POLICE NOTES: BEAT Busts, Stolen Key, and Fridge Caper Solved

There are 137,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot gong on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: BEAT Busts, Stolen Key, and Fridge Caper Solved”

Guelph General Hospital’s Got a New Outbreak to Go With the Old One

Almost exactly one month after a COVID-19 outbreak was declared at the Guelph General Hospital, and just one week after the Hospital’s oxygen tank was so dangerously low that a Code Orange was declared, there’s a whole new outbreak on Delhi Street. Late on Friday afternoon, the Hospital announced that they are battling another outbreak of COVID-19 with one staff member and one patient testing positive. Continue reading “Guelph General Hospital’s Got a New Outbreak to Go With the Old One”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 31 Meeting?

After a surprisingly busy January at city council, we come to the last meeting of the month. On the agenda is one last crack at the economic plan for the next four years, a couple of new appointments to local boards, and what will surely be an interesting discussion about whether the City of Guelph should stick its nose in Quebec’s business even if it’s in the cause of human rights. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 31 Meeting?”

New Framework Alert: Ontario Starts Re-Opening on January 31

After being teased through several media sources of Wednesday night, Premier Doug Ford announced (on time) on Thursday morning that the re-emergence from lockdown will begin on January 31. The phased approach will see three-weeks between the initiation of each part of the plan, which Ford and company believes will give Ontario the best strategy to manage both the virus and the economy. Continue reading “New Framework Alert: Ontario Starts Re-Opening on January 31”

Housing Summit Heralded for Progress, Schreiner Still Skeptical

Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark held a virtual housing summit on Wednesday with municipal leaders from across Ontario. The goal was to find ways to solve the province’s housing crisis, the twin furies of limited supply and sky-high prices, and all parties say some good progress was made. Guelph’s MPP though has his doubts. Continue reading “Housing Summit Heralded for Progress, Schreiner Still Skeptical”

Elliott and Moore Say There’s Reason for Hope (Not a Guarantee)

Will Ontario businesses be allowed to open again exactly one week from now? That was not a question firmly answered by the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer of Health on Wednesday at a media conference. One day after Premier Doug Ford told an Ottawa radio station that there will be good news about the lockdown conditions later this week, Christine Elliott and Dr. Kieran Moore seemed to signal that’s still TBD. Continue reading “Elliott and Moore Say There’s Reason for Hope (Not a Guarantee)”

GUELPH POLITICAST #307 – New Year, New Market

As of January 1, 10C Shared Space took over the management of the Guelph Farmers’ Market. The goal is simple: turn an underperforming asset that’s only open five hours a week into a new economic hub and accelerator that ties together food security, sustainability, local markets, and opportunity development. Getting there is an ideal challenge for Guelph’s community changemaker. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #307 – New Year, New Market”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for January 17, 2022

Council will talk about Shaping Guelph, and so will over 20 delegates. You can click here for the amended agendas from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for January 17, 2022”

Schreiner Calls for “Significant” Mental Health Investment for Young People

Ontario’s school students were supposed to be going back to in-person learning on Monday, but Mother Nature had other ideas. This probably came as a relief to parents, young people, teachers and other school staff who now have an extra day to psych themselves up, which makes you think again about the mental health cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner was thinking about it too. Continue reading “Schreiner Calls for “Significant” Mental Health Investment for Young People”

Guelph Protesters Warm Up Before Country-Wide Freedom Rallies Next Weekend

Next weekend, there are a series of so-called freedom rallies planned for our region, around Ontario, and across the country. Perhaps as a warm up act, or perhaps just to warm up, about two dozen people gathered at Wellington Street and Gordon Street to protest the new provincial lockdowns, vaccine mandates, masking rules, and the general malaise of the pandemic. Continue reading “Guelph Protesters Warm Up Before Country-Wide Freedom Rallies Next Weekend”