Owen Sound Sun Times

Ryan Preece visited a job fair in Owen Sound Thursday with hopes of finding more than just a job. He said he moved to Owen Sound from Kitchener because houses were cheaper by half two years ago. But COVID-19 concerns these past two years limited his job search. He has a job in security and […]

Fire caused extensive damage to electrical equipment in the main electrical room of the former Tenneco factory building Wednesday night but no one was hurt. The building, at 1800 17th St. E. in Owen Sound, is partially occupied by the green hydrogen research and development firm Hydrogen Optimized. Thursday morning the company said in a […]

Fire bowl, roasting spit, chiminea, backyard pit . . . Meaford will let you start a fire, but with a permit ensuring residents are safe while backyard burning. At a March 14 meeting, Meaford’s committee of the whole recommended council enact a new bylaw regulating all open-air burning in the municipality including small backyard fires. […]

The Putt ‘n Paddle, a Harrison Park landmark for years, will be upgraded over the life of a new lease agreement endorsed by city council Monday night. The miniature golf, paddle boat and canoe rental business has been operated by Chase, Roger and Cathy Amyot for years. The new 10-year agreement follows the their previous […]

The Grey County Kiwanis Festival of Music is back in a virtual format for a second straight year as it celebrates its 90th anniversary. Approximately 200 local children and youth have registered for this year’s festival, which will be adjudicated this year from April 4 to 14. The event will be capped off again with […]

For the first time in over three decades, a new MPP for the riding of Simcoe-Grey will be elected on June 2. Longtime Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson announced he would not seek re-election in 2022 after serving as the area’s representative since 1990. The former senior cabinet minister was dismissed from the Progressive Conservative caucus […]

City council on Monday directed staff to begin stakeholder consultations for a municipal accommodation tax in Owen Sound. A report to the city’s community development, tourism and culture advisory committee on March 11, containing the recommendation to start consultations council endorsed, aims to introduce the tax on Jan. 1, 2024. A four per cent tourist […]

Consultants hired to provide an independent review of Owen Sound’s service delivery and staffing to find budget savings introduced themselves to city council Monday. By September, the consultancy MNP is to make final recommendations. “It’s not cookie-cutter,” consultant Steve Luckie told councillors during a virtual visit. The report will be “bespoke to the city of […]

A new deal that includes plans for $10-per-day child care in Ontario is being welcomed in Grey-Bruce, but there are concerns locally the program may not be able to live up to its full potential due to staff shortages in the sector. On Monday, the provincial and federal governments signed an agreement that is to […]

Owen Sound will vote by Internet and telephone again in the October municipal and school board elections. The voting will start Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. and run through election day, Monday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. Voters have a website, www.voterlookup.ca, where they can confirm or update their voter information, including their school board […]

Dozens of dead and dying ash trees have been taken down at St. George’s Park along 10th Street East this week, with plans to rehabilitate the area with native plant species. Lands and Forest Consulting, the city’s contractor for the job, began work on Monday to remove 134 ash trees that are dead and diseased […]

City council voted 7-2 in favour of gathering more information about a proposed artificial turf field and 1/3-field dome at Victoria Park. But councillors were wary of taking on new financial obligations and made it clear the project ultimately could be turned down. The cost for such a facility expected to be in the range […]

Owen Sound council has awarded a new five-year transit service contract which maintains existing bus routes with half-hour service for the first year. But the new contract also allows for possible extended evening service using an on-demand transit model, and other modifications if deemed desirable. Voyago’s bid was the lowest of three, coming in $186,760 […]

Owen Sound city council pay and expenses were provided in a report to council Monday. Mayor Ian Boddy was paid the most, $56,760.26 in salary and per diems, and claimed $289.32 in expenses. Councillors Travis Dodd, Scott Greig, Brock Hamley, Marion Koepke, Carol Merton and Richard Thomas were paid $25,051.60 in salary and per diems, […]

The Bluewater District School Board hopes to learn in the coming weeks if a request to add to a planned new school in Markdale will be accepted by the province. Earlier this year, the board sent a letter to the Ministry of Education requesting an increase in project scope for the replacement of Beavercrest Community […]

The Grey Bruce Health Unit’s board of health has approved a budget that will not require an increase in funding from Grey and Bruce counties. It is the fourth year in a row where the costs to the counties have remained unchanged. “Management has done a fantastic job of building a budget that is both […]

Poor weather and sticky snowdrifts delayed the Owen Sound Attack and Sarnia Sting’s Sunday matinee, but when the Scenic City skaters got in from the snow and out on the ice they once again took it to their buzzing buddies. The Owen Sound Attack topped the Sting 5-3 inside the Progressive Auto Sales Arena Sunday […]

Illegal drugs and property estimated to be worth more than $122,000 was seized in searches of properties in Grey and Bruce counties including Owen Sound, as well as in Barrie, on Thursday. A 60-year-old Barrie resident was charged in relation to the searches conducted by various branches of the OPP, Owen Sound police and Barrie […]

A West Grey man has been charged after police seized a loaded handgun and sawed-off shotgun near Hanover. A search warrant was executed at a property in West Grey on Friday after Hanover police investigated an anonymous complaint about a suspicious pickup truck on March 22. Officers from the Hanover Police Service with the assistance […]

The Owen Sound Junior Attack under-10 team earned a berth into the OMHA Championship with a 6-1 win in a third-place play-in game over the Oakville Rangers Saturday. The Jr. Attack fell 6-2 against Centre Wellington earlier Saturday in Tri-County Minor Hockey League Smith Division (Single-A) playoff semifinal action and needed the play-in victory to […]

Nineteen years after winning the 50+ Division at the Ontario Senior Games in Georgetown the Owen Sound Flounders defended their title at an invitational tournament – this time in the 65+ circuit. And the Flounders landed gold again. The Games took place in Peterborough on March 21 and 22. The Flounders put together a team […]

Gelja Sheardown was brought to tears by the number of local lives lost due to opioid overdoses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic just over two years ago. “Forty-eight. I didn’t realize it has been that many. That is a lot,” Sheardown said after hearing the number of Grey-Bruce residents whose deaths had been […]

Nobody wants to be a part of the Owen Sound Attack team that fails to win 30 games in the regular season and snaps a streak dating back to the 2010-11 championship season. Thanks to a 4-1 win over the Sarnia Sting Saturday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in front of the […]

While his salary is down from the previous year, Grey-Bruce Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ian Arra is once again the highest paid public sector employee in Grey-Bruce for 2021. Arra topped the list locally with a salary of $514,572 last year, down from his 2020 salary of $631,510. In 2019, […]

The London Knights put the scorching hot Owen Sound Attack on ice inside the Budweiser Gardens Friday night. Amid a league-best 13 game point streak, the Owen Sound Attack faced down their nemesis. The inescapable agent of the Attack’s downfall this season, the unbeatable dastardly Knights, improved to a perfect 9-0 on the season against […]

Summit Place’s long-term care residence in Owen Sound will move to a new building licensed for 129 beds, nine more than it has now, within five years, Revera Inc. spokesman Larry Roberts said Friday. “We’ll be building a new building in a new location,” Roberts confirmed in an interview after the announcement Friday at the […]

Two area co-operatives plan to go to their members for a vote on a proposal to amalgamate. The boards of directors for the Huron Bay Co-operative Inc. and Wellington Co-operative Services are making a recommendation to their farmer owners to blend the two co-ops. There will be a special meeting on April 7 at 7:30 […]

St. Anthony’s School in Kincardine is getting an eight-classroom addition and a four-room child-care centre addition. The province announced this week it was providing more than $13 million for the project as part of its capital program to provide better learning spaces. The project will create 190 elementary student spaces, 78 child-care spaces, four child-care […]

Two Owen Sound Ice Hawks clubs soared to gold medal performances at the 41st Toronto Leaside March Break Madness tournament earlier this month. The Owen Sound Ice Hawks under-11 B club and the Owen Sound Ice Hawks under-15 B team both earned the top spot in their brackets at the annual tournament. The under-11 Ice […]

A detailed look at who’s getting help with home heating costs through United Way-distributed subsidies shows most people use them as a temporary measure, for two years or less on average. The “majority of clients are not long-term recipients of energy support payments,” the statistical report prepared for the United Way by former board member […]

Grey County plans to use increased provincial funding for its Homelessness Prevention Program towards emergency housing in the area, a need which has increased considerably over the past year. During Grey County’s committee of the whole meeting, the county’s housing manager Josh Gibson provided an update on the program’s 2022-23 investment plan, which saw the […]

Grey County council has made the decision to move ahead with a Rockwood Terrace long-term care redevelopment project in Durham that now has an estimated pricetag of $108.5 million. On Thursday, council voted in favour of a project that includes the redevelopment of a new 128-bed long-term care home, along with retail and commercial space […]

Saugeen Shores police said officers arrested a man at gunpoint after a fleeing driver collided with at least two police cars in a bid to get away early Wednesday morning. Police received a report of a suspicious vehicle in the Amanda’s Way area of Port Elgin about 3:48 a.m., a police news release said. Police […]

There’s a new virtual urgent-care option designed for people who need to see a doctor but whose condition is not so serious that they need to wait in an emergency department in person. By seeing qualifying patients virtually, doctors should ease the load on Grey-Bruce’s 10 emergency departments, and wait times for ER patients should […]

Liberals in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound are set to confirm Grey County Warden Selwyn Hicks as their candidate in the June 2 provincial election. A virtual nomination meeting is scheduled to take place Thursday night, where Hicks will be acclaimed, riding association president Peggy Hutchison confirmed Wednesday. Hicks said in an interview his decision to run was […]

A consultant hired to look into an artificial turf field and dome has identified Victoria Park as a preferred site, with the cost for such a facility expected to be in the range of $2.2 to $2.6 million. Michael Cleland of RC Strategies and Owen Sound’s director of community services, Pam Coulter, presented a report […]

The story of John “Daddy” Hall has made it to prime time, a place the former Owen Sound resident has long deserved to be according to the director of a new four-part documentary series airing on national television. Hall’s story is set to air on Friday at 9 p.m. on Global TV as part of […]

It won’t be long before bowlers compete in the Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser — in person at any of three area bowling alleys, in an online bowling game or at home. Money raised in the 42nd annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Grey Bruce event will support youth mentoring programs which are offered to local […]

Nick Chenard’s nickname is “Ricky” but it could be calamine the way he’s able to effectively take the Sting out of Sarnia’s game. Chenard made all 28 saves Tuesday night at the Bayshore to shut out the Sting for the second time this season as the Attack extended their point streak to 13 games with […]

Sometime in April the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library will loan wireless hot-spot sticks, which provide free Internet access, to library members. Ten devices that plug in to personal devices to access the Internet will be available to be borrowed. Details will be provided in the library’s April newsletter, which will invite […]

The new owner of the former eastside RCA lands in Owen Sound wants to “get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible” to build more than 700 rental apartment units with views of the bay. SkyDev, part of the Guelph-based Skyline Group of Companies, purchased the 37.7-acre site at 3195 East Bayshore Road in […]

A Chesley man has won second prize in a recent Lotto 6/49 draw, which netted him a prize of $104,529.20. Philip Jackman, 55, won the prize in the Jan. 26 draw and said he was shocked when he realized he had won. “I couldn’t believe it,” Jackman said in a release from the OLG. “It […]

Eleven pieces of art inspired by the stories of local seniors are now on display at Bonfire on Queen in Paisley after an official gallery opening Saturday afternoon. The Arran-Elderslie Youth organization created the Building Bridges gallery as an offshoot of its podcast series AE Archives. The 11-show podcast series shares the stories of local […]

The Meaford Public Library is now selling used books at its downtown location in support of Ukraine. All proceeds from the by-donation sale of used books will be forwarded to the Canadian Red Cross in support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. Russian forces began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Since then, […]

Owen Sound’s new Sound Waterfront Festival has received $25,000 from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund. The festival will take place Thursday, June 30 through Sunday, July 3 and will combine the former Harbourfest with Canada Day events and will take place between Kelso Beach at Nawash Park and Owen Sound Visitor Centre. There’ll be arts […]

Owen Sound has welcomed back former city employee Mike Crone, who on Monday assumed the position of acting director of public works and engineering. Crone replaces Dennis Kefalas, who has retired and who performed the director’s role since 2018, a city news release said. Crone and his wife, Betty, have lived in Owen Sound since […]

Grey-Bruce’s hot housing market continued with a new sales record for February. A total of 216 units were sold in the region last month, which is up two sales from the previous record month of a year ago, according to the most recent statistics of the Realtors Association of Grey Bruce Owen Sound. Home sales […]

Lady luck has smiled upon the Owen Sound Lacrosse Club. Owen Sound won the Major Series Lacrosse draft lottery and selected offensive dynamo Thomas McConvey with the first-overall pick Sunday afternoon. McConvey is a senior on the University of Vermont’s men’s field lacrosse team where he currently has 21 goals and seven assists in nine […]

Hundreds of people celebrated the first day of spring at the Regal Point Elk Farm near Wiarton witth the return of Maple Magic. The Rotary Club of Wiarton’s Family Festival and Breakfast featuring the elk farm’s fresh maple syrup was on tap again after two years on the shelf amid worsening waves of the COVID-19 […]

Spring is in the air and there is an undeniable swagger surrounding the Owen Sound Attack as they completed a weekend sweep of the Erie Otters with a decisive 5-1 victory Sunday afternoon in front of 2,300 fans at the Bayshore. To put it bluntly, the Attack bullied the Otters for 60 minutes and sullied […]