdoses this year or cases where the rescue kits have saved lives, Kennedy said. But there has been a near doubling in demand for the health unit's needle exchange program this year over last. In 2014, the program provide about 38,000 clean needles as part of its harm reduction efforts, Kennedy said. Kennedy estimated "doz- ens" of Naloxone rescue kits have been handed out by public health since they became in available in August through a provincial program. The local health unit was among the first health units in Ontario to distribute them, she said. Kennedy said the heroin circulating now could be a particularly potent form of the drug or a mixture, which makes it more deadly. Toxi- cology tests, which should make that clear, may take a few more days, she said. Darryl Coote Kincardine News The body of an uniden- tified man was recovered Saturday afternoon from a white pick-up truck that earlier that morning had driven off Kincardine's north pier into Lake Huron. The OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit crane -lifted the vehicle from the cold, choppy waters of Lake Huron shortly after 4 p.m. The lone occupant was pronounced dead at the scene. According to an eyewit- ness, who asked not to be named, the vehicle drove off the north side of the north pier into the water at 9 a.m. "[The truck] was going slow. Looked almost like an accident as it was a skating rink out there," the person said. South Bruce OPP, the Municipality of Kincar- dine Fire Department and Bruce County Paramedics received a call about the incident at 9:03 a.m. and were soon on the scene at the end of Harbour Street. Four fire trucks and sev- eral police cars filled the cul de sac and stayed idle offering emergency per- sonnel warmth from the cold that was worsened by the wind coming off the lake. Soon after arriving, the fire department's Water Rescue Team, which is trained in ice and open water rescue, entered the lake near the north side of the pier and were able to locate the vehicle, which was completely sub- merged in the murky, tur- bulent water. However, they were unable to gain access to the truck due to the depth of the water, said Kincar- dine fire chief Kent Padfield. The Underwater Search and Recovery Unit then arrived at around 2:30 p.m, and hoisted the truck from the water an hour and a half later. With the pick-up laying on its side on the pier, a tarp was laid over its windshield. The cause of the inci- dent had yet to be released as of Monday, and the OPP is continuing to investigate with assis- tance from the Office of the Coroner and the OPP Forensic Identification unit who was also at the scene. Kincardine Theatre Guild now in rehearsals for February's `Willow Quartet' Kincardine Theatre Guild (KTG) has begun rehearsals on its next pro- duction, 'Willow Quartet.' Directed by KTG veteran Jaki Mayer -Duggan and produced by Sandy Nel- son, the show takes the stage for nine perfor- mances from Feb. 11-27, 2016 at the Kincardine Centre for the Arts. Rehearsing Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursday nights, the play stars Shirley Bieman as Kim's mother Marjorie, Bill Brown as Jim the musi- cian, Liz Small as Kim, and Fort Papalia as ex- husband Ben. Synopsis "In the aftermath of a tragedy that ends Kim and Ben's marriage, Kim finds herself back in her child- hood home that she con- verts into a B & B. Her first boarder is a visiting musi- cian, Jim, and it's not long before Kim becomes infat- uated with him. With Jim at her side, Kim struggles to navigate her unresolved grief as her mother looks on with concern and comments." Tickets are available at J'Adorn in Kincardine. For more information visit kincardinethe- atreguild.com Kincardine Theatre Guild photo Kincardine Theatre Guild's 'Willow Quartet' takes the stage Feb. 11-27, 2016 at the Kincardine Centre for the Arts. Pictured at back: Shirley Bieman as Marjorie. Front L -R: Bill Brown as Jim the musician, Liz Small as Kim and Fort Papalia as ex-husband Ben.