Owen Sound Sun Times

Mayors reacted cautiously to the recent provincial budget provision allowing them to reduce property taxes for small businesses next year, if they choose to. While some acknowledged the depths of difficulty many small business owners are facing amid the pandemic, they also worried about shifting those tax dollars to others. Others declined to comment, saying […]

A whopping 10 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded Sunday in Grey-Bruce – the most added in a single day since a record 14 cases were added in April, during the first wave of the pandemic. “We have been seeing a deeply concerning trend of a significant increase in the number of cases locally, and […]

A smoke detector alarm prevented more damage and injury after fire started in a clothes dryer early Sunday morning in Owen Sound, city Fire Chief Doug Barfoot said. Firefighters were called to 1645 6thAve. E. at 3:35 a.m. and left the scene 5:15 a.m. The alarm sounded minutes after someone living in the home had […]

A student at Bruce Peninsula District School in Lion’s Head tested positive for COVID-19 but the region’s medical officer of health says no transmission in the school has been found and no outbreak has been declared there. As Dr. Ian Arra spoke late Saturday afternoon, public health contact tracers were making their way through a […]

An approaching weather system could cause minor flooding and erosion along the Lake Huron shoreline beginning late Sunday, the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority advised Saturday. The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority issued an advisory which said winds associated with a cold front were forecast to sweep across Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Sunday. Strong winds initially […]

Owen Sound’s draft 2021 capital budget is heavily focused on road projects, with 67 per cent of the proposed $12.9 million in the spending plan earmarked for resurfacing, reconstruction and other street-related work. Corporate services director Kate Allan said developing the budget was guided by the top three priority areas identified in June by council […]

Port Elgin’s Francesca Alpajaro is taking her considerable talents to Georgetown University where she’ll be playing for the Hoyas women’s lacrosse team starting in September. The Owen Sound North Stars and Team Ontario product signed her national letter of intent this week, committing to the NCAA Division I program that was ranked in the Top-25 […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported five new cases of COVID-19 throughout the region Friday. The newest cases were found in Brockton, Kincardine (2) and Hanover (2). Dr. Ian Arra, Grey Bruce’s medical officer of health, said that four of the five new cases were previously being followed by the health unit as high-risk close […]

Bruce Power will continue to play an important part in the pursuit of small modular reactor technology, the company announced on the day the provincial energy minister announced his support for SMR technology at the Darlington nuclear site in Clarington, Ont., Friday. “We have established a capability in this region that will allow us to […]

Fall fashions will soon hit the Facebook runway as Saugeen Shores and several local clothing retailers have teamed up to put on the first Saugeen Shores Virtual Fall Fashion Show. Retailers from both Port Elgin and Southampton will take part in the show scheduled to go online Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. The town’s Facebook […]

An ambitious plan to tow the historic M.S. Norgoma from Sault Ste. Marie to the Little Tub Harbour in Tobermory has gone belly up. According to a press release distributed by Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. (TREI), a feasibility study showed relocating the Norgoma to the harbour could not be done without “significant and unacceptable […]

West Grey police charged two people and seized fentanyl, cocaine, firearms, ammunition, knives and stolen property. Police located a wanted person’s vehicle at a Neustadt residence in West Grey on Nov. 9 about 10:35 a.m. Police arrested two suspects, who had outstanding warrants for their arrest, seized the drugs and weapons and ultimately laid charges, […]

Grey Bruce OPP is asking for help to investigate a Sauble Beach business break-in which left clothing, jewellery and a safe missing. Police believe the crime occurred Nov. 12 about 3:30 a.m. Information may be left with police at 1-888-310-1122 or anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or www.ctip.ca.

Grey Bruce OPP ask the public’s help to identify who is responsible for an estimated $80,000 mischief to the Meaford and St. Vincent Community Centre. Two roof lights were damaged and a rooftop ventilation unit was pushed off its mounts, thrown off the roof and smashed on the ground. Municipal staff say it happened between […]

What started as a disturbance call Thursday ended with the seizure of a gun, drugs and with charges laid, a Saugeen Shores police news release said. About 8 p.m. police were called to a “disturbance” at an apartment complex in Port Elgin. Police spoke with a male resident there and entered to ensure no one […]

West Grey police are looking for two women seen taking a poppy donation box from Tim Horton’s in Durham on the evening of Nov. 5. The theft was reported to police two days later and details were included in the weekly police news release Thursday. Police described the suspects: a heavy-set female with medium-length auburn […]

Someone who pretended to be an Owen Sound police officer failed in his attempt to access a local resident’s money Thursday. City police said in a news release that someone claiming to be a city police officer, who provided a false name and badge number, told the resident they’d been the victim of bank fraud. […]

Fire has destroyed a Port Elgin home containing two rental apartments on Elgin Street and left its occupants homeless, Saugeen Shores Fire Chief Phil Eagleson said Thursday. Two Saugeen Shores volunteer firefighters spotted the fire, evacuated an occupant in the front unit and pets from the rear unit which was otherwise unoccupied, just before 2 […]

Bernice Ackermann is urging Owen Sound council to let people walk around the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre’s concourse, which has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. The city resident said the facility’s upper level – which has become a popular walking track, especially for seniors – provides people with a safe, fully […]

A wave of homeless people moving into Grey-Bruce requires a new approach to help meet “a dramatically increasing need,” said Matt Shute, who’s leading a new, co-ordinated response. Recent clearing of bush on private industrial property in the city’s east harbour area, to remove a homeless encampment, is the latest reminder of why better solutions […]

Two hundred people in Grey-Bruce have now contracted COVID-19, including two new cases reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Thursday. The newest cases were reported in West Grey and Kincardine. A preliminary case remained listed in the report Thursday while another was removed after being confirmed as a false-positive result. If the remaining preliminary […]

Owen Sound is tackling an extensive cleanup of its composting site that will significantly reduce the times the facility is open over the next week. “This is really to deal with the piles of wood and branches that have built up over the years. We’re talking stuff that has accumulated over a period of five […]

On the heels of a “tremendously successful” Thanksgiving drive, the Owen Sound Salvation Army is getting set to launch several Christmas campaigns and events to support its food bank and help seniors, adults and children in need. Family services co-ordinator Alice Wannan said while there will be some adjustments this year to keep people safe […]

A surge of cases in the region is the result of people letting their guard down, says Grey Bruce’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra. Six new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s Wednesday daily situation report. The newest cases were found in Hanover (2), Kincardine (2), Grey Highlands and […]

Fewer than 100 people attended Owen Sound’s COVID-19-modified Remembrance Day service Wednesday. It was intended to be an invitation-only event to guard against potentially spreading the pandemic virus among crowds, which typically number in the many hundreds if not few thousands. There was no parade down main street, nor elderly veterans included, unlike most other […]

Wiarton’s main street is soon expected to reopen for the winter following a summer of construction. Berford Street, which has been closed down to through traffic since the beginning of July for the first phase of the downtown Big Dig reconstruction project, is expected to be paved next week and then reopen to traffic for […]

The Owen Sound Aquatic Club will return to racing this month with a mini-meet sponsored by McDonald’s. The mini-meet will be held Nov. 19 to 21 at the Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre. It’s the first swim meet the team will participate in since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold locally. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no […]

November 11, 2020

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported a single new COVID-19 case in the region Tuesday. The newest case was discovered in Hanover and marks the fourth case in that community since the start of the pandemic. There are now 12 confirmed active cases in the region and 192 people in Grey-Bruce have contracted the virus […]

A Toronto woman has died following a collision involving a farm tractor and a dirt bike in West Grey on Sunday. The 18-year-old woman died of her injuries after she was transported to hospital in Durham by Grey County Paramedics, West Grey police said in a news release on Tuesday. West Grey Police Service, along […]

Members of the Ontario Lacrosse Association have defeated an amendment put forth by the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League that would have increased junior-player eligibility to 22-and-under. There were in fact two proposed amendments on the table at the recent OLA Annual General Meeting. An amendment seeking to increase the eligible junior player age to […]

Construction crews have begun the final major component of Owen Sound’s $2.3-million project to rehabilitate a busy stretch of 16th Street East. Dennis Kefalas, director of public works and engineering, said he’s hopeful the milling and paving phase will wrap up by the end of next week, allowing the street – between 9th and 16th […]

Home prices continue to rise in Grey-Bruce. After the average price of the homes sold in a month passed the half-a-million-dollar mark for the first time ever in September, they continued their upwards trajectory in October. The average price of the homes sold in the two counties in October was $523,638, up from the September […]

Their rookie seasons were cut short, but Deni Goure and Ethan Burroughs have each shown enough to make the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s preliminary “player to watch” list ahead of the 2021 NHL Draft. The annual list contains top prospects eligible for the upcoming draft from around the world. Both of the Attack players received […]

The Owen Sound Family Health Team is holding a flu shot clinic this week, with lots of appointments and vaccine available. The clinic is being held in the North Atlantic room of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 6 in Owen Sound. Patients of the health team can book an appointment online at www.osfht.ca or by […]

The “mini trial” to consider a motion for summary judgment sought by Saugeen First Nation in a boundary dispute at Sauble Beach is looking like it won’t take place for another year, David Dobson said. In July he had understood the motion was on track to be heard in a mini trial this December. But […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported one new case of COVID-19 Monday. The newest case was reported in Kincardine and marks the fourth straight day the virus has been found within a person in from that community. The Health Unit is also reporting a preliminary positive test result that is awaiting confirmation via further testing. […]

A project by Grey Bruce Property Rentals to convert the former Strathcona public school in Owen Sound into an 80-unit apartment building is “going great,” says the company’s owner, who anticipates construction will wrap up in about a year’s time. Barry Kruisselbrink said crews are finishing up the framing work for the building’s top storey-and-a-half, […]

The Bells of Christmas will ring loudly in the hopes that lonely seniors living in Owen Sound’s long-term care and nursing homes will receive holiday gifts during what has undoubtedly been a trying year. The Christmastime event is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and while some of the protocols have […]

With winter on the way, OSHaRE is renovating the dining hall at its downtown soup kitchen so people can wait inside for their takeaway meals while staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Basically, we’re winterizing for COVID,” said Colleen Trask Seaman, executive director of the Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort. “We’re putting in a […]

With winter weather presumably around the corner the Owen Sound Farmers’ Market is heading back indoors, but with some expanded hours to be able to accommodate all of its vendors. Since it reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic in late June, the market has operated in a mostly inside-out fashion from how it had pre-pandemic, with […]

Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson praised her Conservative government’s farm insurance changes, money for apprenticeship and skills retraining and broadband infrastructure plans among other measures contained in the latest provincial budget. Finance Minister Rod Phillips’ budget Thursday included $187 billion in spending, a deficit of $38.5 billion this year and measures to combat COVID-19 and spur […]

The Saugeen Shores Police Service has located a woman who was reported missing on Friday. On Monday, police issued a news release thanking the public and the media for their assistance in locating the woman. In Friday’s release, police said the woman had last been seen in Port Elgin on Nov 2. Investigators suspected then […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported five new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including four in Grey Highlands. The fifth case reported on Sunday was in Kincardine, the third straight day a resident of that municipality has been reported to have the virus. Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra said that the Grey […]

Saugeen Shores police have asked for the public’s help in locating a missing woman. Police said Shawnessy Thompson, 28, was reported missing on Friday after last being seen in Port Elgin on Nov. 2. Investigators suspect that she may be in the Greater Toronto Area, but her location is unknown, police said in a news […]

After being bashed by the waves of Lake Huron during the recent high water years, help is on the way for the Saugeen River Front Range Light in Southampton. Plans are in the works by the Town of Saugeen Shores and the Marine Heritage Society on a restoration project for the light, which stands at […]

When Jake Ireland’s aunt was diagnosed with cancer a short time ago he wanted to do something to help. On Saturday, the Southampton man put on his running shoes and, with very little training, completed a 28-mile run – one mile for each round of radiation and chemotherapy treatment his aunt Nicole Rowbotham is to […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported one new case of COVID-19 on Saturday. The lone case reported in the past 24 hours was in a resident of Kincardine, raising the total case count in Grey-Bruce since the beginning of the pandemic to 185. Six of those cases remain active, while 166 have recovered and 13 […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported three new cases of COVID-19 Friday. The new cases were reported in Grey Highlands, Southgate, and Kincardine. Grey Bruce Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Arra said the cases reported Friday have not, at this point, been connected to a Halloween party in Dundalk where a person […]

A motion before Bruce County indicating that deep geological repositories are a matter of settled science has been deferred for a second time. On Thursday, the county’s executive council, which is made up of the eight mayors of the county’s lower tier municipalities, voted to defer the motion. The matter was referred to the executive […]