Conditional sentence for former Corner Brook Minor Hockey Association treasurer convicted of theft

The just over $12,000 that Melissa Williams has been found guilty of defrauding the Corner Brook Minor Hockey Association of is nowhere near the actual loss suffered by the association at her hands.

Williams, 48, was entrusted with the financial well-being of the association when she was hired as treasurer in 2017 but had been misusing funds for her own personal gain.

In provincial court in Corner Brook on Friday she was handed an eight-month conditional sentence — four months each consecutive — on charges of unlawfully possessing, using or trafficking in credit card data and theft over $5,000. The offences occurred between February 2018 and March 2019. 

An agreed statement of facts put the total she stole at $12,012.38, but Judge Kymil Howe said the amount lost by the association as filed in a statement of restitution was actually $149,853.09. 

Regionalization is coming to Newfoundland and Labrador, but opposition to it continues to grow

Jasen Benwah doesn’t think regionalization can be stopped but he’d like to see the process slowed.

The chief of the Benoit First Nation and resident of Cape St. George wonders what the cost of regionalization will be to people.

“My fear with regionalization is that we’re all going to have property tax and we’re going to be paying more than we’re paying now for the services that we already have, that we are already looked after for.”

Need a hug from mom? N.L. woman giving the LGBTQ2S+ community 'somebody to love them as they are,' one hug at a time

Sometimes all you need is a hug.

It’s simple gesture that can make life’s struggles a little easier, and it's one Connie Winsor wants to share as an ally to the LGBTQ2S+ community around Corner Brook and the Bay of Islands through a new Free Mom Hugs group.

“I just feel like there’s a huge need for kids to feel like there is someplace they can go. Just somebody to love them as they are, where they are,” she told the SaltWire Network recently.

Out of my COVID-19 archive: Newfoundland grads hopeful prom 2020 can be rescheduled

(I teamed up with Nicholas Mercer and Rosie Mullaley to find out how high school graduates were feeling about possibly not having a graduation in 2020.)

There are few milestones in a young person’s life that elicit more excitement and anticipation than high school graduation.

It’s one of the most thrilling moments for teenagers — when a young woman can dress up in a glamorous dress and feel like a princess, while a young man gets to don a dapper suit, and everyone celebrates the end of grade school with friends and classmates.

But the global COVID-19 pandemic spoiled the party for 2020 grads, turning it into what has been pegged a sad grad. With schools closed, proms and graduation ceremonies for schools across the province were canceled, leaving many disappointed.

“It’s almost like you’re writing a book for 12 years and you’re just on that last chapter and someone just steals it from you, and you can’t finish it,” said Blake Pope, 17, a Grade 12 student at Pasadena Academy in Pasadena.

When school was closed, Pope, president of the school’s student council, was left with a feeling of disbelief.