Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Days before schools reopen, locally reported COVID cases climbed slightly today to 362 as concerns grow among most Canadians about Omicron’s chilling effect. Winter of discontent no doubt. Both federal and regional health officials forecast ever more cases in to early February. Simoce Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) said […]
UTTERSON — Conroy Bissonette had to do a double-take after looking at his lotto ticket. “I played my ticket in my car and when I saw I won I couldn’t believe it. “Tears started running down my cheeks and I kept wondering if it was real,” he said after picking up the $100,000 Instant 21 […]
STEPHEN RICHARDS | Special to MuskokaTODAY.com FICTION 101 Entrance Drive, North Falls: March 10, 1912 Over the past nine years, scrutchers, weavers, warpers, menders and finishing experts arrived via the Sagamo steamer, departing from places such as Ulster, Lisburn and Belfast. Each seeking opportunities free from famine and hoping for improved working conditions. And, if […]
GRAVENHURST — Police are looking for a suspect in a gas bar cash and dash earlier this month on Hwy. 11. They say that on Jan. 3 officers were dispatched to a report of a break and enter at the Shell Gas Station located northbound on Hwy. 11 south of Gravenhurst at the Kahshe Lake […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Almost 60 more regional COVID cases are being reported today than yesterday — but where they are and when they were remains a closely guarded secret by the province through its local public health unit. All it’s safe to assume it that Omicron is omnipresent in everyday life. As […]
Letter to Editor: Continuing to publish only raw data regarding the number of daily vaccinated infections compared with infections in unvaccinated people paints a false picture of the efficacy of COVID vaccines, and seems to support the dangerous myth that vaccines are ineffective. A quick look at the Ontario Science Table’s online data reveals that, […]
PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Four community centres will receive more than $1,272,000 from the province for facility upgrades. The funding is a part of the Community Building Fund’s Capital stream, administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. In Parry Sound-Muskoka, the local recipients are as follows: The Township of Lake of Bays is receiving $500,000 over 12 […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — There are more COVID cases than the government, health units and public know, but you’ll never know who are where and in what communities they live. As of today the municipal locations of cases will no longer be disclosed by the health unit and province. The reason, claims Dr. […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — As Ontario families ready to return to kids to school Monday amid ever-increasing COVID cases, Quebec has taken the first bold step in proposing a health care contributing tax on those unvaccinated without medical exemptions. Today Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 364 cases — including 26 in […]
GRAVENHURST — Police are looking for a man wearing a balaclava in a home invasion here Sunday night. Police say officers responded to a 911 call from an address on the Gravenhurst Parkway January 9 at 11:45 p.m. They say the caller reported an unknown man entered their residence with a weapon and demanded cash. The […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — After almost 3,000 COVID cases last week in the region, Simcoe-Muskoka starts the week with 337 — including 66 in Muskoka over the weekend. The 2,988 cases to start off the first week of 2022 was down 16 per cent from the first week after Christmas. They are among […]
MUSKOKA — Two boys born Saturday are Muskoka’s first of 2022. The Gravenhurst and Huntsville residents arrived eight hours apart on Jan. 8. At South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, Andy Couling was born at 5:13 a.m., to first-time parents Melissa Switzer and Matt Couling, of Gravenhurst. Andy arrived at 8 pounds, 6 ounces. At the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital baby […]
STEPHEN RICHARDS | Special to MuskokaTODAY.com FICTION A man and a woman sit facing, knee to knee, in a dim lit room. Each holds a glass of Johnston’s Cranberry Splash Spritzer. The vintage Ronco vinyl phonograph plays “What a Wonderful World” and it’s skipping on the song’s title. The two are engrossed in conversation. Moonlight […]
TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist The MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka recently spoke out about the labour shortage and seemed to make a link between local franchises like Tim Hortons being unable to attract workers and the government’s pandemic benefits. Scott Aitchison, the Conservative’s labour critic, doesn’t seem to believe Canadians can be trusted to receive […]
MUSKOKA — Environment Canada has forecasted extreme cold conditions for Muskoka, as wind chill values near -35° C are expected tonight and early Saturday morning. Decreasing temperatures can put everyone at risk for cold-related illness or injury, such as frostbite and hypothermia. The health unit says risks are greatest for those who are marginally housed […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — COVID cases are up again in Muskoka and Simcoe today. The health unit reports that 41 of the 524 regional cases are in Muskoka. Including an outbreak among 5 residents at the Gravenhurst Manor on its main street. Yesterday the district and region were reported to have had 480 […]
HUNSTVILLE — A COVID patient outbreak in the south wing of the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital has been reported. Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) said last night that four patients tested positive for COVID-19 and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has placed the wing under “unit-specific COVID-19 outbreak status.” MAHC says in its release Thursday, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — COVID cases climbed back close to 500 today — including 27 in Muskoka. Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 480 people testing positive in its daily update. That after reporting 362 region-wide yesterday. And another death in Simcoe. Provincially numbers rose to 13,330 from 11,582. There were 20 […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Omicron may not be as severe as the Delta wave, but its sheer numbers threaten to overwhelm the health care system. So says Dr. Charles Gardner while adding that 98 per cent of cases last week were Omicron. He said “you can’t rely on vaccines,” which given people false […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — An outbreak at Muskoka Shores retirement and LTC home in Gravenhurst — with 52 residents and 14 staff — is part of a four-day New Year’s weekend total of 179 Muskoka cases being reported by the health unit Tuesday. They are among 2,067 cases since last Friday’s Dec. 31 […]