BRACEBRIDGE — A woman who claimed she was injured in a hospital parking lot altercation with police on Halloween has lost her bid to have her complaint investigated further by the SIU after they say she refused them access to her medical records. Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino ended the investigation into the “interaction” […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Barrie remains the hotbed of local COVID cases and epicentre of the UK variant in Ontario. With 129 regional cases reported since Friday — mostly in Barrie with none in Muskoka — two GTA retirement homes are banning visitors from Barrie where the UK variant is among the highest […]

HUNTSVILLE — Police charged three people Friday in an afternoon traffic stop. The OPP’s Muskoka Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) was doing an investigation into drug trafficking. At 4:15 p.m. they say officers stopped a vehicle on Centre Street, with the assistance of the Huntsville OPP, arresting the three and finding a quantity of drugs: […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com ORILLIA — Having a heart attack? If you’re in Orillia and you go to the hospital, you’ll be immediately shipped to Barrie’s RVH. Patients who present at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) with heart attack symptoms will now be transported directly to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre’s (RVH) Cardiac Intervention Unit […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — The residents of Muskoka are being “very vigilant” in keeping COVID and its variant at bay. “And we hope they keep it that way,” Dr. Colin Lee, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s (SMDHU) associate medical officer of health, said today. In a Friday afternoon news briefing on the UK […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With Canada frowning on foreign flights due to rising variant fears, new numbers today in Simcoe-Muskoka show a man in Bracebridge and 36 people in Barrie among 65 new COVID cases today. And one more death in Simcoe. The Bracebridge resident — first diagnosed and reported for yesterday — […]

LAKE OF BAYS — Firefighters battled heavy fire and frigid temperatures last night to bring a house fire blaze under control last night. The Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire on Paint Lake Road at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28. Crews from Baysville Station 40 with assistance from […]

BARRIE — Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) says late this afternoon that it has declared another COVID-19 outbreak on another inpatient unit. And that 42 people now have the corona-virus — and 6 people have died as a result. The Specialized Seniors Care Unit is in addition to the Integrated Stroke and Rehabilitation Unit […]

MUSKOKA — You can bank on the ‘Big 5’ banks to invest in fossil fuels, says Climate Action Muskoka (CAM). The activists group is joining forces with groups across Canada tomorrow to say ‘Fossil Banks? No Thanks!’ to Canada’s five largest banks. CAM is inviting everyone to call, fax, and email their local bank branches […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Three Muskoka men aged 18 to 79 are among today’s jump to 57 COVID cases. And four more deaths in the region — bringing that total to 138. Two residents in Bracebridge and one in Gravenhurst are being reported by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit Thursday, Jan. 28, […]

GEORGIAN BAY — A project to help conserve habitat vital to the survival of 46 Canadian species at risk — such as the massasauga, the Blanding’s turtle and the midland painted turtle — is getting help from the federal government. Environment and Climate Change Canada Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced today that Ottawa will invest $1.95 […]

Colin Old |Special to MuskokaTODAY.com Developments in science that came to fruition in 2020 have brought a revolution to medicine. The year will be looked upon as a significant watershed. Top of mind is the dramatically enhanced method of producing vaccines, which for decades have taken years to create, receive approval from governing authorities and […]

PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Annual infrastructure funding from the province to the tune of almost $6 million will help shore up local roads, bridges, water and wastewater facilities as communities struggle with the economic and tax fallout from COVID-19. The province says it is making more investments in small, rural and northern communities through its Ontario […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Three more deaths as of today are part of a climb in COVID cases reported by the health unit. After an optimistic start in the week yesterday at 29, another 40 people in Simcoe as of Tuesday tested positive for the corona virus. Muskoka reported no new cases; and […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Local LTCs and retirement homes struggling to contain COVID-19 outbreaks received an extra $4 million in funding last year for prevention and containment efforts from the province. Conservative MPP Norman Miller said today that the Ontario government is investing a further $1.4 million for long-term care homes in […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Is this the beginning of the end? Please let it be. A year after the first case of COVID, the health unit is reporting just 29 new cases Tuesday, Jan. 26. None in Muskoka. Though the Town of Gravenhurst is reporting today a case among its staff, who has […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — The health unit say a third local location may now have the UK variant with testing to confirm underway. And as expected about 100 new variant COVID cases have now been confirmed at Barrie’s Roberta Place, bringing number to 127 residents, 82 staff, 3 health partners and 3 family/community caregivers […]

GRAVENHURST — The retirement last week of former fire chief Larry Brassard has opened the door for Brad Bigrigg to assume the role of interim fire chief of the Gravenhurst Fire & Emergency Services. Bigrigg brings more than 38 years of fire service experience beginning his career as a firefighter. He has also held various […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — What were you doing this weekend as 19 more people died of COVID and 130 more tested positive? Public Health Ontario reports 41 of them in Simcoe and Muskoka. Two of them were Gravenhurst residents — and the only ones reported in Muskoka for the past three days. A […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Flags were at half staff here as McDonald’s staff mourned the loss of their beloved manager who died suddenly last Monday. Chris Lewis had just returned from hospital in Toronto where he’d begun radiation and chemotherapy care after learning weeks before that he had a rare form of thyroid […]