RUSTY DRAPER | Contributing columnist The following might qualify as a hyperbole. (Much like most of my stories.) Growing up in Gravenhurst there always seemed to be a great deal of friction between my hometown and Bracebridge, just 10 miles north. I don’t know when or why these ill feelings germinated, but I’m sure it […]

TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist At the start of last January, Bracebridge’s five-day boil water advisory was called “the most extraordinary water incident” in the history of Muskoka. Last weekend Gravenhurst had a water incident of its own, first when the district issued first a do-not-use advisory, which was soon downgraded to a boil water […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE MUSKOKA — With Simcoe-Muskoka one of the most affected COVID regions, its medical officer of health is order tougher local measures. After closing Spruce Glen elementary school this week — and with 106 cases today — Dr. Charles Gardner says “dramatic increases” over the past six weeks mean he is willing […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKKOA — With 1,031 Ontario cases today (106 regionally) — and an Omicron variant in York — 8 more cases in Muskoka may pale by comparison. But as reported yesterday by MuskokaTODAY.com, by Christmas those numbers are on track to more than double. Especially with Omicron being more transmissible than Delta. […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Ontario’s latest flip-flop on electric vehicles indicates some real intent as to its return of the Northlander. A few days after seven northereastern Ontario mayors made tracks for Toronto early one morning last week to meet with transportation minister Caroline Mulroney at Union Station to continue their pressure for […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Omicron is real. It’s scary. And it’s here to stay — long-term. So people age 50+ will be rushing Dec. 13 at 8 a.m. to begin booking appointments for booster shots. That’s the group of people taking COVID and vaccines most seriously. With Omicron spreading fast — including Durham […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BALA — Residents here are always first to see Santa sailing over the Moon River each December on his motorized sleigh as the season of Christmas parades begins. But this year, the biggest elf is coming down from his sleigh for a drive-by unlike never before. Courtesy, of course, of COVID. […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — While there are “no” Omicron cases in Simcoe-Muskoka yet, will current vaccines stop them “if and when” they arrive? “We don’t know,” says Dr. Charles Gardner. “It’s still too early to tell,” he said when asked this afternoon. His “best advice” is to keep wearing masks inside and outside […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — A manufacturing business with 25 employees is news enough. But an expansion of 12,000 square feet is bigger news amid the pandemic. Embertech Industrial, a metal fabricator here on Barron Drive, is adding to its existing 5,000 square feet. And a $363,000 Ontario regional growth program grant announced last […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — One’s a man of steel — the other’s a super man. Gordon Lightfoot and Fred Schulz share many things in common. Both are guitar players with deep roots in Orillia and neighbouring Kilworthy. And both were at Massey Hall last Thursday for the reopening of the legendary Toronto music […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — If one is too many. Two is twice as bad. That’s Muskoka today with two COVID cases among 53 in the region Monday. The boy and girl are among kids under age 18. This as the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) says as of today, 10% of children […]

HUNTSVILLE — A school bus driver who had just dropped off teens at Huntsville High this morning has been arrested and charged with impaired driving. At 8:20 a.m. Tuesday police were called to the parking lot of the high school after a complaint from a concerned citizen, say police. Officers located the driver and while […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Three days after water was shut off and a boil water order was in place, the health unit now says the water is safe again to drink. As of noon today, Nov. 30, lab tests have confirmed that the water is free from contamination. The cause was mislabelled fluoride put […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — As the world braces for a new variant, it’s 243 weekend cases in this region causing concern locally. And 18 of them were in Muskoka — including 15 in Huntsville and one each in Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Georgian Bay. Ten of those in Huntsville and the one in Bracebridge […]

HUNTSVILLE — The OPP’s RIDE program is off to a negative start since it started Nov. 18. In the first week of the provincial festive program, officers set up checks on roadways throughout the Huntsville and Lake of Bays. Among those charged up to Nov. 25: – Four people were charged with impaired driving. – […]

GRAVENHURST — Friday may have been a PA day for kids (who began getting vaccines) everywhere, but Monday won’t be the same here in Gravenhurst despite a health unit Boil Water Advisory. Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TDLSB) says in a release late Sunday afternoon that it will not interrupt the school day and schools […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — An errant fluoride container label is being blamed in shutting down municipal water service throughout the town here yesterday and alarming the community with an order not to use, drink or even boil water for consumption. In a release Sunday noon, the District of Muskoka claims an alarm at […]

TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist I hear the train a coming, it’s rolling around the bend. After the sad termination of the Northlander passenger service in 2012, there are new plans to get the train back on track. A maiden test voyage through Gravenhurst speaks to the public demand and political interest in getting the […]

Lois Cooper | MuskokaTODAY.com Why Mouse Drops? My nickname was “Mouse” as a child and teenager — “Auntie Mouse” to some. As for drops, you find clues to a problem sometimes by following a trail of mouse drops. P.S. The publisher hates this name. Nov. 27, 2021 will stick in the memory of every citizen […]

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — A day of water woes and concerns is nearing an end. But residents here are not quite there yet. It’s likely Tuesday at the earliest before you can think of drinking water out of your home or business taps. Water service has been restored, however a “boil water advisory” […]