Owen Sound Sun Times

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Inglis Falls Road has officially reopened to through traffic. The road reopened this week after the work on the road was declared “substantially completed” as of Nov. 30. “It still needs another lift of asphalt, which will be done next spring, but it is open,” Georgian Bluffs Mayor Dwight Burley said on Tuesday. “It has […]

The Kiwanis Club of Owen Sound sold out of Christmas trees Sunday – the earliest its lot has ever been emptied for the season. While a final tally is still pending, Kiwanis tree chair Jim McManaman said the organization anticipates it will have raised more than $10,000 through this year’s annual sale. “Selling out of […]

While governments argue about which approach to climate change is best, churches are taking action now. The United Church of Canada has committed, as a denomination, to reducing its greenhouse gases 80 per cent by 2050. Local congregations across Canada are already responding, aided by more than $3 million in available grant money from the […]

The region’s lone COVID-19 outbreak was declared over Monday. The Grey Bruce Health Unit officially declared the outbreak at the Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home in Lion’s Head over after no other residents or staff tested positive for the virus. The outbreak began after a single staff member tested positive on Nov. 25. The Grey […]

Some Owen Sound-area families who are living with dementia had a special delivery come their ways on Monday. Staff at the Alzheimer Society Grey-Bruce loaded up their coolers and delivered 32 half chicken dinners, complete with scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cranberries, dinner rolls, and cookies, donated by Zehrs in Owen Sound. Executive director Stephen […]

Much depends on the details of Canada’s proposals for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A regulatory framework developed by the federal government over the past three years has reached beyond generalities to the details of just how Canada might go about achieving the stated objective of a low carbon fuel system. Environment Minister Jonathan […]

Stop conservation authority changes A letter sent to Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker: I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this matter, and feel it necessary to wade in again. This may get lengthy but a quick Zoom meeting won’t suffice so I beg your indulgence and time to consider my thoughts. I’m sure you […]

The Writer’s Trust of Canada (now the Rogers Writer’s Trust) has announced their annual award. And guess what? Gil Adamson’s Ridgerunner won it. I had the book pegged for a Giller but a jury got in the way, selecting Souvankham Thammavongsa’s short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife, to take the top prize. The Writer’s […]

Pandemic-related restrictions and visiting protocols mean this will be a different kind of Christmas for many seniors in long-term care homes. It’s something Rebecca Macdonald knows firsthand. “I have a grandmother in a care home and I know how hard it’s been not being able to see her. And I just feel like they feel […]

When you attend a meeting, event or any other type of gathering of Bruce Power, the first words delivered after a customary greeting always involve a “safety moment.” These two words reinforce the company’s No. 1 value: Safety first. When the world began to realize the gravity of the situation around the COVID-19 outbreak last […]

On a weekend the province set new daily highs for COVID infections the numbers in Owen Sound looked more reassuring. But the Grey-Bruce Health Unit announced Sunday in a news release that “there was a positive case within the Walkerton Minor Hockey Association,” though no current outbreak. So far there’s no evidence of transmission within […]

At the start of the 81st annual CFOS-Sun Times Christmas Fund Broadcast, co-host Shawn Turner admitted COVID-19 has thrown the radio fundraiser for a bit of a loop. “Normally, of course, we’re across the street at The Roxy, today we’re in the CFOS studios. It’s a little different for us but it’s also a little […]

Downtown Owen Sound merchants welcomed customers on a busy Saturday this weekend. They said business has been strained due to COVID-19 but appreciated a new downtown passport promotion, a card which if stamped by three participating shopkeepers, enters the cardholder in a draw for prizes if submitted by Dec. 22. The Rocking Horse, a long-established […]

In the end, Owen Sound publicly marked the centennial of its incorporation pandemic-style. Harbourside Canada Day fireworks were cancelled because of concerns the respiratory virus would thrive in such gatherings this summer. But Saturday the display was viewed from the safety of cars in parking lots and other vantage points. The night was cold and […]

Olivia Schlosser is brimming with business ideas. “I constantly think of ideas,” the 19-year-old said from behind a display of doggy treats, bowls, nose and paw balm and shaggy “snuffle mats.” She was one of 15 vendors, mostly young teens bitten by the entrepreneurial bug who showed off their wares at the Holiday Student Makers […]

Just one new case of COVID-19 was recorded Saturday in Grey-Bruce. In the previous six days the average number of new, daily cases was more than six. Grey-Bruce medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Arra, publically has fretted about COVID fatigue in recent weeks and urged people to stay vigilant against the virus. “One case […]

It’s almost time. With a last lift of asphalt expected to be laid Monday, the 14-month 10th Street bridge replacement project is in its final stretch and the new five-lane structure is poised to reopen to traffic soon. Dennis Kefalas, Owen Sound’s public works and engineering director, said while the city is still planning to […]

The Kiwanis Club of Owen Sound is seeing unprecedented early demand for its Christmas trees this year – a situation that’s been playing out at tree lots and farms across Ontario and beyond. “We’ve sold approximately 500 trees so far of our 850 that we have to sell. We have sold out every year for […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported five new cases of COVID-19 Friday. The newest cases were found in Grey Highlands (2), Huron-Kinloss, Meaford and The Blue Mountains. There are now 31 active confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region with eight probable cases and 191 high-risk contacts. One indeterminate case was also included in Friday’s data […]

More voices have come forward in an effort to stop the Town of South Bruce Peninsula from cutting back the dunes at Sauble Beach and installing a concrete-block retaining wall. The Town of South Bruce Peninsula is planning to improve parking by excavating sand and vegetation from the back of encroaching dunes and installing a […]

Fatal drug overdoses this year will “easily” exceed the 16 coroner-confirmed deaths of last year, if anecdotal reports prove true, a public health manager said Friday. Ian Reich issued an overdose alert late Thursday to report there had been two deaths suspected due to opioids. These were among “at least” five reported opioid overdoses in […]

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has begun to prepare two sites along Concession Road 8 north of Teeswater where they plan to drill boreholes next year as part of their deep geological repository (DGR) site evaluation. The NWMO has now secured more than 1,500 acres of land in the South Bruce area where they are […]

With calls for service and crime on the upswing, Owen Sound’s police service is proposing to hire two more full-time officers next year to ensure “adequate and effective policing.” Chief Craig Ambrose said the city has gone from having 40 full-time and three part-time officers in 2011 to 37 full-time and five part-time officers in […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported nine new cases of COVID-19 Thursday. The newest cases were found in Southgate (4), Grey Highlands (2), Arran-Elderslie (2), and The Blue Mountains. There are now 36 confirmed active cases in the region with seven probable cases and 204 high-risk close contacts. A case is listed as probable by […]

There’s one day left to buy raffle tickets to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Grey Bruce. Held every two months, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Ontario Bigger Together 50/50 Raffle shares half of raffle proceeds with the winner. This is the second provincial draw. The winning ticket in the first draw was worth $178,000, […]

Bruce County council elected South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson warden for the 2021 term at its meeting Thursday. Jackson will take over the seat from Huron-Kinloss Mayor Mitch Twolan. Jackson won on the first ballot over Twolan. “It is truly an honour to have my council colleagues instill me with the responsibilities of warden […]

Shoppers still have time to book a time slot at the Holiday Student Makers Market Saturday in the former Sydenham Community School, 1130 8thSt. E. in Owen Sound. Wares of the successful applicants to the Student Maker Market Micro Grant Program will be displayed for sale. These include woodworking, art, baking mixes and apparel which […]

Just before fireworks mark Owen Sound’s 100th anniversary of city incorporation Saturday night, Rogers TV will broadcast an hour-long stroll down memory lane, with local history and five city mayors’ favourite municipal memories. The COVID-19-modified community celebration, designed to keep us distanced but still connected to this historical milestone, begins at 6 p.m. with a […]

Grey-Bruce added six new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, including someone at Gospel Light Christian School in Ceylon. So far no outbreak has been declared in the school of 20 students and five staff but that could change, Dr. Ian Arra, medical officer of health for Grey-Bruce, said Wednesday in an interview. He declined to say […]

The city is planning to introduce in January landing fees at the Owen Sound Billy Bishop Regional Airport to help reduce the amount of property tax dollars required to operate and maintain the facility. Council supported a recommendation from city manager Tim Simmonds Monday directing staff to both provide notice of the city’s intent and […]

A new app that charts food assistance data shows there was a four-fold increase in demand for free, prepared meals over the course of the pandemic in Grey-Bruce. Food Bruce Grey contains five public “dashboards” that present information about the growth of local programs offering free meals, donations of fresh produce, food bank use, food […]

City council has approved a plan in principle to demolish the dilapidated governor’s residence and outbuildings on the city’s former courthouse and jail properties in 2022 in hopes of boosting the chances of finding someone to purchase the sites and repurpose the historic courthouse. In the meantime, council has directed staff to once again kick-start […]

Owen Sound police arrested two knife-wielding men who appeared to threaten a third male in downtown Owen Sound Tuesday afternoon. Police said in a news release that two men approached another male “and threatened the victim by each brandishing a large knife and making threatening gestures.” This happened outside a small eatery about 12:45 p.m. […]

Grey County’s newly minted 2021 Warden Selwyn Hicks says increasing affordable housing is his top priority as he embarks on a second term at the helm of county council. “As a member of the Hanover-Owen Sound task force as well as the affordable housing task force, I have been moved deeply by the data that […]

Demolition at the 13-acre site of the dilapidated former Sauble Beach amusement park began Monday. The site was once the home of Sauble Beach Fun World and Sauble Beach Amusements at 701 Main St., which is near the eastern entrance of the popular beach town. It’s now being cleared to make way for the development […]

Non-residents will likely start paying for parking at the parks operated by the Municipality of Meaford beginning in 2021. During its committee of the whole meeting on Monday, Meaford council voted during its draft budget discussions to implement a paid parking program at nine municipally-owned parks. Residents of the municipality would be issued a window […]

Meaford council has deferred for a year a decision on a proposal to dissolve the Inter Township Fire Department partnership with Georgian Bluffs. Council voted during its committee of the whole meeting on Monday to hold off on making a decision on a recommendation that would have seen Georgian Bluffs take over sole ownership of […]

What a start to December! Winter’s first major storm arrived in Grey-Bruce Monday night and it was expected to remain until early Wednesday morning. About 30 centimetres of snow had already fallen in OWen Sound by noon Tuesday and 13 more were forecast to fall by 7 a.m. Wednesday, the storm’s forecast end, city public […]

Two development proposals – both with plans to build multi-unit apartment buildings in Owen Sound – took significant steps forward Monday at city hall. Council conditionally approved a site plan agreement for a two-phase project by Hedera Residential Development, which is planning to build 36 townhouse units in nine buildings along with a four-storey, 60-unit […]

The electronic edition of today’s Sun Times has been made available to all due to weather-related distribution problems. It can be accessed at eedition.owensoundsuntimes.com/

Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health has proposed to the province that this area is a strong candidate to be among the first to distribute COVID-19 vaccine. By raising his hand early and often Dr. Ian Arra hopes to show the Ontario government Grey-Bruce will be ready in January, should a vaccine be ready to distribute […]

A probable case of COVID-19 associated with Macphail Memorial Elementary School in Flesherton appears not to involve transmission at school, on a bus or in a daycare centre, the Grey Bruce Health unit announced in a news release Monday. Probable cases are those experiencing symptoms,with a direct link to a positive COVID-19 case, but has […]

While COVID-19 has snuffed out Wiarton’s annual celebration of weed and curling this winter, organizers are still planning to again celebrate the harvest with their Fall Fair Grower’s Competition. The annual Wiarton Bongspiel — Canada’s first event to combine curling and cannabis after the drug was legalized for recreational use in October 2018 — had […]

After just one case of COVID-19 was in Grey-Bruce on Saturday, eight more cases of the virus were confirmed in the region on Sunday. Of the new cases on Sunday, three were in Grey Highlands and two were in Huron-Kinloss, with single cases in Southgate, Arran-Elderslie and West Grey. Saturday’s lone case was in Southgate. […]

As the Bluewater Quilters’ Guild and its members have continued to help people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have also been reminded of how local quilters helped others overseas more than 75 years ago. In late October, the guild received an e-mail out of the blue from an avid quilter in Scotland, with […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported one new case of COVID-19 in the region on Saturday. The case in Southgate brings the total number of cases in the two counties since the pandemic began to 319. The lone case comes after the health unit reported double-digit case counts over the previous three days – 12 […]

Bruce County is holding a free virtual event aimed at helping businesses face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The county is holding its Bridges to Better Business event on Wednesday, featuring Terry O’Reilly of CBC’s Under the Influence as the keynote speaker. During the event, called Jump the Fence: The Power of Counterintuitive Thinking, […]

A Christian school in Tara has closed temporarily while its board works with the Grey Bruce Health Unit on its COVID-19 protocols and procedures. The health unit put out a news release on Friday afternoon that said the board of Glad Tidings Christian School in Tara had decided to close the school effective immediately out […]