NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Aylmer mayor, deputy seek return of police to schools

May 24, 2023 | 0 Comments

Aylmer Mayor Jack Couckuyt and Deputy Mayor Pete Barbour want to see police return to routine visits to local schools. At a town council meeting Wednesday, May 17, Deputy Mayor Barbour said Thames Valley District School Board had, since before the COVID-19 pandemic began, denied access to police to deliver safety messages and programming to…

More calls for roundabout

May 24, 2023 | 1 Comment

Malahide councillors continue to demand that Elgin replace the current crash-prone intersection of county-owned Imperial Line and Ron McNeil Road with a traffic roundabout. At a meeting Thursday, May 18, Councillor Rick Cerna said yet another crash had occurred two days earlier at the intersection, the fourth or fifth since January. He suggested Malahide pressure…

Celebrating 75 years of “Optimism”

May 17, 2023 | 0 Comments

Aylmer Optimist Club held a banquet and danced to live music as members and guests celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the club on Saturday, May 13, at Saxonia Hall. “It turned out really well,” President Linda Stewart said the following day. “It was nice to have the bigwigs there,” including Aylmer Mayor…

“Resounding no” to EESS changes

May 17, 2023 | 0 Comments

East Elgin Secondary School will send a “resounding no” to proposed changes to the boundaries of East Elgin Secondary School. A planning committee made up of local representatives held a second public hearing on the proposal at EESS on Monday, May 15, but the report it initially filed with Thames Valley District School Board will…

Beach Patties re-opens after roof ripped off former site

May 5, 2023 | 0 Comments

Beach Patties, a Caribbean/breakfast restaurant in Port Burwell, has reopened at 29 Wellington St. after a severe winter storm blew the roof off its former home at 34 Robinson St. just before Christmas. Lisa Partap and Jon Staples are the owners of the restaurant, with Lisa’s mother Joan Partap providing the cooking expertise in the…

Doctor calls for more provincial funding for staff

May 5, 2023 | 0 Comments

Family physicians need more support from other health-care and office professionals to cope with a growing shortage of doctors in Ontario, Dr. Kellie Scott of St. Thomas says, as well as modernized electronic systems for referring patients to specialists and other health care services. She’s been practising in St. Thomas for 17 years, explaining she…

Size matters in electric vehicle supply chain

April 26, 2023 | 0 Comments

The dimensions of the Volkswagen electric vehicle (EV) battery cell “gigafactory” to be completed in St. Thomas by 2027 were measured in proud grins, remarkable facts and patriotic rhetoric at the official project launch on Friday, April 21. “What a day. What a month. What a place to be,” said St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston,…

Ground broken for new school

April 26, 2023 | 0 Comments

Mount Salem Christian School, after 35 years of renting space for classes from Mount Salem Community Church, broke ground for a new $9.1-million building of its own on Saturday, April 22. “It’s time for this 35-year-old to move out of its parents’ basement,” former Principal Lena Wiebe told about 200 spectators who attended the groundbreaking…

Missing man found

April 21, 2023 | 0 Comments

Elgin Ontario Provincial Police reported Monday night, April 24, that a missing Malahide man, 18, had been found.  

Two injured in home invasion

April 20, 2023 | 0 Comments

Elgin Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a “home invasion” that left two residents injured at a house on Nova Scotia Line in Malahide on Tuesday, April 18, at about 6:25 p.m. Four unknown persons forced their way into the home and stole cash and other items. Two residents were home at the time., and both…

Dogs get a spring cleaning

April 15, 2023 | 0 Comments

Nikola Vaessen, left, and Aniela Becerla Caceres of Port Stanley and District Leos gave a reluctant dog a wash during a fundraiser at the Pet Valu store in St. Thomas on Saturday, April 15. The Leos were raising money to train dog guides for the blind, and also plan a fundraising walk for the same…

Bayham okays reduced scope for community centre improvements

April 12, 2023 | 0 Comments

Bayham councillors, in a split 3-2 vote on Thursday, April 6, approved proceeding with improvements to the Straffordville Community Centre at a cost of $2.3-million, but that doesn’t include a $200,000 contingency fund included in the original estimates for the work. The original expected cost of the improvements, both inside and outside the community centre,…