Main Content
Featured Stories
Farmers ‘doubling down’ on migrant worker protocols
Public health struggling with COVID-19 outbreak in St. Catharines UPDATE: This from CTV News Thursday: “It’s asparagus harvest season, but some of the fields in Norfolk County, Ontario, are all but empty following an outbreak of COVID-19 that has spread to 164 migrant workers from Mexico, temporarily halting production. Last Thursday, a worker at Scotlynn […]
Bringing cheer to Queen Street
Chris Allen is a man of many talents. He could easily be described as a Renaissance man — someone who has a high level of skills in many areas, creative, and good at whatever he turns his hands to. This week, and every week for the next five months, that means he can be found […]
Shaw head feels weight of responsibility
When Tim Jennings speaks about the Shaw Festival, his commitment and strong sense of responsibility are evident — to the continued success of the festival, to all those who rely on it for their paycheque, and to the patrons who are missing it. It’s also quickly obvious, though, that the bigger picture also weighs heavily […]
Local senior plays piano for his friends, by phone
Although missing their Sunday church service, Robert Cleary and Fiona Macleod are on the receiving end of regular phone calls that brighten their day. Cleary calls Sunday one of their “anchor days,” when, pre-pandemic, they would get up, get dressed and go to church. They miss that ritual. Instead, they listen to the service online, […]
How local senior copes through pandemic
Andrew Henwood is feeling pretty optimistic. Grateful, even. Most mornings he wakes up feeling happy, he says. He is concerned for his wife’s health, and knows she isn’t happy — that weighs heavily on him, but he feels fortunate she’s safely tucked away at Upper Canada Lodge, receiving good care. Self-isolating isn’t a problem, he […]
Churches caring for communities during closure
This time last year, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church volunteers would be in the midst of preparing for their annual Strawberry Festival. Festival chair Julie Hunter says by now, there would have been several meetings of the planning committee. Strawberries, barbecue favourites, beverages, yogurt, short cakes, ice cream, and crepes would have all been ordered, and […]
Friesen back to racing, in truck and modified series
Competing in his virtual race car over the first two months of the pandemic “just wasn’t cutting it” for Niagara-on-the-Lake native Stewart Friesen. Luckily, he had a couple of real big-block modified race cars to tinker with at his New York State home base. So, when word came that racing in both the Short Track […]
Virgil musician, teacher retires from Eden
Jim Gay had second thoughts about retirement on May 19. That was the day Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario’s schools would stay empty for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. As the veteran music teacher says, though, these were very fleeting second thoughts. Once he sets his mind to something, it’s pretty final. […]
How did nature become owned by humans? And at what cost?
How has an ecosystem, something that has been around for 12,000 years or 180 million years, become deemed as ours? And when we arguably need nature the most, how can all of that soil, rock, and bark, formed by nothing but natural processes and time, suddenly become off-limits? It got me thinking, as Ontario is […]
Our seniors in long-term care deserve respect and dignity
One of the lessons I try to impart on my grandchildren is to always respect and value their elders. It’s a simple lesson, and one that my parents instilled in me. The report on the state of our long-term care homes from the Canadian Armed Forces shocked and enraged anyone with a heart – our […]
