News
CCCA cancels Maple Syrup Festival
Catfish Creek Conservation Authority on Wednesday, Feb. 23, formally announced the cancellation of its annual Springwater Maple Syrup Festival for 2022. In a statement, the authority said that faced with uncertainties around COVID-19 and logistical issues, both the festival and the usual accompanying maple syrup sales would not be offered this year. The festival has…
Read MoreBuses cancelled but schools remain open
Bus routes in Elgin County were cancelled Wednesday morning, Feb. 23, due to freezing rain but schools remain open. At a Thames Valley District School Board meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 22, Elgin-St. Thomas Trustee Meagan Ruddock said she was sure other trustees had also received many emails from parents who were upset and frustrated by…
Read MorePort Bruce roads slowly re-opening
Malahide Township issued a statement on Friday afternoon, Feb. 18, at 3:43 p.m. announcing that road access to Port Bruce was slowly re-opening. Floodwater from Catfish Creek was receding, and public works crews were removing large chunks of ice and other debris obstructing roads. “Residents are advised to utilize strict caution if and when returning…
Read MoreDown to four institutional outbreaks
Southwestern Public Health on Friday, Feb. 18, reported that 55 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed over the previous two days, or an average of 27.5 daily, in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit declined to 331 Friday from 343 Wednesday. Only four of 34…
Read MorePort Bruce flooding update
Water levels remain high in Port Bruce on Friday morning, Feb. 18, after Catfish Creek flooded the community the previous afternoon. Malahide Administrator Adam Betteridge said entry points to the village remain closed to non-essential visitors. Anyone requiring temporary shelter could find it Sommerfeld Church in Mount Salem. A handful of Port Bruce residents spent…
Read MoreEquipment fire at Terrace Lodge long-term care home, no one hurt
Elgin County, in a statement on Thursday night, Feb. 17, reported that a fire involving construction equipment at Terrace Lodge long-term care home in Malahide, just east of Aylmer, had been extinguished with no injuries to residents or staff. Residents of the lower north wing were relocated within Terrace Lodge as a precaution when the…
Read MoreExtreme flooding in Port Bruce
A home on tall stilts at North Erie Marina in Port Bruce was only a foot or two from the water as Catfish Creek flooded on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 17. Longtime residents observed the water was as high as the benchmark flooding in 1984. Malahide firefighters were using an inflatable boat to evacuate some residents…
Read MoreIcebreaking in Port Bruce
Equipment from Laemers Excavating, including a long-arm backhoe, a loader and two dump trucks, were busy late Thursday morning, Feb. 17, breaking up ice at the mouth of Port Bruce harbour. Large chunks of ice also came out, and were hauled to a municipal parking lot nearby for storage. Unseasonably warm temperatures Wednesday and Thursday…
Read MoreCCCA, KCCA issue flood watches
Both Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and Kettle Creek Conservation Authority on Wednesday, Feb. 16, issued flood “watches” for their watersheds, with unseasonably warm temperatures and rain expected to fall soon. They had released flood advisories on Tuesday. The latest word from Water Management Technician Peter Dragunas at CCCA stated: “This Flood Watch is to notify…
Read MoreOxford man in his 50s dies with COVID-19
An Oxford man in his 50s has become the 145th fatality attributed to COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began in the Southwestern Public Health area almost two years ago. Previously, he would have been counted as the 148th such death, but the health unit has changed how it counts deaths…
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