BARRIE — People who were swabbed at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) for COVID-19 are being asked not to call the hospital emergency department. In an urgent email this afternoon, RVH communications person Donna Danyluk asked the media to help us get this “important information out to the public.” She said many people are […]
MUSKOKA — With a wet weekend ahead, a spring flooding “water safety” advisory has been issued for Parry-Sound Muskoka. Just after noon Friday, March 27, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) sent out an update from its Bracebridge field office for its Parry Sound District. The means high flows, melting ice or other factors […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Is it OK to go out to give blood safe? Yes, according to the Town of Bracebridge that is working with the Canadian Blood Services to ensure the safety of donors and staff at a mobile blood donor clinic next Monday, March 30. The donor event will take place […]
HUNTSVILLE — Staying home to protect your property may be a good idea as thieves aren’t self-isolating. Provincial police at Huntsville say their Muskoka Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) executed a search warrant in Innisfil Thursday, recovering two snowmobiles and a trailer stolen from Deerhurst Resort three weeks ago. They say that on March 7 […]
MUSKOKA LAKES — Three Bracebridge residents face numerous theft charges dating back to last summer after being stopped early yesterday morning. Provincial police at Bracebridge said today that they arrested three individuals in possession of a stolen float trailer and a Caterpiller 259D Skid Steer. They say that at 1:30 a.m., on March 26, an officer […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — The cheque is in the mail — and the mail is being delivered as an essential national service. That’s more important today, especially with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promising yesterday that the new million who are now expecting EI cheques that they are on their way. Of course, along […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Hidden in special electronic council meeting Friday to enact emergency off-site meeting measures amid the COVID-19 crisis is a bureaucratic and political move by the mayor and CAO to limit the public voices of councillors and residents. Councillors — some of whom have voiced concerns privately in the past […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com A Toronto Star report today says Ontario destroyed tens of millions masks vital in the pandemic fight, because their recommended best-before date had expired. Reporter Rosie DiManno says a decade after stockpiling N95 masks following the SARS epidemic, in 2013 the province began destroying most of them, along with thousand of […]
QUEEN’S PARK — Together apart, provincial politicians put partisanship aside here yesterday in response to COVID-19. The legislature agreed to the Ford government’s “action plan,” passing a bill to add an extra $3.3 billion to Ontario’s health-care system, and it says $3.7 billion in direct support for people and jobs. MPP Norman Miller said in […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKOA — Park it is the latest law emerging as the COVID clampdown continues. Day 1 of the workplace lockdown sees parks and playgrounds the next public spaces you can expect to close in your town. Just wait. Across the province that’s the new reality — for today. Soon streets will […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Muskoka Airport, which normally experiences fewer winter landings and takeoffs than Santa and Rudolph Christmas Eve, has become a parking lot for backlog of Air Canada jets as the COVID-19 shuts down half the country’s airspace. With the U.S. border closed and Canadians domestic flights halved with fewer travellers […]
MUSKOKA — Horror stories spreading worldwide about lack of health supplies at hospitals have landed at MAHC. They say in a release late Wednesday afternoon that “as we manage the COVID-19 pandemic,” Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare is in need of donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies. This after the hospitals CAO just “assured” […]
HUNTSVILLE — With the pandemic virus gripping the globe at its doorstep, Huntsville faces a more immediate spreading health threat. Health officials say a second food handler at a Huntsville restaurant has tested positive for Hepatitis A, promping another call for a second round of public testing by customers and those who may have contracted the […]
MUSKOKA — As Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare ramps up its pandemic response, CEO Natalie Bubela expressed her “confidence” in the “dedicated team” of hospital doctors and staff to handle the “extraordinary” health challenges ahead to protect all patients and workers. In a statement Wednesday afternoon to Muskokans, she issued her assurance in: “I would like to […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com TORONTO — Today dawns a new economic reality in Ontario, when most non-essential workplaces have been ordered to close their doors as the corona virus pandemic wave builds. All but the most necessary businesses and services have been told to allow employees to work from home allowing operations to continue as […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — Bracebridge’s council is about to turn temporary powers over to a non-elected official tomorrow in response the pandemic. At a special council meeting — to be held electronically Thursday, March 26 — Mayor Graydon Smith and councillors could temporarily delegate authority to CAO John Sission “to exercise any discretionary […]
GRAVENHURST — Traffic was rerouted at the CN track on Brock Street at Bethune Drive Monday as work to move the wigwags took place. After the siding track through town was removed at the old Train Station last year, new Transportation Canada regulations meant the safety crossing arms had to be placed closer to the […]
MUSKOKA — District of Muskoka taxes will go up 1.9 per cent. In a release Feb. 19, it said the average resident will see an overall 1.9 per cent tax increase on the district portion of their municipal property taxes in 2020. They say that’s a $16.26 hit on a property valued at $300,000. This is […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com TORONTO — Home hydro users can do laundry and wash dishes during the day without worrying about breaking the bank. The province has cut rates in half to evening hour prices for the next 45 days. They say that to support Ontarians through the COVID-19 crisis, the Ford government is providing […]
MUSKOKA — Local long-term care homes have new powers to manage COVID-19. Residents are prevented from leaving their homes to visit families. The province says a new law will also free up more space in long-term care home by moving people out of hospitals who no longer need hospital care. Ontario says it is taking […]