NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Passion Play a highlight of Good Friday service

April 3, 2015 | 0 Comments

Jesus, played by Ray Reid, right, embraced Lazarus (Nicole DeRyk) after raising him from the dead during one of the scenes of the Passion of Christ staged during the Good Friday service at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in Aylmer on the morning of April 3. At left were the Chief Priest played by…

Shackelton’s Farm Machinery Auction – April 11

April 1, 2015 | 0 Comments

CORRECTION: The annual spring farm machinery auction at Shackelton Auctions Inc. will be held on Saturday, April 11 at 8:30 a.m. The date and time on the ad on page 14 is incorrect and the Express regrets the error and any confusion it may have caused. There is still an antique estate auction on Thursday,…

Elgin OPP Sunshine List at 44 officers

April 1, 2015 | 0 Comments

The Ontario Provincial Police pay hike in 2013 increased the number of Elgin OPP officers earning over $100,000 to 44 in 2014, up more than 60 percent from the year before. The annual “Sunshine List” of Ontario public sector workers making over $100,000 increased by about 13.9 percent in 2014 over the year before. There…

Crash takes out sign at Imperial and John Wise

April 1, 2015 | 0 Comments

A black Infiniti car was about to be towed away from a crash scene just north of John Wise Line on the west side of Imperial Road south of Aylmer on Wednesday morning, April 1. This photo was taken at about 8:45 a.m. It appeared that the directional sign seen in the foreground had been broken…

Central Elgin budget sets 3.95% tax levy increase

March 30, 2015 | 0 Comments

Central Elgin councillors are preparing to adopt a budget that will increase the municipal property tax levy by 3.95 percent or $450,085. Finance Director Karen DePrest, citing a real example, said a $254,000 home last year increasing in assessed value to $259,000 this year would pay an additional $47.05 on its property tax bill from…

Port Burwell pupils tour sugar bush

March 30, 2015 | 0 Comments

Port Burwell Public School pupil Leah Giesbrecht looked inside a bucket for the collected sap from a maple tree during a tour of the Springwater Forest sugar bush on Monday morning, March 30. Leah and the rest of teacher Lori Hill’s Grade 2/3 class first took a guided walk through much of the nearby forest on the…

Fire destroys John Street South apartment

March 30, 2015 | 0 Comments

An early morning fire on Monday, March 30 destroyed an apartment at the back of 332 John Street South in Aylmer. Located right across the street from the town fire hall, the occupants of the home, Darrel and Lily Ralf and their Husky dog Comanchie, came home at about 12:20 a.m. to find their home…

Polar Bear Dip for Childcan

March 28, 2015 | 2 Comments

Swimmers reacted to the frigid waters of Lake Erie during a Polar Bear Dip organized by Port Stanley volunteer firefighters on Saturday, March 28. The event was a fundraiser for Childcan, which assists families with a young one receiving cancer treatments.

Last snow of the season?

March 26, 2015 | 0 Comments

About two centimetres of wet snow fell in the Aylmer area on Thursday morning, March 26 making for slick roads and pretty landscapes like this one in Optimist Park looking west towards the Elm Street bridge that spans Catfish Creek in town. Colder than usual temperatures were to remain in the region over the following…

Malahide firefighters visit Aylmer fire exhibit

March 26, 2015 | 0 Comments

Malahide volunteer firefighter Karl Baumgarten stopped to take a closer look at some artefacts from his fire department’s history that were on display at Aylmer-Malahide Museum and Archives on Wednesday evening, March 25. He and most of the rest of the firefighters from Malahide Station One (Mount Salem) visited the Museum in their dress uniforms…

Mad Science at McGregor

March 25, 2015 | 0 Comments

McGregor Public School pupils Grace Smith, left, Olivia Thompson, front, Adrianna Borm and Rachel Ross learned how static electricity works by rubbing cups against their hair and, in the case of what is pictured, sticking them to the top of their heads so that the cups would stick during the Mad Science after school club…

Central Elgin, county back move to Port Stanley PS

March 24, 2015 | 1 Comment

Central Elgin councillors on Monday night, March 23, and Elgin County councillors the next day unanimously backed the decision of Thames Valley District School Board to transfer some French-immersion pupils from overcrowded Pierre Elliot Trudeau Public School in St. Thomas to undercrowded Port Stanley Public School starting Sept. 1. Trudeau has just under 800 pupils,…