Southwestern Public Health reported Monday, May 17, 36 new cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford from the weekend or an average of 12 a day, compared to 24 new cases announced on Friday. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit fell to 124 Monday from 138 on Friday.…
Aylmer Police Chief Zvonko Horvat reported on Monday, May 17, that more charges were pending against Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) and the organizers of a large outdoor service held there on Sunday, May 16. He stated that police monitored the service, taking video footage of a large gathering around a makeshift outdoor stage and…
About 500 attended an outdoor service Sunday morning, May 16, at Aylmer Church of God (Restoration), in defiance of provincial regulations limiting such gatherings to a maximum of 10, just two days after a judge ordered the building padlocked so no one could get inside, and fined the church and its two pastors for ignoring…
The Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) has been padlocked following a ruling by Justice Bruce Thomas of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in St. Thomas Friday, May 14, about contempt of court findings against the church, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt and Associate Pastor Peter Wall. Aylmer Police, in a statement, said Elgin County Sheriff’s officials,…
A man, 57, and a woman, 46, both from Aylmer have been charged by the City of London for participating in a “Freedom Protest” in Victoria Park on March 20, contrary to Ontario’s emergency orders for the COVID-19 pandemic. The city, in a statement, said summonses had been served to the two with the help…
Southwestern Public Health recorded 24 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Friday, May 14, up from 16 the previous day. The health unit is now tracking 138 ongoing cases, up from 132. St. Thomas and area dropped to 25 ongoing cases Friday from 26 on Thursday, while Central Elgin…
Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, soon after being fined and seeing an order issued to have that church padlocked for defying provincial COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, declared during an online livestream Friday, May 14, “Nothing will deter us. Nothing will stop the people of God.” He had mixed feelings following the court ruling,…
St. Thomas Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas, in an online hearing on Friday morning, May 14, ordered substantial fines for Aylmer Church of God (Restoration), Pastor Henry Hildebrandt and Assistant Pastor Peter Wall. Justice Thomas also ordered the church padlocked until churches were allowed to hold in-person services at no less than 30 percent of…
Elgin County Warden Tom Marks, deputy mayor of Central Elgin, announced on Thursday, May 13, that the expected re-opening of the King George VI Lift Bridge in Port Stanley would be delayed by almost a month to June 25. The original expected completion date was May 31. The bridge has been closed for well over…
Southwestern Public Health announced Thursday, May 13, that some high-risk health-care, long-term care and retirement home workers and emergency medical first responders would be eligible to receive their second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot sooner than originally expected. Starting Friday, those at a heightened risk of being infected by COVID-19 could seek their booster shots sooner…
Dozens of vehicles were parked at Aylmer Church of God on Thursday morning, May 13, while at the same time in St. Thomas Superior Court of Justice, lawyers for the church and the province were arguing whether the church should be fined and its doors locked for last week being found in contempt for holding…
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday, May 13, that the province-wide COVID-19 shutdown would be extended by at least two weeks. It will now end by June 2 at the earliest. “We’ve made some extremely hard choices in order to protect the hospitals. We’ve all made great sacrifices to stop the rampant spread of COVID-19…