Waterloo Region Record
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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GO train service extended to Stratford
Stratford is getting permanent GO train service starting July 6, with one return trip planned daily between Stratford and Toronto. Weekday trains are meant to serve commuters and take Stratford passengers to Toronto's Union Station. Weekend trains...
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From castoffs to contenders
It's a league of castoffs, late bloomers and the forgotten. But it's those qualities that bring players together on the Under18 loop in Ontario. “There are definitely a lot of guys with a chip on their shoulder,” said Waterloo Wolves U18 coach Kyle...
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Court dismisses appeal by convicted fraudster
Ontario's highest court has dismissed an appeal by convicted Waterloo Region fraudster Daniel P. Reeve. Reeve, a former financial adviser in Waterloo and Cambridge, was found guilty in 2017 of fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000. The latter charge...
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BUILT FOR THE SLIDE LIFE
Corey Smith sits in a 34inch plastic tube as he and his colleagues assemble a new waterslide at Bingemans on Tuesday. The slide, called a flying saucer, will be one of four new slides at the water park. Smith is a veteran waterslide worker. He...
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Proposed 40storey highrise would be tallest in Cambridge
A developer wants to bring a 40storey tower to the Preston area of Cambridge. The proposal would add hundreds of new homes to a stretch of King Street East that is currently made up of smaller buildings and open lots. The proposed plan, filed by ABS...
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Wilmot farmers and residents raise the alarm
Every morning, Alan Drost walks into his barn where 50,000 chickens are laying eggs that will go on to be sold in stores all over Ontario. Three years ago, his well went completely dry putting the lives of his chickens and the family's livelihood at...
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They went for Botox to look better. They ended up in the ICU struggling to breathe
When Magdalena Chytros woke up with droopy eyelids, she didn't get too worried, thinking it was just a fleeting sideeffect of the Botox. But over the next few days she started struggling to swallow, and her breaths drew shorter. She slurred her...
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Wilmot water pact down the drain
A 1980 Region of Waterloo policy that restricts the amount of groundwater that can be pumped out of the aquifers beneath Wilmot Township has been rescinded. Against the objections of Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen, Waterloo regional councillors decided...
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`Waddleloo' map offers students safe passage from nesting geese
Waterloo university students keen to avoid a runin with cranky Canada geese can find safe travel routes on a new interactive map called Waddleloo. Firstyear University of Waterloo computer science student Anirudh Dabas created the tool to help...
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From cold nights to viral bites
When winter arrived, sales at an outdoor pizza vending machine on the University of Guelph campus tanked. The weather was likely to blame, with threeminute wait times in below freezing temperatures proving a deterrent for even the most pizzaenthused...
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BEYOND THE MONEY Financial fraud allegations leave some investors fighting for hope
Each day, Andrew Long spends hours combing through documents tied to an alleged Ponzi scheme involving a prominent Guelphbased real estate developer, Scott Reid. Long, a Guelph real estate agent and investor with Reid, knows it will likely take years...
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`He walked alongside people in a very real way'
Rev. Toby Collins is preparing for the next step on his spiritual journey. This summer, he will move on from his post as the pastor of St. Mary Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in downtown Kitchener. He will also pass the torch of...
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Can the Ion system move faster?
What if rapid transit in Waterloo Region was actually, well, rapid? There are safe, practical ways to shave five minutes off the 44minutes Ion trains take between Fairview Park mall in Kitchener and Conestoga mall in Waterloo, transit advocates...
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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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