Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — They said stay at home. So Dave Ramer and Michelle Harbridge got married in their driveway Tuesday. Then again in Hespeler four hours later. The next day, Wednesday, April 8, the essential workers were back on the job — he as a paramedic with Muskoka Paramedic Services and she […]
HUNTSVILLE — Five people are without a home to stay in place today after a fire forced from their apartment. The Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department said this afternoon that they responded to a report of a structure fire on Meadow Park Drive in Huntsville at 9 a.m. Responding firefighters encountered heavy smoke and flames […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Construction companies scrambled this week to make sure Easter eggs are available this weekend for those affected by the coronavirus. In just five days the Muskoka Home Builders Association (MBA) raised more than $80,000 to help. The Relief Effort delivered $24,000 to four local food banks Wednesday to […]
DWIGHT — A double takedown yesterday has led to two Huntsville residents being arrested and charged with cocaine trafficking and possession of a replica handgun modified to appear as a real firearm. Provincial police say Thursday, April 9, the Muskoka Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) with the OPP’s SWAT team and canine unit used a drug […]
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 […]
Now, it’s not about what’s closed, but what’s open. Here are a few more updates. Let us know if you know of any others. The Town of Gravenhurst announced today, April 8, that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the necessary, but unfortunate, cancellation of various spring/summer programs it offers at this time of year. […]
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 […]
ORILLIA — The OPP is reminding motorcyclists not to be on the road unless necessary. They say in a new release Friday that “despite daily reminders to Ontarians to stay home and avoid non-essential travel, a number of recent motorcycle sightings on Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) patrolled roads suggests that some motorcyclists may not be […]
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 […]
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 […]