The London Free Press
BRACING FOR IMPACT
There are a lot more U.s.-made appliances in London Major Appliances' Sovereign Road warehouse these, says owner Jay Vanderhoeven, as the retailer races to protect customers from price spikes by dodging Canadian counter-tariffs amid the ongoing...
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Stevenson kicks off mayoral bid
London city councillor Susan Stevenson launched her mayoral campaign Wednesday evening, pledging a more transparent city hall and safer neighbourhoods just steps away from some of the most prevalent areas for homelessness downtown. Speaking to a crowd...
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LEARNING NEXT STEPS
Sophomore music student Luciana Sabogal, centre, joins first-year students in a line dance during orientation week activities at Western University as students at the university and Fanshawe College kick off the new school year this week.
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WELCOME TO LONDON
Sophs greet Olivia Boyle, left, as about 6,000 first-year students move into residence on Labour Day long weekend as Western University's on-campus population swells to about 7,100 students across 12 residences for the new school year. We meet some of...
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THE SURF IS THEIR TURF
Lifeguard Ethan Gauthier does some entry training at Port Stanley's Main Beach recently. Today, our Hot Stuff regional summer series looks at the lifeguards, who monitor the 600metre sandy strip from five lakefront towers to keep thousands of visitors...
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HEATED RIVALRY HITS LONDON
A scorching-hot television series hit the ice in London this week. Heated Rivalry, the Crave streamer series that became a breakout hit in its first season, filmed part of its second season in London recently, sources close to the production...
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`There's nowhere for them to go'
The city of London and social agencies are locked in an ongoing “chess match” that sees homeless people evicted from one encampment only to relocate elsewhere and eventually cycle through the same sites, the director of London Cares says. There are...
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CATCHING SOME RAYS
Zac Galea, 14, Brendan Donnelly and Kaden Donnelly, 5, and Hailey Galea, 12, enjoy some warm late summer sunshine as they fish off a dock recently at Rondeau Provincial Park near Morpeth. Today's London-area forecast calls for thunderstorms and a high...
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COLLECTING MEMORIES
Librarian David Caloren, co-ordinator of central adult services, is on the lookout for high school yearbooks to fill out the Central Library's Ivey Family London Room collection. A new campaign seeks the public's help with donations.
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`Completely unworkable scheme'
U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to raise tariffs on Canadian autos and auto parts to 50 per cent starting in January would wreak havoc on Ontario's already battered auto sector, but also inflict significant pain on U.S. automakers, industry...
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For Krose, the ratepayer rules
The first to register and the first to release a platform, mayoral candidate Kirsten Krose has unveiled her campaign promises, including a plan for her first 100 days in office. Released early this week, Krose's platform focuses on four main pillars:...
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50% auto tariff threat `nuclear'
Southwestern Ontario manufacturers reacted with surprise and disbelief Monday to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to slap 50-per-cent tariffs on Canadian vehicles and auto parts, with one calling it “a nuclear option” that could decimate the...
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Field set at 110 for civic election
London, meet your candidates for mayor, city council and school trustee. It wasn't quite a Day 1 lineup out the door at city hall Friday, but the election desk saw a steady stream of people looking to register before the 2 p.m. cutoff for the Oct. 26...
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OPP unit joins LHSC fraud probe
A specialized OPP fraud squad has joined forces with London police in the ongoing probe of possible multimillion-dollar fraud at London's biggest hospital — and together they're seeking more information from the community. Almost two years into the...
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FROM RACETRACK TO SUBURB
If it can slow Formula One cars, it can slow suburban drivers. A first-of-itskind traffic-calming measure is being installed on a relatively quiet street in north London to slow down speeding motorists. WHAT IS A CHICANE? A chicane is a zigzag-shaped...
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Biker stops `intimidation': expert
A man wearing a Hells Angels vest sits on the patio of a restaurant in London's Old South neighbourhood. His motorcycle helmet, bearing the letters AFFA — Angels Forever, Forever Angels — is perched atop his Harley-davidson, decorated with the outlaw...
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UNLOCKING NEW OPTIONS
Lab tech Bonnie Pilkington works in a lab at the London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute, where researchers say a new study suggests expanded genetic testing can help match cancer patients with more personalized treatment options, potentially...
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Watching from a distance: Former mayor reflects
Anne Marie Decicco-best remains London's longest-serving mayor, having held the city's top political job from 2000 to 2010. Now 61 and retired from her post-politics job in government relations with Fanshawe College, she spoke with The Free Press about...
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Pinery campsites at risk: advocate
Pinery Provincial Park has lost 91 campsites and another 200 could be eliminated as Ontario moves to get campers out of areas it says have become environmentally sensitive, one area camping advocate says. But the move to slash the park's total...
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THRILL OF THE GRILL
A south London family that began with home cookouts is firing up a grill downtown and attracting new diners with its own barbecue recipes. Kafta's and Poyos Chicken at Covent Garden Market, which advertises itself as 100 per cent halal, offers tacos,...
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MASTER STROKE
Two years ago, London swimmer Danielle Hart, right, took up rowing at Western University. Now 19, she and her women's coxless four teammates are competing for Canada at the FISU World University Rowing Championships on London's Fanshawe Lake. Her...
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HOSPITALS GET BOOST
Devin Sturdy, Middlesex Health Alliance's finance chief, says $6.4M in Ontario infrastructure renewal money is a welcome shot in the arm for hospitals outside major centres like Strathroy's Middlesex General Hospital, above, and Newbury's Four Counties...
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ROCK AND FIRE
Pitcher Bogdan Becic of Manitoba's Peguis Redmen delivers to Ontario's Walton Brewers at the International Softball Congress world tournament Monday. The event wraps Saturday at JDT First Energy Veterans Memorial Fields on Chippewas of the Thames First...
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SPECTACULAR SUNSETS
As the sun begins its slow descent toward Lake Huron, the beach seems to pause. Swimmers take a break and families settle into the sand. Phones rise along the pier as the lake catches streaks of gold and the sky shifts from pale blue to orange, pink...
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Union sounds alarm on hospitals
A national union is sounding the alarm that Ontario hospitals — including London's — face a growing capacity crisis due to what it believes is underfunding. Released by Canadian Union of Public Employees and the affiliated Ontario Council of Hospital...
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FUN IN THE SUN
Abi Johnston keeps the volleyball alive as she and her co-workers have some fun at Big Beach in Port Stanley this week. But beach-goers beware: Today's forecast calls for thunderstorms, with a high of 26 C and overnight low of 18 C.
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Tapping power of partnership
A new partnership between Ottawa and General Dynamics Land Systems-canada will let the armoured vehicle maker expand its domestic supply chain while cementing London as an “important hub for defence manufacturing” in the country, the company's head...
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STUBBORN BLAZE
Strathroy-Caradoc fire crews battle a fire in a die-casting machine at the Meridian Lightweight Technologies plant in Strathroy. Four people were treated for heat exhaustion. The fire posed `special challenges' because water can't be used on burning...
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HOMETOWN HERO
Former London Devilette Nicole Gosling, the first Londoner to win a Professional Women's Hockey League championship with the Montreal Victoire this spring, brings the Walter Cup home to greet local fans at London Sports Park this week. More photos at
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MAN CRITICAL AFTER HOME BLAST
A man seen crawling from a pile of rubble after an explosion levelled a vacant London house Wednesday is in critical condition. The explosion at a house at 131 Base Line Rd. W., west of Wharncliffe Road, about 1 p.m. prompted a heavy response from...
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PURSUING A PERFECT POUR
London's Alleen Rho faces a tough challenge: Make and serve 10 drinks in 10 minutes under the watchful eye of judges at the recent eastern Canadian regional round of the 2026 Starbucks North America Barista Championship for a shot at their continental...
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OPEN AT LAST
For the first time, vehicles travelled across the Gordie Howe International Bridge on Monday, as the $6.4 billion crossing between Windsor and Detroit officially opened to traffic. Members of the Howe family became the first official passenger...
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HAPPY CAMPER
Summer mountain bike camper Theo Barnett rides the trails at Boler Mountain. The camps, in their 25th season, run throughout July and August and include day trips, technical racing, visits to the Treetop Adventure Park and more. More photos on...
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Man charged, cops issue appeal after sex assault
A St. Thomas man faces charges after a woman reported being kidnapped at knifepoint and sexually assaulted while walking down a London street in broad daylight last month. The woman was on Adelaide Street near Pall Mall Street on June 4 about 11:30...
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FLEXING OUR MUSSELS
The first reintroduction of endangered freshwater mussels in Canada took place in London on Wednesday. Nearly 800 kidneyshell mussels were released into Medway Creek, a tributary of the Thames River. The species has been listed as endangered since...
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FOREST PROTECTED
Mark Brown, a woodland conservation officer with Middlesex County, walks in the Mosa Forest (aka Skunk's Misery) near Newbury. County council adopted a new forest management plan that will monitor and protect 1,025 hectares of county-owned forest until...
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SUITS 'EM TO AT
A 1911 Ford Model T Runabout leaves Dave Mceachren's John Deere Museum near Glencoe Monday following a stop on this week's Ontario Region Model T Ford Club 69th Annual International Tour. Scores of the cars, built between 1909 and 1927, are taking part.
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LONDON SHOWS ITS PRIDE
Rex Ross and friends join thousands downtown Sunday to watch London's 30th Pride parade as it made its colourful march down Queens Avenue to close out the 10-day Pride London Summer Festival celebrating the local 2SLGBTQ+ community.
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GDLS lands $2B defence contract
The federal government will spend $2 billion over four years to expand the Canadian Armed Forces' fleet of light armoured vehicles by buying 190 from London-based General Dynamics Land Systems-canada. The armoured combat support vehicles, based on...
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Rock the Park defies smoky air
Wildfire smoke derailed the plans of many Londoners Thursday, but not those who had tickets for Rock the Park. As city baseball diamonds and soccer pitches remained closed for a second straight day, Rock the Park announced at midday its Thursday show...
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KEEPING THEIR COOL
Quinton and Harrison Leach enjoy the refreshing spray in the splash pad at Gibbons Park this week as a sweltering heat wave grips the London region. Today's forecast calls for mainly sunny conditions with a high of 30 C cooling to 19 C overnight.
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`I WANTED TO GIVE BACK'
Community organizations from Ilderton and across Middlesex Centre gathered on Saturday for one resident's surprise $1-million donation. Ilderton's 150th anniversary celebration ran from July 10 to 12 and included a country concert, tractor pull and...
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STICKHANDLING TO SUCCESS
Five years after their hockey stick flags went viral, London dad Jason Smith, right, and his son, Jason, left, who has special needs, continue to build a fund to support Jason's future, one flag at a time. They make about 200 a year for buyers in...
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MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
Eagle Flight Singers' Griffin Sands performs a circle dance with the public during a show at Sunfest in Victoria Park Friday. The festival, now in its 32nd year, will feature more than 50 acts from across the globe and is expected to draw 115,000...
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A TASTE OF TRAINING
Future Firefighters in Training participant Maya Ledniowski manages a hand line at London fire department's Station 9 Thursday. About 20 girls will try cutting open damaged cars, ladder and other skills in the decade-old, week-long program aimed at...
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COMING UP TRUMPS
Bored during an internet-free weekend at the cottage, London teens Kiara, left, Adam and William Palma came up with the idea for American Dictator?, a board game inpired by U.S. President Donald Trump, which has sold thousands of copies across Canada...
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STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE
Hailey Grimbleby, 11, is part of the Lady Tincaps, a youth squad believed to be London's first allgirls baseball team, which is off to an `amazing' start as a tournament squad — their first swing was a home run
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DAWN OF A `DOGGIE EMPIRE'?
Country Paws owners Michelle, Jaymie and Skylar Crook, and their dogs Doug, left, and Dilly are all smiles as the Wilton Grove Road dog kennel gives way to the sprawling, new $10M Country Paws Dogplex on Bradley Avenue, a planned new centre of all...
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WORLD CUP WATCH PARTY
Workers prepare for Saturday's FIFA Canada event at Victoria Park, a full-day World Cup celebration — highlighted by a screening of the Canada-morocco and France-paraguay Roundof-16 games — Tourism London is expecting to attract between 3,000 and 5,000...
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Evicted man feels `centred out'
A resident of a Southwestern Ontario seasonal trailer park believes he is being evicted without a proper investigation by a municipality after alleging he was the target of harassment by the park's supervisor. When Matt Plaine, 42, bought a trailer...
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CANADA DAY COOLDOWN
Dawson Dell, 5, plays in the splash pad at Cenotaph Park as he waits for the Del-ko-brydge Canada Day parade in Mt. Brydges on Wednesday. The festivities were held with Southwestern Ontario under an orange heat warning from Environment Canada with a...
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London father stays positive after losing legs in workplace accident
Sem Thin was nearing the end of his shift at a Woodstock factory earlier this month when a workplace accident resulted in the amputation of both his legs. But the 42-year-old father of three teenagers and an adult child is staying positive despite...
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HOT STUFF
Call him a Southwestern Ontario prince of pyrotechnics: With nearly 40 years of fireworks experience and customers across Ontario, Victor Anber offers his tips in Part 1 of our series on people and things that make London-area summers sizzle
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ONE MORE SHOT
Canadian soccer fans like Bryan Carey, above, didn't get the win or draw they were watching for at The Scot's Corner in London Wednesday, but their tournament hopes aren't done yet. Canada plays South Africa in the knockout round in L.A. Sunday.
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'It's a growing sense of inequity'
Passions ran high among politicians as council considered controversial development applications, with questions raised about fairness of planning decisions across neighbourhoods. As apartment projects were denied in Stoneybrook, approved in Old North...
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RC trustees nix $421M budget plan
London District Catholic school board trustees have rejected a proposed $421-million budget that would cut nearly two dozen positions, including 19 elementary school librarians. At a meeting Monday, all eight of the board's elected trustees said they...
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LIVING IT UP
Western Engineering student Ribal Zebian is ready to move in to a modular home he built in his parents' backyard in London to test its design. Zebian eventually hopes to mass-produce the homes for about $20,000 each to assist with the housing...
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HOT STUFF
On the road to Port Stanley, there's a landmark ice cream joint that's a must-go for beachgoers heading to or from Lake Erie. Located just a short drive from the lake, south of St. Thomas along Sunset Road, Shaw's Ice Cream dairy bar needs no...
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IS THIS THE JOB FOR YOU?
Middlesex-london paramedic Samantha Dakin hopes to inspire the next generation of first responders by giving children a close look at her career through community outreach programs and appearing on the Tvokids series Trading Skills. Check out her story...
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DEAR FUTURE ME
It's a walk down memory lane for graduating Stoney Creek elementary school eighth-graders Leanne Alghouti, left, Kelsie Tiessen, Layla Salman and Noran Kenani as they open letters they wrote to themselves in Grade 1 and share photos from the time.
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SO GLAD TO BE A GRAD
Marcia Barrett-myrie, one of about 6,000 Fanshawe College graduates expected to receive their diplomas at convocation ceremonies this week, can't contain herself as she walks across the stage at Canada Life Place in London.
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FILLING THE FUN GAP
Kylee Spindler and Aliyah Salawudeen make the most of the eagerly awaited new playground at east London's Ealing elementary school. The $32,000 play place, donated by city real estate developer Royal Premier Homes, meets a long-standing need in the...
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`It felt like it was an earthquake'
A vehicle crashed into a Goodlife Fitness gym at a northwest London shopping centre Friday morning, injuring seven women, including one who was pinned under the vehicle, London's police chief says. Speaking at a news conference at Sherwood Forest...
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Ontario facing slowest growth in the nation
Ontario's economy will grow at the slowest pace among Canadian provinces in 2026, with trade tensions with the United States continuing to play a key role in the province's muted performance, a new economic think-tank forecast says. Ontario's real...
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MAKING SCIENCE REAL
For Chris Schramek, a St. Andre Bessette Catholic secondary school teacher with Type 2 diabetes, the glucose monitor on his arm isn't just how he monitors his blood sugar — it's also a tool he uses to teach his Grade 12 science students about the...
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SIMPLY UNCANNY
Yes, that's Toronto's Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays' home field, modelled in canned and other nonperishable food by a team from Ellisdon — the London-founded firm that built the real stadium in 1989 — for the Canstruction contest benefitting London Food...
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HEARTACHE AND HOPE
Sometimes, hope seems to be all that's left for friends and family of so many — including, clockwise from top left, Shelley Desrochers, Jacqueline English, Kathryn Bordato, Donna Awcock, Garnet Michael Nelson and Lois Hanna — killed or vanished in the...
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Hot-button apartment proposal takes hit
A controversial apartment proposal in northeast London has been dealt a blow, with city staff recommending its refusal as hundreds of residents formally oppose the project and some politicians withdraw their support. Royal Premier Homes proposes an an...
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MOVING EXPERIENCE
Charlie Cleaver, left, of St. George's elementary school, celebrates after moving a plane with pals Katie Melville, centre, and Lucy Mcfadzean during girls in aviation day, which drew sxith- to eighth-graders from across the region Tuesday to London...
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Bank booms despite trade tension
Canada's economy may be on shaky ground amid trade tensions with the U.S., but that's done little to slow the growth of London-based Versabank, whose founder has been named executive of the year by the Canadian Lenders Association. Less than two years...
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April housing starts rise high
Housing starts in the London area are through the roof to start the year, bolstered mainly by apartment construction, with the region adding more than 800 such units in April alone, new data show. And while the breakneck pace of housing starts is...
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THEY WON'T LAST LONG
Tiffany Decker and children Thomas, 3, and Heidi, 6, check out tasty treats purchased during Scone Fest in Arva Flour Mill's Red River Cafe Friday. The 3-day, late May celebration of the small quick breads is on track to sell 300 dozen this year, up...
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Runaway pupil's mom raps funding
It's a parent's worst nightmare. A London mother says she fears for her five-year-old son's safety after he ran away from a south London public school onto a busy street before police found him at a bus stop last week. “I am terrified to get a phone...
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PUTTING HER ALL INTO IT
Gemma Carruthers of Kingston's Frontenac secondary school puts the shot at the 2026 Special Olympics Ontario school championships at Western University's Alumni Stadium. The event, which saw about 1,000 athletes compete in five sports Tuesday and...
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