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Muskoka Family Focus and Children’s Place is responding to statements made by CUPE National Rep Chris Sax regarding current contract negotiations. Muskoka Family Focus’s Board President Jennifer Garrow Sneyd says it’s not in either party’s best interests to strike or lockout staff. She says Muskoka Family Focus and Children’s Place is very surprised by Sax’s statements to media. She says earlier this spring he and the union were presented a three year offer, including wage increases, vacation improvements and mileage, an offer Sax omitted from his statements. The union rejected the offer and called for a strike vote. Sneyd says dedicated staff has been without a contract since June 2011 and that they are anxious to have a mutually acceptable agreement in place as soon as possible. Sneyd says a negotiation re-start was delayed until April of this year as Sax was on an extended leave for his position. Currently Muskoka Family focus’s consultant is in Peru on a 2 week volunteer commitment to build a daycare centre. Muskoka Family Focus says it will continue to negotiate in good faith and that when asked, they immediately agreed to a mediators request to meet on May 23rd.

Drivers are still not getting the message that it's not cool to drink and drive. On Saturday, just after 7:00pm, police arrested a Huntsville man driving a Ford pickup on Hanes Road after they found that he had been drinking. Then on Mother's Day, police got a complaint of an erratic driver on Highway 11 in Huntsville. Police stopped the Kia Spectra on Griffin Lodge Road just after 8:00pm and arrested the driver. On Monday, police also arrested a driver of a Ford pickup on Highway 60 going westbound, after the driver was having trouble staying in the lane. Thirty-four year old Donald McIndoo, 24-year-old Even Martell and 57-year-old Christine Book will appear in Huntsville court next month to answer to DUI charges.

If you depend on Muskoka Family Focus and Children's Place daycare centres to care for your child you could be left in the lurch next week. CUPE National Representative Chris Sax says he received a "no board" report from the Ministry of Labour on May 7^th, filed by the consultant hired by management at Muskoka Family Focus. The report means within 17 days, employees would be in a lockout or strike position. Sax he was shocked to get the notice.

Sax says talks are scheduled just one day before the deadline next week. Employees have been without a contract since June 2011. Repeated calls from this station to management of Muskoka Family Focus were not immediately returned.

If you have a child two-years and younger, you may want to think about adding the flu shot their list of scheduled vaccines. A recent study shows an astonishing low flu vaccine rate in toddlers. Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Manager of Immunization Laurie Stanford says, she understands that parents do get vaccine fatigue. However, parents should know the people who bring the flu into the home are mostly children.

Stanford says there are plenty of things you can do besides the shot to prevent getting the flu.

Stanford does say though the best protection against influenza is the flu shot. The Toronto-based study found the rate of flu vaccines with toddlers never topped 10 per cent between 2002 and 2009.

The military convoy that made its way through Muskoka and Parry Sound last week, is making its way back to base. The mechanized brigade will return to CFB Petawawa today following Exercise 'Charging Dragoon' and Exercise 'Spartan Bear' in Meaford. The convoy is expected to cause minimal disruption.

Police have identified the person killed in a single-vehicle collision in Arnstein on Monday. Sixty-seven-year-old Arina Howes of Loring died when her car veered off the road and flipped in a ditch at Highway 522 and Seagull Lake Road. Police say she may have been in medical distress at the time. An autopsy is planned. OPP's Technical Collision Investigations and Forensic Identifications Units were on scene to investigate