Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PORT CARLING — More on that commercial “diesel fuel” spill in Henshaw Lake — which took place Monday — prompting a drinking water warning from the province. An Ontario Environment Ministry spokesperson told MuskokaTODAY.com today that on April 6 a local resident notified the ministry about a “hydrocarbon sheen on the water […]
MUSKOKA — Muskoka’s hospitals “will struggle with the patient surge that is anticipated” as COVID-19 continues to hit the community hard. In a frank blog this week, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare CEO Natalie Bubela says “as a smaller community hospital, we have limited personnel and limited space.” She says “health care practitioners fill many roles in […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — There was no ‘Quiet Zone’ or signs indicating such so this afternoon on Kelly Drive. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway — for a few minutes after 2 p.m. Sirens wailed as eight emergency vehicles — led by a Gravenhurst Fire Department pumper truck, four OPP vehicles and three Muskoka […]
MUSKOKA LAKES TOWNSHIP — Residents on Henshaw Lake are warned not to use private water sources due to the threat from a fuel spill. The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) sent out the advisory today, April 9, advising the public of a “small diesel fuel spill” into Henshaw Lake. They say private drinking water […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — Two Gravenhurst women in their 60s are the latest Muskoka residents to come down with COVID-19. One was community-acquired and the other contracted the coronavirus through travel to an unknown destination. That makes them the 11th and 12th victims in the latest count reported to the Simcoe Muskoka District […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Essential workers and front-line staff are getting a lot of love. Even the odd tip at the grocery store. David Rechtsman left $50 in the trunk of his car today — as a “thank you” for YIG store employees — when a busy staff member loaded his car trunk […]
GRAVENHURST — Mayor Paul Kelly thanks residents and visitors for self-distancing and urges everyone to celebrate Easter at home alone. The Easter Bunny has been declared an essential service worker now and will find you. See his fifth COVID-19 YouTube video address at: Mayor Paul Kelly, Community COVID-19 Video Update for Wednesday April 8, 2020.
BRACEBRIDGE — Fear fire winter or spring. A cool turn doesn’t mean you can’t get burned. With the safety of its citizens and employees in mind, the Town of Bracebridge has declared a total fire ban to go along with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MRNF) Restricted Fire Zone Declaration. Bracebridge also joins […]
GRAVENHURST — A Bracebridge woman was charged yesterday with threatening death or harm, after what OPP call road rage on North Kahse Lake Road. Provincial police report that on Monday, April 6, at 4:45 p.m. they received a 911 call. Officers were dispatched and the victim reported that another vehicle was “driving erratically and passed […]
QUEEN’S PARK — Ontario is taking “emergency action” in response to a “spike in domestic violence cases” related to the COVID-19 crisis. Today the attorney general announced $54,250 for victim services agencies in Parry Sound-Muskoa, MPP Norman Miller said in a government release this afternoon. As a result, the province is providing an emergency payment […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com Sunday observances …. Hope springs eternal on Palm Sunday — as nature trumps nurture. April showers are already bringing May flowers, with yellow daffodils and purple crocuses cropping up giving hope in a dark world. And robins have even been spotted. There’s no masking what’s going on, as nations and neighbours […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — Premier Doug Ford is reaping some rare high praise in his handling of the pandemic. And he’s getting stern, too. Today in a Queen’s Park briefing, he warned Ontarians against coming to their cottages and taking food out of the mouths of Muskokans and straining local hospital services that […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Together apart. That was emergency workers on both sides of the pandemic front line here this afternoon, as firefighters, paramedics and police surrounded South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) to deliver a siren salute, in recognition of health-care workers inside — including dozens who came out onto the sidewalk and […]
A Huntsville woman was caught overnight with illegal drugs during a police vehicle stop on the main street here. Shortly after midnight, Friday, April 3, provincial police say an officer pulled over the vehicle on Main Street E., after what was said to be “concerning” driving behaviour. In the interaction and after an investigation, the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Local Rotarians are offering help to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with more than $20,000 for GAP and for others sheltering-at-home who need groceries or help with errands. In a release Thursday, the club said it is “concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on our community.” “Every one […]
MUSKOKA — As the pandemic surges, forest fires and floods are a new spring threat. Local fire chiefs say though there’s still some snow cover on the ground in parts of the district, they welcome a total fire ban imposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) as of 12:01 a.m. today. They […]
BRACEBRIDGE — A salute to front-line health-care workers here this afternoon will see OPP, firefighters and paramedics parading up Manitoba Street to the hospital. At 2:15 p.m. emergency service workers from the Bracebridge OPP, the Bracebridge Fire Department and Muskoka Paramedic services will be doing a short parade to salute the front line health care […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — A Huntsville woman who had “close contact” and a Muskoka Lakes woman with possible “community-aquired” COVID-19 are among today’s latest grim statistics reported in the daily count by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). The stats reinforce calls for social distancing and a health unit report two days […]
HUNTSVILLE — A driver found in an LCBO parking lot yesterday faces impaired driving charges. And that’s no April Fool’s joke. Provincial police here say that on Wednesday April 1, at 12:41 p.m., Huntsville OPP received a complaint from a concerned citizen. The suspect vehicle and driver were located a short time later in the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — The fifth person being tested for COVID-19 at the Pines has been cleared of the coronavirus, officials said just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday. That good news follows a health scare at the Pines retirement home this week that led to “COVID-19” testing. And it led to an “extended outbreak […]