Owen Sound Sun Times

The number of movements and sales of fuel continued to fall at the Wiarton-Keppel International Airport in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgian Bluffs council received a report from airport manager Zachery Premate during its online meeting on Wednesday, when it heard that aircraft movements were down almost 137 per cent in April compared […]

Work is progressing well on the reconstruction of Inglis Falls Road since it closed to traffic more than two months ago. The road was closed down to through traffic in mid-March for the multi-million-dollar project that will see the complete reconstruction of about 640 metres of roadway. Mayor Dwight Burley said he recently had a […]

The Retooling and Economic Recovery Council formed by Bruce Power less than a month ago announced several initiatives undertaken recently to help in the fight against COVID-19 during a Facebook Live event Thursday. The council, introduced formally on April 30, includes all of Bruce Power’s supply chain partners in the nuclear industry and in partnership […]

Three Owen Sound men have been arrested in relation to a fentanyl trafficking investigation in Owen Sound. On Tuesday just before 5 p.m. members of the Owen Sound Police Service Drug Enforcement Unit and Criminal Investigation Branch arrested the men as they arrived in a vehicle at an east side motel. Police located highly toxic […]

A Northern Bruce Peninsula man has been arrested and charged after a robbery at the gas station in Ferndale on Saturday morning. At 5:45 a.m., Grey Bruce OPP were dispatched to the robbery at the gas station on Highway 6 in Northern Bruce Peninsula. As the business was being opened for the day, a man […]

There were no new lab-test confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report Wednesday. A false-positive test result that sparked a declared outbreak at Golden Dawn long-term care home in Northern Bruce Peninsula was removed from the region’s cumulative case total, which is now back down to 90. The […]

South Bruce Peninsula officials have found ways to offset almost all of a more than $700,000 projected revenue loss due to COVID-19. At its last meeting on May 5, council heard from director of financial services Michael Humble that the town was expecting a revenue shortfall of approximately $720,000 by the end of August due […]

Wiarton’s big dig is going to be a little smaller. On Tuesday South Bruce Peninsula council gave the green light on a scaled-down version of its Berford Street reconstruction projects after bids for the work came in at about twice the estimate. “Basically what we did is we decided to pare the project down to […]

The Owen Sound Minor Soccer Association has cancelled all games, practices and events until the end of June. The OSMSA made the move to postpone soccer activities in accordance with the decision made by Ontario Soccer. “We are still planning on having a great soccer season this summer, but we know there are a lot […]

The Ontario Series Lacrosse league announced the cancellation of the 2020 season late Tuesday night. The Owen Sound Bug Juice North Stars senior B club won’t take the floor this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has turned community centres into field hospitals and made a return to organized lacrosse impossible for the five-team league. The […]

An Owen Sound woman chased a man who attempted to steal her vehicle while she unloaded groceries at her west-side home Tuesday afternoon. While carrying groceries from her vehicle to her residence a man entered the car and sat in the driver’s seat. Upon her return, she encountered the man who then fled on foot. […]

When the Ontario government announced on Tuesday afternoon that students would not be returning to schools to finish off their year it didn’t come as a surprise to school board officials in Grey-Bruce. But the news provided some clarity as they continue to work with parents, students and teachers to complete the 2019-20 school year […]

There were no new lab-test confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grey-Bruce once again Tuesday according to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. A false-positive test from Grey Gables in Markdale was removed from the data Tuesday leaving 91 confirmed cases in the region to date. Of those, 78 have now recovered and 24 have […]

Birds Canada staff will be ready to put protections around any piping plover nests at Sauble Beach as soon as the sandy shoreline is reopened to public access. Andrea Gress, the organization’s Ontario piping plover program co-ordinator, said exclosures – which are placed over nests to shield them from predators like gulls – and perimeter […]

Officials at the library in Owen Sound are gearing up to make books and other materials available for pickup, but say it will be several weeks yet before that chapter in the library’s reopening plan can begin. “Our board meeting is at the end of the month and we’ll be taking all the plans to […]

As local conservation authorities prepare to open some properties this weekend, some of the more popular ones in the region will remain closed. The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority has announced it is reopening some parks on Friday. The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority plans to open many of its properties on Saturday. But well-known Grey Sauble […]

The 2020 season opener is going to look a little different at the Varney International Speedway Saturday. Stage 1 of the Ontario government’s reopening plan allows racetracks to start their engines, but spectators must remain at home. Varney Speedway owner Gord Bennett said the track will open for a “Stage 1 test run” with additional […]

Walkerton Inquiry commissioner Dennis O’Connor remains a beloved figure in the pretty Bruce County town that was made famous for a deadly water contamination crisis 20 years ago. He immersed himself in the community from the start, and even moved into a rented house with his wife amid a boil water order, during the nine-month […]

Minor injuries were reported after a two-vehicle crash in Kincardine on Saturday. Just after 2 p.m., South Bruce OPP received a report of the crash at the intersection of Highway 21 and Concession 5. Officers arrived to find one of the vehicles in the ditch. After police investigated, a 69-year-old Scarborough resident was charged with […]

Two people have been charged with stunt driving and had their licences suspended after being stopped in Georgian Bluffs on Sunday evening. Just after 8 p.m., Grey Bruce OPP were patrolling Highway 6 when two cars were observed travelling together at a high rate of speed. Both cars were stopped by the OPP, it said […]

I fully admit to being deeply troubled by the painful rhetoric between cottagers and permanent residents across Ontario. This is one part of COVID-19 which was somewhat unexpected and from my personal perspective, challenging. You probably know of this discussion and the passion it has produced. Many rural residents and politicians across cottage country have […]

Do you know what really hurts my feelings? When my debit card won’t work. It hurts my feelings like when I am walking confidently down the street and I trip but not enough to hurt myself. I trip in the way where it just jars me a little. It is like this when I try […]

It looks very much this year as if the Lake Huron/Lake Michigan basin will break the annual high water record set in 1986. The Detroit office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published an updated water level outlook late last week that warns of high water, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. […]

Heading into the Victoria Day long weekend, South Bruce Peninsula’s mayor used yellow pavement tape from public works to create arrows on Sauble Beach’s Main Street sidewalks to encourage physical distancing over what has historically been the busy “unofficial start” to summer. “We needed to prepare for the worst,” Mayor Janice Jackson said in an […]

Walkerton continues to wear the stigma of its deadly water crisis, now 20 years old – or does it? Google searches still list information about the town’s E. coli tragedy at or near the top of results. For some, Walkerton will always be synonymous with bad water. But many local people point out there is […]

There were no active declared COVID-19 outbreaks at care facilities in Grey-Bruce by late Monday afternoon, although the Grey Bruce Health Unit was waiting for the results of follow-up testing for a staff member at Grey Gables in Markdale who had tested positive. The cumulative total of positive tests for the twin counties stood at […]

With its commercial fishing industry “devastated” by COVID-19 and unemployment on the rise, the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation has come up with a way to assist both its fishermen and community members during the pandemic. The First Nation on the Bruce Peninsula is purchasing whitefish and salmon from its fishermen and donating vacuum-sealed […]

The roaring sounds of midway rides, heavy machinery competitions and a demolition derby will not be emanating from Victoria Park as usual in the second week of September after organizers decided to cancel the 2020 Owen Sound Fall Fair due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hiliary Breadner, vice-president of the Owen Sound Agricultural Society, which puts […]

The COVID-19 outbreak at the Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home in Lion’s Head has been officially declared over. Grey-Bruce medical officer of health Dr. Ian Arra made the announcement Saturday evening, saying there has been no further transmission past the first and only positive case at the long-term care facility. “Congratulations to the Golden Dawn […]

A teenager from North Huron is in hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries after an all-terrain vehicle went into the Saugeen River north of Walkerton Saturday. Officers with the South Bruce OPP couldn’t find the ATV rider when they arrived at the river around 1:20 p.m. after receiving a report that a four-wheeler had entered the […]

There were no new lab-test confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Grey-Bruce Friday, according to the health unit’s daily situation report. The region’s total number of cases remains at 91 with 75 cases now recovered. Twenty-three cases have been reported in health-care workers throughout the region. Two long-term health care facilities remain in an outbreak. […]

Outgoing city manager Wayne Ritchie began his tenure at city hall during a period of provincial downloading in the early 2000s and is departing amid the most disruptive global pandemic for Owen Sound in generations. But during both of those challenging times – and in the years in between – Ritchie has led with a […]

While Owen Sound police have scaled back their Police Week activities this year, there is one award that they felt couldn’t wait. On Friday, Patrick Pick was presented the Chief’s Certificate of Merit award for his bravery and quick judgment after his mother experienced a medical emergency. Pick, who is a client of Community Living […]

In the past two months the Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort has served about half as many meals as they did in all of 2019. In March and April, the first two months of COVID-19 measures, OSHaRE served about 11,000 meals, half of the just over 22,000 meals served in 2019, and May is […]

Planning is now underway to chart a path back to some form of normalcy two months after the Ontario Ministry of Health directed hospitals to decrease scheduled surgical and procedural work and increase capacity for COVID-19 patients. “It’s a complex process,” said Gary Sims, Grey Bruce Health Services president and CEO. “We’ve spent the last […]

As the province begins loosening restrictions on retail stores, Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health is recommending patrons and employees of those businesses wear non-medical face coverings to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Ian Arra said masks and face coverings, when worn properly, can reduce the spread of infectious respiratory droplets and wearing them […]

All municipal beaches in Grey-Bruce have been ordered closed by the region’s medical officer of health just as the Victoria Day long weekend – normally considered the unofficial start of summer – is about to begin. Dr. Ian Arra issued the order to municipalities Thursday, with the goal of preventing short-term visitors, especially day-trippers, from […]

There were no new lab-test confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grey-Bruce Thursday, according to the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. Two long-term health care facilities remain in outbreak after at least one resident at each location tested positive for the disease, although Dr. Ian Arra, Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health, is awaiting further testing […]

Grey County plans to guarantee close to $3 million in loan funding for its portion of Phase 3 of the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT) project. With the federal and provincial governments requiring that SWIFT upfront all costs and payments to service providers before it can apply for an advance and reimbursement of project […]

A 23-year-old from Scarborough has been charged after being stopped driving at more than twice the speed limit in Northern Bruce Peninsula. Just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Grey Bruce OPP were patrolling Highway 6 north of Pike Bay Road when they stopped a white car travelling at over 160 kilometres per hour in an […]

For the first time in four days there has been a new case of COVID-19 confirmed in Grey-Bruce. The Grey Bruce Health Unit reported one new case of the virus in the 24-hour period prior to Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. It is the first confirmed case of the virus in Grey-Bruce since Saturday and just […]

Home sales in Grey-Bruce plunged in April with public health guidelines in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales in the area covered by the Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound declined just under 54 per cent in April compared to the same month a year ago. With a total of 119 units sold […]

Whether you’re working on the frontlines of a long-term care home or spending your days binge watching a staggering amount of streamed video, the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre wants your COVID-19 stories. “The role of the museum is to preserve the history of the community and our area, and we rely on the […]

Bremont Homes is moving closer to starting its planned 337-unit Telfer Creek subdivision in Owen Sound despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ground some projects in Ontario to a halt, the company’s president says. “One hundred per cent, absolutely. We have been working behind the scenes during these times making progress and getting us to […]

Owen Sound Housing Company is aiming to begin construction early this summer on its Odawa Heights development’s third phase, which will involve erecting the largest standalone building in the organization’s seven-decade history. Chair Ruth Lovell Stanners said the five-storey building, which is to include 43 “affordable” units and 16 units with market rental rates, will […]

Some Sauble Beach business owners want the public to know they’re open for business despite a push by local public officials to keep tourists at bay. The region’s medical officer of health has consulted local mayors and is considering an order closing all of Grey-Bruce’s beaches to the public in the coming days. On Monday, […]

Some Sauble Beach business owners want the public to know they’re open for business despite a push by local public officials to keep tourists at bay. The region’s medical officer of health has consulted local mayors and is considering an order closing all of Grey-Bruce’s beaches to the public in the coming days. On Monday, […]

All garbage bags will soon require a bag tag to be picked up in Owen Sound. Council voted Monday to end May 19 a temporary relaxation of the city’s mandatory bag tag policy, put in place in mid-March to encourage social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dennis Kefalas, director of public works and engineering, said […]

There were no new local cases of COVID-19 listed Tuesday in Grey Bruce Health Unit’s daily situation report. It’s the third straight day without a lab-test confirmed case of the disease in Grey-Bruce. Only two new positive cases have been identified over the past week. The region’s cumulative total of confirmed cases remains at 90, […]

A Windsor man was charged after police found more than two pounds of pot in a vehicle they stopped on May 9 in Saugeen First Nation. Police saw the marijuana in an unsealed container in plain view during a traffic stop. More searching found more dried cannabis, packaged for illegal distribution, Grey Bruce OPP said […]