Owen Sound Sun Times

Owen Sound intends to hold several free drive-in movie events and concerts later this summer now that the region is in Stage 3 of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening plan. Council voted 7-2 Monday to hold in late August or early September – and subject to final approval in consultation with public health – two movie nights […]

It would cost Owen Sound between $250,000 and $1.3 million – depending on the option – to demolish some or all of the former jail structures adjacent to its historic courthouse on 3rd Avenue East, according to estimates received by city hall. With those figures in hand, council approved Monday a community services committee recommendation […]

Police say officers charged a couple from Quebec after a woman starting hitting and punching a man in what was called a domestic dispute July 26 in Hepworth. Grey Bruce OPP was dispatched to the scene at 6:21 p.m. Officers looked at surveillance video of the incident, a police news release said. The pair was […]

A socially distanced Sauble Sandfest will return this year, with sandcastle building and rock bands Saturday, Aug. 8 at Sauble Beach. Pandemic restrictions require some changes from past years to control the numbers of people viewing the sand sculptures any given time, and how many may enter the cordoned-off area in front of the portable […]

The OPP charged five more motorists with stunt driving Monday along Highway 6 on the Bruce Peninsula. Stunt driving is a Highway Traffic Act offence which includes speeding 50 kilometres per hour or more over the posted limit. It’s been an increasing and sometimes deadly problem on the peninsula in recent years, particularly as it […]

Owen Sound police say that while watching two suspicious men known to be involved in drug and property crimes, one of them stole a leaf blower from a trailer at a local high school Monday afternoon. A plainclothes officer saw the man enter a construction trailer at Owen Sound District Secondary School, take a leaf […]

Hanover police arrested a robbery suspect about two hours after a Circle K variety store clerk in Hanover was threatened with a knife. A masked man who brandished a knife made off with an undetermined amount of cash late Monday afternoon from the store on 10thStreet, Hanover Deputy Chief George Hebblethwaite said Tuesday in an […]

A man faces drug and assault charges after Saugeen Shores police say they found him with 31 grams of suspected purple fentanyl while sleeping on a Southampton park bench. Officers were called to the park to investigate the man, who was suspected of consuming drugs there. Police woke the man, who was wanted on an […]

Though COVID-19 hit migrant farm workers hard in southwestern Ontario, it didn’t do so in Grey-Bruce. There’s been just one outbreak on a Grey-Bruce farm, on the border with Huron County, where two migrant workers showed symptoms at the end of May. The farm operator called Huron County Health Unit, which got the Grey Bruce […]

Grey Bruce OPP charged a 30-year-old Kemble man for drinking and driving after his white car rolled on 13thStreet West in Georgian Bluffs Sunday. Police were dispatched at 4:10 a.m. to the single-vehicle crash and were assisted by the Inter Township Fire Department. He and an injured passenger went to hospital by ambulance. The driver’s […]

Police seized more than a kilo of meth and hundreds of oxycodone pills worth more than $100,000 on July 25 after a drug investigation impacting Grey, Bruce and Wellington counties. It’s the second largest seizure of meth since the OPP community street crime unit formed in 2017, OPP Const. Kevin Martin said in response to […]

The annual Owen Sound Emancipation Festival held in Harrison Park for 157 years will have a virtual homecoming presented on its YouTube channel Saturday at 11 a.m. Some past festival singers, musicians, speakers and prominent local festival attendees will all be showcased in an hour-long or so video production, said Barry Penhale, a festival spokesman. […]

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Sunday, and still one case pending. The region’s total case count remains at 118, with three active cases. None of the active cases currently require hospitalization, and no deaths have been attributed to the disease locally. The COVID-19 outbreak in the […]

Nearly all race events for 2020 have been cancelled by Sauble Speedway organizers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the APC Series will start their engines on the track for 100 laps later in August. Joe Chisholm, marketing and new business development director at the speedway, made the announcement in a video Facebook update. “It breaks […]

Events have been hard to come by in the tough times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but on Aug. 8 the Island View Drive Ratepayers Association is inviting people to visit some beautiful local gardens and enjoy an ice cream while supporting the Chapman House Residential Hospice of Grey Bruce. For a minimum suggested […]

One new case of COVID-19 was reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Saturday. A preliminary positive case was also reported, but not added to the total regional case count that now stands at 118. If the preliminary positive case is confirmed, it will be added to the total. The newest confirmed case of COVID-19 […]

An announcement clarifying what kind of world students will enter into after Labour Day is expected to come from Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce next week. Local school boards have been busy preparing plans for three separate models proposed by the province – a conventional in-school model, a learning from home model, and a hybrid […]

Around 10 a.m. Saturday morning a man entered the downtown Tim Hortons in Owen Sound and demanded cash before indicating he had a weapon concealed in his backpack, according to an Owen Sound Police Service media release. Tim Hortons staff called police while the incident was occurring. The police were able to arrest the man […]

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in Grey-Bruce Friday, according to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. The region’s total case count remains at 117. Two new cases were recorded in Kincardine earlier this week. Those cases are related and linked to international travel, according to public health. Twenty-eight local healthcare […]

Grey County is developing a proposed county-wide face mask bylaw, which officials say would only be enacted if needed during the COVID-19 pandemic and on the direction of the region’s top doctor. County council directed staff Thursday to create the bylaw in consultation with Bruce County, lower-tier municipalities and medical officer of health Dr. Ian […]

Saugeen Shores is looking for a new chief administrative officer. The town issued a brief announcement Thursday which said Smith has “announced his intention to pursue a new career opportunity.” He’s been with the town since 2016 and expects to remain until September. “CAO Smith has successfully delivered on many of council’s priorities. I wish […]

A man in custody since last August, after a crime spree which included West Grey and Hanover offences last summer, was sentenced Wednesday to 19 months in jail. Hanover Police Service announced that David Andrew Malott, 34, originally of Kitchener, was sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice in Walkerton. He pleaded guilty to 31 […]

Three days of live firing of a C3 105-millimetre Howitzer field artillery weapon starts Sunday at 4th Canadian Division Training Centre Meaford. Members of the public are advised they may hear sounds of explosions between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. from Sunday through Tuesday. The live firing is a training exercise involving about 30 reservists who […]

Two people fell in one week this summer at Eugenia Falls, which reopened to the public earlier this month with more fencing and signs posted to warn hikers of out of bounds areas. A 19-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after falling an estimated 15 metres or more into the gorge in June. Earlier that […]

For a second straight day the Grey Bruce Health Unit reported a new COVID-19 case in the region on Thursday. Before Wednesday’s positive test result, Grey-Bruce had gone 13 days without a local COVID-19 patient. There are now two active cases in the region. Both cases were reported in Kincardine, according to the health unit’s […]

Grey Transit Route is a major step closer to leaving the station. Grey County council voted during Thursday’s committee of the whole meeting to direct staff to negotiate a contract with Driverseat Owen Sound to operate the inter-community transit service, which is to have several regular routes, including between Owen Sound and Orangeville, Owen Sound […]

Northern Bruce Peninsula is one step closer to creating a bylaw that aims to regulate local short term accommodations (STA), but a group of STA stakeholders say they feel like they’ve yet to be heard on the matter and are ready to force themselves into the conversation. At a July 13 meeting of council, new […]

A man who city police say had a large stash of weapons was stopped at the 700 block of 9th Avenue East Tuesday morning and charged with a number of offences. A 22-year-old woman from Owen Sound was also charged in the incident with failing to comply with her undertaking. Uniformed patrol officers and an […]

Two more people have been charged in connection with the death of Emerson Sprung in Meaford this spring. Laurel Campbell, 28, and Bridget Taylor Smith, 25, both of the Municipality of Meaford, have been charged with accessory after the fact to murder, the Grey Bruce OPP said in a news release Wednesday evening. In May […]

I have a story to tell you about how men and women are different, buckle up please. So right now I am waiting to hear some very good or very bad news about a book I wrote that is either very good or very bad. I won’t know until this person tells me for sure. […]

A “mini trial” could begin “as early as December” in front of a judge dealing with a motion for summary judgment sought by Saugeen First Nation in its decades-old claim to a large portion of beachfront at Sauble Beach. Sauble Beach takeout restaurant owner Dave Dobson said that’s what he understands will happen next in […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported an active COVID-19 case Wednesday, the first in the region since July 9. The case was reported in a Kincardine resident, according to the health unit’s data. There have now been 116 reported COVID-19 cases in the Grey-Bruce region. The patient is not hospitalized at this time. One local […]

The number of visitors to Sauble Beach last weekend made it feel like a “long weekend,” but there were hardly any issues with beach-goers not following social distancing or other rules, says South Bruce Peninsula’s mayor. “We had huge crowds, but, by and large, they behaved themselves really well,” Mayor Janice Jackson said. “We didn’t […]

About 20 people began hauling away demolition debris from Barb and Andy McCaffrey’s fire-damaged home Wednesday, part of a four-month project to rebuild it. Andy McCaffrey was back and forth from the site and before he left again, he said he was heading out to look at an apartment. He said he and his wife […]

Wiarton’s “Big Dig” has hit a snag, but South Bruce Peninsula officials say they’re optimistic the issue won’t significantly impact the $11-million project’s timeline or budget. “We have come across some contaminated soil we have to deal with, which will have a budget impact but we’re trying to mitigate that as much as possible by […]

August 2019

The Sauble Beach Sunset Cruisers will hold the Bruce Peninsula Classic Car Run on Aug. 9. The public is invited to come out and view the travelling car show that will begin at 1 p.m. from four different locations across the Lake Huron shoreline and the southern Bruce Peninsula. The Sauble Beach Community Centre, Wiarton […]

The application window for Westario Power’s AffordAbility Fund (AFT) program is set to close before the end of August, and the energy supplier is encouraging its residential customers to take advantage of free energy-saving upgrades. The AFT program is funded by the Government of Ontario and a part of the Fair Hydro Plan. The program […]

Owen Sound police chased, then charged, a Hanover man Monday with fentanyl-related offences. The 44-year-old was wanted on a Hanover Police Service warrant for a mischief charge when Monday morning city police saw him in the 700-block of 2ndAve. E. in Owen Sound. Police said in a news release he fled on foot through residential […]

There have been six opioid overdoses, including one fatality in which an opioid is suspected, in the past five days in Grey and Bruce counties, the Grey Bruce Health Unit warned Tuesday. Health officials await confirmation by a laboratory and a coroner about a fatality, Ian Reich, a public health manager with the health unit, […]

It’s not even halfway through the summer yet and the local United Way has already received nearly as many requests for its backpack program as it did during last year’s entire campaign. Sarah Raynsford, co-ordinator of the United Way of Bruce Grey program, said about 2,110 backpacks have been requested so far – about double […]

There have been no active cases of COVID-19 reported to the Grey Bruce Health Unit since July 15. The health unit’s daily situation report shows 115 cumulative cases of pandemic virus infection, 109 recovered and six others referred to other health units. No one is listed in hospital due to COVID-19 and 28 healthcare workers […]

Huron Shores Hospice has reached its fundraising goal to add a second bed in Tiverton – the need for which can be clearly seen by the requests the organization received for the service in its initial two years. Co-chair Cheryl Cottrill said 18 residents have received end-of-life care at the hospice since May 2018, but […]

Owen Sound closed part of its waterfront trail Monday at Kelso Beach Park after a seiche in record-high Georgian Bay waters washed away part of the trail Sunday. The asphalt path between the splash pad and Kelso washrooms is now closed. The segment behind the amphitheatre has washed away or been buried under more than […]

Saturday will be a good day for some belated spring cleaning in Owen Sound and surrounding municipalities. Both the periodic municipal household hazardous waste depot and Goods Exchange Day event will be held Saturday in the city. The household hazardous waste event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the city’s public works building […]

There are 14 prizes up for grabs in an online silent auction for Please Bring Me Home, whose volunteers search for long-lost missing people. The Facebook-based auction started Monday and ends Friday. To participate, visit the Please Bring Me Home Facebook page and click on a photograph of the prize. You can then bid in […]

Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health said Monday there’s been a “noticeable” uptake in mask use in the week since he announced his order to wear one. Dr. Ian Arra issued notice on July 7 of a pending order requiring most people to wear mask or other covering of the nose, mouth and chin to help […]

Owen Sound is now aiming for a Sept. 8 launch of its twice-daily transit service between the Scenic City and Guelph, after being forced to delay the start this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Dennis Kefalas, director of public works and engineering, said the city’s contractor, Voyago, might be able to get the […]

Saugeen Shores police charged two Toronto men, a 19- and a 20-year-old, with numerous offences including possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of loaded handgun. Police announced the charges Monday in a news release. It said police were dispatched to a Southampton address at 4:14 a.m. Saturday concerning a break-in that […]

The goal for contractors, donors and volunteers is to make sure Andy McCaffrey and his wife Barb return to their Owen Sound home, hopefully by Christmas, and with enough money left over for presents. The couple’s home was heavily damaged in a fire earlier this month while the pair were at the hospital tending to […]