All posts by SHLF

UPDATE: Burglars take stolen batteries, pump to Barrie recycling depot

Surveillance video from a Barrie business helped police make an arrest Aug. 21.

The suspects were caught on camera at St. Onge Recreation on Hart Drive, stealing 15 to 20 marine batteries on Aug. 17 and a boat pump on Aug. 15.

A 32-year-old Barrie man is charged with theft under $5,000 in connection with the thefts. Barrie police did not release his name. A second suspect is still at large.

When St. Onge staff learned of the thefts they called recycling depots and learned the stolen goods had been taken to a recycling depot on John Street first thing Friday morning.

The second suspect is described as:

• Male, white

• Dark brown hair, salt and pepper scruffy beard

• Wearing a black T-shirt, black shorts and black boots

Anyone who may have information, please contact Const. L. Sawicki at 705-725-7025 ext. 2706 or [email protected]. Any information can be provided anonymously to  at 1-800-222-TIPS or leave an anonymous tip online at .

RCMP lays drug conspiracy charges against Bradford man

A joint Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency investigation has led to the arrest of a Bradford man.

The eight-month investigation came after the previous arrest of a Toronto resident accused of importing nearly 50 kilograms of cocaine on Nov. 19, 2017, at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge Commercial Operations.

Omari Kutaladze was arrested after Canada Border Services Agency officers and a drug-detector dog found and seized 50 packages of cocaine concealed in cardboard boxes containing plastic resin pellets, officials say.

After further investigation, police have arrested 41-year-old Dmitri Davidov from Bradford, the RCMP said July 27.

He was arrested by the RCMP on July 25 and charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of importing cocaine.

Davidov appeared in court on July 26 for a bail hearing at the St. Catharines courthouse.

“Any time we can get illegal drugs off our streets, making our community safer, it’s a great thing,” said RCMP Insp. Ann Koenig. “This investigation highlights how partnerships are essential in the fight against serious and organized crime.”

If you have information on suspicious or criminal activities, contact your local police, the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

If you have information about suspicious cross-border activity, contact the CBSA Border Watch 1-888-502-9060.

Michael Beattie — New Tecumseth Ward 2

Four years ago, I was given a strong and decisive mandate to serve the people of Ward 2 on New Tecumseth council. This experience has been a great honour, and has proven to be some of my life’s most meaningful and rewarding work. New Tecumseth is the place my family and I call home, and have called home since 1906.  

I have held big development accountable, I have been a staunch advocate for small business and our downtowns, I have been a strong supporter of the arts community, I have always stood up for taxpayers even when it wasn’t popular, and I have upheld the oath of office I took when you entrusted me to represent you. I have honoured the commitment I made to my constituents with perfect attendance at all council meetings, and I am ready to hit the ground running and get back to work for Ward 2 on Day One.

We are going through a period of serious heavy lifting in terms of capital and infrastructure projects, and striking the proper balance between maintaining services, keeping taxes down, and steering New Tecumseth through a period of rapid growth.  That growth must be achieved responsibly and sustainably.  We are one wrong vote away from megadevelopment, urban sprawl and upper-tier government intrusion that will change the face of New Tecumseth, forever.

Now, more than ever, we need councillors that are knowledgeable about the issues we face, committed and dedicated to the preservation of the very identity and way of life that makes us such a unique and envied municipality, and most importantly, we need members of council that are independent and not beholden to the development community and those loyal to them. I have been that councillor these past four years, and that will not change. Our future is in your hands this election — with your support, I will ensure our future remains a safe and prosperous one.

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Elementary students in Oro-Medonte tackle global issues

The students at Shanty Bay Public School may be short in stature but they have big ideas for tackling the planet’s most pressing issues.

As part of a program called Change Agents, students were challenged to pick a United Nations Global Goal and develop a plan to affect change in that area.

Some of the student projects on display at a June 19 expo included, that was distributed to elementary schools throughout the county, a fundraising campaign to provide clean drinking water and plans to address food insecurity in the county.

Maeve Celli, a Grade 4 student, decided to do something about hard-to-recycle plastics. She noticed many plastic writing utensils at her school were making their way into garbage cans.

“It’s just so sad to see all the waste going into the garbage,” Celli said.

She collected more than 1,000 pieces of plastic from her school and will be diverting them to a recycling company called TerraCycle. After she gave a presentation to the school, she learned a Grade 1 student had started their own collection efforts, which she said was a great feeling.

“I didn’t know I could inspire people to do things like that,” she said.

Students were encouraged to combine their topic with their passions, so Grade 5 student Nari Hwang decided to “smoosh” her two loves together: art and the environment.

Her art abstract art piece titled “Make Clean Water Happen” to show the effects of plastic pollution in bodies of water.

After showcasing her piece, students at the school were asked to take pledges on preventing plastic pollution in bodies of water.

“I really like the water, it gives me peace,” Hwang said when asked why it was an important topic to her. “I just feel so calm when I’m in it.”

Across the gym, Grade 5 student Caden Fowler had created a colourful display about coral reefs around the world.

Reefs, he said, occupy less than one per cent of the ocean but are home to more than 25 per cent of marine life.  Another surprising fact he learned is that 35 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia has died off.

“It’s like an underwater rainforest,” Fowler said.

His project aims to educate people on how to prevent further damage to those underwater ecosystems.

Julie Johnson, a special education resource teacher at Shanty Bay Public School, organized the Change Agent program along with another teacher Heather Czarnota.

“They knocked it out of the park,” she said of the student projects.

The program is meant to help students develop collaboration, organizational, problem solving and empathy skills.

Johnson said they plan to continue the program, which received grants from the Ministry of Education and the Simcoe County District School Board for next year.

“This is really just the beginning for a lot of these projects,” she said.

Collingwood humane society executive director wins provincial award

The executive director of the Georgian Triangle Humane Society recently won a provincial award.

Sonya Reichel  was awarded the Chair’s Award from the Ontario SPCA. The award, which was presented at the recent Ontario SPCA conference in Niagara Falls, is given out on an annual basis to an individual who goes above and beyond to make an outstanding contribution to animal welfare.

Reichel began working for the Georgian Triangle Humane Society at the end of October 2012.

“The award this year has been given out to an Executive Director who’s performance has been stellar,” said Catherine MacNeill, Chair of the Ontario SPCA Board of Directors.

The Georgian Triangle Humane Society began saving animals in 1999. Since 2012, the Humane Society has more than quadrupled the number of homeless animals placed into forever homes.

Adoptions increased by 31 per cent in 2017 resulting in over 1100 animals finding homes.

“We are thrilled with the progress our organization has made towards our Mission and Vision under the leadership of Sonya. The future is bright as we work tirelessly towards ensuring that we continue to meet the needs of our community,” said David Garner, board chair for the Georgian Triangle Humane Society.

Monitor lizard wrangled in Midland

Midland resident Sheri Williams was shocked to be asked if she had a pet lizard after one was spotted in her backyard Aug. 11.

“l didn’t even know it was out there. Someone knocked on my door and let me know it was there,” Williams said. “To be honest, I was hoping to fall asleep for a nap because my kids were down for a nap.”

But that plan was disrupted when a man knocked on her door and asked if she had a pet lizard.

“I threw my shoes on to take a look, and there was another woman in my
backyard who I didn’t know,” she said. “She was from down
the street and said told me someone riding their bike mentioned there
was an alligator.”

The woman knew Williams had two young kids, so she went to investigate, calling animal control after spotting the lizard in the backyard.

“They didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Huronia Animal Control’s Randy Bidan and OPP officers responded to the call. Williams’s dog started barking, waking her two kids who watched from the window as the lizard was captured and put into a cage.

After the incident, Williams learned a monitor lizard is similar to a Komodo dragon.

“They vary in size and eat anything from plants to deer,” she said.

It turns out the lizard belongs to a neighbour.

“The animal control officer didn’t know if the neighbour would get the lizard back again,” she said.

Williams said her neighbour’s yard is completely fenced in and she is unsure how the lizard escaped.

According to Midland communications officer Randy Fee, lizards are prohibited in the town. A bylaw includes a $100 fine if any prohibited animals are found.

However, Fee said, there could be more charges and the town is still investigating the situation.

“They first have to identify the exact species of the lizard to properly assess the risk that was involved with having this lizard as a pet, and it escaping, and then also work with the pet owner in regard to re-homing it.”


Residents assaulted in their Midland home: Updated

The lone man who broke into a Midland home Monday night and robbed the residents after assaulting and threatening them with a weapon has been identified as Ryan Dicks, 35, of Midland.

Dicks was arrested by Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers and taken into police custody. He was held in custody until an Aug. 23 bail hearing. He will continue to remain in custody until a Sept. 6 Ontario Court of Justice appearance in Midland.

When Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers arrived at the home after 7:35 p.m. on Aug. 20 to investigate the robbery, they discovered one person with non-life threatening injuries from the altercation.  

The Southern Georgian Bay crime unit, Southern Georgian Bay scenes of crime officer and K-9 unit were called in to assist in the investigation.  

One person has been arrested and charged with robbery with weapon, assault with a weapon, assault, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, break and enter and fail to comply with probation order.

Collingwood doctors screen patients for poverty to improve health

While the rising cost of living is making it difficult for some in South Georgian Bay to make ends meet, this could have a negative impact on their health

“We know poverty is linked to a lot of illness in health,” said Dr. Harry O’Halloran.

The Georgian Bay Family Health Team, 211 Community Connection and County of Simcoe Paramedicine Services have partnered to help improve the health of Collingwood residents.

O’Halloran said doctors in the area are using a poverty-screening tool in hopes of connecting patients with services.

“Within the screening tool there are resources that we can use to help people,” he said. “People appreciate you asking, you have to be sensitive in how you ask.”

O’Halloran said he asks patients a number of questions to determine what their living situation is.

“There has been a lot of evidence around asking them if they’ve got their income taxes done or do they have trouble making ends meet at the end of the month,” he said. “Those simple questions often tell you a lot.”

He said not submitting income taxes often correlates with poverty, and as a result, people aren’t aware they could be eligible for social programs.

“People who have trouble making ends meet aren’t able to access community services, so they don’t know or haven’t got the resources (for) how to access disability,” he said. “They may not know there is help to get medications covered, so they don’t take care of themselves as well. They can’t necessarily afford to join fitness clubs or they don’t know the YMCA would subsidize them.”

Kyle MacCallum is a community paramedicine co-ordinator with the County of Simcoe.

He said local paramedics screen individuals after receiving 911 calls.

“The call originates for a reason that isn’t going to be fixed by going to the hospital,” he said.

MacCallum said when they visit the home, paramedics ask patients a variety of questions.

“You start to ask them questions around how they’re coping at home,” he said.

“What the barriers are and what they don’t have in their living situation that they need to thrive.”

In both cases, the information is referred to 211, an organization that has access to a network of community services and organizations who do a needs assessment.

Call centre manager for 211, Rhonda Thompson said the centre receives a lot of calls about people struggling with financial issues, especially if they are on social assistance or disability.

“If they are requiring community services, there isn’t a lot of extra money to pay for paid services,” she said. “Is there subsidized programs? Can we advocate? Can we go to service clubs, can we go to church groups, can we go to other programs to see where we can get these people help?”

MacCallum said they’ve seen about a 29 per cent reduction in 911 calls as a result of the program.

“We’re just not bringing those patients in; they’re not being seen at the emergency department because we’re having those needs met at home where the patients want to be,” he said.

Fresh options abound at Wasaga’s new Potato Factory

Michael Mikhail is putting the finishing touches on the bar overlooking Potato Factory’s .

“It’s 120-year-old wood. They were about to throw it out and I said, ‘wait, you can’t do that!’” said the restaurant’s vice-president of operations.

The pieces will accent the bar at the 200-seat restaurant, which opened on June 29.

The menu features burgers, sandwiches, fish and chips, and their signature ‘appetizer wheel’ of a minimum of four items.

The restaurant can also cater to customers based on allergies and religious considerations.

Mikhail emphasized all the food is fresh.

“From prepped to dish, it’s been marinated here, blanched here, cut here, and you can taste the difference,” he said. “We know exactly what goes into our food.”

What’s going on here in Creemore?

The should be complete by fall, after a new contractor was picked for the job in June.

Last September, Clearview Township council accepted a $193,000 bid from Consolidated to construct the Gowan Park pavilion, replacing a derelict building.

By late fall, however, construction stalled, and the second-lowest bidder, Cherokee Contracting, was called in this spring to fill in the hole left by the contractor.

The general manager of parks, culture and recreation, Terry Vachon, said he was unsure whether the municipality will be taking action against Consolidated.

At council’s June 25 meeting, councillors awarded the contract to build the pavilion to Cherokee at a price of $161,000, plus HST and a 10 per cent contingency, for a total of more than $200,000.

Cherokee had been paid just under $57,000 to bring the site up to grade, while Consolidated had been paid nearly $40,000 for the work that had been completed in the fall. Vachon noted the total cost of the project, including HST, will now be $296,000 — not including engineering and architectural fees.

Just the facts:

— The pavilion will be 75-by-25 feet, located on the north side of the park beside the ball diamond.

— Services will include washrooms, electricity, and a canteen area.

— Once it’s complete, the pavilion can be booked by calling Dan Gowan at the Creemore Arena,