Owen Sound Sun Times

Two dozen people gathered around a small fire for a sunrise ceremony at Saugeen First Nation Saturday. It was the first day of spring and after the ceremony, the women and girls in their colourful ribbon dresses and wearing COVID masks struck out on a 19-kilometre wellness walk through the community to Sauble Beach. The […]

Grey Bruce Health Unit on Saturday declared the first outbreak in a hospital in Grey-Bruce. Four patients on the 6th floor at Owen Sound hospital have COVID but are asymptomatic and none of the staff have it so far, health unit and hospital officials said. Both Gary Sims, Grey Bruce Health Service’s president and CEO, […]

Like many hobbies, quilting interest surged as people found things to do during their COVID home confinement this past year. While public health concerns limited activities outside the home, sewing machines, cotton and thread for quilting grew more scarce, said Susan Warkentin, one of more than 100 members of the Bluewater Quilters’ Guild. The club […]

City council is set to vote in May on a new official plan for Owen Sound, which will include goals and policies to guide development and growth and promote quality of life for residents over the next quarter-century. A final draft, which consultants MHBC Planning are working on now, will contain several modifications from the […]

Some medical experts in Ontario agree the province has already entered the third wave of COVID-19 cases. Cases are steadily climbing, as are hospitalizations. Critical Care Services Ontario’s data shows 361 patients were in critical care as of March 17. The pandemic high of COVID-related critical care patients, 415, was reached on Jan. 16 during […]

Powerhouse vocalist Samantha Martin has done it again. The Lion’s Head-raised singer/songwriter and her 12-piece band Delta Sugar have capped off a roller coaster year – which saw their performance schedule upended by the COVID-19 pandemic and the release of their third album The Reckless One – by receiving their second Juno Award nomination for […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit is again alerting residents after a third local fatal overdose was reported this week. Just two days ago the health unit issued a news release disclosing two fatal overdoses in 48 hours. The cause of those deaths is pending confirmation by a coroner. The fatalities “continue an ongoing trend of […]

The Grey-Bruce Ontario Health Team (Grey Bruce OHT) is recruiting community members to join its advisory community council. In December, the Grey Bruce OHT collaboration council submitted a full application to the Ministry of Health supported by signatures from 20 health service provider boards and organizations across Grey-Bruce, according to a news release issued at […]

A developer says he hopes for a “late summer start” on a seniors housing development at the former Sauble Beach Amusements property. John Cathrae appeared in person with an update and a request for members of South Bruce Peninsula council in Wiarton Tuesday. He first announced his plans for the 13-acre site in April 2019. […]

South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson declared a pecuniary interest and left the meeting before council got an update on a Sauble Beach seniors housing project on Tuesday. “I declare a pecuniary interest as I have been offered a position at this business once it’s operational,” she said. “And if I were to accept the […]

South Bruce Peninsula council on Tuesday selected a site layout for a new town hall/recreational community hub project to be built at the north end of Wiarton, at the top of the hill, north of Jenny Street and west of Highway 6. It was the recommended option among three presented by the town’s consultant during […]

The area’s medical officer of health and MPP both say officials have been releasing as much information as possible about the number of COVID-19 vaccines Grey-Bruce has received and the anticipated delivery of more doses. “We’ve been reporting on a daily basis since we started in January giving the vaccines the total number of doses […]

The Cole’s Sideroad Trail in Georgian Bluffs will close to motorized vehicle traffic temporarily while the township explores its options. Georgian Bluffs council agreed on Wednesday evening to amend its original motion to make the closure of the trail temporarily while it gets a detailed legal review on the matter. The temporary closure will prevent […]

An Owen Sound councillor would like the city to help downtown restaurants that have been “financially devastated” by the COVID-19 pandemic and remain unable to open at full capacity to cover the cost of creating temporary outdoor patios this summer. Coun. John Tamming said he will be presenting a motion March 29 that, if approved, […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported no new cases of COVID-19 in its situation report Wednesday. There are now 13 confirmed active cases in the region including six variants of concern. In total, 10 cases of variants of concern have now been lab-test confirmed in the two counties. Dr. Ian Arra, Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of […]

The province has directed $417,920.10 in funding to local retirement homes to assist with COVID-19 costs. Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker made the announcement in a news release Wednesday. The funding is part of a $30 million investment across the province to help the retirement-home sector cover COVID-19-related costs such as hiring, training and testing […]

The Ontario Hockey League likely won’t start until mid-April at the earliest, but a majority of its teams will be able to pay off some of their post-secondary school bills. Lisa MacLeod, the province’s minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries, announced Wednesday that $2.35 million is heading the OHL’s way to cover some […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit issued a news release early Tuesday night about two fatal opioid overdoses in Owen Sound in the previous 48 hours. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed by a coroner, but the fatalities came “in addition to an ongoing trend of multiple overdoses within Grey and Bruce this […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit added one new COVID-19 case on Tuesday. The new case, in a resident of Owen Sound, brings the total number of cases confirmed in Grey-Bruce since the beginning of the pandemic to 733. Fifteen of those cases remain active while there are 73 active high-risk contacts, according to the day’s […]

The first order of business for the recently relocated Brampton Excelsiors and yet-to-be-named Owen Sound Major Series Lacrosse club is the 2021 Entry Draft set for Thursday at 7 p.m. Owen Sound has four selections in the five-round draft, one pick in each of rounds two-to-five. Their first pick is the ninth-overall selection. The draft […]

Grey County’s plan to operate The Sydenham Campus in the former Sydenham Community School took an important step forward at city hall Monday. Council conditionally approved a site plan agreement and directed staff to bring forward a bylaw to authorize a proposed zoning change to permit the county-managed regional skills training and innovation centre on […]

The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash in South Bruce Peninsula on Monday evening has been charged with impaired driving. Both the driver and a passenger in the vehicle were taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries following the crash, which happened near the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation at Neyaashiinigmiing […]

A Huron-Kinloss man has been charged after a drug bust at a property in southern Bruce County on Tuesday. Members of the OPP Community Street Crimes Unit, OPP Tactical Rescue Unit and West Region OPP Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant at a property along Bruce Road 1 in the former Kinloss Township. As […]

Glassworks Cooperative would have to go through an “intensive process” to change the designation of its 46-acre property in Owen Sound from employment to residential in order to permit a proposed net-zero eco-village, council heard Monday. Coun. Richard Thomas, who expressed concerns with the proposal and potential conflicts posed by nearby industrial uses, asked MHBC […]

The Bruce Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association’s first Lures N Lines Spring Trout Derby will take place between May 7 and May 16. Tickets for the event went on sale on the weekend. Single tickets are $25 while families pay $60. There are a total of 750 tickets up for grabs. Half of the money raised from […]

Anne Howlett of the Owen Sound Waxwings has been named to the Special Olympics Team Canada 2022 Training Squad. The local cross-country skier is one of 108 athletes named to the team with the potential to represent Canada at the next Special Olympics World Winter Games. As part of a local skiing contingent featuring members […]

Grey-Bruce recorded two new cases of COVID-19, one each in Southgate and Kincardine. Monday’s daily situation report, current as of midnight Sunday, records 729 cumulative, confirmed cases of the pandemic virus here, including seven cases of variants of concern: one Brazil variant and six South Africa variant. Five South Africa variants are active among the […]

Years-long renewal and expansion plans for Kincardine hospital made a recent step forward. Plans begun in 2017 were firmed up and information endorsed by the hospital board for the second of a five-step process which, if things go as hoped, will see construction begin in 2023-24 and take two years to complete. That’s the latest […]

Problems are now fixed with Ontario’s online and phone-in COVID vaccine booking system, which left some seniors 80 and older in Grey-Bruce and elsewhere unable to book appointments, the health unit said. Grey Bruce Health Unit’s phone lines were being overwhelmed as a result of the problems, a health unit news release said Monday, the […]

Three active cases of a COVID-19 variant of concern were added to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s case totals over the weekend. On Sunday, the Grey Bruce Health Unit reported one new case of the virus in a resident of Grey Highlands. But it also added five cases – four in residents of the Blue […]

There may be a glimmer of hope for wave-weary landowners and municipalities along the shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. After Lake Huron set high water records over the first eight months of 2020, lake water levels have been on a significant decline thanks to below average precipitation and more evaporation because of a […]

An investigation has been launched into the finances of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Financial Corporation. The Saugeen First Nation in conjunction with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation posted a news release on the SFN website on Friday where it revealed that an independent third-party forensic financial investigation had been launched into the corporation. The matter has […]

Whether you love mathematics or delicious homemade pie, March 14 is a day to celebrate. And three local organizations have banded together to have a little fun, dish out pies, promote the benefits of exercise and the outdoors and raise some funds for the community’s most vulnerable. The Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort, Canadian […]

For the second straight day, the Grey Bruce Health Unit was reporting no new cases of COVID-19. As of 11:59 p.m. on Friday there were 721 confirmed cases of the virus in Grey-Bruce, after one new case was referred from another health unit, according to the health unit’s daily situation report. There were 12 active […]

A Hanover man has been arrested and police were looking for a second suspect following a chase overnight Friday that saw a decommissioned ambulance collide with multiple police cruisers. Blake Tisdale, 34, remained in custody Saturday on several criminal charges following the chase that took place between Kincardine in Bruce County and Kintail in Huron […]

Next stop: Owen Sound? After a feasibility study showed Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory would be too small and too busy to host the historic M.S. Norgoma, an ambitious plan to tow the 71-year-old ship to Owen Sound from Sault Ste. Marie is now in the early stages. Mike Goman of Tobermory Real Estate Investors […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit didn’t report any new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. There remain 11 active cases of the virus in the two counties, according to the daily situation report from the health unit, which includes testing and case counts reported up until midnight on Thursday. There were a total of 720 confirmed […]

Owen Sound police have named the victim in an apartment fire in downtown Owen Sound Wednesday morning. Eric Treleaven, 61, was pronounced dead in his apartment, where Owen Sound Fire Chief Doug Barfoot has said the fire started. Investigation by police, the fire marshal, coroner and the local fire department concluded the cause of the […]

After taking root in Grey County a decade ago, the Bluewater Wood Alliance is branching out to encompass all of Ontario. Executive director Mike Baker said the Hanover-based cluster organization of advanced wood product manufacturers will be changing its name and rebranding March 22 to become the Wood Manufacturing Cluster of Ontario. “We represent the […]

Service sector jobs were hit hard by the most recent pandemic lockdown, figures from the Four County Labour Market Planning Board show. “The services-producing sector continues to be battered by the closures due to the pandemic at the same time some industries in the goods-producing sector are on a rebound,” said Gemma Mendez-Smith, the board’s […]

The Grey Bruce Heath Unit’s Hockey Hub mass immunization model has been receiving a standing ovation. All three of the COVID-19 mass immunization hubs are now up and running smoothly in Grey-Bruce. During a tour of the hub at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community on Friday, Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra said […]

During Friday’s announcement that Grey County’s community paramedicine program will be expanding, paramedic Rick Trombley shared a story illustrating how the initiative achieves its goal of helping patients remain in their homes and avoid a trip to hospital. An 82-year-old patient, who lives in a farmhouse about 20 kilometres from the nearest hospital, called Trombley, […]

Green apparently meant “go” for a swarm of travellers who descended on Grey-Bruce as lockdown restrictions lifted last month. Grey-Bruce’s top-doctor is concerned, but not rushing to make any wide-sweeping changes to how locals should go about their business. Speaking in response to a Toronto Star article that accessed cell phone data and showed over […]

A developer has changed his plans for a proposed attainable-housing development in Meaford after negotiating with neighbours. More than 40 lots have been stripped from the original plan to make way for larger properties along the eastern boundary of the property, which is west of town off Highway 26 – known by some as Kennedy […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reminded parents of school-age children Thursday that its advice now is the same as before — only get tested if directed to by the health unit or when experiencing COVID-19-related symptoms. A recent initiative to provide voluntary in-school asymptomatic testing spearheaded by the Ministry of Education has gone against those […]

The operator of a quarry near Hope Bay, where a December 2019 blast shook homes and was recorded by instruments that detect earthquakes, has pleaded guilty to an Aggregate Resource Act offence. On Feb. 8 in a virtual Provincial Offences court hearing in Owen Sound, Hunter Haulage & Excavating Inc., of Lion’s Head, pleaded guilty […]

Some lot owners along an unopened section of Finden Street just west of Owen Sound have expressed an interest in having the street extended to access their landlocked properties. On Wednesday, during its committee of the whole meeting, council directed staff to survey the nine applicants and other abutting property owners who would benefit from […]

West Grey Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a suspect accused of breaking into two Durham-area homes before threatening the owners with a machete, stealing items and fleeing the scene in the residents’ vehicles in January. The West Grey Police Criminal Investigation section members have obtained an arrest warrant for Randal Connell, […]

Grey Bruce OPP charged a 26-year-old Owen Sound woman with stunt driving for speeding over 130 km/h in a posted 80 km/h zone in Georgian Bluffs. Police stopped the driver Sunday morning just after 9 a.m. on Highway 21 near Jackson Road. According to a police news release, the vehicle was travelling at speeds over […]

Grey-Bruce’s first-ever virtual regional job fair is being heralded as a success. Jacinda Rudolph, an economic development officer with Grey County, said about 700 job seekers participated in the online Grey Bruce Regional Job Fair Wednesday, along with 125 employers, which was the maximum number of “virtual booths” available for the event. Job seekers and […]