>Holidays a struggle, some advice to help you cope, Pg 10-11 > Chef Rocco ready to entice at WineFest Pg. 5 > New Years afternoon fun at PK Pg. 15 > Youth can help at bird count Pg. 17 Thursday, December 29, 2016 Vol. 5 Issue 34
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Grimsby store part of historic shisha bust Shisha tobacco with $18 million street value confiscated from 23 locations By Mike Williscraft NewsNow A Grimsby variety store was part of a 23-location confiscation of 6,000 total cases of shisha tobacco earlier this month. Early on Tuesday, Dec. 6 officers from three police services descended on Milk & Things at 74 Main St. W. in Grimsby with marked and unmarked units as well as a UHaul van. Commander Minh Tri Truong of ACCES, Action Concerte pour Contrer l’Économie Souterraine, said the seizure was “historic”. From 23 locations
- mostly in Hamilton, including three in Philadelphia, Pa. - 6,000 boxes with 6 kg per box, 36,000 kg of shisha tobacco was taken. “If we do the calculation, that represents close to $18 million in profit for the organization,” said Commander Truong. The investigation and seizure was carried out with the efforts of several law enforcement agencies in addition to ACCES, which is a department of the City of Montreal Police Service. Hamilton Police Service, Niagara Regional See BUST, Page 2
Police officers from Hamilton, Niagara and ACCES (a Montreal-based task force dealing with underground economy investigations) descended on Milk and Things in Grimsby on Tuesday, Dec. 6 an ATM unit. Williscraft - Photo
Not just the food bank
GBF services vital to keeping families afloat By Mike Williscraft NewsNow When one thinks of Grimsby Benevolent Fund, most tend to think about donating food to support local families in need. While that need may be real and growing, so too are the needs in other areas such as assistance with hydro bills, rent and other core expenses. For Cheryl Donnelly, her husband and four children - who range in age from 4-15 years - the variety of services have given them a shot at
keeping things together through a tough financial stretch. “We’ve been using the GBF for four years now, since I got downsized from Red Cross after an amalgamation,” said Cheryl. “Before that, we didn’t know anything about them except for the retail shop.” Because of that, Cheryl was quite tentative when she called the facility to make an initial appointment. “I spoke to Stacy (Elia, executive director) right off. She asked me to bring in some documen-
tation they needed to give an assessment, and she explained all the things they could offer,” recalled Cheryl. “For me, that was very tough. I am the sort of person who doesn’t like to ask for help. It was very difficult for both my husband and I. We had to provide for our kids. It was not up to us and pride. I feel no shame whatsoever in needing help.” One of the things which surprised Cheryl was the assistance available to help with utility bills. “We had a backlog of bills and we had many See GBF, Page 3