The Hamilton Spectator
A revamped coliseum. The Junos. New festivals Is 2026 Hamilton's year of music?
TD Coliseum reopened late last year after a $300million revitalization with Paul McCartney performing. Days later came the announcement of Route 905 Country Festival, adding another music festival to Hamilton's bustling scene. Now, a new concert...
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FUN AT THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
The longanticipated return of the Hamilton Children's Museum has come with an unexpected hurdle: showing up in person no longer guarantees entry. Visitors to the newly renovated space — which reopened earlier this month after a nearly fiveyear...
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Homeless turn to library, mall for warmth
Noah Edgar, struggling with homelessness, takes a break from the bitter cold in Jackson Square's bustling food court in downtown Hamilton. He and his partner have spent the night bundled up under blankets by a vent blowing warm air outside the...
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`We want to make this a 21stcentury gallery'
Thousands of square feet of expanded gallery space, a new Main Street entrance — and a possible affordable housing tower, geared toward local creatives. Those are just some facets of the Art Gallery of Hamilton's (AGH) planned major revitalization...
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Her second marathon turned into a run to remember
She was a few kilometres from the finish line of the Houston Marathon when she glanced at her watch and started doing some mental calculations. If she could continue at this pace for just another few minutes, Erin Mawhinney realized she could post a...
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Bidders line up to build battery farms
Last year's sweltering summer strained the power grid as Ontarians struggled to keep cool. But the province had a powerful ace up its sleeve. Stored inside 278 giant lithiumion batteries — each the size of a tractortrailer — in rural Haldimand...
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Alone but not lonely
He lived alone, had no family by blood, and yet more than 60 souls packed a café on a cold night, on bruised Barton Street East, paying homage to him, lighting candles and telling stories marked by tears and laughter. Alan Reid, who died the week...
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`AN INVITE TO THE TABLE'
A Rubik's Cube at every seat set the tone for this month's older adult lunch: play. But a steady flow of conversation in the Faith United Church basement hall meant most cubes went untouched and a planned craft — tissuepaper flowers to brighten the...
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QUACKIN' GOOD TIMES
Paula Robinson works on her sculpture of a runner duck — yet to be named — during a pottery class at the Dundas Valley School of Art on Monday afternoon. The duck is a surprise gift for a friend, crafted at the community art school known for offering...
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These Hamilton businesses are feeling the love of the hit series `Heated Rivalry'
When Relay Coffee Roasters coowner Rachel Hofing booked a film shoot for a supposedly small production for her downtown Hamilton café last March, she didn't think much of it. Hofing knew the shoot was for a Canadian television series with a small...
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A ROUTINE MADE FOR ONE
Caroline DeJong shows off her figure skating moves for her sixmonthold daughter, Lucy, on the Watertown Rotary Skating Trail at Memorial Park in Waterdown on Thursday morning.
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Election tops list of city hall stories to watch this year
Brace for “silly season” with a looming municipal election expected to be one of the major stories of the year at Hamilton city hall. The 2026 municipal and school board votes will take place Oct. 26 — and election years tend to feature a “silly...
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A ROCKING GOOD TIME
Opportunities to enjoy rinks outside are likely getting paused this week as the temperature rises by the weekend — starting with a risk of freezing rain Tuesday morning. Getting ahead of the thaw, Nora McVea and her little brother Wyatt enjoyed being...
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PRO HOCKEY'S JOYOUS RETURN
The PWHL game between the Toronto Sceptres and Seattle Torrent drew a crowd of more than 16,000 to TD Coliseum on Saturday. Was the Hamilton stop on the Takeover Tour a test run for a possible expansion franchise?
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FROM CANES TO CHACHA
Seniors arrive at the YMCA on the central Mountain using walkers and canes, but over the course of a onehour specially designed class, they are dancing the chacha. “It sounds difficult, but it isn't because it's fun,” said 90yearold Hans Schulte...
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PWHL brings Takeover Tour to Hamilton
She's played in arenas all over the world. Denmark, Czechia, Finland, South Korea, China, Sweden, Germany and on and on. Closer to home, there aren't too many significant rinks across North America her skates haven't touched. But when was the last...
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2025 in Graeme MacKay's CARTOONS
Spectator's cartoonist Graeme MacKay looks back at 2025 with some of his highlights. Visit on New Year's Day to see MacKay's full gallery.
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Planning a trip to the tropics?
Trips to the tropics are meant to be carefree — but vacations, like life, aren't immune to the odd curveball. A widespread blackout in Cuba last year left some Canadians stranded in resorts for days. When Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica in October,...
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Five years later, Phil gets his voice back
For most of the past five years, Phil Serez has sounded more than a bit like a robot. That's not a complaint. Honestly, it's a blessing my buddy sounds like anything. ALS has stolen so much from him. He can no longer move any part of his body except...
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Vinny Tirabassi lived through riches and ruin — then died in a place meant to help him
Vinny Tirabassi was on the right track. After money and relationship trouble left the man once married to a $10.5million lottery winner homeless, Tirabassi checked into a downtown men's shelter on Nov. 7, 2024, signing up for lowincome housing,...
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Dog park still shut six months after `temporary closure' for soil testing
A City of Hamilton dog park remains closed six months after it was shuttered due to potential soil contamination. The Birch Avenue leashfree dog park was closed until further notice by the city June 13 “as a precautionary measure” over health...
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Most city police officers now wearing body cameras
Next to a gun, a bodyworn camera (BWC) is the most powerful piece of equipment carried by a Hamilton police officer. They are intended to expand the scope of evidence in criminal and civil matters, capture incidents that can result in complaints or...
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There's only one real choice for local athlete of the year
There are three things you can have absolute confidence in over the next few weeks. People around you will complain about the weather, that bloody Mariah Carey Christmas song will be played on an endless loop to the point you're bordering on homicidal...
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Inside Hamilton's Amazon holiday hub
Thousands of Hamiltonians will likely turn to Amazon this holiday season to knock something off their list as they prepare to gather with family and friends. That could be a lastminute gift for a white elephant exchange with colleagues, decorations...
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Paul McCartney's Ontario backup band
At Hamilton's TD Coliseum, as 2025 was winding down, so was Paul McCartney's latest — some wonder if it's his final — North American tour. This penultimate show was another pilgrimage, some 18,000 adoring, cheering, weepy fans coming from around...
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STEVE'S STILL `OPEN' AT 50
In this final column before Christmas, here's an appreciation for two timeless delights in the city enjoyed by folks going on more than five decades. Open on James 50 years The restaurant business takes no prisoners, yet here I am, on Wednesday...
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Mac eyeing data centre proposal for former Spectator building
McMaster University will consider a pitch to transform the former home of The Hamilton Spectator into an “innovation hub” that includes an artificial intelligence data centre. The university announced in a media release on Wednesday that it was...
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Greenbelt review spurs questions following landswap scandal
The province says it will get on with a delayed review of the Greenbelt — but with few details available about how the government will conduct the mandatory exercise, Hamilton supporters of the protected band of green space are leery of carveouts for...
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`Unnecessary loss of life'
On the last day of her life, Kathryn Ellen Pryla shopped for groceries, hoping to cook and freeze some dinners in advance of her son's birth. Pryla was eight months pregnant, and she and her wife, Kaitlin Schroeder, had already picked out a name for...
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Staffers targeted by U.S. are resolute in face of sanctions
Judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are trying to live and work under the same U.S. financial and travel restrictions brought against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Osama bin Laden. Nine staff members, including six judges...
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How police nabbed alleged jewelry store thieves
It is still dark as police officers gather in the office of the break, enter, auto theft and robbery (BEAR) unit when the briefing begins at exactly 7:16 a.m. Thursday. The assembled detectives are supposed to be preparing for earlymorning searches at...
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Boy, 7, dead after being struck by Hamilton bus
A sevenyearold boy is dead after being struck by an HSR bus. Hamilton police say the fatal collision occurred at Emerald and Wilson streets, just east of J.C. Beemer Park, around 1:10 p.m. on Thursday. The child was rushed to Juravinski Hospital...
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Bocelli creates night of true beauty
There were thousands of people with enormous smiles on their faces when Andrea Bocelli walked out on stage on Tuesday evening and belted out his first notes. Yet none were beaming more than Gabe Macaluso. Hearing the beautiful beginning to “La Donna è...
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SHAI'S STAR SHINES BRIGHT
Shai GilgeousAlexander has parlayed one of the best seasons in NBA history into his second Northern Star Award as Canada's athlete of the year for 2025. The 27yearold Oklahoma City Thunder guard from Hamilton beat out more than a dozen other...
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$5.5M plan to help nonprofits buy rental buildings launched
Hamilton is launching a $5.5million initiative to help nonprofits buy apartment buildings before forprofit players scoop them up and jack their affordable rents. Through such purchases, the aim is to maintain affordability in 100 rental units over...
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Six Nations restaurant is diabeticfriendly
In June, John Joseph was unwell. “I was about 70 pounds overweight” with diabetes, and high cholesterol and blood pressure. His liver was in rough shape, and he had “no ambition, no drive, no energy,” he told The Spectator. The doctor told him he was...
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Income shapes who drives electric
Income appears to be a barrier to widespread electric vehicle adoption around Hamilton, according to a new analysis by The Spectator. Based on public data from Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, there were 12,480 hybrid or fullelectric vehicles...
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Married 41 years, these seniors are back in school — together
Gabriel Kryzyworaczka sat at a desk opposite the teacher mulling over a math problem involving division and schools of fish. At the other end of the classroom, his wife, Emma, carefully copied sentences onto a lined sheet of paper in wobbly but...
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Teenage equestrian back in the saddle after brain surgery
Jumping over a threefoottall fence on horseback at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair last month was child's play compared to the health hurdles Haldimand teen Kylie Searles had to clear in recent years. Early in the young equestrian's training,...
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Landlords push back as rental licensing becomes permanent
City councillors have approved a permanent rentalhousing licensing program, despite landlord complaints it adds red tape without protecting tenants from shoddy conditions. The permanent version set to take effect in January replaces a pilot program...
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BANKING ON HAMILTON
It sounds too good to be true. But for more than 50 years, Hamilton was home to a financial institution that literally had a licence to print money. Then, in 1924, the Bank of Hamilton was taken over by the Canadian Bank of Commerce, and in 1934 the...
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`We can just be ourselves'
Roommates Li Jiang and Elaine Jongsma are 31 years apart in age, but they have much in common. Their late November birthdays fall one day away from one another. They love debriefing after first dates, lingering in each other's doorways to chat about...
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Two stars, one wild journey
Eric Robertson, the chef with an international reputation whose finedining restaurant in Niagara is ranked No. 1 in Canada, plucks an orange pepper from the soil. “I promise it's not a prank, it's not spicy — I'll eat it first, OK?” he says, tearing...
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DUNDAS DECKS OUT
City workers deployed the Christmas tree in Dundas in the nick of time this past week, beating the first sustained flurries of the winter season forecast for the weekend. Dylan McIntyre and Frank Muraca added adornments to the towering tree in Memorial...
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OHIP frustrations push surgeons out
Dr. Ronen Avram wanted to find a better way to surgically reconstruct breasts for women who had mastectomies following a devastating cancer diagnosis. The Hamilton surgeon, together with his surgical colleague Dr. Chris Coroneos, borrowed a technique...
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Peoples Church completes $12million transformation
Peoples Church on the west Mountain draws more than 1,000 people each week to Sunday services, and is home to the city's largest singlesite daycare and myriad youth sports leagues. It was distinctive even before its $12million expansion and...
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`A great boon to the downtown'
Electric Diner owner Erika Puckering had marked Friday night down in her calendar months ago. Nov. 21, 2025 — the day Sir Paul McCartney would roll into town to play the newly renovated TD Coliseum, drawing roughly 13,000 fans to downtown Hamilton for...
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Delayed Garner Road construction expected to wrap up a year late
The seemingly neverending construction on Garner Road in Ancaster is expected to wrap up later this month — more than a year later than originally planned. Ed English, the city's construction manager, recently told The Spectator the $5.2million...
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REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE
For a moment Tuesday morning, a hush fell over Gore Park in downtown Hamilton to honour the fallen and recognize all those who served in defence of Canada. Hamilton residents, active military personnel and veterans congregated at the downtown cenotaph...
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What can be done to make the city safer?
Shootings, violent youth crime, intimate partner violence and the rise in hate in Hamilton were the focus of Mayor Andrea Horwath’s community safety summit. The summit, at Liuna Station on Monday, heard from community and social service agencies about...
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FIRST TASTE OF WINTER
A man pushes a bike down James Street North during the first snowfall of the season Sunday. Expect a cool day on Monday. Temperatures are forecast to hit a high of 1 C, feeling as cold as 8 with wind chill.
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Sevenfootone teen from Moldova pursuing NHL dreams in Brantford
At the start of each season, the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau officially measures and weighs every teenage draft prospect in the world, but it faced a unique challenge when it came to one hopeful for the 2026 event. The device it uses to chart the...
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HUNTING GROUNDS
In 2018 and 2019, multiple predators targeted young women near McMaster. One — the man in black — crept into bedrooms, stalked victims and secretly filmed nearly 100 women. In this threepart Spectator investigation, Susan Clairmont reveals the hunt...
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Denise is ready for another ring
She was in the store a while back when someone noticed the giant ring on her finger. The hefty chunk of gold with a Tiger-Cat leaping out from a field of diamonds on the front. A bauble that defines conspicuous. “Where can I buy one?” the shopper...
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GOAT GARDENERS ARRIVE
A trailer full of goats waits to unload at a Kirkwall Road property Tuesday morning — Hamilton's newest cleanup crew reporting for duty. The 50member herd from Goats In the City will chew through buckthorn and other invasive plants in order to prove...
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Homelessness to hope
Michael Hoekstra remembers how his world got smaller as he peered through the flap of his tent in downtown Hamilton. And how, like others around him, his resolve to escape homelessness could weaken with every passing day outside. “When you’re out on...
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DANGER AT RAIL CROSSINGS
A motorist risks driving around the safety bars at a rail crossing on Wentworth Street North. Drivers complain warning lights and signal bars are randomly activating when there are no trains nearby.
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FEAR AMD FURY on Six Nations
Gunshots shattered the cold, clear dead of night, south of the Grand River on Fourth Line. The last weekend of January, bullets struck the glass vestibule of Burger Barn on Six Nations, Canada's most populous First Nation, home to the six tribes of...
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SCARY SKELETON CREW
Some people love to trickortreat, or dress up for Halloween parties. Others get into the spirit of the spooky season by decking out their homes, creating showstoppers in their neighbourhood. This fun setup on a home at Homewood Avenue and Locke...
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Despite improvements, Aberdeen Avenue resident calling for more traffic calming
Oncecontentious traffic safety measures added to Aberdeen Avenue have proven effective, the latest city data shows — but some residents are calling on the city to do more to protect those living on the busy street. The yearslong debate on traffic...
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Port Dover golf course could be yours for a song in tax sale
Ever dreamed of owning a golf course on the cheap? Norfolk County may have a deal for you. The owners of a golf course in Port Dover have until Nov. 5 to cough up nearly $200,000 in unpaid property taxes before the sprawling 154acre property along...
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From tragedy to triumph
The wings and ribbon stretch across his left forearm, inked in black above the words: “I do not fear tomorrow. Today has been enough. Until we meet again.” For those unfamiliar with his tragic yet inspirational story, it’s a striking tattoo. For...
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Bridging the `skilled trades gap'
Sixteenyearold Abbey Matthews manoeuvred a jumping jack around a practice gravel pit, hammering crushed stone around a blue PVC pipe. The Burlington Central High School student's eyes were sharp with focus behind bedazzled safety glasses. Matthews,...
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CAP CRUNCH
Ameera Ali Khan had dreams of becoming a doctor. She chose to study in Canada for its quality education and safety. But, after her first year in life sciences at McMaster University, she began to worry she wouldn’t get into medical school or be able...
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What’s behind an increase in fires in Hamilton?
Hamilton is continuing to see an increase in fires, in part driven by a growing number of arsons that include several serial arsonists in the last year. According to police, Hamilton has had about 460 fires this year, as of this week. That is up about...
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Stoned driver gets 12 years in prison for fatal crash
Here's what the court heard about Gino Crimeli. He was killed by Martin Roy Matthews on Aug. 13, 2021, a clear and sunny day, while riding his Triumph motorcycle back to his Stoney Creek home from a Friday the 13th gathering in Port Dover. The...
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Builder of illegal `fancy garage' on Hamilton parkland fighting demolition order
The owner of an illegal poolside oasis built on city parkland is appealing a city order to demolish the controversial “fancy garage.” Joe Tarasca spent about $400,000 during the pandemic to build — without permits — a glassenclosed building, driveway...
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Hamilton pair taking on `The Traitors Canada' manor in third season
The Hammer is stepping into “The Traitors Canada” manor. Two locals — Cagla Baktiroglu and Meredith Baktiroglu — have been cast in the third season of the hit reality game show, set to premiere on CTV on Tuesday. The two are among 22 contenders who...
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A Six Nations couple is planting seeds for food independence
A Hamilton resident likely wouldn't think twice about dashing out for some veggies to rustle up a quick dinner. After all, there are bound to be at least a couple of grocery stores within spitting distance. For anyone on the Six Nations reserve,...
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AHOY, MUMMATEYS
Thousands of plants. Hundreds of varieties. Dozens of colours and shapes and forms. Blah, blah, blah. It's not about the numbers — it's about the flowers. The Hamilton Fall Garden and Mum Show, which opens Saturday for a nineday run, is yet another...
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`I'd die if I lost her': Homeless dogs growing focus, Hamilton welfare services say
Cap in hand, John Savage stands with a shopping cart outside the York Boulevard parking garage, as grey skies in downtown Hamilton threaten rain. At his feet is Abbey, a white Australian shepherdhusky cross, who hunkers down in his tent when they...
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FINE AUTUMN FORECAST
Horses and a donkey graze in a Flamborough pasture. The weather should be ideal for all types of fall outdoor activities leading into the weekend, with sunny skies and temperatures in the teens dominating the forecast.
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These men are over 80 years old and ready to beat the U.S. on ice
At 83yearsold, Bill Leithead's body doesn't feel like it did when he was younger. He moves a bit slower now, and his knees hurt. But that doesn't stop the Burlington man from playing hockey — a sport he's played since he was six — with other people...
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AFTER MORE THAN YEAR OUTSIDE, Jean Parent Finds `rebirth' in housing
Jean Parent is having a few pinchme moments these days. After more than a year spent living rough along Hamilton's escarpment rail trail, he has just moved into a small subsidized apartment in the east end. “I don't know. It really hasn't sunken in...
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