Archives 2021

Racing stunt in Alliston costs York Region man his ride

A racing stunt in Alliston cost a 35-year-old York Region man his ride over the weekend.

A member of the Nottawasaga OPP detachment was patrolling County Road 10 just before 2 a.m. Saturday, July 28 when the officer approached a black Nissan travelling south toward Alliston.

While stopped at County Road 10 and Highway 89, the Nissan took off at a high rate of speed after the light turned green.

The officer followed the vehicle and clocked it travelling 160 kilometres per hour in the 80 km/h zone.

The car was pulled over and the driver was charged with stunt driving. His licence was suspended for seven days and his vehicle was impounded for seven days.

He will attend a future court date in Barrie.

Midland, Penetanguishene released tons of sewage into Georgian Bay

In 2016, Midland and Penetanguishene discharged nearly 15 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay. 

That is about six Olympic sized swimming pools.

The sewage being released by Midland is both untreated and partially treated, while the bypasses from Penetanguishene is fully treated effluent.

The Georgian Bay Preservation Alliance, a registered not-for-profit corporation, released a report on June 27 detailing the sewage that those municipalities have been dumping into Ontario waterways.

According to data they collected from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Town of Midland released 9.7 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay during a number of rain storms in 2016. These discharges lasted a combined 29 hours.

Penetanguishene released over 5.2 million litres of treated sewage into the bay during a combined 31 hours and 35 minutes of discharges that same year. 

During severe storms, older municipal sanitary sewer systems get overwhelmed by the inflow of rain water, given the fact that some storm sewers and sump pumps are improperly connected to the system.

In downtown Midland, the sanitary sewer lines are cross-connected with the storm water lines. When the town receives excessive amounts of rain over a short period of time the municipal sanitary systems can’t handle the increased flow and sewage is released into Georgian Bay.

Andy Campbell, director of water and wastewater services for the Town of Midland, says that occasionally untreated and partially treated sewage gets released by the municipality. One discharge is located directly off the town dock, while another overflow release is at the sewage treatment plant.

“Our licences to operate from the Ministry of the Environment allows us to do those discharges. When these discharges happen, there is no violation of the law,” said Campbell. “When we have these, we have to notify the ministry, but we are not in violation of any rules.”

Campbell also notes that Midland’s treatment system deals with eight to nine million litres of sewage flow in an average day. During storms this can increase to as much as 20 million litres.

It would cost an estimated $4 million to fix the cross-connecting sewers downtown.

Jeff Lees, Penetanguishene CAO, say the town spent $28 million to renovate the Philip H. Jones Pollution Control Plant to mitigate the risk of significant events going into Georgian Bay and that they haven’t released anything for a number of years.

“Any bypasses that occurred were minor third-stage partial bypasses that were at the very last stage of the treatment process and all disinfected with chlorine,” said Lees.

Members of the Georgian Bay Preservation Alliance learned about this practice when it was publicized at a Midland council meeting, .

“We have quite a few members who are permanent or seasonal residents in Georgian Bay. They wanted to know if this was a common practice and why it was a practice,” said Jon Telch, a spokesperson for the Alliance.

The group decided to look into the situation and reached out to the province for data.

Bypass and overflow information is reported by municipalities to the ministry through the Spills Action Centre and then input into a database.

While information is regularly reported to the province, Telch and his colleagues believe the public needs to be notified when a municipality discharges sewage.

“Right now, there is no form of immediate reporting…something saying: ‘Hey you might not want to go swimming or canoeing today because yesterday there was a torrential rain storm and thousands of litres of sewage was dumped,’ ” said Telch. “People have the right to know when these dumps take place, for how long and how much was dumped.”

In May of 2017, Bill 141 – The Sewage Bypass Reporting Act, was introduced by Sylvia Jones an MPP for Dufferin-Caledon. This Bill would require the ministry to promptly notify the public when, where and why a sewage discharge occurred and at what time the measured volume of discharge was. The bill is still in limbo at Queen’s Park, as Jones was unable to get it passed before the recent provincial election.

As for the impact to the local water quality, there are various local organizations regularly testing and monitoring water throughout the region.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit monitors designated public beaches on a weekly basis from mid-June through Labour Day weekend.

“We take water samples from five separate points at public beaches and those samples are analyzed by our provincial laboratory for E. coli, as is it the most specific indicator of fecal pollution,” said Christina Wieder, Safe Water Program Manager with the Health Unit.

When high levels of E. coli are found, swimming advisories are put in place and swimming in not recommended.

“You could potentially get ear, eye, nose or throat infections or get a stomach illness if the water is swallowed,” said Wieder.

All swimming advisories are posted with signs at the beaches and on the .

The also tests the water at 14 different locations throughout the watershed including one location near the Midland harbour and another at the bottom of Penetanguishene Bay.

“We have a partnership with the Ministry of Environment and we send our samples for nutrient testing and heavy metals. We get algae analysis done and zooplankton counted,” said Aisha Chiandet, water scientist with the SSEA.

“Overall across 2017 the water quality hadn’t changed a whole lot compared to the long-term records.”

Editor’s note: A correction was made to this story on July 8, 2018. The story stated that Penetanguishene released over $5.2 million litres of sewage into Georgian Bay in 2016. To clarify, the town did not release any raw sewage into Georgian Bay. According to Penetanguishene CAO Jeff Lees, the bypasses that occurred were third-stage partial bypasses that were in the very last stage of the treatment process and disinfected with chlorine. Simcoe.com regrets the error.

Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine opens in Barrie

Amornthip Ratanadawong, known by her childhood nickname Bo, owns and operates Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine.

Bo’s memories of Thai cuisine have stayed with her and are truly represented in the offerings on her menu.

A large part of the dining experience is tasting some of Bo’s Thai sauces, which she enjoys making herself.

The seasoning is based on the “Five Taste” principle, which is a blend of five distinct flavours: sweet, hot, sour, salty and bitter.

Bo’s Authentic Thai Cuisine only uses the finest ingredients including the freshest herbs, exotic vegetables and special spices. Bo’s brings the true taste of Thailand to Barrie.

Located on Anne Street, just north of Dunlop Street, Bo’s has a quaint dining area and a decorated patio for outdoor dining.

Basic high-speed internet lacking for Midland, Penetanguishene residents

More than 88 per cent of north Simcoe residents do not have access to basic high-speed internet, according to a recent broadband analysis.

A study of area broadband networks, conducted in part by the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation, shows that the majority of residents in the region are underserved when it comes to high-speed internet.

“The question is not whether you have high-speed internet, but whether you have appropriate high-speed internet that is at a speed and a level that meets the needs of the public,” said Rob McPhee, who led the analysis project.

In 2011 the CRTC said all Canadians should have access to minimum download speeds of five Mbps and upload speeds of one Mbps. In 2016 this standard changed and minimum download speeds of 50 Mbps and upload speeds of 10 Mbps are now required.

The report states that a total of 88 per cent of permanent residents, 70 per cent of seasonal residents and 94 per cent of commercial buildings in north Simcoe do not have internet that meets the latest CRTC standards. Of those, 22 per cent of permanent residents, 33 per cent of seasonal residents and 21 per cent of commercial buildings don’t have access to internet that meets 2011 standards, let alone the latest service standards.

“When you look at it nationally, communities in the North Simcoe region ranked between 113 and 167 out of 168,” said McPhee. “The north Simcoe region is in the bottom 25th percentile of high speed internet connectivity.”

Beausoleil First Nation ranks second last in all of Canada in regard to quality of high-speed internet, with 100 per cent of residents unable to access 2016 service standards and over 50 per cent receiving internet that fails to meet 2011 standards.

“Our aim with this report is to seek out infrastructure builds through SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Network),” said Chris McLaughlin, general manager of the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation. “We are going to be approaching them and trying to work with them to see if our region can be one of the first with some sort of project through the fund.”

Jazz at the Library in Thornbury back for fall season

Few Canadian musicians can claim such an illustrious career as this virtuosic trombonist, composer, arranger and conductor.

Russ Little will bring his ultimate trombone, exuberance and boundless instrumental artistry to the Thornbury library on Friday, Aug. 24. His highlights so far include having been the lead trombonist with the Woody Herman and Count Basie Bands, founding member of the legendary rock orchestra Lighthouse, member of  Rob McConnell’s the Boss Brass, music director for the famous comedy TV show Second City and arranger/conductor for countless CBC, CTV, ABC and NBC network TV shows.

For this concert he will be joined by Andy Harasymczuk on guitar, Jack McFadden on bass and Ted Warren on drums. Tickets are $25 and available at Thornbury Pharmasave and Blue Mountain Music in Collingwood.

Wayne McGrath will bring his trumpet and be joined by Don Buchanan on keyboard, Peter Rissi on trombone, Jay Burr on tuba and Steve Wood on drums to revisit the Roaring 20s with the jazz music of the day on Sept. 21.

Bill McBirnie will perform the best jazz and bossa nova tunes  on his extreme flute on Oct. 19 with Andy Harasymczuk on guitar, Jack McFadden on bass and Ted Warren on drums.

The Marsh Street Centre will be the venue on Nov. 16 to showcase the Marie-Catherine Pazzano Quintet highlighting undiscovered gems, the many jazz tunes which just didn’t get top billings, but rank with the best mainstream jazz standards any time. Marie-Catherine on vocals, Don Buchanan on keyboard, Jason Hunter on tenor sax, Pat Collins on bass and Steve James on drums make up this enjoyable ensemble.

Thornbury Jazzworks presents the Jazz at the Library and Jazz at the Marsh concerts to promote excellence in musical performance and use the proceeds to support music education programs in our local schools.

Barrie still has one of the highest apartment rental rates in Canada: PadMapper

Barrie continues to be one of the most expensive places in which to rent an apartment in Canada.

The online property rental platform PadMapper released its latest Canadian rent report Aug. 15 and Barrie ranks fourth highest on the list of most expensive markets. On average, a one-bedroom apartment costs $1,350 per month, up 11.6 per cent from the same period last year.

Toronto ($2,140), Vancouver ($2,000) and Burnaby, B.C. ($1,570) finished ahead of Barrie. Montreal ($1,250) placed fifth.

“The report analyzed hundreds of thousands of listings last month to examine rent prices across the 26 largest cities in the country,” PadMapper representative Crystal Chen said. “Listings are then aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market.”

It costs $1,510 per month to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Barrie, up 9.4 per cent over the same period in 2017. Two-bedroom rental is higher in Vancouver ($3,200), Toronto ($2,800), Burnaby ($2,270) and Montreal ($1,700).

Barrie has been among the most expensive places to rent in the country for more than a year, according to previous PadMapper reports.

The report does not include short-term and Airbnb listings.

To view the report, visit .

Lake Simcoe life in balance, despite invasive species

Another invasive species is keeping Lake Simcoe scientists busy this summer.

To the untrained eye, the foreigners are being mistaken as plain old zebra mussels.

But it’s a species called quagga mussels that scientists and anglers are keeping an eye on.

“They look almost exactly like zebra mussels, but they’re a separate species. They are like zebra mussels 2.0,” Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority limnologist Brian Ginn said.

Zebra mussels were first found in Lake Simcoe in 1991, feeding on algae and particles in the water column.

Typically, their invasion is cyclical, eating until food is scarce, then they start to die off.

Quagga mussels also come from the Caspian-Black Sea area in Europe and were first noticed in Lake Simcoe in 2004.

“Quagga mussels can survive on less food than zebra mussels and they can close up and survive periods without food,” Ginn said. “They are also better in cold water.”

Zebra mussels would spring to life once Lake Simcoe reached 12 to 20 degrees, he said.

Quagga mussels are active at 4 C, which in Lake Simcoe is year-round, Ginn said. They also don’t mind a sandy bottom and are found across the lake.

As a result, Ginn has seen changes in the water.

“We used to have this big algae bloom in the spring that would set up the food chain for the entire year,” he said. “Now, the quagga mussels are eating the spring algae bloom.”

However, scientists are also learning the food chain is adapting.

“With the zebra mussels, they actually created more food for bugs in the lake.”

Bugs like shad flies and midges live on mussel debris.

“There were more bugs where zebra mussels were found, and little fish like to eat bugs and big fish eat the little fish,” he said. “In the shallow water, it actually increased the amount of fish.”

Lake Simcoe fishermen are noticing lake trout and whitefish are starting to eat the quagga mussels.

“They are an alternate food source for some of the whitefish and the perch. Gobies also eat them when they are small. You get a lot of fish with red lips,” angler and Lake Simcoe Message Board administrator John Whyte said. “They’re not an invited species, but we have a lake in balance.”

However, quagga mussels aren’t a fisherman’s friend. “They are sharp enough to cut your line if you’re bottom fishing,” he said.  They also cling to boats and docks like zebra mussels.

“But they haven’t done the damage to infrastructure like they thought they might have,” he said.

However, that could change.

“One of the problems with quagga mussels is they are on the bottom and they filter every toxin that goes through the lake. When fish start to eat them and birds eat fish, it could be like the E. coli outbreak we had in Georgian Bay.”

The concern is what the future might hold.

For now, Ginn and his team are taking quagga mussel samples at 40 sites in the lake, using a claw machine to dredge the bottom.

Join in Innisfil community potluck

Bring your favourite meal to share and connect with other members of the town for a community potluck.

Resident Sonia DaSilva is a newcomer to the community herself and saw there are others who are trying to make friends in the area.

She tested the waters by having a ladies’ potluck at her house earlier this summer and had success in connecting with approximately 15 new friends.

DaSilva is stepping it up by hosting a community potluck on Aug. 25 at the at 1 p.m. Guests are asked to bring their favourite dish or dessert to share. Small gifts are welcome for raffle donations.

The event is alcohol-free and everyone is welcome.

Maplelane Farm Events Centre near Alliston is all for the dogs

Sherri Hall and her daughter Jen, owners of Maplelane Farm Event Centre near Alliston, are big believers of keeping their pawed patrons active and fit.

In addition to offering a big agility course, doggy diving area, disc course and lure coursing fields, they are introducing a new training centre.

“It’s a big indoor area where they can play, and we also have the pool they can swim in,” said Jen. “We really want to start pushing exercise and health for dogs.”

This will tie into their doggy daycare and boarding services.

“We are going to have some health programs,” she said. “We will have a big weigh scale for dogs that need to lose weight, and diet will also be part of that. We feed the raw diet here, a species-specific diet, so we will start selling some of that and encouraging proper nutrition and exercise.”

Her mom started the business in 1993, and the licensed breeding-boarding kennel breeds golden retrievers and other types of dogs. They are also a licensed municipal shelter and operate an all-breed rescue.

Their business is made up of various divisions, such as animal and goose control services, bedbug detection services, and dog training and competitions.

“People compete for the love of the sport, and to just get out and do something with their dog that they can both enjoy,” said Jen, who competes with various groups, including Super Dogs. “It’s all about exercise and training, and it’s quite the community, too. There’s a lot of friendships; you travel around.”

The five-acre property boasts a three-acre, fully fenced area for dogs to run and play in a safe environment, and there are also walking trails nearby.

The doggy daycare is available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and they offer daily rates, along with weekly or monthly packages.

“A lot of daycares offer less hours than that, so we are more flexible with drop-off and pickup times. We also will have after-hours drop-off and pickup.”

Basic grooming services are also available.

The facility is at just west of 10 Sideroad.

For more information, visit or call .

Midland’s North Simcoe Tool involved in some unique and impactful projects

Although operates a small shop on the corner of William and Yonge Street, the local plant is manufacturing components for some pretty significant projects.

The machine shop, which specializes in tooling, prototyping and small production runs has been assisting larger companies in the design and machining of components for some unique and impactful jobs.

“Part of the reason for our success is a never say no attitude,” said Mark Losch, who took over the business from his father in 1989. “Often a customer will ask us to step out of our comfort zone and manufacture something challenging. Instead of declining these opportunities our talented team of designers, tool makers and machinist embrace those opportunities and we try to turn them into an advantage.”

Diageo, the company which owns brands such as Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal and Baileys, reached out to North Simcoe Tool to design a custom chess set for retiring employees. Each piece of this set was a small replica bottle of one of their products.

“It was certainly an interesting project for us and one that was certainly beyond our scope of work,” said Losch, who serves as the company’s president and CEO.

The company is constantly investing in new technology enabling them to expand their capabilities and allowing them to take on new projects.

North Simcoe Tool has worked with McDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. — the company that built the Canada Space Arm — and helped them machine some prototype bushings to replace ones on the space arm that were wearing out.

They were also contracted by the University of Calgary to build a few different mechanical components to be used with a new remote control surgical device they were developing for complex brain surgery. Scalpel holders and other procession components used remotely in the surgical process were created in Midland.

“We worked on prototype drilling equipment used by the Northern Centre for Advanced Research and Technology when they were bidding on the Mars Rover project,” said Losch. “The prototype augers that we built would have drilled holes in the surface of Mars to extract core samples.”

Their willingness to take on new challenging projects and continued investments in new machinery and technology has made their name stand out in the industry.

When Alpine Shredders paper shredding trucks were in need of new parts they sought out North Simcoe Tool to supply them with the components.

“We had just purchased the exact type of machine Alpine needed to manufacture many of their components,” said Losch. “They are now 30 per cent of our business and we are their only supplier of machined components.”

Although many in the industry have suggested North Simcoe Tool expand their business to a bigger facility, Losch believes the small plant allows them to have much-needed flexibility.

“While we certainly want to grow, we always want to keep in mind that our size does make us nimble. We are often able to change gears quickly and able to provide responses and solutions in a timely fashion,” said Losch.