Owen Sound Sun Times

Two provincial government ministries are looking into a suspected quarry blast north of Wiarton that registered a 1.9-magnitude reading on Natural Resources Canada seismographs Friday afternoon. Jolanta Kowalski, spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry, said pit or quarry licence holders are required under Ontario’s Aggregate Resources Act to monitor all blasts and […]

A 27-year-old man has been charged in the incident in Tara that closed a portion of the main street on Tuesday. Bradley Caskanette of Arran-Elderslie has been charged with uttering threats to a person and uttering threats to property. He was held in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for today. The threats were directed […]

Chatsworth Township has now applied for federal-provincial funding, chosen a site and endorsed draft conceptual drawings for its proposal to build a $15 million multi-use community hub with ice surface, walking track, community hall and other spaces. A committee has also begun fundraising for the project and the township has received two donations of land […]

Dudas hits the ice with Team Canada Aidan Dudas practiced with the Canadian team for the first time Monday after being held out of the national junior club’s selection camp last week with an injury to his hand. Dudas suffered the injury Nov. 29 in a game against the Kitchener Rangers and missed the Owen […]

It’s starting to look like a two-team race in the Bluewater Athletic Association’s senior boys basketball North Division. The Georgian Bay Thunder topped the OSDSS Wolves 74-37 Wednesday in Owen Sound to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Wolves fell to 0-4. Georgian Bay’s aggressive point-of-attack defence and quick-strike offence proved to be a […]

The St. Mary’s Catholic Church parish is proposing to demolish the church’s 148-year-old rectory – an Ontario Heritage Act-designated building – and construct in its place a new, accessible building that complements the Owen Sound property’s other structures. The plan has received “overwhelming support” from St. Mary’s & the Missions parishioners, the parish says, while […]

Online personal health results and reports can now be made available to Grey Bruce Health Services patients through the online tool MyChart. The system was developed by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is used by more than 40 hospitals in Ontario, GBHS said in a news release. Tests done in any participating hospital will be […]

South Bruce OPP ended a “high risk situation” along Yonge Street in Tara Tuesday morning after taking a male into custody. Traffic resumed along Tara’s main street before noon after police descended on the community and blocked Yonge Street. Residents said police had a house surrounded for hours. The initial police news release said South […]

Police have closed off streets in the Tara area due to “a high risk situation along Yonge Street.” South Bruce OPP were called to the incident just after 5 a.m. on Tuesday, and police have initiated road closures around the residence in the interest of public safety, it said in a news release from police. […]

Natural Resources Canada officials say they believe a quarry blast north of Wiarton – and not an earthquake – was detected by seismographs Friday afternoon. Initially, the reading was listed on the agency’s EarthquakesCanada website as being from a 2.1-magnitude quake with a centre about 15 kilometres north of Wiarton near Hope Bay. It has […]

BROOMBALL Sollazzo & Bridge double up Wiarton walloped the Ruff Ryders 5-0 in Grey Bruce Ladies Broomball League action Sunday night in Desboro. Kayla Sollazzo and Katie Bridge each had two goals while Kyrah Wesley added the extra Wiarton tally. Bees shut out Diggers 5-0 The Goal Diggers needed to dig a little deeper Sunday […]

One of the common traditions in the Christmas season is that of the nativity scene, or creche. You will see them outdoors, often in front of churches. There is one in the displays of the Festival of Northern Lights in Owen Sound. I had one on my front lawn when I moved to Owen Sound. […]

The Saugeen Track and Field Club (STFC) held their annual awards night last week at the Saugeen Golf Club. Team of the year went to the STFC midget (under-16) team that won the Ontario Outdoor Track and Field Championships while competing against over 100 clubs across the province. The team consisted of Brooklyn Quanz, Claire […]

The building that once housed The Rusty Gull restaurant on the west side of Owen Sound Bay is no more. The former restaurant, which has sat vacant for more than a decade, is being torn down, with plans to redevelop the site overlooking the bay and the Georgian Shores Marina. On Monday morning, workers with […]

Firefighters are among Santa’s biggest helpers this time of year. Owen Sound firefighters provide a bag of toys to more than 400 Owen Sound kids every year, thanks mainly to donations from people and businesses. Firefighters at the Inter Township Fire Department serve about 80 kids in Georgian Bluffs and the former Sydenham, not counting […]

A Guelph man has been identified by police as the person who died in a crash in Arran-Elderslie on the weekend. Paul Karn, 57, was pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash on Concession 10 East in the former Arran Township on Saturday morning. South Bruce OPP received the report of the crash […]

The Owen Sound Attack’s northern road swing was a coming-of-age for a quartet of rookies. Sam Sedley scored his first career goal Friday against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Kaleb Lawrence followed the act Saturday against Sudbury while Nick Chenard posted his first-career shut out. Then on Sunday afternoon Josh Samanski’s first OHL goal proved […]

South Bruce Peninsula’s legal counsel is expecting the town’s appeal of two Provincial Offences court convictions that its beach work in 2017 violated the Endangered Species Act by damaging piping plover habitat will be heard in the spring. Lawyer James Renihan said the town believes the sentence for those guilty verdicts, handed down last week […]

One of the most noteworthy recommendations in a draft updated master plan for Owen Sound’s Greenwood Cemetery is to establish a dedicated area for natural burials. The document, to be presented for public feedback Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at city hall during a community services committee meeting, says a natural burial is a “preferred option” […]

Byron and Maria Ballagh say singing in a choir is good for the soul. “You can’t worry and sing at the same time – it doesn’t go together,” Byron said. Added Maria, “It’s the unity of it. You come together and when it locks as one voice, there’s no better feeling. It’s pretty amazing.” And […]

Just when you think the Owen Sound Attack are down-and-out they turn in a 4-0 shutout performance against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Owen Sound rode a three-game losing streak into the Sudbury Community Arena Saturday night – hurt and shorthanded – and still managed to dominate the Wolves (minus star […]

Natural Resources Canada says a 2.1-magnitude earthquake was recorded about 14.1 kilometres north of Wiarton, near Hope Bay. The agency’s seismographs measured the quake at 5:19 p.m. Friday. Natural Resources Canada says earthquakes with a magnitude of less than 3.5 on the Richter scale are recorded on local seismographs, but are generally not felt. Some […]

One person is dead following a fatal single-vehicle crash in Arran-Elderslie. Officers with the South Bruce OPP were called to the collision on Concession 10 East in the former Arran Township Saturday at about 6:45 a.m. They arrived to find a vehicle had left the road and came to a rest in a ditch, according […]

A sloppy night in the Soo resulted in Owen Sound dropping their third-straight contest as the surging Greyhounds topped the Attack 4-2 in a penalty-filled affair Friday night. Seventeen minor penalties were called in the game including an even 10 against Owen Sound. Honeywood’s Zack Trott led the way for the Dogs with a pair […]

Alex Ruff hopes Conservative party brass will get on with the job of picking the next leader because in a minority Parliament, there’s no time to waste. Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound’s new Conservative MP said by phone Friday afternoon he’d just spoken with a member of the Conservatives’ national council to urge them “not to sit on […]

A footnote to last week’s column – on a cold, stormy day I read David McCullough’s The Johnstown Flood: The Incredible Story Behind One of the Most Devastating Disasters America Has Ever Known (Simon & Schuster, $23). Published 50 years ago, it was a reminder that I once lectured in that town. While teaching at […]

More than 300 people packed the Meaford Community Centre Wednesday to hear about a TC Energy proposal for a pumped storage energy facility at the Meaford military training centre. The meetingincluded two presentations, one from the Department of National Defence (DND) and another from TC Energy, followed by questions from the audience. The company is […]

Owen Sound’s operations committee is advising council to boost the cost of garbage bag tags by 25 cents to $2.75, despite a staff recommendation to not consider the increase for 2020. Dennis Kefalas, director of public works and engineering, said the committee is making the recommendation to achieve essentially a full user-pay system for residential […]

An agreement between the city fire department and the Inter Township Fire Department in place while the 10th Street bridge is out hit a snag Thursday. The union representing city firefighters made a health and safety complaint about parking a city pumper truck in the Inter Township station Monday. As of Thursday, a city pumper […]

While saying he’s “not fully satisfied with the outcome,” a justice of the peace has accepted a joint sentencing submission ordering South Bruce Peninsula to pay $100,000 to Birds Canada to assist with the protection or recovery of endangered piping plovers. The order by JP Charles Anderson Thursday in Provincial Offences court in Owen Sound […]

Kathryn Plastino is a longtime General Motors employee, but not in the way you might expect. Instead of years spent on the assembly line in an auto plant, Plastino has spent her 16-year career working on what is perpetually the next big innovation in personal vehicles. Plastino, 40, graduated from McMaster University with a degree […]

Natashia Mierkalns has to move fast on the job. Wiring electronics for a video module, or installing sensors, she is always moving and training, learning new skills to keep pace with technology on the job, she says. Mierkalns is a 21st century auto worker, and we can forget those old clichés about auto workers doing low-skilled, […]

The automobile redefined life in the 20th century, but the vehicle of the future will likely embed itself even deeper into our daily lives. Electric, connected and increasingly autonomous, the future car is following a similar developmental path to the smartphone in its evolution into a powerful, rolling computer gathering information and changing forever how […]

The St. Mary’s Mustangs topped the Saugeen District Royals 9-0 at the Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre Wednesday to move to 3-0 in the Bluewater Athletic Association varsity girls hockey standings. Despite the nine-spot on the scoreboard, the Royals goaltender was one of the best players on the ice. Emma Nason was pelleted with pucks […]

Owen Sound has issued a building permit for a proposed new TownePlace Suites by Marriott hotel, further boosting what has become a banner year for construction values in the city. The combined $13-million value of the six-storey, 100-room hotel and adjacent commercial building has put the year-to-date total construction value for projects issued permits by […]

An independent investigator has found Bruce County held improper closed-door meetings, at least some of which concerned a former church rectory that a local heritage group is trying to protect from possible demolition by the county. Amberley Gavel Ltd. investigated five closed-door meetings of the county museum committee between May 2018 and January 2019 and […]

The owner of an average home in Owen Sound will pay about $60 more in property taxes next year if city council gives final approval in January to its revised draft budget for 2020. The proposed spending plan contained a 1.87 per cent levy increase, which will drop to 1.6 per cent after factoring in […]

City council is sending Owen Sound police’s draft 2020 budget back to the service’s board for a second look, after several councillors expressed concern about the spending plan’s proposed increase. Coun. Richard Thomas, who introduced the motion during budget deliberations Wednesday at city hall, said the proposed 2.4 per cent hike – which would increase […]

A transit system throughout Grey County could see routes linking Owen Sound to Wiarton, The Blue Mountains and Orangeville beginning sometime in 2020. Grey County, in partnership with Southgate, is developing the Grey Transit Route, which will also provide student transportation to and from the Launch Pad youth activity and technology centre in Hanover. “In […]

A multi-million-dollar project to reconstruct a portion of Inglis Falls Road will begin in the new year. Georgian Bluffs Mayor Dwight Burley said Wednesday that it is imperative that they immediately get started on the road work due to the environmental sensitivity of the area. “We have got limited time in sense of birds coming […]

Nearly a year removed from slamming into the end boards feet first at the Bayshore and fracturing his ankle Pavel Gogolev returned and carried his team to a 4-3 victory over the Owen Sound Attack Tuesday night. The Russian native spoiled Scott Walker Night as the Attack honoured the former Platers d-man before puck drop. […]

The area’s unemployment rate dropped in November to 2.4 per cent, the lowest level in at least the past 19 years. Gemma Mendez-Smith, executive director of the Four County Labour Market Planning Board, said this is only the third time since January 2001 – the earliest available Statistics Canada data for this region – that […]

While renovations are underway to make room for the Owen Sound hospital’s new MRI machine, the fundraising campaign to purchase and install the state-of-the-art system has now crossed the $3.5 million mark. “I would say we’re in the final stretch,” Amy McKinnon, executive director of the Owen Sound Regional Hospital Foundation, said of the $4.7-million […]

The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks announced plans Tuesday to honour Port Elgin’s junior hockey history during an upcoming game. The Winterhawks will pay tribute to the Port Elgin Bears during their Dec. 28 game against the Elora Rocks by wearing throwback gold-and-black Bears jerseys. The Bears competed in the Central Junior C Hockey League and later […]

Harvest season is over for local outdoor cannabis growers, who will now get to see how their crops fare against each other at the BS Fall Fair. Organizers of the Wiarton Bongspiel cannabis curling event – which returns for a second year on Jan. 18 – are expanding their program to include an outdoor growing […]

A Georgian Bluffs man has been charged after a report of a truck tire hitting the front porch of a residence in Walkerton. Just before 10 p.m. on Monday, south Bruce OPP received the report of a tire hitting the residence in the 700 block of Durham Street East. Police located the pick-up truck and […]

Walk into a hockey rink and take in the banners. From faded championship banners hanging off wooden rafters in community ice chapels to the waves of retired numbers and honoured names that colour the ceilings of multi-million dollar venues. They are an honour bestowed to few and reserved for players and teams with a story […]

The local Mission Zimbabwe Project is now accepting applications to send its 14th team to the southern African country to do volunteer work at the Village of Hope and Vimbainesu Children’s Home. The team is tentatively set to head to Zimbabwe on May 7 and return on May 23. The Mission Zimbabwe Project started in […]

Representatives from TC Energy, which proposes to pump water out of Georgian Bay, store it in a reservoir, then return it via a power generation station to make electricity when it’s needed, will answer questions and gather feedback about the project Wednesday in Meaford. A community information session will take place at the Meaford and […]