Waterloo Region Record
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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Region's $12.5M speed camera secret revealed
Vehicle owners in Waterloo Region were billed $12.5 million in speed camera tickets in the nine months before Ontario outlawed the cameras as a cash grab. The Record obtained the dollar value in a freedom of information request after regional...
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A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
A Michigan Democratic senate candidate has seized on the delayed opening of the Gordie Howe International bridge, turning the controversy into a political liability for U.S. President Donald Trump in a closely watched senate race. Mallory McMorrow,...
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Building homes for people who are `being pushed out'
Dignitaries gathered Wednesday after ground was broken on a taxpayerfunded affordable housing project in Waterloo near the RIM Park recreation complex. The new building, on vacant land formerly owned by city hall, will provide 85 rental apartments...
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Waterloo residents slam plan for church properties
Residents accused Waterloo city hall of trying to steal their slice of heaven, as they pushed back against a proposal to help 14 churches add sixstorey apartment buildings to their properties on Monday. Not in my backyard, neighbours of the Church of...
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Neighbours of man killed cutting grass in Clyde petition to slow down drivers
Residents are taking matters into their own hands after their neighbour was killed by a vehicle while mowing the grass near his home. A petition has been created in honour of North Dumfries resident Nathan Smith, who is remembered as a father, husband...
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Hundreds mourn kids killed in crash
Cornelius Doerksen Froese stood before hundreds of mourners on Saturday and spoke about his daughter's faith. “We know that she had assurance of her salvation, she knew where she was going to go if she died and she had no doubts about it,” he said of...
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STRETCH ASSIGNMENT
Chris Hunter pulls a carpet onto the outdoor sports field Friday a t the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira. The carpet runs from the pool to the field and will serve as a transition area from the swim to the bike portion of Saturday's TriGator for...
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CLOSED FOR STRESS RELIEF
The Glasgow Street South bridge in Conestogo, which stretches over the Conestogo River, is closed to traffic due to work on the nearby Scheifele Bridge on Northfield Drive. Closing the bridge prevents diverted traffic from Northfield from stressing the...
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UPSIDEDOWN SPLASHDOWN
A waterslide rider gets turned upside down Tuesday as they finish a slide on the Typhoon Twister, the newest addition to the Big Splash Waterpark at Bingemans in Kitchener.
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Girls' hockey in Waterloo Region grows as PWHL expansion brings the dream `a little closer'
For girls' hockey players everywhere, the creation of the Professional Women's Hockey League was something they could get excited about. For players in Waterloo Region, the announcement of a new team in Hamilton made the dream of playing in the league...
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`Five precious children'
A Gofundme campaign has been started for the Elmira area multigenerational family involved in a fatal crash Friday in Mapleton. The crash involved 10 members of the Doerksen family — grandparents, parents, and children — with five children from the...
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Nesting season puts turtles at risk
Rain and warmer temperatures over the past week have put turtles on the move across Waterloo Region, and conservation groups are urging drivers to keep an eye on the roads. The sudden burst of turtle activity comes as the Ontario Turtle Conservation...
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NUMBER 25 The long road through Waterloo Region’s homeless encampment
When the first snowfall of winter 2025 arrived, a lot of the tents caved in. People had nowhere to go, so Jason Paul said he gave a fellow encampment resident a cabin he had built. Then he built another. Some nights, he let strangers in to warm up...
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Splash pads affected by water crisis across region
With another hot summer expected in Waterloo Region, municipalities are bracing for higher water use as residents fight hot and dry conditions. Cities such as Waterloo are looking to reduce water usage by deferring the flushing of its water main...
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RELIGION TO RUBBLE
Waterloo city hall is tearing down the former St. Columba church it bought for $2.2 million, while it plans new homes on the oneacre suburban site. “This is a week of grieving,” said Wendy Ridgway, who worries her neighbourhood will be damaged by...
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`A LOT TO LIVE FOR'
Elizabeth Stewart is known for many things. She is a friend, mother, fundraiser, coach, running buddy, active community volunteer and selfappointed “health nut.” Healthy living has always been a key part of who she is, from eating well to...
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Local Uber riders among most forgetful
Rushing to get to work one day, Kayla Hawco left her phone in an Uber. “When I got inside, I contacted Uber support through my husband's phone and they agreed to give my phone back and have the driver drive it to me for a $20 fee,” she said. This fee...
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Kitchener’s chariot of champs piloted by one `happy’ Moose
The only channels in Mike Reeves’ hotel rooms in Ottawa and Montreal were in French, but that didn’t stop him from watching his team dominate the Memorial Cup tournament on its way to its first title in 23 years. Reeves, affectionately known as Moose,...
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A new Waterloo program is giving kids their freedom back — one bike ride at a time
Felix Mohamed bikes to school every day — exactly 4.1 kilometres, or about 10 minutes, according to the 11yearold fifth grader from St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School in Waterloo. This week, he learned a few things he didn't know he was missing...
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Norightonred pilot project gets green light
Making a right turn on a red light will be prohibited at a dozen signalized intersections as part of a pilot program beginning this September in Waterloo Region. After directing staff to consider implementing rightturn restrictions at key...
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Championship celebration
Thousands of fans flooded King Street and Carl Zehr Square as the victorious Kitchener Rangers rode through downtown with the Memorial Cup. The coaching crew and management for the top team in the Canadian Hockey League held the cup on a vintage...
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Rangers capture cup
A parade and party to celebrate the Kitchener Rangers and their Memorial Cup victory are planned for Tuesday. The Rangers were a perfect 40 at the national junior hockey championship tournament Sunday, trouncing the Western Hockey League's Everett...
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Waterloo launches Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program to increase accessibility
The City of Waterloo is taking a step forward in supporting residents with hidden disabilities. It is the first municipality in Waterloo Region to launch the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, which raises awareness of nonvisible disabilities,...
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`The job is not done'
It was a killer draft class. Back in 2023, the Kitchener Rangers had two firstround picks and used them to select Cameron Reid, now the captain, and twoway forward Luca Romano. It didn't stop there. Skilled winger Tanner Lam, speedy forward Cameron...
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LEAHYS LIVEN UP LAUNCH
The Centre in the Square is challenging audiences to “dare to be there.” The tag line for the 202627 season promotes what the venue is touting as its most ambitious Broadway lineup, as well as international performers and Canadian artists, family...
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A WINNING EMBRACE
The Kitchener Rangers are off to the Memorial Cup final. And they're going in style. The Blueshirts swept through pool play with a perfect 30 record and clinched a berth in Sunday's championship game with a 32 win over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens...
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GOOD TIMES IN KELOWNA
They are like Deadheads. Only instead of wearing tiedye Tshirts and worshipping the music of the Grateful Dead, they drape themselves in a cacophony of colours from teams across the Canadian Hockey League and idolize junior hockey. They are the...
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IF THESE LOGS COULD TALK
It was built by hand more than 200 years ago, a simple log house that emerged from the wilderness to shelter one of Kitchener's earliest pioneering families. The Stauffer Log House still stands today, a historic gem surrounded by a newer subdivision...
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Facing life in a Hong Kong prison
“She knows she's innocent. I know she is innocent. But to the Hong Kong authorities, she's nothing more than a drug dealer.” Naderia's daughter, Jade, is facing life imprisonment after bringing 25 kilograms of cocaine into China. The value of the...
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Court forbids Waterloo Region from evicting homeless residents at encampment
The Region of Waterloo has been forbidden from evicting the people staying in a homeless encampment at the corner of Weber and Victoria streets in downtown Kitchener. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that the region, which owns the...
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Sloka faces two additional sexual assault charges
Former Kitchener doctor Jeffrey Sloka, acquitted last month of 48 sexual assault charges against female patients, is facing two additional charges. Eleven sexual assault charges were not included in Sloka's trial, which began in September 2021. Some...
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Sloka complainant welcomes Crown's appeal
A woman who testified against Jeffrey Sloka welcomes the Crown's decision to seek a new trial after a judge acquitted the former Kitchener doctor of all 48 sexual assault charges. “I am grateful that the Crown is going forward with this,” she told The...
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RALLYING FOR RANGERS
Jack Pridham is going home. Well, sort of. The 20yearold sniper played hockey for the West Kelowna Warriors in the British Columbia Hockey League for parts of two seasons before joining the Kitchener Rangers in November 2024. Now, he's heading back...
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The documentary Stratford never saw — and the debate about homelessness it exposed
Over decades of work as a journalist and documentary filmmaker, Craig Thompson has reported from some of the world's most politically sensitive and socially fraught environments — from refugee camps in Uganda and Ethiopia to the slums of Mumbai and...
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Oneway taxi trips shuffle Ontario's homeless to far away communities
When Rob Wreford glanced into his rearview mirror and locked eyes with the man sitting in the back seat of his taxi, something felt familiar. Behind the worndown clothes and sunspotted face was a glimmer of the teenage boy Wreford went to school...
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School board cut off from development fees
The Waterloo Region District School Board will no longer be eligible to collect development charges beginning next month, cutting off a key source of funding for new school land purchases. Ahead of the May 31 expiry of its current bylaw — in place...
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OHL CHAMPIONS
It was a leap of faith. By Jussi Ahokas, and the Kitchener Rangers. Three years back, the Finn left his family, homeland and career to take a chance behind the bench in the Ontario Hockey League. “My dream is to coach someday in the NHL,” said the...
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`We have a lot of eggs in the basket'
The Region of Waterloo is putting all of its chips on a 53foot shipping container packed with a water filtration system that will look to restore capacity at the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant in Kitchener. Condensing around two years' worth of work...
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Curious raises to Conestoga execs
Unjustified pay increases for Conestoga College executives — approved despite provincial compensation controls — highlight a failure of governance that auditors say was enabled by weak executive scrutiny and a board of governors overwhelmingly selected...
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Conestoga College board members didn't do their job
There's an unofficial rule that no public building should be named after someone who's still living. Because you never know whether they'll suddenly behave badly before they die and then you're stuck with a bad reputation hanging over the front...
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Tibbits once called idea of massive payout `ludicrous'
Conestoga College president John Tibbits' latest contract and exit package that included a payout of 83 times his monthly salary was negotiated by a small executive group of board members, sources within the now defunct board say. The small board...
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Belitski reliving rivalry of Rangers, Colts 30 years later
It was a playoff series that David Belitski will never forget. Thirty years ago, he was the starting goalie for the Kitchener Rangers in the club's openinground matchup against the Barrie Colts. The Rangers finished second in the Ontario Hockey...
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Outcry grows to appeal verdict in Sloka case
Prosecutors are facing calls to appeal the acquittal of former Kitchener doctor Jeffrey Sloka after he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting 48 patients. “This verdict was horrendous and survivors and everyone who cares about them deserves to...
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Rangers' O'Reilly is OHL's most outstanding player
It's the little things that make Sam O'Reilly special. Like winning faceoffs, battling for loose pucks, killing penalties, back checking and leadership. Oh, he can score too, as evidenced by his 29 goals and 42 assists in just 56 regular season...
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`It's maddening'
Dozens of tubs of ice cream and drinks were stolen from an outdoor Cambridge restaurant in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police say they were called at around 7:40 a.m. to a business near Water Street North and Park Hill Road West. L.A. Franks...
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`Everything that we were promised just vanished'
For Robert Roche, getting the keys to his own apartment saved his life. When the Kitchener Waterloo Urban Native Wigwam Project (KWUNWP) accepted Roche's application for a unit at 27 Cambridge St. in Cambridge, he felt he would be able to live a...
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POTHOLE PROBLEMS
Driving around Waterloo Region feels like navigating a minefield of large potholes as warmer weather has softened roads, making them susceptible to cracking and deteriorating. In Kitchener and Waterloo, the number of potholes has skyrocketed due to...
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It's time to throw hats in the ring
Fiftyeight council seats and 22 trustee seats are formally up for grabs in the launch of the Oct. 26 municipal election campaign. Friday is the first day clerks can accept candidate nominations for Waterloo Region councils and school boards. A...
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FEATHER WEATHER: Swans return to Kitchener
Kitchener's resident swans returned to Victoria Park from their winter retreat this week. Otis and Ophelia splashed back into the lake in downtown Kitchener on Tuesday. The pair enjoy a comfortable winter vacation in Stratford sheltered from the...
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Residents displaced after fire spreads across three homes
A fire that spread to neighbouring homes forced residents out of three townhome units in southeast Galt Monday night, causing an estimated $1million in damage. The call for the fire at 36 Aurora Common was received at 8:48 p.m., Capt. Ali Wakefield...
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Former Wilmot mayor watches history repeat itself
Thumbing through newspaper clippings from more than 50 years ago, former Wilmot mayor Ralph Shantz sees a striking similarity between yesterday's news and today's headlines. You could take any story from back then and it would mirror some of the front...
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Tech moves to the front lines
As Canada commits billions of dollars to rebuilding its military capabilities, a quiet defence boom is taking shape in the Region of Waterloo, driven not just by the traditional defence sector but by technology companies adapting civilian innovations...
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The Kitchener Colt factory scales up to rearm Canada
First of two features on the effect of rearmament on the region. On Monday: How the tech industry is shifting to the front lines Behind a quiet stretch of red brick in the southeast end of Kitchener sits one of the most consequential manufacturing...
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Waterloo council considers plan to protect private trees
Waterloo city council is considering a $5million plan to keep urban trees from withering as taller buildings, harder surfaces and intensified housing take a toll. Proposals include a new bylaw to compel owners to protect mature private trees, more...
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Windsor hopes to kick Kitchener curse
Windsor Spitfires goalie Joey Costanzo doesn't believe his team is cursed. But, of late, there has been one constant for his club in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. That'd be an earlier than anticipated exit at the hands of the Kitchener...
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Mayor fails to limit pay raise
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic's attempt to limit a mayoral pay increase was ultimately voted down by fellow councillors late Monday night. Council adopted a recommendation from a consultant and city staff to increase base pay for the mayor and...
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West Montrose covered bridge foundation repairs continuing
Work continues on preserving the historic West Montrose covered bridge. The Region of Waterloo, which is overseeing the $12million rehabilitation project, posted an update on Friday sharing the extensive repairs being done on the bridge...
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Going to the dogs (and cats)
Conestoga College's new pet grooming program is offering lowcost grooming services for dogs and cats as students practise their skills at bathing, brushing and trimming. Grooming is also offered for free to pets from local shelters, rescue...
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