Elgin-St. Thomas trustees Meagan Ruddock and Bruce Smith are mounting an effort to rescind previous decisions by Thames Valley District School Board to close elementary schools in Springfield and New Sarum, if and when a large new elementary school is built in Belmont. Those decisions were made in 2017, but whether or not the province…
Five animals, an alpaca, two pot-bellied pigs and two New Guinea singing dogs were lost in a fire at Educational Animal Displays on Woolleyville Line in Malahide on Sunday, Oct. 13. Owner Velma Sheppard said a neighbour rescued a camel from the burning barn, which was destroyed in the blaze. Two other buildings, in the…
The Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario government reached a last-minute tentative contract deal on Sunday night, Oct. 6, preventing wide-scale public and Catholic school closings across the province that had been expected on Monday, Oct. 7. Both Thames Valley District School Board and London District Catholic School Board had warned that all…
Both Thames Valley District School Board and London District Catholic School Board have warned that all schools will be closed to students on Monday, Oct. 7, unless weekend talks with the Canadian Union of Public Employees results in a breakthrough. CUPE has announced school custodians and support staff will go on strike as of Monday…
Bayham councillors on Tuesday night, Oct. 1, unanimously approved in principle the municipality’s capital projects budget for 2020. That will allow Bayham to issue tenders for next year’s work almost immediately, in an effort to get the lowest possible prices from contractors. However, Administrator Paul Shipway and Treasurer Lorne James warned hard times could be…
Malahide councillors on Monday, Sept. 23, awarded a contract for improvements to the entrance to Port Bruce Harbour to East Elgin Concrete Forming of Tillsonburg, which had the lowest of three bids at $1,926,600. Development and Community Services Director Gene DiMeo told councillors work was expected to start in about a week. An east breakwall…
The Aylmer Express will host two all-candidates meeting to give the public the opportunity to directly question candidates in Elgin-Middlesex-London riding for the Oct. 21 federal election. The first will be at Aylmer Old Town Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 25, starting at 7 p.m. The second will be held at Memorial Arena’s auditorium in St.…
Malahide Mayor David Mennill is looking for a detour route to still reach his goal of having the township and Aylmer councillors sit down as a group to see if a potential merger between the two communities is worth looking into. Aylmer councillors continue to balk, saying again and again they want more information first,…
Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn said she was shocked when she learned via a news report that planned rehabilitation of the King George VI Lift Bridge in Port Stanley by Elgin County would take 14 months, including all of next summer, rather than six months beginning later this year. She wasn’t happy the news had…
Malahide Administrator Michelle Casavecchia Somers told township councillors Thursday, Sept. 5, that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans had finally issued a permit allowing the municipality to embark on extensive rehabilitation to the harbour in Port Bruce. The work must be completed by winter, so Malahide councillors will hold a special session on Monday,…
Harper Veliofski, 5, showed how she’d walk to school in a silly fashion during a Kids Club session at Port Stanley library on Monday night, Sept. 9. The club, for youngsters in Grades 1 through 5, meets every Monday night starting at 6 p.m. The theme for this session was, “The Silly Side of School.”…
Elgin County announced late Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 3, that the federal government would contribute $2.5-million in infrastructure funding toward a permanent replacement for the collapsed Imperial Road Bridge in Port Bruce. The Ontario government had previously agreed to give $1,666,500. With those contributions, the estimated cost to Elgin County taxpayers for the $5.2-million bridge will…