Owen Sound Sun Times

A tantrum over cash-back restrictions ended with a man throwing his groceries on the store floor at Rowland’s Your Independent Grocer in Port Elgin Monday. A few days earlier another man was escorted out after lying to screening staff at the door, but then admitting to a cashier that he was just back from holiday. […]

People stood on the sidewalks clapping, waving, making any noise they could. Vehicle horns sounded and ambulance, fire truck and police sirens screamed, too. That was the scene in downtown Hanover and for most of the rest of the town at about 7 p.m. Monday as the Hanover Fire Department, Grey County Paramedics and Hanover […]

An 11th confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in Grey-Bruce Monday. It’s the second local case that points to evidence of community transmission. The woman in her 30s has been hospitalized, according to a daily situation report sent out by the Grey Bruce Health Unit. Grey-Bruce’s Medical Officer or Health Dr. Ian Arra said the […]

Two Owen Sound-based organizations that provide food to people in need have seen a spike in demand in recent weeks as the COVID-19 pandemic continues causing widespread disruptions and layoffs. The Owen Sound Salvation Army food bank, which typically serves 550 to 600 people monthly, has provided food hampers for 404 individuals in the past […]

Local police forces are preparing to enforce a provincial ban for gatherings of more than five people to help slow the spread of COVID-19. On Saturday evening, the provincial government issued a statement banning public events and social gatherings of more than five people. The measure does not apply to essential workers, child-care facilities serving […]

Georgian Bluffs is preparing to hold electronic meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The municipality will hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday to amend its procedural bylaw to permit electronic meetings during the emergency. Like municipalities across Grey-Bruce, Georgian Bluffs cancelled its meetings of council due to the pandemic. Public meetings, including one […]

Every household in Grey-Bruce will be receiving a four-page information sheet from the Grey Bruce Health Unit in the coming days, the latest initiative to come in the fight against COVID-19. “I would just advise the public to read these things,” Dr. Ian Arra said in an interview. “These things will go a long way […]

There’s evidence COVID-19 is spreading in the community in Grey-Bruce. Sunday’s daily situation report from the Grey Bruce Health Unit announced that a presumptive positive case, which was first announced Saturday, now provides “evidence of community transmission.” The case is that of a woman in her 70s. She is self-isolating at home. A second local […]

A hopeful piano melody carried through an empty church, a camera focused on a vacant lectern. Simple wishes, prayers and thanks scrolled down the side of the Facebook page of a Sunday service people couldn’t attend, given COVID-19 precautions. Some churches have turned to broadcasting their services, as has St. George’s Anglican Church in Owen […]

It’s like watching clouds gathering before a storm. In South Bruce Grey Health Centre hospitals, workers are preparing for the worst in the unfolding COVID-19 emergency by sending people home or to long-term care to free up beds, should very sick novel coronavirus patients need them. Now there’s a separate waiting area for people with […]

A Meaford-area apple producer is watching closely how the federal government and health officials regulate seasonal and foreign workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brian Gilroy, owner of Nighthawk Orchards in Meaford and a director with the Ontario Apple Growers, said growers are working hard to support the government in ensuring the food supply continues, but […]

Volatility is a normal part of farming, but in the COVID-19 pandemic, producers across all sectors are facing a challenge unlike any they have seen before. “This is a different volatility. This is the COVID-19 surprise. It is unpredictable and remarkable,” Grey County Federation of Agriculture president Hugh Simpson said Friday. “But farmers are used […]

A seventh confirmed case of COVID-19 infection was reported by the Grey Bruce Health Unit Friday, the third day in a row that a single case of the virus has been confirmed locally. The latest is a travel-related case involving a woman in her 20s. She is self-isolating. There are still no cases in long-term […]

Ontario’s $17-billion aid package announced Wednesday is the government’s first step to help as many as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, including households, businesses and the vital health care sector, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker says. “We realize that relief is needed so we came out with this,” Walker said Friday morning. “I am sure […]

Owen Sound declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic Friday. Mayor Ian Boddy declared the emergency at 9 a.m. A media release said the official declaration under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act allows the city to share resources and equipment with the province, Grey County, and lower-tier municipalities. “In a […]

A tractor trailer that was stolen from Owen Sound early Tuesday morning was found jackknifed south of the city. A man who was suspected of being the driver was located and arrested after a witness observed a person running from the stolen vehicle. At 2:46 a.m., Grey Bruce OPP and Owen Sound Police Service were […]

Two shoplifters with a taste for fine wine, whisky and champagne have hit more than 20 liquor stores in Ontario since November of 2018, including on March 7 in Owen Sound, police said Thursday. Huron OPP issued a news release about the thefts, some of which involved hitting the same LCBO location twice. The two […]

With schools closed until further notice in efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, e-learning may be the go-to option for school administrators in Grey-Bruce. Both public and English Catholic boards are about to survey parents about the availability of computers and access to high-speed Internet, the latter being a particular problem in rural areas, […]

A confirmed case of COVID-19 infection was reported Thursday by the Grey Bruce Health Unit. The female in her sixties had recently travelled outside the province and is self-isolating. There are now six confirmed cases to date in Grey-Bruce. None of the cases have been reported in long-term care facilities. There were 24 negative test […]

Livestock producers who regularly spend long hours in their fields are now practising social distancing at the auction barn as well. With the COVID-19 pandemic that has had health officials urging the public to avoid gatherings and to keep a distance from others to help slow the spread of the virus, the popular Keady Livestock […]

A call to help increase the supply of personal protection equipment at Ontario hospitals has spurred locals with access to 3D printers into action. Matt Ferguson lives in Port Elgin and bought a 3D printer for personal use. “It’s akin to how a woodworker would go out and buy a woodworking lathe. It’s a tool […]

March 26, 2020

Grey Bruce OPP have charged a 30-year-old from Meaford with aggravated assault after a stabbing during a domestic dispute. On March 24 OPP officers were dispatched to a domestic dispute at Victoria Street in Meaford where they came upon a 44-year-old male with injuries resulting from a knife stabbing. The stabbing victim was transported to […]

Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health officially ordered international travellers to self-isolate and strongly recommended against non-essential travel to-and-from Grey and Bruce Counties Thursday. Dr. Ian Arra, medical officer of health for the Grey Bruce Health Unit, officially asserted the federal requirement for all individuals returning from international travel to immediately self-isolate for 14 days when […]

A Haldimand County man has been charged after a car passed an OPP cruiser and then crashed in the Township of Chatsworth early Thursday morning. At 12:38 a.m., a red car was observed by police travelling at a high rate of speed on Highway 10, south of Grey Road 40. The car passed the OPP […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit has confirmed a fifth case of COVID-19 in Grey-Bruce. The health unit said in its situation report released late Wednesday afternoon that it had one new confirmed case in the past 24 hours, a man in his 50s. The case is travel related. The health unit also confirmed there have […]

While federal Quarantine Act restrictions for returning international travellers take effect Thursday morning, one local mayor’s wish to quarantine returning snowbirds in her municipality hit a brick wall when she learned she doesn’t have the authority. South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson said the Grey Bruce Health Unit and Dr. Ian Arra, the medical officer […]

After her son Hunter was born in 2014, Kristine Snider remembers the visitors that greeted him at the Owen Sound hospital. “His older brother was able to come in and meet him the day after he was born. And aunts and cousins and all kinds of people were stopping in,” she said. Family and friends […]

Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Alex Ruff was in Ottawa supporting his party colleagues early Wednesday morning while they took part in a marathon debate over the federal government’s new $107 billion Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The aid package was passed by a pared-down parliament before sunrise and moved through the Senate Wednesday afternoon. It’s expected to […]

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep businesses and facilities closed and people at home, some more popular outdoor spaces are now closing. Bruce County announced on Wednesday morning that it was closing all county-owned trails effective immediately. “We’re taking this measure to limit the risk of coming into close contact with other people in […]

All eight municipalities in Bruce County have declared a state of emergency, allowing them to take actions they deem necessary to protect residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Northern Bruce Peninsula, South Bruce Peninsula, Arran-Elderslie, Saugeen Shores and Kincardine on Tuesday, and Brockton, Huron Kinloss and South Bruce on Monday, have all declared a state of […]

Bruce Power has scaled back the number of people at its site by three-quarters from peak operation, while also performing only essential work on the nuclear plant’s major component replacement project, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The priority of the site is to minimize the number of employees working within the facility while maintaining […]

An Owen Sound man has been charged with arson after a fire was started in an enclosed porch of a home on the city’s east side. Just before midnight on Tuesday, a concerned citizen contacted the Owen Sound police about a suspicious man knocking on doors in a neighbourhood on the city’s east side. Police […]

South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson declared a state of emergency Tuesday and may use it to quarantine snowbirds returning to Sauble Beach, who she’s repeatedly said in some cases are flouting COVID-19 public health directives to stay home. In neighbouring Northern Bruce Peninsula, Mayor Milt McIver declared an emergency Tuesday too and was to […]

Ontario is ditching time-of-use electricity pricing for at least 45 days as more people are asked to stay at home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Tuesday alongside Energy Minister Greg Rickford and Associate Energy Minister Bill Walker. Farms and small businesses are eligible for reduced pricing as well. The […]

Sales at the weekly Owen Sound Farmers’ Market are a main source of income for a lot of the local growers, producers, bakers and artisans who bring their products to the Saturday events, says co-manager Richard Thomas. So the decision to indefinitely close the market – perhaps for the first time ever – because of […]

The evolving and unpredictable COVID-19 situation can exacerbate stress, anxiety and depression, according to local mental health agencies, which are continuing to offer counselling and other services via telephone and online. Phil Dodd, executive director at Keystone Child, Youth and Family Services, said the mental health of young people, parents and others in the community […]

Phone trouble experienced by the Grey Bruce Health Unit in Owen Sound is at minimum an “inconvenience,” spokesman Drew Ferguson said Tuesday. The health unit is spearheading the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic and among the services affected has been the dedicated helpline used by health care workers, people who’ve visited assessment centres and […]

Local service groups and businesses are working together to help deliver groceries and medicine to people who are in isolation or unable to access necessities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Strict measures put in place by the provincial government to slow the spread of the virus have made a trip to the grocery store difficult or […]

For Meaford’s Mason Dobie, the road to the national stage has been short. The lanky infielder didn’t play organized ball until he was nine years old. At 17, he was named to Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team’s spring training squad. Before Major League Baseball suspended its operations in mid-March, Dobie was lining up against players […]

Monday evening, the Canadian Hockey League made the unprecedented decision to cancel the Memorial Cup tournament, set for May 22-31 in Kelowna, B.C. It’s the first time in the trophy’s 102-year history that it will not be awarded. The CHL playoffs have been scrapped too and with it the Owen Sound Attack’s 10th-consecutive playoff performance. […]

On a day Grey-Bruce learned of a fourth local confirmed case of COVID-19, Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health Ian Arra said he expects more cases to come, and while he remains “concerned,” the “sky is not falling.” By 10:30 a.m. Monday, a fourth case of COVID-19 in Grey-Bruce was confirmed by the Grey Bruce Health […]

A 63-year-old Owen Sound woman died at the scene of a fire in her eastside home Saturday night. City police issued a news release Monday identifying the victim as Deborah Hood after a criminal and Office of the Fire Marshal investigation. The cause of the fire is not considered suspicious, police said. Emergency responders arrived […]

Municipal officials in Grey-Bruce are discussing their next steps after the province granted councils the ability to hold meetings electronically during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Several local councils are planning to meet remotely over the next week to consider amending their own procedural bylaws to permit the electronic meetings during declared emergencies. Owen Sound […]

In what’s being called a proactive move, both Grey and Bruce counties reached out to the public over the weekend asking for help finding personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline emergency service and healthcare workers. Required supplies include N95 masks, nitrile gloves, disposable impermeable gowns, general surgical masks, and hand sanitizer and disinfectant with a […]

Northern Bruce Peninsula officials are asking people to put off visiting the municipality for the next several weeks and visitors currently in the area to make plans to return home. “This recommendation is temporary only – just as the COVID-19 pandemic is – and we look forward to welcoming everyone back again soon,” Mayor Milt […]

West Grey declared a state of emergency Monday in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “The spread of COVID-19 and the safety of our residents remains our top priority,” Mayor Christine Robinson said in a media release. “West Grey is joining with several other municipalities to declare a state of emergency to signal the seriousness […]

Harrison Park and some homes in Owen Sound will be without water Tuesday while planned water system work goes ahead as part of the Inglis Falls Road reconstruction. Water will be shut off for certain city residents starting Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m., and restored at 2 p.m. for some residents and 6 p.m. for […]

Sweetpea owner Tessa Snider says online orders will now be the “lifeblood” of her downtown Owen Sound business until she’s able to reopen the shop’s doors. Like many merchants, Snider has shuttered her store indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused widespread disruptions and prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to again urge Canadians […]

A 21-year-old Meaford driver has been charged with failing to stop for a red light after a two-vehicle collision in Owen Sound. An investigation revealed that the driver of a vehicle travelling east on 16th Street East failed to stop for a red light and struck a vehicle that was turning westbound onto 16th Street […]