Owen Sound Sun Times

The way schools look and operate will be wholly different come the fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the inside of school buses will remain largely unchanged in regard to student spacing. The Student Transportation Service Consortium of Grey-Bruce, which provides school bus services to all schools for the Bluewater District School Board and Bruce-Grey […]

Starting Monday, you’ll need an active membership to use the YMCA in Owen Sound. The fitness centre reopened Aug. 10 on a pilot basis, with enhanced cleaning protocols to contend with the COVID-19 virus threat. It was open free during that trial to members. The facility had been closed since March 16. The Y asks […]

Owen Sound will be giving itself some of its facade improvement program grants this year. Council voted Monday to conditionally approve a double facade grant application – which will cover 50 per cent of the costs, up to $7,500 – for improvements to the south and north sides of the city-owned Owen Sound Farmers’ Market […]

Band council elections at Saugeen First Nation Aug. 31 will fill the positions of chief and nine council slots. Nominally, the official list of candidates shows five vying for the position of chief and 43 candidates running for council. But at least one council candidate, incumbent Randy Roote, has withdrawn since the final list of […]

Two weeks after the anticipated launch of Owen Sound’s twice-daily bus service to Guelph, Grey County is planning to kick-start the first route of its inter-community transportation system. The Grey Transportation Route (GTR) is to begin Sept. 14 with a route along Highway 10 between Owen Sound and Orangeville. Grey County Warden Paul McQueen highlighted […]

A former Port Elgin lawyer pleaded guilty Monday in the Ontario Court of Justice in Walkerton to a charge of sexual assault involving a former client last summer and received a conditional discharge. John Douglas King’s guilty plea to the Aug. 1, 2019 summary conviction offence in Saugeen Shores was taken and his sentence was […]

Emergency funding from Ottawa and Queen’s Park is expected to shrink Owen Sound’s forecasted year-end operating deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic by about 96 per cent – from $800,000 to $30,000. “This sure takes a little of the concern off of all of us that were worried about how we were going to meet […]

Justin Ritchie quit commercial fishing last year and now is in the pot shop business at Saugeen First Nation. When the whitefish grew scarce, due largely he said to clearer and thus warmer water closer to shore caused by zebra mussels, he moved to fishing perch. When someone stole the motor on his small fishing […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report was clear of any new COVID-19 cases throughout the weekend. That continued Monday as the health unit reported no new cases of the disease locally. The region’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases remains stalled at 127. The last confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in Grey-Bruce was reported […]

A retired Ontario Fire Marshal’s office advisor says he believes the process Owen Sound followed to purchase a $2.1-million aerial fire truck was “flawed” and resulted in it spending “hundreds of thousands of dollars” more than necessary for an apparatus that would meet the city’s needs. Ken Jones of Owen Sound said he contends the […]

It’s no substitute for live music in a physical space, but Summerfolk 2020 – A Virtual Night at the Festival – did quite well for the emerging streamed-concert medium Sunday night. Streamed festivals have become the norm this summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Summerfolk organizers were able to the markers of their success – […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report was clear of any new COVID-19 cases for the 10th-straight day Sunday. The region’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases remains stalled at 127. The last confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in Grey-Bruce was reported on Aug. 13. There are two active COVID-19 cases in the region with […]

Last stop: Priceville. A 24-year-old man recently ponied up $8,000 all-in to save a decommissioned Toronto Transit Commission streetcar from the scrapheap. He provided it with a forever home at his family’s Grey County farm. Alex Glista beamed Saturday afternoon as he walked around his monument to Toronto and testament to his passion for transportation […]

A suspicious male approached a young girl at Harrison Park Friday afternoon before being diverted by the girl’s mother, according to an Owen Sound Police media release. Police say the girl’s mother was watching her three young children playing in the park when she saw a lone male approaching her 4-year-old daughter and put his […]

A Kemble teen is hoping his new online branded-clothing store will help raise awareness for mental health and make everyone feel like they belong. Gabe Rossitter, 16, launched the “Belong” store website (thebelongway.com) on Aug. 19. He’s selling T-shirts, hoodies, and hats branded with the Belong puzzle-piece logo and telling the story of the company’s […]

There were no confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Saturday according to their most recent daily situation report. The region’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases remains stalled at 127. The last confirmed positive test for COVID-19 in Grey-Bruce was reported on Aug. 13. There are two active COVID-19 cases in the […]

Jesse Walker said he felt pretty awful during the entire 21-kilometre run Saturday morning. It was hot. He underestimated the size of the hills along the route from Big Bay to his Balmy Beach Road home. He doesn’t normally run in the mornings and he started bright-and-early at 8 a.m. “I usually feel terrible in […]

Grey Bruce OPP found the body of missing Owen Sound man Joshua Thompson, 27, at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday morning at the West Rocks Management Area. Police say his death has been deemed non-suspicious. Thompson was last seen leaving his residence on 4th Avenue East at about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, police […]

A lingering preliminary positive test result first reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Monday was confirmed as a false positive result Friday. The test result will not be added to the region’s data. The Grey Bruce Health Unit has previously listed preliminary positive tests on their situation reports when a person had a positive […]

The investigation into a fatal fire at Sauble Beach that claimed the life of a 17-year-old girl is continuing. Grey Bruce OPP Const. Nigel Heels said Friday that police continue to investigate the Aug. 15 fire along with the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal. “It is still an active investigation and we will provide […]

The federal government has purchased a 95-acre property in Northern Bruce Peninsula that will be added to Bruce Peninsula National Park’s 150-plus square-kilometres of protected space at the tip of the peninsula. The parcel of land is near the southern end of the park boundary and east of Highway 6. According to a Parks Canada […]

Police continued their search in the West Rocks on Friday for a missing Owen Sound man. Joshua Thompson, 27, was last seen leaving his residence on 4th Avenue East at about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, police asked that the public avoid the West Rocks Management Area just west of the city in […]

August 19, 2020

When Joan McKinlay’s job with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food used to take her across the province she would often hear stories from others about longtime agricultural innovator Tommy Cooper. To now win an award in Cooper’s name is a true honour for the beef and cash crop farmer from the Blue Mountains. “It […]

It’s been a week since the last confirmed positive COVID-19 test was recorded in Grey-Bruce. The Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report Thursday showed no new cases were reported in the past 24 hours locally. A preliminary positive test result still awaits confirmation. If the preliminary positive test is confirmed through further testing it […]

A new transit service that will connect Owen Sound to Guelph and make stops in seven towns in between is set to launch Aug. 31. Guelph Owen Sound Transportation, also known as GOST, will offer two round-trips daily, seven days a week, using a new, fully accessible passenger bus that has 20 seats plus two […]

The heads of Bruce Power and Cameco were joined online Thursday by premiers Doug Ford of Ontario and Scott Moe of Saskatchewan to announce the creation of a new Centre for Next Generation Nuclear Technologies. The centre, to be in the Nuclear Innovation Institute in Port Elgin, will combine the expertise of suppliers, regulators and […]

Local school boards continue to gear up for the return to classes in mere weeks and they expect the vast majority of students will be at their desks when the new year begins. Bruce-Grey Catholic School Board director of education Gary O’Donnell said the board’sregistration survey has indicated eight per cent of families will opt […]

Grey County Warden Paul McQueen says he’s invited Ontario’s transportation minister to visit the area this fall to further discuss the need for long-term provincial planning to improve traffic flow and address other concerns, such as increased volumes and speeding, on local highways. McQueen said he extended the invitation to Minister Caroline Mulroney during a […]

Police were using a helicopter to search the West Rocks area for a missing Owen Sound man on Thursday. Just after noon on Thursday, Grey Bruce OPP issued a news release that they had responded to a report of a missing person. Joshua Thompson, 27, was last seen leaving his residence on 4th Avenue East […]

Another day has passed in Grey-Bruce without a positive COVID-19 test result appearing on the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. A preliminary positive test result still awaits confirmation. If the preliminary positive test is confirmed through further testing it will be added to the region’s total of 127 confirmed cases to date. If […]

A federal grant has enabled the United Way of Bruce Grey to revive its financial literacy program amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Reaching Home federal homelessness funding – aimed at helping communities address the impacts of the pandemic on those at risk of or experiencing homelessness – will finance the program until March 31. “We […]

More than 5,000 cars full of hopeful hikers and daytrippers have been turned away from the Grotto at Bruce Peninsula National Park since Aug. 3. Most had driven hours from the GTA only to be sent away at the cusp of the reservation-only parking lot near Cyprus Lake. On Aug. 9 alone, 752 cars were […]

Police seized fentanyl and an imitation firearm after arresting a man in Owen Sound on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Sauble Beach man was arrested after he was found breaching multiple bail conditions by attending the residence of a victim of domestic violence and not complying with his house arrest, the Owen Sound Police Service said in […]

An Owen Sound man has been arrested and charged after a robbery at a convenience store in Port Elgin on Tuesday. At about 8:45 a.m. the man entered the convenience store and told the employee he was going to steal items, and while in full view he concealed them. He threatened the employee when confronted, […]

Canada’s minister of environment and climate change has earmarked $6 million aimed at the restoration of ecosystems and the recovery of species at risk in Fathom Five National Marine Park and the Bruce Peninsula, Georgian Bay Islands and Thousand Islands national parks. At Bruce Peninsula National Park, that money will help build on the work […]

A Scarborough man has been charged after a confrontation at a restaurant in Hepworth. Just after noon on Sunday, Grey Bruce OPP were dispatched to a disturbance at the restaurant on Bruce Street, where a group of young adults were confronted by two older adults and they argued, police said in a news release. The […]

August brings on the year’s best eating: field tomatoes and sweet corn, the first of the early apples that carry with them a promise that has not failed me in a lifetime of eating apples that firmer, sweeter, juicier fruit will appear within the next 30 days. Peaches and nectarines, plums and garlic, carrots and […]

Police in Hanover have been receiving reports of thieves sneaking into backyards under the cloak of darkness and stealing marijuana plants. In the latest incident Sunday, Chief Chris Knoll said the culprits scouted out a home earlier in the night and returned with a shovel in hand around 3:45 a.m. The thieves dug up two […]

Mark Gancevich says the cascade of fast-moving stormwater that surged over his southern Bruce County property during Sunday’s rainstorm washed out 65 feet of lakefront and retaining walls behind his cottage, uprooted trees and heavily damaged his patio and watercraft. “It happened over the course of maybe an hour,” he said Tuesday. “My culvert and […]

The Ontario Minor Field Lacrosse League has officially cancelled its 2020 season. “Although there was a great deal of initial optimism after the July 24 Return to Activity guidelines came out, we regretfully announce that despite our best planning efforts, the 2020 fall field season will not be able to proceed,” an OMFLL release said. […]

There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit, according to its daily situation report Tuesday, but a preliminary positive test still awaits confirmation. If the preliminary positive test is confirmed through further testing it will be added to the region’s total of 127 confirmed cases to date. If not, […]

The Owen Sound Aquatic Club held a virtual award ceremony recently to “recognize and validate the efforts of the OSAC swimmers for their hard work, commitment, dedication and success”. Some OSAC swimmers will move onto the varsity ranks at Ontario universities next year. Zach Miekle and Bonnie Slocombe are headed to Queen’s University while Alex […]

Hanover Police and the local Hanover Canadian Tire store recently teamed up to replace a 10-year-old’s bicycle after his was stolen in July. A 26-year-old male was later arrested for the theft of the BMX-style bike that was parked at a local business in Hanover, but the stolen bike was never recovered. On Aug. 14, […]

The Saugeen Shores Police Service said in a news release Monday that they’re going to patrol the harbour and beach areas in Saugeen Shores and start cracking down on offences. The release said Saugeen Shores officers have recently received several complaints from people in the area. Groups of youths have been observed swimming in the […]

Grey Bruce OPP charged seven more motorists along Highway 6 on the Bruce Peninsula with stunt driving over the weekend. The seven motorists were issued a provincial summons to attend court, a seven-day driver’s licence suspension, and had their vehicles impounded for seven days. On Aug. 14, Grey Bruce OPP stopped a white car on […]

Clean-up and restoration work continued Monday in several Bruce County communities along the Lake Huron shoreline after a heavy rainstorm washed out roads, flooded properties, parks and streets and caused water to rush into basements and crawlspaces early Sunday. Lightning from the same storm struck a century-old cottage on one of the fishing islands west […]

In late August, we have moved from deep anxiety over COVID-19 to a kind of numbness. May people are no longer thinking of “How can I mitigate COVID” but “How can I get back to normal?” The truth is, we won’t, we aren’t and we have no idea when we will. A lot of my […]

By Dr. Ian Arra As the Medical Officer of Health for Grey Bruce, I want to thank you for the great efforts you have invested in keeping your family and our community safe over the past few months. I want to support you and your family as you consider the decision to send your child […]

A preliminary positive test result popped up on the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report Monday, but no new confirmed cases of the virus were listed. If the preliminary positive test is confirmed through further testing it will be added to the region’s total of 127 confirmed cases to date. If not, it will […]