Penticton Herald

Landing aircraft hit by green laser

-

CHARLOTTET­OWN — RCMP are investigat­ing a report of a green laser being directed into the cockpit of a commercial aircraft as it approached the airport in Charlottet­own.

Police say the WestJet passenger aircraft encountere­d the beam of light at around 11 p.m. Sunday as it flew over the Brackley Beach area of P.E.I.

The laser, which could temporaril­y blind pilots, shone in the cockpit for about five to 10 seconds.

The pilot landed the plane without incident.

RCMP spokeswoma­n, Sgt. Leanne Butler, says police are appealing for the public’s help after a search of the area failed to turn up a suspect.

Midway ride breaks down; 7 stranded

CALGARY — Seven people were stuck on a midway ride at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday evening when the ride broke down.

Stampede officials say the Mach 3 stopped in the middle of a ride shortly after 6 p.m.

The Mach 3 seats eight people — four on each end of a 37-metre long, vertically mounted rotating arm — and swings them into the air and then rushes them back towards the ground.

Employees of North American Midway Entertainm­ent, the ride’s operator, evacuated the people from the ride.

One person was taken by ambulance to hospital as a precaution.

Police car rammed by stolen truck

RED DEER, Alta. — A police officer in Red Deer, Alta., was left with minor injuries after his cruiser was rammed by a person in a stolen truck.

RCMP say they were in an alley looking for a suspect about 1 a.m. on Monday when they intercepte­d the vehicle.

The suspect fled, driving on a walking path into the Riverside Meadows neighbourh­ood.

Officers managed to track the vehicle down to where it appeared to be stuck on a median.

However, as an officer approached in a marked police cruiser, the driver reversed the truck at high speed and hit the police car before fleeing.

The stolen truck was later found abandoned in a parking lot in north Red Deer, just before 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Driver flees police through farm fields

LAMBTON COUNTY, Ont. — Police are searching for a man who allegedly fled from officers in southern Ontario by driving through several farm fields in a pickup truck that was in a state of disrepair.

Provincial police say officers spotted a pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer containing a large bulldozer track in the Township of DawnEuphem­ia, Ont., on Saturday.

Police say officers tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver didn't stop and took off into a nearby field.

Officers later found the traile,r but have yet to locate the driver and the pickup.

Police say they have identified the driver and intend to prosecute him.

Records accessed in privacy breach

HALIFAX, N.S. — Hundreds of patient records at the Nova Scotia Health Authority were inappropri­ately accessed in two separate incidents involving six employees.

The health authority is reaching out to 337 patients whose personal health informatio­n was accessed in the widespread privacy breaches.

A spokespers­on says the privacy breaches are one of the largest on record at the provincial health body.

Colin Stevenson, an executive with the authority, calls the violation of confidenti­ality “substantia­l” and says the incidents are being taken very seriously.

He says the six employees involved are subject to disciplina­ry action, which could include terminatio­n.

Stevenson could not confirm whether the personal health records were accessed in error or deliberate­ly with malicious intent.

The first incident, involving the inappropri­ate access and handling of health informatio­n of 244 patients by three employees, came to light after a complainti­n July 2016.

The second incident, involving the inappropri­ate access of health informatio­n of 93 patients by three different employees, was investigat­ed after a manager raised concerns in January.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada