Owen Sound Sun Times

Gavin Freitag was eager to get his hands sandy again at this year’s Sauble Sandfest. Even though he’s only 17 years old, the Burlington resident is a veteran competitor – having taken part in the annual Sauble Beach Chamber of Commerce contest with family and friends for more than a decade. So when he learned […]

Two people received only minor injuries after their small recreational airplane crashed Friday afternoon in a gravel pit near the Port Elgin airport. The single-engine plane came to a rest on its roof at the Keith Snyder Construction gravel pit, which is across Highway 21 from the airport. “The two occupants of the plane were […]

The Wiarton-Keppel International Airport is getting busier after some quiet months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Airport manager Zachery Premate gave a report to Georgian Bluffs council during its committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday, where he said the airport saw 785 aircraft movements in July, which was up from 736 in July 2019, that […]

A proposal to expand the Sarawak Quarry has some nearby property owners raising concerns about blasting at the site along Grey Road 1 south of Kemble. While the proponents say blasting is necessary to extract the rock, they plan to notify area residents when blasting will occur and keep it within acceptable levels. Dave Munro, […]

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported within Grey-Bruce Thursday, but one new case was referred to local public health from another health unit. That referral brings to four the number of active cases of the novel coronavirus in the region, according to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. The region’s total […]

No new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported to the Grey Bruce Health Unit Wednesday, marking the fifth straight day without a new local case of COVID-19. The last positive local case was reported July 31. There are currently three active cases of COVID-19 in the region, according to public health’s daily situation report. […]

There are now eight applications for licensed bricks and mortar cannabis retail stores in Grey-Bruce, but still none have opened in the two counties. Sauble Beach is the latest community to join the list of those where an application has been made to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for the establishment of a […]

Veteran Summerfolk performers, award-winning Canadian musicians and local favourites are set to perform Aug. 23 during a virtual Sunday night event. Dubbed Summerfolk 2020 – A Virtual Night at the Festival, the event will celebrate what would have been the 45th annual Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival, which has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 […]

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, local public health officials are warning the opioid epidemic is continuing to rage on, exacerbated by a highly toxic drug supply in the community. At least nine people have died by drug overdose in Grey-Bruce since the pandemic began in mid-March and many others have experienced a non-fatal overdose, including […]

A man and a teen face charges after police were told on Sunday night about a person in Walkerton asking for help to plan a murder. Ian Cooke, 25, of the former Brant Township is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The accused was held in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday, South […]

The driver of a motorcycle was seriously injured in a collision at Dundalk just after noon on Saturday. Grey Bruce OPP were dispatched to the two-vehicle collision involving a black motorcycle and a white car on Highway 10 at Grey Rd. 9 in Southgate. The motorcycle had been travelling south on Highway 10 and collided […]

A suspended novice driver who had a mandatory ignition interlock condition to drive, was stopped in South Bruce Peninsula and charged with drunk driving on Saturday. The 34-year-old Concord, Ont., man, who was stopped for speeding on Highway 6 near Limberlost Road just before 8:30 p.m., had the vehicle he was driving towed to be […]

A Chatsworth woman has been named as the victim in a fatal crash involving a motorcycle and a truck east of Keady on Saturday morning. Brenda McKay, 68, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was pronounced dead at hospital following the collision, which occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on Grey Road 16 at Concession […]

The new MRI machine has arrived at Grey Bruce Health Services. The scanner was lifted by crane into the Owen Sound hospital Tuesday morning. It is expected to be operational this fall. “The replacement of our 17-year-old MRI was a critical need for GBHS, and I am extremely proud of the team and community who […]

Just over $270,000 in funding has been announced for a number of local projects through the province’s Rural Economic Development Program. The largest allocation of funds through the program, announced by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker on Friday, is just under $73,000 to the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation for the rehabilitation of cultural, […]

For a fourth straight day, there were no new cases of COVID-19 reported to the Grey Bruce Health Unit Tuesday. The last positive local case was reported July 31. There are currently only three active cases of the novel coronavirus in the region, according to public health’s daily situation report. A total of 120 cases […]

The banks along the Pottawatomi River are getting a new look thanks to the quick work of a couple of amphibious phrag tanks. The Truxor machines and crew from the Invasive Phragmites Control Centre are back for their second year of work mowing down the invasive reed grass along the shores of the river where […]

The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library is set to reopen to the public Aug. 11, with capacity and visit time limits in place as well as social distancing and mask guidelines. The library – which has been closed to the public since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been offering […]

The OPP charged 13 drivers with stunt driving on Highway 6 in Grey and Bruce counties over the long weekend. The motorists, who were travelling at least 50 kilometres per hour above the posted speed limit, were all issued a provincial summons, a seven-day drivers licence suspension and had their vehicle towed and impounded for […]

No new COVID-19 cases were added to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s confirmed tally over the long weekend. The region remained at five active cases Monday afternoon, with 109 recovered and six referred to other health units, for a cumulative total to 120 cases. No deaths in Grey-Bruce have been attributed to COVID-19 and there […]

A man’s paddling journey in which he hugged the shoreline from south of Grand Bend to Wasaga Beach in his canoe is ending Tuesday with a feast. The Picking Up the Bundles Canoe Journey around Saugeen Ojibway Nation’s traditional territory is part of a year-long advocacy project for Waasekom Niin, also called Edward George. He […]

The beach was hot and busy but not the pedestrian mall, newly created by closing the Main Street and Lakeshore Boulevard intersection to cars at Sauble Beach Saturday. The street was nearly empty of people in the afternoon and town council’s decision to close that very busy piece of road to vehicles was viewed dubiously […]

Songs of perseverance, hope and celebration, family stories of desperate runs to freedom, local Black history, and fond, personal memories all marked Saturday’s 158thOwen Sound Emancipation Festival. Normally a gathering held in Harrison Park, this time the festival was online for almost two hours during a YouTube broadcast due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made […]

A female motorcycle passenger died and a male driver suffered serious injuries in a collision between a motorcycle and truck on Grey Road 16 at Concession 6 in Chatsworth Township Saturday. OPP West Region issued a notice on its Facebook page about 2 p.m. No news release was issued by early evening. No other details […]

Local public health officials and police warn there’s a “toxic supply” of street drugs which is responsible for “multiple fatal overdoses in the past five days.” People using drugs are at significant risk of overdose due to the potential the drugs contain fentanyl or the even more deadly carfentanil, which is 100 times more toxic. […]

On Sept. 8, most students in Grey and Bruce counties will don their non-medical masks before riding on their assigned and sanitized bus seat en route to their reopened and reorganized school, where they’ll socialize with their provincially mandated cohort of friends and classmates. It’s a strange new world with a lot of unknowns to […]

The Owen Sound Transportation Company’s president and chief executive says Chi-Cheemaun ferry passengers have so far been well-behaved and co-operative, unlike some who refuse to wear a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic on its Pelee Island ferry. It’s become so egregious that the ferry operator has threatened to ban a belligerent minority of passengers over […]

OPP will be patrolling Highway 6 this Civic holiday weekend, part of a clampdown on aggressive and stunt driving on a notoriously fast strip of Highway 6 and other tourist routes on the Bruce Peninsula. This focus is part of an OPP traffic enforcement campaign across the province this weekend. Grey Bruce OPP Staff-Sgt. Terry […]

Building activity in Saugeen Shores has remained strong this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought most projects in Ontario to a halt for several weeks in early spring. The municipality on Lake Huron saw construction values hit $32 million in the first half of 2020, which is well above the five-year, January-to-June average of […]

Owen Sound police charged a 53-year-old Cargill man after he blew a tire when he abruptly stopped his vehicle and struck a curb ahead of an impaired-driving spot check Thursday night. City police said in a news release Friday that the man was arrested about 9 p.m. for attempting to avoid a police Reduce Impaired […]

Saugeen Shores police charged a 36-year-old man with offences after three local break-ins and four thefts, a police news release said Friday. The man, identified as someone living in Bruce County and known to police, is charged with three counts of break, enter and commit an offence, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of […]

High water levels have caused a memorial “Summerfolk tree” at Owen Sound’s Kelso Beach Park to topple over, but the other “iconic” tree that’s more commonly associated with the annual music and crafts festival is still standing. That tree, located behind the amphitheatre stage and seen in the Summerfolk logo, seems to be doing fine […]

There was one new case of COVID-19 reported in Grey-Bruce Thursday, according to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. The new case brings the regional total to 119 with four active cases reported now in Grey-Bruce. The newest case was reported in West Grey, according to the health unit’s data. Trillium Court, a […]

Meaford’s battle for the downtown shoreline rages on in 2020 as high water levels and storms have claimed more public infrastructure and land. Earlier this year council approved $80,000 to clear debris and make critical infrastructure fixes at both Fred Raper and David Johnston parks, which bookend the Meaford Harbour along the Georgian Bay shoreline. […]

Spotty radio reception on the peninsula for its stations and demand for a radio service are why Bayshore Broadcasting will be putting a transmitter at Tobermory, the company’s managing director said Thursday. The CRTC issued its decision July 23, which allows the Owen Sound-based radio broadcaster to erect a transmitter to repeat the signal from […]

City officials expect a significant chunk of Owen Sound’s 2020 operating deficit due to COVID-19 – now projected at about $600,000 – will be caused by reduced transit revenue during the pandemic. “I think we’re going to be short in the neighbourhood of $200,000 this year on transit fares alone,” corporate services director Kate Allan […]

South Bruce Peninsula council has directed staff to create a pedestrian mall at the main corner of Sauble Beach for the Civic Holiday long weekend by closing portions of Main Street and Lakeshore Boulevard North. The move is being made to help with the large number of people expected to travel to the beach this […]

When people complained anonymously to police about marijuana being grown outdoors in Hanover, officers began an investigation. On Tuesday police executed a warrant and searched two neighbouring properties in the 200 block of 17thStreet East, where they seized 386 pot plants, 898 grams of dried cannabis and a small amount of cocaine. A 42-year-old Hanover […]

Owen Sound is vowing to stand up against racism. Council on Monday approved a motion by Coun. Carol Merton that says the city will “actively work towards anti-racism and anti-oppression at every opportunity,” including through things like information-sharing and ongoing education and training for council and committee members and staff regarding anti-racism, diversity and inclusion. […]

Missy Bauman’s second album “Sweet” is set to be released on Aug. 7, and the folk singer with roots in Owen Sound said she’s ready to release her newest songs out into the world even if the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made touring the music impossible. The album – all songs written and mixed by […]

Work is set to begin this week on Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce’s new Owen Sound build, which will take place under current COVID-19 safety guidelines. Executive director Greg Fryer said the organization will be constructing a semi-detached home at 1320/1322 4th Ave. E. – where a duplex once stood that was destroyed during an […]

South Bruce OPP is investigating the reported theft of an ATV. A yellow Can-Am Renegade 800 cc all-terrain vehicle was taken from a residence in the 500-block o Conc. 4 in the former Arran Township between nighttime July 21 and the morning of July 22. The ATV had no licence plate. The vehicle’s estimated value […]

Owen Sound police charged a driver found asleep at the wheel of a running vehicle in Harrison Park Tuesday. Police were called before 10 a.m. by concerned citizens who reported seeing two men passed out in a running vehicle in the park. Police found them there and had difficulty waking the driver, a police news […]

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Trillium Court, a long-term care home in Kincardine. The outbreak was declared Tuesday and is listed on the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s outbreak web page. The home was asked to step up already routine, heightened precautions Sunday, Dr. Ian Arra said Tuesday. That’s after receiving a report of […]

Owen Sound is planning to start a $2.3-million project to rehabilitate 16th Street East between 9th and 18th streets in early August. City council voted Monday night to award the contract for the project to Harold Sutherland Construction, which submitted the lowest of two bids received. “Anyone that travels this city is well aware of […]

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 […]