Waterloo Region Record
INSIDE THE POTTING SHED
Karin Clemens, head gardener at Rockway Botanical Garden, pots up forest lillies and agapanthus in the potting shed on the garden grounds in Kitchener earlier this week. As the temperatures begin to drop, Clemens and her staff will move some plants...
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`UNNECESSARY CRUNCH'
The clock is ticking for the Region of Waterloo and the union representing about 850 fulltime office and clerical workers to come to an agreement and avoid a strike. CUPE 1883 and the region are in negotiations, with the union in a position to go on...
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`It's not a memorial'
Cambridge's three Royal Canadian Legion branches are asking the city not to proceed with a proposed veterans commemorative crosswalk, saying they want to see other forms of recognition instead. The Preston, Hespeler and Galt branches made the...
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Food banks get $4.5M boost
Food banks in Waterloo Region and Wellington County are receiving a $4.5million boost from the Balsillie Family Foundation. The funds will be distributed to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, Cambridge Food Bank, Guelph Food Bank and Centre Wellington...
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TOWERING ABOVE IT ALL
Andy Lapener perches Monday on a communications tower his team is building on Glasgow Street South near Conestogo. The 60metre tower is pieced together over three weeks. Shayne Paulini, who is part of the construction team, describes how he deals with...
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Woolwich councillors question rehabilitation of former gravel pit
Woolwich Township councillors want to learn more about the condition of a former gravel pit where an industrial park is proposed north of Bridge Street West. “The pit opened in 2008 and it does require a rehab plan,” said Coun. Bonnie Bryant. “Was...
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School boards ban ebikes and escooters from school property
Students will no longer be able to ride ebikes and escooters to elementary schools across the region. In an email from a Catholic elementary school in Cambridge to parents, they said that going forward, escooters and ebikes will not be permitted...
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Tech Week showcases innovations with battlefield applications
The region's defence sector, quietly growing under the radar, has stepped into the spotlight during Waterloo Tech Week. Packed into Catalyst 137 in Kitchener, dozens of emerging and established companies are showing off the latest aerospace...
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Canada's Polka King is retiring
Canada's Polka King is retiring. Walter Ostanek will make his final Oktoberfest appearance at this year's KitchenerWaterloo Oktoberfest next month in downtown Kitchener. Ostanek has been a featured performer and cultural ambassador for...
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Waterloo appoints first female fire chief
Before she was named fire chief for Waterloo, Sandy van Solm developed an algorithm that helped earn her a PhD. Her idea was to apply it to electronic health records to identify the frailest seniors who are most at risk in an emergency. Responders...
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`They can't wait for the new school'
Neighbours are pleased to see a public elementary school under construction in a fastgrowing Breslau suburb, because it will make their subdivision feel even more like home. “I know a lot of neighbours, they can't wait for the new school to be...
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Developers appeal to allow 40storey tower
Developers are appealing to the Ontario Land Tribunal to allow a controversial 40storey tower near Riverside Park in the Preston area of Cambridge. ABS Space Investments Corp. sent a blanket appeal to the OLT over two versions of the tower at 210,...
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Mount Trashmore is sinking
One of Kitchener's iconic parks is sinking. Formerly a Kitchener dump, McLennan Park, popularly known as Mount Trashmore, is alive just beneath the surface. The park officially opened in August 2011, with a playground, splash pad, bike park and skate...
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GRIEF OF 9/11 STILL FELT TODAY
New York is my city. It welcomed my grandmother and mother as refugees from Nazi Germany. It welcomed my father's parents as poor Italian immigrants. I was born there. I trained to be a journalist there, before moving to Canada. I visited family...
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Trump's Bombardier threat looms over region
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken aim at another Canadian company — Bombardier, whose production line flies through Waterloo Region. In recent online threats, Trump said Bombardier would no longer be able to sell planes inside the United...
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TAKING A MOMENT WITH KING
A statue of former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King next to Castle Kilbride in Baden gets a look Tuesday. A new statue on Prime Ministers Path will be unveiled Saturday.
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Kitchener's newest high school opens
Waterloo Region's first new English high school in two decades opens Tuesday at a cost of $91 million. Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School is opening up to three years later than initially anticipated, and at twice the cost of an earlier...
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Cleaning up after `likely' tornado
A tornado “likely” occurred in Wellesley Township. Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project stated on its social media that a tornado likely occurred in Bamberg Wednesday during the earlier evening storm that ripped through the...
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Historian rych mills left us a lasting gift
You might walk along a street lined with neat townhouses in Kitchener, and hardly think about it. Only a few people would be able to tell you that a candy factory used to stand there decades ago, the Smiles'n Chuckles plant at Weber and Cameron...
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From Hong Kong to the Aud
Tommy Kut carries the weight of a nation on his back. The sixfootthree, 210pound defenceman is believed to be the first player from Hong Kong drafted into the Canadian Hockey League after the Kitchener Rangers chose him in the third round in last...
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West Montrose bridge hoisted onto temporary structure
Rehabilitation of the historic West Montrose covered bridge reached a significant milestone this week as the landmark was hoisted onto a temporary support structure installed earlier this summer. Crews used hydraulic jacks on Monday and Tuesday to...
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Market vendors carry on after losses due to July fire
Kitchener Market vendors are finding their footing after a July fire shut down the indoor building for more than a month, forcing businesses to operate outdoors at a reduced capacity. Kitchener Fire's deputy chief Dave Heuchert confirmed Monday the...
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Exodus at the school board
Eight of 11 trustees at the Waterloo Region District School Board are not seeking reelection after a term marked by infighting, a legal battle over free speech and the costly, premature departure of the director of education. Experts connect the...
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Wilmot road still closed after massive fuel spill
Sherrylee and Don Gole said a recent diesel spill on their property, at the Wilmot border, can be added to the long list of problems motorists have caused at their corner farm. Located at a three-way stop at the intersection of Oxford-Waterloo Road...
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Market repair timeline a concern
Councillors are speaking out against “misconceptions” the city isn't committed to quickly getting the Kitchener Market back on its feet following a July fire. The building isn't expected to reopen for several months following the July 12 fire, as...
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Retooling Rangers find defenceman on pro circuit
From pros to Joes. Well, the Ontario Hockey League is hardly a Joe outfit, as it is one of the best places for youngsters to develop in the world. Still, you don't often see players returning from the pro ranks to play junior again. Such is the case...
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`IT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY'
Kitchener team was undefeated winning the Memorial Cup this past May Jack Davidson is feeling the effects of age. At 95 years old, names and places are fleeting. Memories are fading, too. But there is a twinkle in his eye when you bring up the...
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Region spends $55M buying farmland for mega industrial site in Wilmot
The Region of Waterloo has acquired nearly all the land it needs to assemble a massive shovelready industrial site in Wilmot. Property records show the region has spent more than $55 million since 2024, securing over 80 per cent of the land for the...
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Dragonflyers say `yes to life' as breast cancer survivors prepare to race
Tanya Olsen was sitting in a business meeting in Mississauga when she received the news that would change the course of her life. She had already suspected something was wrong, but when Olsen was told she had breast cancer, she said “all of the air...
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Cambridge's Smith ranks among the world's best in high jump
Kaelen Smith has spent much of his life around the high jump, growing up watching his father coach athletes and eventually developing an interest in the event himself. Now, the 14yearold Cambridge athlete is being recognized among the best high...
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Kitchener soccer teen gets call from famed Spanish club
Samuel Matos is a soccer globetrotter. His passion for the beautiful game started in his birth country of Brazil, where he lived until he was seven years old. It grew in Kitchener, where he played minor soccer growing up after his family, who now...
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Concerns raised over proposed Greenfield Mill redevelopment
A proposal to revive the Greenfield Mill property in Ayr got a hesitant reception at North Dumfries council. Caroline Baker of Baker Planning Group presented applications for a zoning bylaw and official plan amendments to township council on Aug. 10...
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Stage set for resurrection of Prime Ministers Path
Slabs of concrete are curing in a parkette off Wagler Avenue in Baden, where a plan for bronze statues depicting Canadian prime ministers will be resurrected next month. The artwork was always intended to educate, said Don Bourgeois, president of...
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Brought back to life, one stone at a time
A 173yearold building that once stood as a factory and later spent about 20 years as a roofless ruin will open its doors to guests on Oct. 9 as part of the Elora Mill. The restored Walser Building will add nine hotel rooms, a restaurant and a...
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Quiet country drives have hidden dangers
What seems like an easy, quiet country drive can turn deadly in seconds — and on Waterloo Region's township roads, it does with troubling frequency. Waterloo Regional Police say 58 per cent of the region's fatal collisions in 2025 occurred not on busy...
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Doug Craig pens motion opposing dual role of mayor and regional chair
Doug Craig will be submitting a motion to Waterloo Region council, asking they don't support a dual role of mayor and regional chair. The motion from the Cambridge regional councillor comes after a story in The Record pointed out there is no wording...
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STRIDING TOWARD THE GAMES
Two hours before the final event in the Commonwealth Games' heptathlon, Hannah Blair didn't even want to line up. It had been a gruelling two days filled with chaotic shuffling between events, torrential rain, strong winds, low scores and...
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Rural residents sound alarm on traffic safety
An otherwise leisurely day almost turned deadly for Audrey O'Hearn. The Bloomingdale resident was mowing her lawn eight years ago near the shoulder of the road at St. Charles Street West when a speeding transport truck on its way out of town came so...
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Unanswered questions about leak at Cambridge data centre
The family who called in a potential spill from a Cambridge data centre is not satisfied with the lack of transparency from the province or Region of Waterloo. When JohnLee Bannister first got the phone call from his father about an odorous,...
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Kitchener Market closed for months for extensive fire cleanup
The Kitchener Market will be closed for months due to “extensive” work after a July 12 fire. After some vendors told The Record they felt they weren't given a clear message on when the market would reopen following a fire in one of the vendor stalls,...
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Crime falls in Waterloo Region as violence eases
Police in Waterloo Region reported hundreds of fewer robberies, break-and-enters, drug violations and auto thefts last year, new data shows. This helped accelerate a threeyear decrease in local crime after it ramped up significantly between 2015 and...
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Cambridge family facing $2M therapy for daughter's rare genetic mutation
One small change. A genetic mutation in a single spot discovered buried deep in Rylee Harding's DNA just threeandahalf months into her young life turned her and her parents' world upside down. The news rocked Kris Dowling and Grant Harding,...
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Memorial Cup party hits the road
The Memorial Cup tournament is over. But the party rages on. Junior hockey's Holy Grail has been on tour across Ontario, and parts of the United States, with players and staff of the Kitchener Rangers since the club captured the Cup with a dominating...
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Wellesley's new plan projects 1,800 more residents by 2051
Wellesley council has approved a new official plan to guide future growth in the township that's forecast to increase by 1,800 people to a population of 14,200 by 2051. An additional 630 homes are required, with most of the population and employment...
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Region faces $110M suit over Ion train delays
A transit partnership that began in controversy is souring, after the private operator of Ion rapid transit filed a $110million lawsuit against the regional government that owns the system. The Region of Waterloo partnered in 2014 with the firm...
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Smoke, sun, wind, rain tinge festival experiences
Wind and rain, smoke and sun — there was a bit of everything on the weekend's weather menu. It's a recipe that had the organizers of several outdoor festivals in and around Waterloo Region keeping a close eye on weather reports and wildfire smoke...
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`Safety crisis’ on the 401
The public is right to worry that bad truck drivers are causing more deaths on provincial highways, the Ontario Trucking Association warns. “We believe this is a full-blown safety crisis, and it has been getting worse over the past 10 years,” said...
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SMOKE SPOILING SUMMER
Waterloo Region can expect a small improvement in air quality Friday, but will be blanketed by another round of thick smoke by Saturday afternoon when winds are expected to blow wildfire smoke directly over the region again. “It does look like we're...
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Smoke smothers the region
By the middle of Wednesday afternoon, Waterloo Region was experiencing the worst air quality measured in Canada, and the second worst in the world. Smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario turned the region's skies yellow and choked the air with...
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Recordbreaking heat puts local power grid at risk for failures
As extreme heat continues to bake Waterloo Region, local power grids are at risk of being overworked, causing localized blackouts. July has already seen some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the region, hitting 33.4 C on Tuesday, feeling...
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Kitchener man dead in 9vehicle 401 crash
A Kitchener man is dead after a weekend crash on Highway 401 in Cambridge. Cambridge Ontario Provincial Police said the Saturday crash, at about 12:30 p.m., involved nine vehicles in the eastbound lanes of the highway near Townline Road. The...
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`My priority will always be the residents of Waterloo Region'
Karen Redman wants another term as Waterloo Region chair, but she won't be making her case to voters, she'll be making it to Queen's Park. This year, Ontario passed legislation to appoint regional chairs instead of electing them. The move has sparked...
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Can a blind person perform in music theatre? Glad you asked
When I was a kid, I was determined to become a singer. My Muslim South Asian parents were having none of it. My father worried I wouldn’t make a living, and my parents seemed convinced that my gig singing at a CNIB fundraising gala was the slipperiest...
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`NOT MOVING QUICKLY'
Al Carpenter was hoping his comments on a North Dumfries council meeting agenda item in April wouldn't be prophetic. Looking to curb speeding on Wrigley Road, the Hamlet of Wrigley Corners resident told council that balking at action could lead to...
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BUY HIGH, SELL LOW
It's ageold advice for investors: buy low, sell high. But what happens when that scenario gets turned on its head? It's a situation that's playing out in real estate markets across Ontario and beyond — buyers who purchased homes and paid a premium...
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Region finds `significant' new water capacity, easing constraint
The sevenmonthlong freeze in construction for Kitchener, Waterloo, Elmira and other parts of the region that have been under a water shortage will soon be lifted. The Region of Waterloo announced it found 10 L/s (litres per second) of new water...
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Region's office vacancy rate highest in Canada
Nearly onethird of Waterloo Region's downtown office space remains vacant, as a slow recovery plods on. The latest statistics from commercial real estate firm CBRE show secondquarter office vacancy across the region's downtown core areas was the...
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HEARTBREAKING END
It took little time for Luc de Fougerolles to turn the sting of defeat into motivation for the future. Just over an hour after Canada was ousted from the FIFA World Cup on Saturday, the 20yearold defender was already looking ahead to the nation's...
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When Kitchener schoolchildren bought a warplane
During the Second World War, thousands of Kitchener students carried pennies, nickels and dimes to school to purchase war savings stamps. Individually, the contributions were small. Together, they were enough to buy an airplane for the Royal Canadian...
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`I just wanted to do the job'
Cambridge's first female firefighter, Kelley Willemze, never lost the need to prove herself every day during her 35 years on the job. If she failed, she thought, why would the fire department hire another woman? Now, with her retirement on Wednesday,...
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IF I WERE MAYOR …
We are in the midst of a climate emergency. Folks are having a hard time putting food on the table and affording a place to live. Our physical and mental health suffer from our sedentary lives. And our community suffers because it lacks spaces that...
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PanthersRoyals rivalry promises fireworks on Canada Day
Kitchener versus Guelph. It's an intense rivalry. In the winter, the feud takes shape on the ice between the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers and Guelph Storm. In the summer, the torch is passed to the baseball diamond for contests between...
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What comes next?
Right when I thought I had my path to immigration figured out, another challenge appeared. This time, it wasn’t finding housing in a new city. It wasn’t walking through a northern British Columbia winter. It wasn’t moving across the country. It was...
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