News Headlines

Changes to COVID-19 clinics

Southwestern Public Health has announced the following changes to its COVID-19 vaccination clinics: –Starting Friday, April 1, appointments will no longer be offered for vaccinations at mass immunization clinics. All will be operating on a walk-in basis only. –The St. Thomas mass clinic will move to SWPH’s local headquarters at 1230 Talbot St. effective Friday,…

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Paid parking scotched

A proposal to convert two-hour no-charge parking into paid parking in Aylmer’s downtown Sydenham Street parking lots failed to get support at town council on Wednesday, March 16. No one was even willing at first to move or second a motion to proceed with the proposal from town staff to put an additional $36,000 into…

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50+ euchre at the Aylmer Legion

Ed McHugh, left, Corrie Sealey, Bert Bouma and Rodger Milmine played euchre organized by the 50+ Club and held at Colonel Talbot Branch 81, Royal Canadian Legion, in Aylmer on Monday afternoon, March 7. The club holds bridge and euchre games starting at 12:45 p.m. Mondays and bid euchre, also called “Pepper,” on Wednesdays at…

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Churches’ Charter challenge dismissed

A judge has dismissed a motion by Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) and Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo challenging the constitutionality of COVID-19 religious gathering limits. Both churches faced charges and fines in 2021 for not following provincial restrictions aimed at minimizing transmission of COVID-19 and resulting hospitalizations. Justice Renee Pomerance, in a decision released…

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Malahide seeks disaster aid for Port Bruce

Inspectors from the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program will visit Port Bruce on Friday, Feb. 25, to see if residents affected by flooding on Feb. 17 and 18 will qualify for provincial assistance. In a statement, Malahide Township said the township had requested aid for residents from the program, and provincial and other representatives…

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Extreme flooding in Port Bruce

A home on tall stilts at North Erie Marina in Port Bruce was only a foot or two from the water as Catfish Creek flooded on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 17. Longtime residents observed the water was as high as the benchmark flooding in 1984. Malahide firefighters were using an inflatable boat to evacuate some residents…

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Icebreaking in Port Bruce

Equipment from Laemers Excavating, including a long-arm backhoe, a loader and two dump trucks, were busy late Thursday morning, Feb. 17, breaking up ice at the mouth of Port Bruce harbour. Large chunks of ice also came out, and were hauled to a municipal parking lot nearby for storage. Unseasonably warm temperatures Wednesday and Thursday…

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Police: be careful with imitation firearms

Aylmer Police Deputy Chief Nick Novacich is urging anyone owning a replica that looks like a real firearm to take great care with displaying it or how it is stored. During a traffic stop at 9:45 p.m. on Monday night, Feb. 14, officers found what appeared to be a .357 magnum revolver inside a 17-year-old…

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“Freedom Convoy” rolls through Aylmer

A pedestrian gave his opinion of a “Freedom Convoy” of anti-vaccine mandate protesters that drove through Aylmer starting shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3. Most of the convoy was made up of private cars and similar vehicles, with a few transport trucks and tractors thrown in. Police Chief Zvonko Horvat reported no untoward…

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Southwestern: 25 deaths so far in January

Southwestern Public Health announced on Friday, January 28, that an Oxford man in his 90s had died with COVID-19, a case connected to an outbreak in a long-term care or retirement home. His was the 138th death related to COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began in March of 2020, and…

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