RUSTY DRAPER | Contributing columnist Married for 53 years and long retired, life changes. What use to be the expected norm no longer exists … and I rather like the new normal. For instance, I have a comfortable lazy boy chair that my wife thinks I like too much. I’ll admit that I do spend […]
TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist With the labour shortage, work at home options and the exodus from urban areas, many are contemplating small town life. Recently, I thought I found a job that could allow me to relocate back to my hometown in Gravenhurst. One catch, it required willingness to drive to Bracebridge. Many job […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — In the menacing clutches of an excavator claw, a large brown Teddy bear was dragged from a heap of debris today and dropped into an orange dumpster destined for a landfill. As operator Gary MacDonald deposited the huge shards of twisted metal, roof trusses, walls, wires and stuffies, Jamie […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Good news about Pfizer vaccines for kids 5 to 11 coming within “days” was countered locally today with fall high of 87 regional COVID cases — including 9 more in Muskoka. That’s the second day this week with as many in the northern half of the health unit’s reporting […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com MUSKOKA — While kids vaccines are getting all the headlines today, local seniors aged 70 and + can get booster shots locally now — if you are 168 days from your second vaccine shot. According to a release today from the Algonquin Healthcare, their family health teams in Gravenhurst and Huntsville […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Every kid in Canada 5 to 11 can soon be vaccinated. Ottawa and Health Canada will make it official at 10 a.m. tomorrow at 10 a.m. meaning almost three million eligible little ones should start getting a children’s dose of Pfizer possibly Nov. 25. It’s part of lots of […]
WAHTA — Police have suspended their search for a missing woman here after a body was found here late yesterday morning. The OPP say they located human remains during a search for a missing person in Wahta Mohawk First Nation Wednesday morning. They say that at on Nov. 15, at 11 a.m., a 49-year-old Diana Kasper, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com WAHTA — Search efforts resumed here today for a missing Washago woman. Provincial police are asking for the public’s help locating the missing person in the area of Ragged Rapids Road in Wahta First Nations. Diana Kasper, 49, was last seen Friday, Nov. 12. Kasper is described as 5-foot-6, with shoulder-length […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Support local businesses, help your community and get great bargains from the comfort of your home starting this weekend. That’s when the Gravenhurst Rotary TV/Internet Auction kicks off pre-bidding for the Nov. 28 Sunday main afternoon live TV event. After more than three decades of delivering deals on Cable […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Yesterday three young men in Bracebridge, 18-34, were reported to have tested for positive for COVID-19. They are all under investigation by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) after having first episodes the day before. The trio are among 42 SMDHU cases Tuesday and 70 so far this […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — An average of more than 50 cases a day over the weekend makes the region one of the province’s top hot spots today. The 155 cases Friday, Saturday and Sunday includes a dozen in Muskoka — and 143 in Simcoe. And while 3 of them were among children under […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST-BRACEBRIDGE-MUSKOKA LAKES — Just say “Yes you can!” That’s the marketing message from south Muskoka chambers of commerce as they excitedly launched a new campaign to remind residents that when it comes to goods and services, “It’s all right here” in your home town. The Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Muskoka Lakes chambers […]
TARA COLLUM | Contributing columnist A few years ago I joined a crowd of 15,000 people in Toronto to participate in a climate strike. Al Gore first helped put “global warming” on the world’s radar with his early 2000s documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and the cause is now championed famously by a teenager from Sweden, […]
HUNTSVILLE — A large fire early this morning, off Hwy. 11 south of town, that caused $600,000 is under investigation. Huntsville/Lake of Bays firefighters from stations 1, 4 and 5 battled the structure fire on Allensville Road Saturday at 1 a.m. Allensville is just north of Port Sydney and Utterson on the west side of […]
MUSKOKA — “Who owns the black truck parked out front?” That wasn’t the question trivia game players expected to hear at Sawdust City Tuesday night. “It’s mine,” answered the vehicle owner when an OPP officer went in to inquire. Police say they responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision on Muskoka Road north in […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Add 5 male cases to the rising COVID toll in Muskoka as kids vaccines could be a week to two away. The past two days 99 cases were reported by the health unit. They bring to 206 this week’s number. Last week it was 249 and 127 the last […]
Photos by Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Another look at a day to remember. Yesterday’s Remembrance Day service was a rare public gathering after last year’s more restricted indoor ceremony due to COVID. More than 100 community members gathered for the first time in two years to join legionnaires mark the solemn occasion on […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com Photos by Lois Cooper GRAVENHURST — They gathered. They remembered. As the winds of change blew forth, Remembrance Day was muted, memorable, mindful and respectful. More than 100 members of the community huddled on the small hilltop overlooking the Royal Canadian Legion this morning at 11 a.m. They joined a handful […]
GRAVENHURST — Remembrance Day services here will be muted, but still public tomorrow. The Royal Canadian Legion will commemorate its war dead with another scaled-down service outdoors. And all are welcome — but urged to take appropriate COVID measures including distancing and wearing masks. With the weather to be seasonal and without often rain or […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Three Muskoka cases ranging in age from under 17 to 80+ are among a growing number of 63 residents with positive coronavirus tests today. No wonder Ontario is putting a halt to lifting of capacity limits in higher-risk settings like night clubs and wedding receptions, strip clubs, sex clubs […]