Owen Sound Sun Times

After an “intensive search process,” the YMCA of Owen Sound Grey Bruce’s board of directors has appointed Grey County resident Sarah Cowley as its new executive director. Cowley will begin her new position March 22, replacing Gayle Graham, who’s retiring after serving for 23 years as the organization’s CEO. “Sarah’s appointment is the result of […]

A 39-year-old man has been transported to a London hospital with serious injuries after his snowmobile struck a pole in Saugeen Shores. Emergency crews found the man who had been ejected from the snow machine at about 2:15 a.m. Friday. The collision happened on a no-winter-maintenance road between Concession 10 and Concession 14, according to […]

Four new cases of COVID-19 were reported Sunday to the Grey Bruce Health Unit, bringing the number of active local cases to 22. Two of the new cases were from Owen Sound, while the others were from Brockton and Arran-Elderslie. On Saturday, five new local cases – two from Hanover and single cases from Owen […]

Grey-Bruce will be back in the yellow “protect” zone after the Family Day long weekend as the province’s stay-at-home order is set to be lifted. The Grey Bruce Health Unit’s medical officer of health is asking residents to stay engaged and careful when the change comes. “We all need to be very cautious moving forward. […]

Grey County paramedics met the response time targets they set for 2020. Response time targets are based on the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, with swifter responses set for more life-threatening problems, such as sudden cardiac arrest, than for lesser health issues. The response times are set by the province but how often they’re met […]

Memo? What memo? If the Ontario Hockey League distributed a return-to-play memo detailing a 24-game schedule to be played in four hub cities and featuring all 20 teams, Attack GM Dale DeGray went un-CC’d. “I’m going to honest with you, I don’t know what memos you’re talking about. I can’t respond to any of that […]

City council has given final approval to Owen Sound’s 2021 budget, which will see residential property tax bills rise by 1.85 per cent this year. The spending plan, approved by bylaw Monday, includes a 2.76 per cent increase to the municipal levy. The overall property tax increase drops to 1.85 per cent after factoring in […]

An Owen Sound man faces impaired driving charges after a vehicle was seen being driven erratically in the city on Thursday evening. Officers responded at about 8:30 p.m. after a concerned driver witnessed the vehicle travelling erratically through the streets on the east side. Police located a 2010 Dodge pickup in the 500 block of […]

A family of four got out of their Paisley home unharmed as it burned late Thursday morning. The fire was discovered after power went out in the brick, 1 1/2 story house at 547 Queen S. N., acting Paisley Fire Department Chief Dave Teeple said Friday. When resetting the breaker didn’t work, a member of […]

The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library has extended the term of the city’s poet laureate Richard-Yves Sitoski, who is set to launch his legacy project Tuesday. The library board approved the one-year extension late last month “in recognition of both the current challenges involved in presenting public performances” and Sitoski’s “exemplary work […]

The Owen Sound Minor Hockey Group is seeking volunteer help as it tries to salvage what’s rest of its season. After what was called an “extensive” meeting of the league executive Tuesday, the OSMHG said in a post on its website they’re “cautiously optimistic” the province will allow for the league to resume play in […]

On the day the provincial government announced it would delay this year’s March Break until April 12-16, the Grey Bruce Health Unit reported four new cases of COVID-19. The newest cases were found in West Grey (2), South Bruce, and Southgate. March Break was originally scheduled to occur March 15-19. Instead, school and transportation services […]

Grey County councillors unanimously supported a new land acknowledgement policy and wording, to be read before certain meetings and on special occasions, which recognizes and honours local First Nations and Metis and the Inuit peoples. Policy and words to be used in the acknowledgement were arrived at with the help of M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre […]

Owen Sound has received considerable public feedback about the need to include in its updated official plan greater policy direction related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. “If there was a single theme then climate change probably is the most frequent comment,” Amy Cann, manager of planning and heritage, said in an interview. Most of […]

A project to construct a new childcare centre at Spruce Ridge Community School in Durham will move ahead. In an online announcement on Thursday, Ontario’s Minister of Education Stephen Lecce announced $1.5 million in funding for a new 39-space centre at the school. “It is a pleasure to share some good news for families in […]

Canada’s largest independent ice cream maker is considering another expansion, this time sprawling into the neighbouring municipality. Chapman’s Ice Cream in Markdale proposes to expand its Phoenix ice cream production plant by 90,000 square feet, which would be built fully within the neighbouring municipality of West Grey. Plans for expansion are a bet on the […]

True to the traits of the mighty ox – the Chinese zodiac animal sign for 2021 – organizers of the Grey Bruce Lunar New Year Celebration have persevered to ensure this year’s event will go on despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The event features an art show, which is on now until March 8 at downtown […]

Georgian Bluffs council is hoping to soon see better internet service in many areas of the municipality. At its meeting on Wednesday, council directed staff to forward a letter of support for an application by local service provider GBTEL for funding under the Universal Broadband Fund. The company is hoping to receive funding to expand […]

Spruce the Bruce is back in business. Bruce County’s award-winning grant program for local small businesses, community groups and municipal projects is offering a total of $250,000 in funding this year. The funding is part of the Support the Bruce: Business Sustainability Fund totalled at $1.75 million over two years. Funding is available on a […]

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has terminated an investigation into a serious injury sustained when a 33-year-old Hanover man fell through a glass greenhouse roof at John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover. The man fractured his shoulder and suffered cuts to his hands from the 12-to-15-foot fall, according to a police media release distributed at […]

Opponents of a proposed $23-billion used nuclear fuel vault in South Bruce, one of two preferred storage locations remaining in Ontario, are concerned planning rules could be bypassed by provincial ministerial order for the project. Michelle Stein, president of Protect Our Waterways – No Nuclear Waste, said Wednesday in an interview that the Planning Act […]

Stacy Fenwick has gone online doing 25 pushups after being pulled on a snowboard behind an ATV while wearing not much more than a hat, gloves and briefs. In another video, he completes the exercises in front of the Owen Sound hospital while sporting a wig, nurse’s cap, tank top and underwear. The 44-year-old Owen […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported four new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, including a pair in Owen Sound. The two other cases were in Southgate and West Grey. Despite the new cases, seven cases deemed resolved as of Wednesday resulted in a decrease in active cases. There were 17 active cases, six probable cases and 152 […]

A crumbling cenotaph, a rotting mural and a need to refresh the Berford Street war memorial property were officially brought to the attention of South Bruce Peninsula council earlier this month. Joe Vanderzand is a volunteer with the Royal Canadian Legion Wiarton Branch 208 and also owns properties beside and behind the town-owned cenotaph land. […]

The Owen Sound Downtown Improvement Area’s 2021 budget contains no levy increase for the 265 properties within the DIA, but includes added funding to begin implementing an action plan for “The River District.” The $282,000 spending plan, approved by city council Monday night, includes a $40,000 transfer from reserves to cover costs associated with putting […]

Kincardine-area farmer Stan Eby says he is surprised and honoured to be joining an elite group of individuals with his upcoming induction into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Eby, 76, is one of seven inductees who will enter the hall during a planned virtual ceremony on June 13. It will bring the number of […]

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in Grey-Bruce Tuesday for the second time in less than a week. The region last blanked the pandemic virus Feb. 4. The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported nine probable cases, however. Probable cases are people with symptoms of COVID-19 who are close contacts of confirmed cases but […]

While saying she’s “disappointed” council has denied Owen Sound Little Theatre’s request to waive the rental fees for 10 outdoor performances at Kelso Beach’s amphitheatre this summer, OSLT’s board president says the group is still planning to ensure the shows will go on. Cathie Locke said the events are a way for the organization to […]

Work is expected to begin soon to demolish the historic rectory at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Owen Sound and make way for a new single-storey church residence. Neil Devlin, chair of the local parish’s building committee, said a contractor – Allen-Hastings Ltd. – has been hired to undertake the demolition, part of a project […]

The slopes at Blue Mountain Resort couldn’t be more ready to welcome back skiers and snowboarders. With Monday’s announcement by the Ontario government that pandemic restrictions would soon be relaxed, the resort will once again open its hills on Feb. 16 with health and safety measures and capacity limits in place. “Nobody has been on […]

An Owen Sound man has been charged with several drug offences after running over signs at a city shopping mall and stopping in the middle of Highway 26, the Grey Bruce OPP said in a news release. Grey Bruce OPP officers responded to a report of a motorist stopped in a live lane of traffic […]

A hydrogen technology company is setting up shop in Owen Sound. Hydrogen Optimized Inc. is moving into the former Tenneco plant in Owen Sound where it plans to continue work on developing its technology, with hopes to one day manufacture large-scale green hydrogen production systems there. Hydrogen Optimized Inc. president and CEO Andrew T.B. Stuart […]

The provincial government charted its path out of the provincewide shutdown and back to the colour-coded regional approach known as the COVID-19 Response Framework Monday. The provincial emergency declared under section 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMPCA) on Jan. 12 will be terminated by midnight Tuesday. The province’s stay-at-home order will […]

All were safe after a minor collision involving a school bus in Dundalk Monday morning. Grey Bruce OPP responded at 8:40 a.m. to a report of a collision involving a First Student School Bus and a pickup truck at the intersection of Victoria Street West and Young Street. There were five students on board with […]

The jobless rate for the economic region including Grey-Bruce remains the lowest in the province despite a slow January for full-time, manufacturing, and construction workers. The unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region climbed 0.7 percentage points to 6.3 per cent in January. The provincial unemployment rate increased to nine per cent from 8.5 […]

Grey-Bruce is ready to start reopening as soon as the province decides to loosen lockdown restrictions, Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health said Sunday. If the province begins this week, as media have reported it will, Arra readily agreed this area is ready to relax COVID-19 restrictions. The provincial state of emergency is set to expire […]

Bruce County has posted documents to its website from the latest set of its meetings criticized by an investigator as having been held behind closed doors improperly. But there may be another investigation of county conduct ahead. Three independent investigations over the past year found 18 Bruce County meetings were improperly closed to the public […]

More snowmobiles are leaving marked trails and entering private property this year, jeopardizing the inter-connectedness of the trail system for “generations to come,” a local Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs district manager is warning. Grey-Bruce trails are accommodating thousand of riders every weekend, not hundreds as would be typical, Karen Buratynski said Saturday. The pandemic […]

Snowfall helped Owen Sound police track down suspects in separate incidents this weekend. Police arrested a 36-year-old Owen Sound man just after 9 p.m. Saturday after police say he fled from them on an ATV. Officers saw the vehicle driving along 10th Street East, contrary to a city bylaw which prohibits ATVs on that street, […]

A probable case of COVID-19 is associated with Highpoint Community School’s Kids Club Before and After school childcare program in Dundalk, the Grey Bruce Health Unit said Saturday. While this person is associated with a cohort at the childcare centre, “there is no evidence of transmission within the childcare centre environment,” the health unit said […]

Someone “associated” with a school bus route who is not a student has COVID-19, the Grey-Bruce medical officer of health said Saturday. So far, investigations have found “transmission did not take place within the bus or school environment,” the Grey Bruce Health Unit announced by news release Saturday. No bus routes, schools or childcare centres […]

A young Owen Sound family was alerted to a late-night fire in their house by their dog and all got out safely Friday. Troy Nadjiwon was gaming while wearing a headset when his dog Lexi’s whining persuaded him to see what was the matter. He’s already let her out so at first he wasn’t too […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported seven new cases of COVID-19 Friday, one day after posting a clean slate. The newest cases were found in Grey Highlands (2), Huron-Kinloss (2), Southgate, Saugeen Shores, and Kincardine. Three of the new cases were reported in healthcare workers, according to the health unit’s daily situation report. There are […]

Owen Sound native John Lewis says he expects his biotechnology company Entos Pharmaceuticals will start within a few weeks Phase 1 human clinical trials of its DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, designed to protect people against the virus as well as its variants. Lewis, the Edmonton-based firm’s CEO, said Entos has used $5 million in federal funding […]

A 49-year-old male of no fixed address has been charged with weapon and drug offences after threatening an Owen Sound resident with a knife Thursday evening. According to an Owen Sound Police news release, a man was brandishing a knife and threatening a resident in an upper-westside neighbourhood heavily populated with children just after 5 […]

A 24-year-old Scarborough woman has been charged with assault causing bodily harm after biting a restaurant worker in Owen Sound Thursday afternoon. According to an Owen Sound Police news release, a female suspect refused to follow the directions of the upper-eastside eatery’s staff member and instead threw a bucket of ashes and cigarette butts inside […]

Thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in Grey-Bruce this month. The Grey Bruce Health Unit said in a news release Thursday afternoon it has been advised by the Ministry of Health that a number of shipments are headed its way in the coming weeks. The expected shipments include 700 doses of […]

No new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Grey-Bruce Thursday, the first day that’s happened since Nov. 5. “Way to go people of Grey Bruce!” Dr. Ian Arra, the region’s medical officer of health, wrote in the health unit’s daily situation report. There are now 26 active and confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region with […]

Alicia Sylvest has long been passionate about helping people in need. The 36-year-old Owen Sound native remembers donating as a young teen to local Christmas toy drives before starting, years later, her own holiday donation campaigns. She has also organized drives for Syrian refugees – once filling a community centre with items – and raised […]