Owen Sound Sun Times

West Grey municipal council declared a state of emergency in health care Tuesday morning, Mayor Kevin Eccles said. He said he's concerned that all 10 in-patient beds are being removed from Durham hospitaland put in Kincardine and Walkerton hospitals, and that Durham's emergency department hours have been reduced. As of last week, patients were being [...]

Owen Sound water rates are going up, but not as much as had been forecasted in the past. At its meeting on Monday, Owen Sound council approved a four per cent increase to water rates that will take effect for the July billing cycles. A typically family of four using 200 cubic metres of water [...]

Owen Sound council gave final approval to the following business licences at its meeting on Monday: Mobile Klinik, a pre-owned mobile phone retailer located at 1350 16th E. Bonnie Lass Salon, a hair salon relocated to 1389 16th E. Annual hawker and peddler licence to Shona Chandler to operate various craft and vendor events throughout [...]

The Owen Sound Fire Department is replacing its reserve aerial truck with a refurbished vehicle that cost a fraction of what a new apparatus would. On Monday, council received a report announcing the city as the successful bidder on a used 75-foot aerial truck that was made available through an online auction. The price the [...]

An Ontario appeal court judge raised the possibility of a hybrid" remedy to concerns raised by South Bruce Peninsula in an appeal about ownership of a section of Sauble Beach on the first day of the appeal Monday. Court heard Superior Court Justice Susan Vella's April 3, 2023 decision moved the eastern boundary of Saugeen [...]

The Owen Sound Attack took some hacks at Duncan McLellan Park before the team's annual barbecue and awards ceremony Sunday. Fans of the club were invited to welcome the new prospects, say goodbye to the graduating players, and congratulate the 2024 team award winners. The day began with the team's softball tournament. The players and [...]

CFIA has a National Biosecurity Standard that recently added grains, oilseeds and potatoes, in addition to livestock

NORTH STARS TOP PACERS IN HOSPICE GAME On Saturday night, the Owen Sound North Stars junior B team put on a good show for a good cause with a 15-9 win over the Point Edward Pacers inside the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The N'Stars partnered with the Grey Bruce Hospice to offer admission to [...]

The South Bruce Grey Health Centre closed the Durham hospital's emergency department Saturday and Sunday due to insufficient staffing. On Friday, the SBGHC notified residents the emergency department would be closed Saturday and reopening Sunday at 7 a.m., due to a nursing shortage. However, a notice issued Saturday night said the emergency department would remain [...]

A steady rain did little to dampen the mood at the Hike for Hospice in Harrison Park Saturday. The annual fundraiser support of Grey Bruce Hospice and Chapman House was well attended despite the drizzle. It was a great turnout," said Amy McConachie, Grey Bruce Hospice donor relations coordinator. It's events like this that allow [...]

The Owen Sound North Stars lost 12-11 to the Brooklin Merchants in their home opener Saturday inside the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The North Stars (2-2) couldn't stop a potent Merchants (5-1) power play and made several unforced errors in the game. Yet, a whoever scores last wins" feel carried on from the first [...]

The crowd gathered on Berford Street in Wiarton cheered when the curtain dropped to unveil an impressive new military mural at the rededicated cenotaph Saturday. Grey-Bruce-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers quipped the attractive mural might even help slow down the notoriously speedy motorists that use Highway 6 in the summer. The mural depicts the community's [...]

An intercity transit company will soon begin offering bus service between Owen Sound and Toronto. FlixBus has announced that it will begin offering the service on May 30 through its partner Gallexy Tours. The buses will run between the two locations five days a week. We're excited to partner with Gallexy to offer this much-needed [...]

The last of at least 10 people charged in a city police undercover operation to root out fentanyl and methamphetamine traffickers more than three years ago was sentenced to seven months in jail Friday. Christopher Jones, 50, of Owen Sound admitted in the Superior Court of Justice in Owen Sound that he twice sold methamphetamine [...]

BAYSOX LOSE NAILBITER The Owen Sound Baysox dropped a close game to the top-ranked New Lowell Knights Thursday night, 4-3. Despite a strong outing from starting pitcher Trevor Smith, the Baysox couldn't solve the still-undefeated Knights on the road. Next, the Baysox will host the Clarksburg Blues at Tom Williams Park with the first pitch [...]

The Ontario Ministry of Health says it is working closely with South Bruce Grey Health Centre to ensure urgent and primary care remains available in Durham. Ministry spokesperson Hannah Jensen said via e-mail Friday morning that Minister of Health Sylvia Jones had been in touch with both Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers and West Grey [...]

The Owen Sound District Wolves girls' rugby team lost a heartbreaker in the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association triple-A championship Friday. Playing against their biggest regional rival in J.F. Ross, the Wolves fell 14-7 in the championship at Cambridge's Jacob Hespeler. It was a revenge game for the J.F. Ross Royals, who fell to [...]

A pair of local community theatre companies captured some hardware at the recent Western Ontario Drama League Festival. The Owen Sound Little Theatre's production of Something Rotten! brought home three awards, while the Kincardine Theatre Guild's Beauty and the Beast won two awards at the 2024 festival held in London on May 17 and 18. [...]

Two teens are opening a youth-run bike repair shop in Meaford thanks to support from the Grey-Bruce OPP and community partners. The TLC Bicycle Shop is celebrating a grand opening at its Victoria Village location in Meaford on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Lucas Van Horn and Tyler White first became involved with repairing bicycles through [...]

John Diefenbaker's Eli Bouius blew past the field in the junior boys' 3000-metre race at the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA) track and field championship at Kiwanis Field in Brantford this week. After winning the 1,500-metre race, Bouius cruised in the longer distance finishing first in 9:07.24, over 30 seconds faster than the [...]

On Saturday, the Owen Sound North Stars are helping raise money for the Grey Bruce Hospice by offering free admission to their game against the Point Edward Pacers. Donations to the Grey Bruce Hospice will be accepted at the doors with 100 per cent of the donated funds going directly to the local organization.

Police have charged two men from Toronto with manslaughter and drug trafficking offences more than two years after Corey Sutherland, 23, was found dead in a Grey Highlands home. On March 28, 2022, emergency services responded to a call after Sutherland's body was found at a West Back Line residence in Grey Highlands. On Wednesday, [...]

Grey County is moving ahead with a land purchase for a new paramedic base in Durham. At its meeting on Thursday, county council directed staff to finalize the agreement to purchase just under an acre of land at the corner of Chester Street and Grey Road 4 from West Grey for the new base. The [...]

A favourite swimming hole in Varney will remain closed this summer while the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority continues to review public safety concerns and seek environment approvals from several agencies to divert water from Camp Creek. The SCVA closed the swimming pond at the Varney Conservation Area in 2023. The conservation authority said an assessment [...]

Grey County council is requesting an immediate meeting with Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones and South Bruce Grey Health Centre officials about decisions to move inpatient beds out of the Durham hospital, but has decided against joining West Grey in a legal challenge. Shortly after Grey County made its decision, West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles [...]

Hellyer's Foodland in Lion's Head will reopen to the public in June, less than a year after a fire ripped through parts of the old building and forced the fifth-generation community grocery store to close. The store closed after a fire on Aug. 29, 2023, caused by work on the outside of the grocery store, [...]

The provincial government is investing more than $8 million to repair major roads in Grey-Bruce. The province is earmarking $2.7 million for Owen Sound to help in the rehabilitation of 9th Avenue East from Superior Street to 6th Street East and $3 million for South Bruce Peninsula to aid in the reconstruction of Berford Street [...]

Around 300 people marched from the community centre in Durham to the hospital Tuesday night to once again rally support against the South Bruce Grey Health Centre's decision to move all 10 inpatient beds to other sites within the hospital group on June 3. In a move West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles called a war" [...]

The Tom Thomson Art Gallery is partnering with the Reach Centre Grey Bruce and Georgian Bay School for the Arts on a new exhibition. The gallery is now calling for submissions to the juried exhibition called Creative Pathways: Celebrating the Neurodivergent Community. Local artists who identify as neurodivergent can submit up to five works of [...]

Superior Court Justice Susan Vella has ordered South Bruce Peninsula to pay $1.67 million in legal fees to the Saugeen First Nation. Vella's ruling also calls for the federal government and Ontario to pay $322,000 and $1.28 million respectively to Saugeen First Nation, totalling $3.22 million in costs, disbursements and HST. In addition, South Bruce [...]

A bullmastiff bit a Hanover police officer who was in the process of arresting its owner Monday, police say. According to a Hanover Police media release, a resident reported a suspicious vehicle parked in the southwest part of the town Monday around 7 p.m. Police said it was later determined the black Dodge Caravan described [...]

It was a tough weekend in more ways than one for the Owen Sound North Stars junior B club. The N'Stars honoured the life and legacy of teammate Tyson Downs before their home opener Saturday at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre by raising a commemorative banner with family and friends in attendance. Downs, 18, [...]

WOLVES LOOK TO REPEAT The Owen Sound District Wolves girls' rugby team will play for a chance to repeat as CWOSSA AAA' champions on Friday in Cambridge. The Wolves shut out Waterloo-Oxford 15-0 and beat Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute 22-5 Wednesday at Jacob Hespeler in Cambridge to finish atop Pool A at the regional championship [...]

A waterfowl and bird area could be part of Harrison Park's future for the next decade, but how that area may look will require further study. On May 15, the city's community services committee was presented with a revised final draft of the Harrison Park master plan that has taken a slightly different approach to [...]

Austin Staats welcomed the Owen Sound North Stars back to Ontario's senior A lacrosse circuit with a seven-goal performance Monday night inside the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. The North Stars, playing in their first Major Series Lacrosse game since 1995, fell 15-4 to the defending Mann Cup champion Six Nations Chiefs in the Chiefs' annual Bread [...]

It's not easy juggling population, general GDP, and farm cash receipts

Peter Ciokan, the long-time owner of the Foto Art camera shop in downtown Owen Sound, died May 8 at the age of 59. Mr. Ciokan had not been in good health for a couple of years. A friend who couldn't reach Mr. Ciokan asked police to check on his well-being. They discovered he died in [...]

A community vigil is planned Tuesday night in support of Durham hospital and to protest a plan to move all inpatient bed there to other sites. Save the Durham Hospital committee is organizing a march starting at Durham arena at 7:30 p.m. and ending at the hospital, where a candlelight vigil will be held, the [...]

Grey Road 10 is closed between Concession 6 and Concession 8, north of Clifford, in South Bruce while police investigate a serious collision. Police said in a news release that they responded to a report of the collision about 2:30 a.m. Monday. Police ask people to avoid the area. Grey Bruce OPP asks anyone with [...]

The Bruce Grey Music Hall of Fame will reopen in its new Owen Sound home on June 23. The formal opening of the hall starts at 3 p.m., in the North Atlantic Room of the Owen Sound branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, where the hall will be established. The Ridge River Ramblers band will [...]

People started appearing at the Big Bay dock amid the red afterglow of sunset, which separated the depths of Georgian Bay from the dark sky above. Steve Ritchie was setting up his black, barrel-shaped Dobsonian telescope and aligning the mirrors, while his wife, AnnMarie Rowland, was already aiming her smaller white scope, which sets up [...]

Sauble Beach was a lot of people's happy place" Saturday, where they relaxed on the sand andtook a break from their routines. Karen Park said she camped with friends at Sauble in her teens, rented a trailer for at least a couple of weeks every summer with her young kids, and now she stays in [...]

A 44-year-old Walkerton man has been charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking and illegal possession of drugs. On May 17, the OPP made a traffic stop in South Bruce and arrested the driver for drug-related offences. They found cocaine after searching the driver and vehicle, an OPP news release said. Police then [...]

Due to insufficient staffing, the Durham Hospital's emergency department will be closed Saturday, May 18, reopening Sunday, May 19 at 7 a.m. Anyone requiring immediate medical attention should call 911 to be taken to the nearest open emergency department by ambulance, South Bruce Grey Health Centre news release announced Friday night. For non-urgent health-care, [...]

A 400-megawatt battery storage facility in Arran-Elderslie is among 10 such projects selected by the Independent Electricity System Operator's latest procurement. Shift Solar Inc.'s Grey Owl Storage is one of the largest battery storage projects among the 10. It's also the only successful applicant that doesn't have Indigenous participation. The battery storage site would remain [...]

The Alzheimer Society of Grey-Bruce is gearing up to hold its largest fundraiser of the year. On May 25, the 2024 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's will be held in four communities in the two counties - Owen Sound, Hanover, Saugeen Shores and Thornbury. Michelle Fleming, community development and engagement co-ordinator with the local [...]

Already 40 breast cancer survivors have expressed interest in joining a new dragon boat team just for survivors, and more are welcome, organizer Geordie Farrell said. Participants will meet in Owen Sound on Wednesday, May 22 for the first practice. Farrell requests people who are interested to email her at farrell@bmts.com for more information. I'm [...]

With the warmer spring weather comes the start of the road running race season in Grey-Bruce. A couple of races - providing an opportunity to get out and exercise while raising funds for important local causes - are planned over the coming weeks. Next up on the local calendar is the annual Chesley Community Classic, [...]

The Kiwanis Soccer Complex in Owen Sound will look and feel different for visitors after 160 mature ash trees infected with the emerald ash borer were removed there this offseason. While the removal of the trees eliminated a prime source of shade and shelter adjacent to the soccer field house in the middle of the [...]

The Owen Sound Baysox squandered a four-run lead before eking out a 6-6 tie against the Midland Mariners with a clutch sacrifice fly in the final inning. Wayland Wilson got a fly ball far enough into right field to drive in the game-tying run in the seventh and final inning during the Baysox home opener [...]