NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Port Bruce bridge collapses

February 23, 2018 | 2 Comments

On Friday afternoon, Feb. 23, the bridge spanning Catfish Creek in Port Bruce collapsed with a truck still on it. Pictured here, Malahide township volunteer firefighters performed a successful water rescue of the truck driver, whose vehicle remained on a fallen section of the bridge at an incline with its tail end in the flowing…

Extensive flooding in Vienna, Port Burwell

February 21, 2018 | 0 Comments

Recent heavy rains and resulting snow and ice melt due to unseasonably warm temperatures, along with trapped ice pack in Otter Creek, caused extensive flooding in Vienna and the flats next to the creek by Port Burwell harbour on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and Wednesday, Feb. 21. This photo of downtown Vienna along Plank Road across…

Flooding in Port Bruce

February 20, 2018 | 0 Comments

On Tuesday, Feb. 20 at about 12:45 p.m., Nathan Smale, the owner of Corner View Café in Port Bruce, slowly drove through a flooded section of Imperial Road in the lakeside hamlet a short distance from his restaurant which is located by the pavilion and park which can be seen in the background. This view…

Flood warning issued

February 20, 2018 | 0 Comments

A dragline was breaking the ice near the mouth of Catfish Creek in Port Bruce on Tuesday morning, Feb. 20 in an attempt to avoid flooding in the lakeside hamlet. The water level in the creek was near the threshold for flooding to take place and Malahide volunteer firefighters were in Port Bruce with road…

Going medieval on Family Day

February 19, 2018 | 0 Comments

James Provoost, 8, who lives near Copenhagen, played with a miniature wooden catapult during Medieval Day held at Elgin County Heritage Centre south of St. Thomas on the afternoon of Family Day, Monday, February 19. James Provoost is the grandson of retired Springfield and Belmont librarian Maria Smit. The Once Upon A Time exhibit from…

Sledding fun at Assumption

February 19, 2018 | 0 Comments

Left photo: Andrea Sleegers smiled all the way down the hill during her turn at La Piste de Toboggan, one of the activities set up for the children during the Olympic-themed Carnaval d’hiver (Winter Carnival) at Assumption Catholic Elementary School in Aylmer on Friday afternoon, Feb. 16. Right photo: Megan Sleegers had a similar fun…

The sap is running at Springwater

February 16, 2018 | 0 Comments

A crew from Catfish Creek Conservation Authority were out in the sugar bush on the Jaffa side of Springwater Forest on Friday morning, Feb. 16 tapping dozens of trees for the upcoming maple syrup season. Gathered together for a group photo were crew members volunteer Vic Herrington, left, program support assistant Tiffany Kalita-Guay, conservation areas…

Amalgamation for Aylmer, Malahide?

February 12, 2018 | 0 Comments

In an unexpected development, Malahide Mayor Dave Mennill has dusted off the long rejected idea of amalgamating his township with Aylmer. In bombshell fashion at the annual Mayor’s Breakfast hosted by the Aylmer and Area Chamber of Commerce at Saxonia Hall on Wednesday morning, Feb. 7, Mayor Mennill in the middle of his remarks asked…

Fun to be had while the snow piles up

February 4, 2018 | 0 Comments

Rachel Cameron, 9, playfully slid down a mound of snow that was built up in the parking lot of Aylmer Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 4. She and three of her neighbourhood friends played in the snow for a few hours that day with the temperature hitting a relatively balmy 1 degree Celsius. The…

Glanworth overpass saved

February 2, 2018 | 0 Comments

The Glanworth Drive overpass crossing Highway 401 will be preserved rather than demolished, Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek announced in a news release Friday morning, Feb. 2. Southwold Mayor Grant Jones, who had fought along with Central Elgin Mayor David Marr and other Elgin County councillors to keep the overpass open in face of a Ministry…

Man killed by falling tree

January 24, 2018 | 0 Comments

A 55-year-old Norfolk man was killed by a tree that had fallen on him while a work crew was cutting it down on a private property southeast of Copenhagen on Wednesday morning, Jan. 24. The Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Ministry of Labour are investigating the death that occurred in a wooded…

Review calls for Sparta to become French Immersion school

January 22, 2018 | 0 Comments

An accommodation review from Thames Valley District School Board is recommending as expected that Sparta Public School be converted to elementary French Immersion classes, effective July 1, with pupils there now to be transferred to Port Stanley Public School. Buried much deeper in the review’s proposals, number 13 out of 15, would see New Sarum…