Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Kjell Iversen knows this town like the back of his hands. And he should. The 90-year-old cabbie has travelled every street, road and highway in town hundreds of times — likely more — metering millions of miles in dozens of sedans. His hands on top of the wheel, staring […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — “Calls for ‘restricted red’ worked.” Social media erupted with the news today as business groups celebrated their lobbying efforts after the province announced both the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) will be moving into the Red-Control zone of […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSOKA — Dr. Charles Gardner is taking the blame for the the province’s red-grey-red run-around. He says they are “in keeping with recommendations I provided to (Ontario’s) Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams.” In a letter “to the people whose work and businesses were affected by the lockdown in Simcoe […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Keeping up with COVID is a minute by minute job. News changes and spreads faster than variants. No sooner do you learn Muskoka has two more cases, than you learn Simcoe-Muskoka is moving back in to the ‘red zone’ Monday — a week after leaving it to the delight […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — While small businesses and individuals struggle with COVID, the province is providing more than $4.1 million to help municipalities across Parry Sound-Muskoka deal with pandemic-related operating costs. The money isn’t meant to hand out individually to residents or businesses. They say in a release this afternoon that the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A Gravenhurst woman is among 34 COVID cases the health unit is reporting today. She is 65 to 79 years of age, under investigation and was first reported March 2 with an initial episode of March 1. All the other cases are in Simcoe. The province said there were […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Business concerns about COVID lockdowns are real. Thankfully Arvin Gumlati hasn’t had any corona virus cases at his Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet restaurant with all his many safety protocols for staff and customers. “It’s safe to come here.” But he’s only doing drive-thru service, because he can’t have indoor-dining or takeout. […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Muskoka had no COVID cases today, Simcoe had 18 or 36 depending on which site you go to — and Toronto and Peel are battling over grey zone designations as variants rise. Needless to say needles are the real story of the day no matter your age or where […]
HUNTSVILLE — A local landlord has been fined almost $1,000 for failing to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in some rental units on its main street after a fire last Thursday. The Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department says in a release that firefighter inspected a property on Main Street West Feb. 25 and fire […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — In the race for public attention COVID, VOCs, vaccines and lockdown criticism are running neck-and-neck at the wire — with injection sites ahead by a nose. Case counts are the track odds, Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca are the horses and the public is wagering on the latter three. A […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Rotarian Bill Towns would have been proud. At the Bracebridge Rotary Club’s virtual meeting Friday, members celebrated the renaming of the club’s Citizen of the Year award while announcing its first recipient, Evelyn Archibald. Rotary recognized the lifetime contributions to volunteerism of William E. Towns in honouring his memory. He […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A week to watch begins with 5 new Muskoka COVID cases among 99 the health unit is reporting since Friday’s lockdown announcement. Dr. Charles Gardner is chief among those looking at what the numbers mean and where they’re headed. The medical officer of health for Simcoe-Muskoka, who has come […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Four vaccination clinics are now open across the region — with 225 people booked in to the Active Living Centre in Huntsville today. And a waiting list, as the province reports 39 local cases this morning. While most welcome the injection sites, not everyone is happy about the number […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Public, political and business attacks on the medical officer — that even got personal — led him today to provide his “rationale” for recommending a local lockdown tomorrow. Dr. Charles Gardner went on Facebook this afternoon to respond to more than “100” email complaints he has received by phone […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Cases may be down to just 20 Sunday, reports the province, but a rise in variants is behind tomorrow’s return to stay-at-home orders says the health unit. Simcoe-Muskoka has the “highest number of variants of concern (VOCs) in Ontario.” The province reported 1,062 cases (20 deaths) — down from […]
MUSKOKA LAKES — A driver stuck a driveway during the night is stuck with an impaired driving charge. Police say that early today, Feb. 28 at 2:35 a.m., they got an anonymous tip about a vehicle stuck in a driveway on Muskoka Road 118 West in Muskoka Lakes. Officers arrested and charged 23-year-old Konrad McQuilter, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A day after and two days before: Simcoe-Muskoka sees 35 more cases of COVID. That’s one more than the 34 the health unit reported Friday. And no one’s happy about that. Meanwhile, Monday’s return to “Grey-Lockdown” status has local residents on edge. Yesterday’s provincial “emergency brake” caught many off-guard. […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA LAKES — With a return to lockdown Monday, local businesses are calling for a balanced Ontario budget. They mean one that keeps both their interests and the public’s at heart. No grey area here for them Yesterday, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) — with input from the Muskoka Lakes […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com TORONTO — The province has taken the advice of Dr. Charles Gardner and Simcoe-Muskoka is returning to the grey-lockdown zone this Monday, March 1. That’s the same highly restrictive zone the region recently emerged from. The province announced the “emergency brake” late this afternoon, Friday Feb. 26. The order didn’t say […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Four Muskoka men have been fined of $3,200 for illegal moose hunting in 2019 — including a Gravenhurst hunter who received a 15-year suspension. Conservation officers and police found them on Crown land in the south-east area of the town. The hunters had a cow moose and officers found […]