News Headlines

A case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Mitchell Hepburn Public School in St. Thomas, Thames Valley District School Board announced on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 29. The board stated it had immediately notified staff members and the parents or guardians of all children attending the school Southwestern Public Health, the board said, found no evidence…

Southwestern Public Health announced Friday afternoon, Sept. 25, that it was looking into what it considered a “probable” case of COVID-19 at St. Thomas Community Christian School. The health unit, in a statement, said it had been notified by the school, and Principal Jason Schouten had contacted”members of the broader school community” about what was…

An 18-foot fishing boat ran out of fuel for its main engine in Lake Erie off Port Bruce Thursday night, Sept. 17, as waters became rough, Elgin Ontario Provincial Police Constable Troy Carlson reported. Two adults, 30 and 23, were on the boat and called for help at 9:18 p.m. In conjunction with the Joint…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, alarmed by increasing numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases across Ontario, said that as of Friday, Sept. 18, anyone organizing a social event that exceeded local limits on such gathering would be charged and potentially subject to a $10,000 fine. That’s on top of a $750 fine that could be levied against…

Southwestern Public Health was reporting a total of nine ongoing cases of COVID-19 confirmed by testing on Wednesday, Sept. 16, an increase of four from the previous day. One new case was reported in Central Elgin, and three more in Woodstock and area, which was now at a total of seven. One ongoing case continues…

Thames Valley District School Board announced on Friday, Sept. 11, that full remote learning for elementary pupils won’t begin now until Wednesday, Sept. 16 and for secondary students on Thursday, Sept. 17. The original start date had been Monday, Sept. 14. The board, in a statement, blamed the challenge in establishing a remote learning system…

Elgin County is down to just two ongoing cases of COVID-19 confirmed by testing, Southwestern Public Health was reporting on Tuesday morning, Sept. 8. No new cases have been confirmed since Aug. 24. The two remaining cases are in Aylmer and Bayham, with one each. That’s down from five cases, with three in Aylmer and…

Education Director Mark Fisher, at a meeting of Thames Valley District School Board on Tuesday night, Aug. 25, announced that based on abrupt changes required by the province on how schools would work in September, TVDSB would allow parents to change the way they had opted for their child to be educated for the coming…

The opening of elementary schools in Thames Valley District School Board has been pushed back by almost a week to Monday, Sept. 14, instead of Tuesday, Sept. 8. (London District Catholic School Board is expected to do the same.) Even then, elementary pupils won’t all return on that day. Instead, half the pupils will attend…

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 11 ongoing cases of COVID-19 confirmed by testing in Aylmer and area on Tuesday, Aug. 25, a decrease of two from the previous day. The number of cases in St. Thomas also declined slightly, to six from seven, while Bayham remained steady at five and Woodstock at two. One new…