Sentinel-Review (Woodstock)
OUTLAWS, SATAN'S CHOICE CLASH LANDS ON BIKER ENFORCEMENT UNIT RADAR
A violent clash in Woodstock involving members of the Outlaws and Satan's Choice motorcycle clubs has landed on the radar of Ontario's biker enforcement unit. Video footage showing nearly two dozen men in Outlaws vests surrounding a Dundas Street...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS
The Home Hardware stores in Woodstock (pictured) and Ingersoll recently donated backpacks and school supplies to Youth Unlimited to help support local children and their families with some of the essentials needed for the new academic year.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW AWARDS PROGRAM CELEBRATES LOCAL VOLUNTEERS
The City of Woodstock has launched a brand new awards program to celebrate the people and organizations that help make the Friendly City just that through their dedicated volunteerism. The new Friendly City Volunteer Recognition Awards will honour...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHEESE & CHEERS AT WOODSTOCK'S SOUTH GATE CENTRE
The South Gate Centre will be hosting an “evening of exceptional food and drink” next month as a fundraiser to support its new kitchen. Cheese & Cheers: A Tapas Experience will be prepared by chef Simon Mathias of downtown Woodstock's Tempo Restaurant...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
THAMES VALLEY STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES IMPROVE, BUT STILL TRAIL ONTARIO
The region's largest school board saw modest year-over-year gains in some standardized testing results, but scores continue to track below the provincial average. The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) released results Friday for...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SHARE YOUR CARE
For the second year in a row, Cedarview Retirement Living celebrated its Share Your Care Day by bringing flowers and chocolates to volunteers, health-care workers, first responders and other community champions in the Friendly City. With the support of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CONCERNED CITIZENS NOW PART OF HOMELESS CENTRE PREP IN WOODSTOCK
Concerned citizens will now have more of a say in the foundational pieces for a homelessness support centre being developed in downtown Woodstock. At its meeting Sept. 23, Oxford County councillors heard from LeeAnn VanWees, a representative of the Y...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LONDON CATHOLIC TRUSTEES QUESTION PROVINCE'S NEW FAMILY SUPPORT OFFICES
Two London Catholic trustees are criticizing the province's new family support offices, saying families are better served by having direct access to elected trustees. “Our communication model is based on direct access to elected trustees. When...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ONTARIO MUNICIPALITIES SAY THEY NEED A SAY IN AI DATA CENTRE APPROVALS
Ontario municipalities are telling the provincial government they don't want to be cut out of decision-making on AI data centres once the Ford government implements its so-called “Data Centre Playbook.” Stakeholder consultations on the proposed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
`IT'S LOOKING BLEAK': SOARING FUEL COSTS SQUEEZE SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO FARMERS
Kevin Cron is blunt in assessing whether his cash-crop operation will turn a profit this year: “It's looking bleak.” The Port Stanley-area grower said his lack of optimism stems from sharp increases in input costs, particularly crude oil-based...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LOCAL YOUTH SURVEY SHOWS BOTH ENCOURAGING AND CONCERNING TRENDS
Recent data shows positive signs for the mental health and well-being of local youth, but challenges still lie ahead, public health officials say. During Oxford County's recent meeting, Ashley Vito, a health promoter with Southwestern public health...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TORNADO OUTBREAK CONFIRMED NEAR TAVISTOCK DURING SEPT. 2 STORMS
A line of intense, late afternoon storms that swept through the region last week, damaging trees and hydro poles and leaving thousands in the area without power at one point, also produced a pair of tornadoes east of Stratford and another north of the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
How much will Canada's tariff retaliation hurt Ontario?
Canadian counter-tariffs against the United States went into effect Tuesday. The countermeasures will make it more expensive for businesses in Ontario and across Canada to import certain goods from the United States, with repercussions for the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
INGERSOLL LAUNCHES THREE-YEAR PLAN TO PLANT MORE THAN 4,000 TREES
The Town of Ingersoll has launched an ambitious three-year park naturalization project that will result in more than 4,000 native trees and shrubs being planted by local students and community volunteers. Working in partnership with the Upper Thames...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
13 AT-RISK TURTLES HATCHED FROM EGGS HARVESTED FROM ROAD-KILL MOTHER
When Stephen Kilbridge spotted something odd on the side of the road while driving to work one June morning, he did something most people probably wouldn't have even considered. The manager of the Waterford Old Town Hall Used Book Store, stopped, got...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
IDLED GM PLANT IN INGERSOLL A TOP PRIORITY FOR DEFENCE CONTRACTS: UNION
General Motors won't sell or close its idled Cami assembly plant in Southwestern Ontario, with the automaker pledging to make the Ingersoll factory a top priority for any military contracts, according to a union report. Unifor, the national union...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
`WE CANNOT ABSORB 25%': SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO FARM SECTOR BRACES FOR TARIFFS
Farm machinery manufacturers and sellers in Southwestern Ontario are bracing for higher costs and weaker sales as the Canada-U.S. trade war reaches the agricultural sector. Canada's counter-tariffs on some U.S.-made farm equipment and parts could reach...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EARLY MORNING BLAZE
A house fire at the corner of Broadway Street and Concession Street East in Tillsonburg early Monday morning had police and firefighters at the scene through much of the day. Firefighters found smoke and flames shooting from a second-storey window upon...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PIERRE POILIEVRE ON JACKED-UP TARIFFS: `WE HAVE WHAT THE AMERICANS NEED'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre swung through Southwestern Ontario on Saturday, telling supporters here that Canada should continue fighting for tariff-free trade as the U.S. imposed new ones on Canadian goods. Poilievre spoke at a public event...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HARVARD ASSOCIATION PLANNING TO CREATE MEMORIAL GARDEN AT AIRPORT
The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is looking to create a veteran's memorial garden at the Tillsonburg Regional Airport. Members of the not-for-profit, which operates out of a hangar at the facility just north of Tillsonburg, met with council...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Woodstock set to tackle illegal dumping
Concerns about illegal dumping in Woodstock has prompted city officials to investigate six recommended strategies to improve public cleanliness and encourage “waste system compliance.” At city council's August meeting, staff presented six possible...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TWO HOSPITALIZED AFTER VEHICLE STRIKES MTO TRUCK
Two drivers were taken to hospital after a vehicle struck a Ministry of Transportation crash truck on Highway 401 near Woodstock on Monday afternoon, prompting multiple lane closures. Oxford OPP officers, the fire department and medical services...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WOODSTOCK SCULPTOR PUTS COLOURFUL SPIN ON ST. THOMAS'S RAILWAY ROOTS
The City of St. Thomas unveiled its newest public artwork Thursday, bringing a pop of colour to the developing Yarmouth Yards industrial park. Standing more than seven metres tall, Imagination Station depicts a wooden toy train arranged in a circular...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ONTARIO MAKING `STEADY PROGRESS' ON WILDFIRES SAY MINISTERS
Ontario is making “steady progress” in dealing with one of the most severe wildfire seasons the province has ever seen, say the ministers in charge of the government's response to the fires. “While we are not in the clear yet here in Ontario, we are...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ownership transfer could unlock funding to restore Port Burwell lighthouse
on taxpayers. He said giving up ownership of the lighthouse will allow the municipality to focus on other projects. “Municipalities for a long time have started to realize that you can't be all things to all people,” Ketchabaw said. “We have to get...
Read Full Story (Page 3)
SWIMMING INTO SUMMER
Lake Lisgar Waterpark in Tillsonburg opened for the summer late last month. With high temperatures, the facility has been packed in recent days with children - including siblings Hunter and Norah Klein of London who were there on Wednesday - and adults...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PRIDE FLAG STOLEN, FLAGPOLE CUT DOWN IN INGERSOLL
Police are investigating after a flagpole was cut down and a Pride flag stolen at a public school in Ingersoll over the weekend. Around 9:55 p.m. Saturday, four unknown people attended a public school on Innes Street, Oxford OPP said Monday. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FORMER WOODSTOCK MAYOR SENTENCED IN FINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE
Former Woodstock mayor Trevor Birtch's final court appearance to end his four-year odyssey through the criminal justice system for sexually assaulting women in his life was made quietly from a federal prison. Birtch, 51, appeared in a London courtroom...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
`IT GIVES ME HOPE': COMMUNITY MARCHES IN SUPPORT OF PRIDE
As vandalism incidents involving the Pride flag escalate in Norwich Township, so too has support for the 2SLGBTQI+ community. In the wake of flags being stolen, burned and even poles being cut down at multiple area schools, churches, and businesses,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
$250K GIFT EXPANDS PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY TRAINING ATAREA HOSPITALS
A $250,000 donation to London's Children's Health Foundation will be used to expand the reach of a program that delivers simulated pediatric emergency training to community hospitals across Ontario, officials say. The foundation, the fundraising arm...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Community partnerships lead to new Woodstock affordable housing project
For the third time this year, Oxford County and the City of Woodstock were celebrating another “housing-for-all” project. On the heels of opening a building with affordable units at 785 Southwood Way and the purchase of the former YMCA Building for a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were among potential employers represented at the French post-secondary fair at Woodstock's École secondaire catholique Notre-Dame. Organized by guidance counsellors Cristina Pezzutto and Melissa Hiscocks, the event...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
JUMP START
Addison Syvret, 9, a student at Holy Family Catholic French Immersion school in Woodstock jumps during last week's long jump competition at the London District Catholic school board's elementary track and field meet at Alumni Stadium at Western...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HAVING A BALL
Belen Carrion, a Grade 6 student at Holy Family Catholic French immersion school in Woodstock makes a toss during the ball throw competition at the London District Catholic school board elementary track and field meet at Alumni Stadium at Western...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ONTARIO PASSES LAW TO REMOVE COUNCILLORS FOR SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
After five years of pressure, the Ford government has passed legislation allowing municipal councillors to be removed from office for serious code-of-conduct violations. On Tuesday, Ontario MPPs voted to pass Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SHOWING THEIR GRATITUDE
The residents and staff at Cedarview Retirement Living in Woodstock hosted a special celebration as part of First Responders Appreciation Month. Sixteen first responders from the community, including local police officers, firefighters and paramedics,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
IN THE RHYTHM
St. Mary's Catholic high school student Jewelle Mensah, blue, is closely followed by Amelia Weber, red, from St. Marys District Collegiate and Vocational Institute during the women 80-metre hurdles at the Western Ontario Secondary School Athletic...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GOING FOR GOLD
Eva Wilson from College Avenue secondary school in Woodstock takes part in the senior girls' high jump competition on Thursday, May 21, at Western Alumni Stadium in London. Wilson finished this Western Ontario Secondary School Athletic Assocation...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EX-WOODSTOCK MAYOR SENTENCED TO NEARLY FIVE YEARS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULTS
Trevor Birtch's prison sentence for violent sexual assaults on a former intimate partner marked the final act of what a judge called “a catastrophic fall from grace.” The former two-term Woodstock mayor, who had no criminal record, was led out of a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ON TRACK
Kirk Hallman of Lord Dorchester secondary school traded laps with Noah Cann of Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute until late in Friday's senior boys' 3,000-metre race at the second day of the Thames Valley Regional Athletics rrack and field meet....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FIRST NATIONS PUSH BACK ON FAST-TRACKING POWER PROJECT
Ontario wants to see its newest nuclear power project in the province's southwest move ahead quickly, but two nearby Indigenous communities say the mega-project cannot be rushed. The Ford government is under pressure to find new long-term sources of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CANADA'S AUTO INDUSTRY COULD DISAPPEAR BY 2040, RBC WARNS
Canada's auto industry, based largely in Ontario, could disappear by 2040 unless the country regains duty-free access to the U.S. market or finds other ways to keep the sector afloat, one of Canada's biggest banks warns. At an industry conference in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ontario Uber drivers to help out during flooding and other emergencies
Uber drivers already drive Ontarians to airports, pick up groceries and deliver pizzas. Now, they'll also help deliver supplies and transport people to evacuation centres during emergencies. On Thursday, Uber Canada became the latest organization to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
`VISIONARY' UNITED WAY OXFORD LEADER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
A decades-long champion of Oxford County has announced her retirement. Kelly Gilson, executive director of the United Way Oxford for 23 years, will retire at the end of September. Previously, she headed the Business Improvement Association for 17...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Oxford Warden Marcus Ryan won't seek re-election
Oxford County Warden Marcus Ryan has announced he will not be running for re-election as mayor of Zorra Township in the upcoming municipal election. Ryan, who has served as the Zorra's mayor since 2018 and warden since 2022, is also the current chair...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FROM WOODSTOCK TO SARNIA: MAYORS WEIGH NEXT MOVES AS NOMINATIONS OPEN
Although voters won't head to the polls until late October to cast ballots for municipal politicians, Friday marks the first day candidates can file paperwork to officially throw their hats in the ring. The Free Press' Brian Williams spoke with some of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
UPPER THAMES CONSERVATION AREAS OPEN FOR CAMPING MAY 1
Southwestern Ontario campers who are eager to spend a night or two outdoors can start booking sites at three local conservation areas. Starting Friday, May 1, at 8 a.m., the Pittock, Wildwood and Fanshawe conservation areas are officially open for the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Finger Eleven announced as Cowapolooza headliner
The band formerly known as the Rainbow Butt Monkeys will be headlining Woodstock's “favourite summer festival” when Cowapolooza returns to Southside Park in mid-August. City officials announced Tuesday that Finger Eleven, the Burlington-based rock...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ontario limits access to some government records – does it matter?
Members of the Opposition heckled and chanted “F-O-I, F-O-I” as the Ford government passed its controversial changes to Ontario's Freedom of Information (FOI) rules on Thursday. From now on, it will be much harder to get a look inside the workings of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
POTTER'S FIELD PROJECT HONOURED WITH LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'S AWARD
A Western University project that identified nearly 400 individuals buried in unmarked graves in Ingersoll captured the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation earlier this month. Led by Ingersoll resident and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New Oxford County affordable housing project unveiled
Oxford County Warden Marcus Ryan admits the county's aim of having every citizen living in stable housing is lofty. But regardless of the odds, he's still willing to chase that goal. “It's a lofty goal, but frankly it's the only acceptable one,” Ryan...
Read Full Story (Page 1)