News Headlines
Flack: $4-million to provide 8,000 with doctor or nurse-practitioner
Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack in St. Thomas on Friday afternoon, May 1, announced just over $4-million in funding to the Elgin Ontario Health Team so it can connect 8,000 local residents to a primary family doctor or nurse-practitioner by May of 2027. He also unveiled $10-million in provincial funding for similar work in London-Middlesex, where…
Read MoreBarricaded individual in Vienna arrested
Elgin Ontario Provincial Police advised the public on Thursday, April 30, about an increased police presence in Vienna due to an ongoing investigation involving a barricaded individual. On Thursday, April 30, at approximately 12:30 p.m., members of the Elgin County OPP, with assistance from the West Region OPP Emergency Response Team, Tactics and Rescue Unit,…
Read MoreRising fuel, fertilizer costs hurting farmers
by Jayden Davis AE Journalism Intern Elgin County farmers are watching fuel and fertilizer prices closely as spring planting begins, with global energy instability and rising input costs creating an expensive start to the growing season. The federal government has temporarily suspended federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel, effective as of Apr. 20. The…
Read MoreNo support for “liveable income”
Aylmer Mayor Jack Couckuyt, at an Elgin council meeting Tuesday, April 14, couldn’t find a seconder for a motion calling on the Ontario government to declare a “food insecurity emergency” and for the federal and provincial governments to introduce a “Guaranteed Livable Basic Income” for those living in poverty. County councillors had received a request…
Read MoreAylmer man flourishes in quilting
Aylmer’s Len Adams was a rare masculine figure in a sea of women at the April 10 Quilts in Bloom Show hosted by the Shedden Agricultural Society at the Southwold Keystone Complex recently. Mr. Adams has combined his background in information technology with an understanding of woodworking to establish a satisfying business in retirement as…
Read More“Old School” Cerna scoffs at employee incentives
Malahide Councillor Rick Cerna, apologizing along the way to what he considered an excellent township staff, still couldn’t contain himself when he learned of new incentives being proposed to help with the recruitment and retention of municipal employees there. But Deputy Mayor Mark Widner, at that council meeting Thursday, April 2, supported the changes, observing…
Read MorePlanning furor in Southwold
Over 200 Shedden and area residents attended a special Southwold council session on Monday, March 30, to protest a rezoning to allow development of up to 161 residential units on a 10-acre property at 9210 Union Road …but as Mayor Grant Jones admitted candidly, it was too late. Residents, some of whom threatened to toss…
Read MoreElderly fraud victims tell their story
After losing about $85,000 to identity theft in 2025, pensioners Joe and Sadie Smith, of St. Thomas, are nearly broke and struggling to keep their home. “I am so embarrassed,” said Mr. Smith, his voice cracking with emotion as he described the dreadful experience at a fraud prevention session hosted by Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew…
Read MoreCouckuyt blasts social media
Aylmer Mayor Jack Couckuyt lashed out this week at social media users who sparked what Aylmer Police Chief Kyle Johnstone calls a “wild fire” of frightening online innuendo about gun violence. The community leaders were referring to social media chatter about a fake threat of gun violence at East Elgin Secondary School on March 2.…
Read MoreShooting threat at EESS a hoax
A claim that surfaced online at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, March 1, about students supposedly planning to shoot up East Elgin Secondary School the next day was investigated by Aylmer Police and found to be nothing but a fake. Still, the usually crowded parking on streets around the school was much lighter through Monday,…
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