Waterloo Region Record
Duane Sauder inspires lifelong curiosity in new documentary
Inquisitive, creative, sociable and charismatic. Those are just some of the words people use to describe Duane Sauder, an 88yearold Cambridge resident whose outlook on life has inspired the documentary “Don't Let The Old Man In.” Sauder, however,...
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Complainants endure fouryear wait for verdict in Sloka sex assault trial
A complainant in the Jeffrey Sloka sexual assault trial says she did not expect a verdict after a few weeks, but never thought it would take more than four years. “I thought I would testify and a little while later we'd have a verdict, but since then...
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Waterloo council told to reimagine uptown as a green showcase
Advocates are pressing Waterloo city hall to remake the uptown into a showcase of urban sustainability, and they have offered advice on how to do it. Turn Willis Way into a pedestrianonly street between Caroline and Regina streets. Consider a bigger...
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The boy, the radio and the Blue Jays
When summer weekends arrived, Chris Riccomini would catch the Greyhound bus from Kitchener to Toronto, his route to the Rogers Centre mapped out down to each step. His guide dog led him through Gate 3 and up to his seat near centre field, where he'd...
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CLEAN SLATE FOR PLAYOFFS
Chris Lazary understands the challenge ahead. “We are the underdog, that's no secret,” said the Saginaw Spirit head coach, whose club takes on the Kitchener Rangers Friday at the Aud in one of four Ontario Hockey League Western Conference bestofseven...
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Cricket and tennis clubs butt heads
A movement to get the cricket pitch out of west Galt's Victoria Park has the city's cricket club crying foul. The Victoria Park Tennis Club said in a statement to The Record that it has started a petition and is taking action with the City of...
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Conestoga College eyes more layoffs
A union leader expects Conestoga College to lay off more staff as it slashes payroll, closes campuses and narrows programs amid plunging foreign enrolment. “The goal and focus at the college right now is purely financial, racing to the bottom of the...
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The O'Reilly factor
It was the doldrums of the Ontario Hockey League season. A midweek game in early March between two teams going in opposite directions. On one side, you had the Kitchener Rangers, one of the hottest teams in the league since the calendar flipped and...
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Stress over not knowing Ford's plan for school boards
Bruce Whitaker came to Stratford in search of a simpler life for his family. His work had taken him to major cities around the world, shaped by a wideranging career in international finance and high tech. After decades of big cities and high stress,...
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`A moment of gratitude, compassion and unity'
Hundreds of members of the local Muslim community gathered in Kitchener on Friday morning for a grand EidulFitr celebration. Organized by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, the event marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, characterized by a daily...
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Spring is on the way
Spring is on the way! That's the bold declaration from the Grand River Conservation Authority after its latest snow survey earlier this week revealing the snowpack is less than usual for this time of year. A watershedwide snow survey was completed...
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Home invaders `need to be shot'
Doug Ford let it rip on crime and punishment while in Wellington County Wednesday. “Congratulations. I'm glad you shot the guy. It teaches the rest of these robbers,” the Ontario premier said about a homeowner in Vaughan who shot and injured an...
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Stage set for new trial in buggy crash
A young man charged in a Waterloo Region car crash that killed two people riding in a horsedrawn buggy faces a new trial after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his application to appeal. Dayton Kelly was found not guilty in 2023 of causing death...
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Police sniper at St. Paddy's party
Police defended the use of a sniper during the unsanctioned St. Patrick's Day party on Waterloo streets Saturday, saying it is part of operational deployments involving large gatherings “with mass casualty considerations.” The video of a Waterloo...
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`They were just so ambitious'
The beginnings, in a bicycle shed, were humble. But the vision was grand for the founders of the KitchenerWaterloo Art Gallery (KWAG) — starting with a blockbuster opening exhibit 70 years ago featuring art borrowed from major institutions. “This...
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New UW president `ready to be bold'
At the University of Waterloo, even the presidency starts with an application. “Yes, a literal resumé,” said Bill Rosehart, who was on campus this week for a whirlwind oneday introduction after being named the university's soontobe eighth...
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Conestoga grad shares immigration nightmare
A former international student is still grappling with anxiety and uncertainty after hiring a Kitchener man now sought by police in an immigration fraud investigation. Janvi, who only identifies by her first name, said she hired Harsharan Ahluwalia to...
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Council orders water capacity review
Shortterm infrastructure solutions are expected to provide additional water capacity for development in Waterloo Region over the next few years, though it seems there still won't be enough to meet projected demand. “We're still not going to have...
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Flood warning updated ahead of heavy rainfall
Cambridge has been added to a flood warning from the Grand River Conservation Authority Tuesday as recent warm weather and rain rapidly melt the snowpack. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for all of southern Ontario, including the...
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Bill Thomson's big idea
Bill Thomson had a big idea in 1962, not long after he was hired as a Kitchener planner. He proposed the expressway that's so central to life in Kitchener and Waterloo. “I said to myself, if we build another road with stoplights all over the place,...
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Waterloo Region's pipeline possibility
On the shore of Lake Erie, about 80 kilometres as the crow flies from the heart of Waterloo Region, sits a concrete bunker with a massive water valve. A long pipe extends more than 600 metres from the Lake Erie shoreline waiting to pump water to...
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Dry February puts freeze on snowiest winter record in Waterloo Region
This winter has been the coldest for Waterloo Region in more than a decade, but relatively light snowfall in February means the region will likely miss out on setting an alltime record for the snowiest winter. After months of very high snowfall...
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Sikh university students condemn Carney's India visit
Student Sikh associations at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo are condemning Prime Minister Mark Carney's recent visit to India, saying the trip has left the Sikh community feeling worried and unheard. The tensions date to 2023, when...
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Residents frustrated by garbage collection changes
New waste carts are rolling out across Waterloo Region this week and many residents are struggling with the changes to curbside collection. The large size and placement requirements of the new garbage and organics carts pose challenges for residents...
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Not so sweet; popular Cambridge candy store closes due to rising costs
It's a bittersweet moment for the owners of a Cambridge candy store as they say goodbye to customers in their Hespeler Road location. As customers search through bins of freeze dried candy, lollipops and other treats you would never find at a grocery...
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Boy, 15, pleads guilty to armed robbery and $2million heist
An armed robbery in Mississauga lasted just two minutes, but netted more than $2 million in jewelry. One of the robbers was a 15yearold boy from the Toronto area. Two weeks later, he joined two other youths in robbing a Rogers store in Kitchener,...
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Defence companies discuss generational opportunity
Stephen Fuhr has a lot of money to spend. Canada's secretary of state for defence procurement has been tasked with driving the country's defence spending to five per cent of its GDP by 2035, or about $150 billion per year. It's a generational...
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For some of us, the water crisis has already arrived
It may be difficult to believe there's really a water crisis when you can still take a shower any time you like. But there is. And Martha Bricker is already in the middle of it. Bricker and her husband live near Petersburg in Wilmot Township....
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Kitchener Rangers take aim at OHL record $100K jackpot in 50/50 draw
Go to a Kitchener Rangers game and leave with $100,000. If Craig Campbell has his way, that will happen for one lucky fan. The executive director of Rangers Reach — the charity arm of the Ontario Hockey League team — believes the community can get...
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Thirdgeneration Wilmot resident has witnessed the water table drop
For three generations, Linda Kress’ family has lived on a farm at 2394 Bleams Rd. where they witnessed, first-hand, the dropping water levels below ground that once filled their private wells and watered their crops. Kress is the latest resident of...
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Housing developments give churches new life
Housing advocates have found more than 967 acres where more than 55,000 people could find homes in this region. The land belongs to 313 churches or other faith groups. Almost half of these groups are under financial strain. Their expenses exceed their...
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Sport system under strain showed in Milan Cortina
Canada losing ground to other countries in the 2026 Olympic Games is a symptom of a sport system under strain, said a Canadian Olympic Committee leader Sunday. Canada finished outside the top five countries in the medal table at the Milan Cortina...
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THE ICY WEEK THAT WAS
A winter storm brought freezing rain to Waterloo Region this week, encasing trees in ice along Moser Young Road in Wellesley. The forecast is calling for several centimetres of snow over the weekend.
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HOCKEY HEARTBREAK
Canada's women's hockey team was denied a repeat gold medal after a crushing 21 overtime defeat to the United States on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina Games. The deciding goal came about four minutes into overtime after American forward Megan Keller...
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Conestoga seeks help with Kitchener building project
Conestoga College is hunting for a business partner to complete the stalled renovation of its 12storey building in downtown Kitchener. The community college acquired the former office tower at 22 Frederick St. in 2023 and planned to convert it to...
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Sleeping GIANT
The rolling hills, woodlots and meadows off Trussler Road in Kitchener and the Wilmot Line in Waterloo cover the most important natural feature in the region that provides water for Kitchener, Waterloo, parts of Cambridge, St. Agatha, St. Jacobs,...
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Water crisis sparks fears of privatization
The watersupply crisis that sparked a development freeze in Waterloo Region has allowed legislation opening the door to the privatization of water services to fly “under the radar,” a local environmentalist says. As Regional Chair Karen Redman called...
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ON THE PRECIPICE Will we have enough water?
We are in a very strange moment. In one of the wettest places on Earth — surrounded by three Great Lakes, plenty of rainfall, many rivers and streams on the ground and also running underground — Waterloo Region doesn't have enough available...
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Driver's family seeks answers
Uyen Nguyen's family is still searching for answers more than two weeks after she died when her vehicle drove off the Highway 7/8 flyover in Kitchener and fell to the ground. On Jan. 26, Nguyen, 38, was on her way to work when her vehicle drove up a...
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A WALK ON THE BEACH
A bundledup walker is framed Wednesday by two outofseason beach umbrellas in Waterloo Park.
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Waterloo robots are painting music
Robots are painting music at the University of Waterloo. From Bach to Mozart to Beethoven, a team of robots the size of soccer balls that emit coloured light roam on wheels across a specific space — think of it as a canvas — to create visual...
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From son of a preacher man to reggae legend
The rhythm of his life started with the sound of Nyabinghi drums of the Rastafari in the Maroon Hills of Jamaica. At 70, the Kitchenerbased reggae legend Errol Blackwood still feels that music. “This year is going to be my busiest,” said Blackwood,...
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Scaling across the Atlantic
When Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered his now famous address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Fouzia Younis was listening. Mention of a rupture in the world order and a need to strengthen strategic allegiances was top of mind for...
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LET THE GAMES BEGIN
Canadian athletes join the Parade of Nations in Milan, Italy, as the Milan Cortina Olympics officially started Friday. Ski cross racer Marielle Thompson and moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury carried the flag for Team Canada.
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MAKING TRACKS AT ROCKWAY
A skier moves up a hill at Rockway Golf Course in Kitchener. Expect mainly sunny skies and subzero temperatures as low as 14 C over the weekend in the region.
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Heritage status sought for city's first skyscraper
A building that's been called Kitchener's first skyscraper is being recommended for heritage designation. The 12storey office building at 305 King St. W., at the corner of Water Street in downtown Kitchener, was completed in 1964 as the headquarters...
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More drivers plunge off curved ramps and bridges
It's not only in Kitchener that vehicles are climbing up and over snowpacked shoulders to plunge off a curved, elevated highway. Over a recent sevenday period, there have been similar crashes in Niagara Falls and Toronto. A Waterloo driver died Jan....
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Finding tech nostalgia, one click at a time
Sometimes, things just click — and for Jeff Gadway and his team, that's exactly what they're aiming for. Gadway, cofounder of the tech company Clicks, along with other former BlackBerry employees, is looking to bring back the physical keyboard and...
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Engineer warns of winter risks on `long, curved bridges'
Civil engineer Timothy Gates doesn't see a design problem with the Highway 7/8 flyover that ejected two vehicles over the side and onto the ground below. He sees it has a high barrier wall and a gradual curve that's banked to help drivers navigate...
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Watersupply crisis sparks call to reform regional government
The watersupply crisis and subsequent development freeze has a prominent developer calling for an overhaul of regional government. Scott Higgins, president of HIP Developments Inc., says the chair of Waterloo Region needs to be a provincial appointee...
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A warm place to shelter on a bitterly cold night
These winter nights are bitterly cold. Shelters are full. And there are hundreds of homeless people living outside, with nowhere else they can go. Thank goodness for The Working Centre, which is doing something about that. Starting this week and...
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Waterloo driver dies after plunge from Hwy. 7/8 flyover
The driver of a car that plunged from the Highway 7/8 flyover Monday and landed on King Street East died at the scene. OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the driver, a 38yearold Waterloo woman, lost control of the car around 7:30 a.m., ramped over the...
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We need an open town hall meeting on water supply crisis
We need a huge town hall meeting. The public is still reeling from the news that Kitchener and Waterloo, plus parts of Woolwich, Wilmot and Cambridge, have run out of water. There are so many questions. And we, who are paying the bills, deserve clear...
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Drying wells and dying wetlands
For years, Samantha Lernout and her family walked along a trail through the woods that led to a pond and wetland near their home on Witmer Road in Wilmot Township. But in three years, the pond and surrounding marsh dried up. “It was a beautiful...
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Teen's project grows into support network for women with cancer
A small grassroots effort that began in Cambridge is quietly growing into a support network for women facing cervical cancer. It is focusing on prevention, mental health and private access to information at a time when many women may feel...
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How will Chinese EV deal impact Waterloo Region's auto sector?
Industry leaders are split on how a new deal with China and Canada surrounding electric vehicles will impact Waterloo Region's auto sector. The deal, announced last week by Prime Minister Mark Carney, saw the approval of 49,000 Chinese electric...
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PEOPLE WATCHERS
A pedestrian, bundled up against the cold, appears to be the centre of attention while walking past a mural in downtown Kitchener.
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WILD WINTER WINDS
A man digs out his car Monday as wind whips snow on Trussler Road in Kitchener. More flurries are expected throughout the week with temperatures potentially dipping as low as 25. See weather,
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KEEPING AN EYE OUT
A bald eagle surveys the landscape from its perch on a tree beside the Conestogo River.
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Speed cameras still gathering data
Drivers in Waterloo Region might not be getting tickets from speed cameras, but that doesn't mean they're not watching you. The use of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) has been banned in Ontario since Nov. 13, but all 28 cameras in school zones...
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Potholes wreaking havoc
A loud bang. A blown tire. And an unexpected repair bill. That's how many drivers across Waterloo Region are learning just how bad potholes have become this winter. On Eagle Street in Cambridge, Bruce Proctor said he hit a pothole so deep he didn't...
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Retro Rollers opens up indoor skating rink under Kitchener auto parts store
Every day starts the same for Elaine Beck and Phil Morris, a double highfive and a promise to make the best of their day. The husbandandwife duo have spent the last several months turning the basement level under an autoparts store into one of the...
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Kitchener's spiral garage — heritage gem or Brutalist eyesore?
Is a distinctive Kitchener parking garage with a spiralling ramp a heritage gem or a Brutalist eyesore? That was the question facing Heritage Kitchener members this week as they considered whether to pursue designation under the Ontario Heritage Act...
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`Please respect our feelings for what you don't understand'
There was an antiTrump protest in Waterloo a few days ago, with a twist. About 25 demonstrators held signs reading “Hands off Venezuela,” and carried the red, blue and yellow flag of that country, in opposition to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan...
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New curbside collection changes are coming to Waterloo Region this year
Waste collection in Waterloo Region is set for big changes. In March, residents will have to switch over to a new schedule for recycling and adopt a new system for garbage and compost collection. As of Jan. 1, provincial legislation required that all...
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The art of being `invisible' at the Winter Olympics
If Laura Gutauskas is doing her job right, you won't notice her at the 2026 Winter Olympics. As the top female hockey players from around the world descend on Italy in February, Gutauskas will be sharpening her skates, preparing for her first...
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RELIC OF THE PAST: Shantz House sits frozen waiting for development
Jutting out of a hillside on the edge of Kitchener is a home built for the past and now frozen in modern times. As scores of cookiecutter townhomes and contemporary subdivisions sprawl toward the edge of Kitchener's west end, the Shantz House is...
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Cambridge charts its next move
Cambridge is standing at a turning point. The city is growing. Housing is needed. Transit plans are moving forward. At the same time, residents are deeply protective of the neighbourhoods and heritage that define Cambridge. Those tensions, and how...
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TURNING FLOWERS INSIDE OUT
Gardeners are always happy to show you photographs of their garden. They'll pull out a phone and quickly scroll past images of children and pets, then hold their arm straight out, pushing the screen inches from your face, to reveal a photo of a...
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A look at 2025, from A to Z
The year 2025 began like a bad dream, with newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that Canada should be turned into the 51st state. And it went on in the same vein. There was defiance in the form of slogans: “Elbows Up” and “Canada Is...
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`I live and breathe on ChatGPT'
Over the last few years, artificial intelligence has made its way into nearly every sector and industry, but how is it being used in Waterloo Region? Just as the internet or Google Search gave birth to new companies and ideas, AI is reshaping the way...
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`It's not going away'
The fear is always there. Living within the plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) for more than two decades, spawned from contamination at the former Northstar Aerospace plant at 659 Bishop St., Linda Watson admits she and her husband, Don, are at the...
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The librarian who was under surveillance
Kae Elgie was a target in Cold Warera witch hunts when RCMP's spies searched for communists She's a retired librarian and grandmother who advocates for the preservation of old buildings and lives with her husband in a lovingly restored heritage house...
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