Windsor Star

Inspired by Canada's culture and landscapes

Call for changes after protests shut down Howe bridge path

Anti-immigration rallies near the Gordie Howe International Bridge disrupted cross-border travel Saturday, leaving dozens of cyclists and pedestrians unable to return to the U.S. after the bridge's multi-use path was unexpectedly closed. The...

Mayoral candidates share top priorities

Job creation, social challenges, and downtown revitalization are among the top concerns for candidates vying to serve as Windsor's mayor for the next four years. While a trade war with the United States threatens thousands of Windsor workers'...

Participants hit pavement for annual Detroit marathon

Sunny and brisk weather made for ideal running conditions as a record-breaking number of runners took part in the 49th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon in Detroit and Windsor on Sunday. Thousands of runners made their way across the border into...

City hospital offers welcome relief for prostate patients

Windsor Regional Hospital is introducing a new minimally invasive surgery for men experiencing the symptoms of an enlarged prostate. Known as THULEP, or Thulium Laser Enucleation of the prostate, the procedure is considered a significant advancement...

UNEASY NEIGHBOURS

The Detroit skyline is framed by the Great Canadian Flag in Windsor on Thursday. Statistics Canada figures show the number of Canadians and Americans crossing the border is slowly increasing, but still down overall since U.S. President Donald Trump...

Instruments coming out of closets to enjoy a new life

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Downtown Mission eyes move to former Water World

The Downtown Mission is in talks with the City of Windsor about moving away from Ouellette Avenue and into a former recreation centre. On Tuesday, the charity's executive director confirmed her board's desire to relocate to the city-run Housing and...

GETTING INTO POLL POSITION

Windsor residents line up Friday at the WFCU Centre to take part in drive-thru advance voting for the municipal election. Polls will be open again today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for electors in their cars and on foot. A schedule for advance polls is...

CREAM FOR THE CAUSE

Between classes at St. Clair College on Wednesday, Dwayne St. John took a few pies in the face for charity. The professor and co-ordinator for the sport and recreation management program was one of several college employees to endure — with a smile —...

Stellantis workers to vote on authorization of strike

The union representing thousands of Stellantis workers across Ontario is seeking authority to strike. As negotiations with the auto giant “remain at an impasse,” Unifor on Tuesday announced that it will proceed with strike authorization votes. In a...

Windsor-essex paramedics reach tentative agreement

The region's paramedics have reached a tentative deal with the County of Essex, putting on hold the threat of a strike. James Jovanovic, president of CUPE Local 2974.2, said a tentative deal was reached around 10 p.m. on Monday, between the union and...

Zombie hordes invade for a night of family fun

Hundreds of zombies took over downtown Windsor on Saturday night, but they weren't looking for brains. They were raising money. Among the crowd were Michelle Marks and her son, Evan Fairlie, who dressed up as dead soldiers for their first time...

E-RIDES TAKING A TOLL

Matthew Baute, 31, shows the scar on his left thigh after serious injuries over two years ago when he was struck by a vehicle while on his electric bike. He's one of many who have become accident victims as e-bikes and e-scooters rise in popularity....

Hearing the truth of residential schools

Mona Stonefish was seven years old when she was taken to residential school. More than 60 years later, the Anishinaabe elder stood before hundreds of people gathered at Jackson Park on Wednesday and told them the experience still lives with her. “I...

Police take to streets in show of safety

More than 200 Windsor police officers took to downtown streets during a three-day blitz aimed at increasing police visibility, engaging with the public and addressing concerns about safety in the core. Some donned patrol uniforms and walked the beat...

`A LASTING TRIBUTE'

Canadian artist Jordan Sook is framed by a sculpture he created while speaking during a ceremony on Monday near the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The commemorative artwork — entitled Make a Joyful Noise — honours the freedom seekers from the...

THROWING DOUGH

Windsorites love to love their pizza. That much was evident by the big turnout and the many lengthy lines at the city's first pizza festival at City Hall Square Saturday. “I'm not surprised that the citizens of Windsor have come out for a pizza...

BIKE TOURISM BOOMING

Linda and Robert Hou from Ann Arbor, Mich., look for a spot to park their bikes in Sandwich during a visit earlier this month. Windsor's Sandwich and Detroit's Delray are enjoying a cross-border tourism boom thanks to the Gordie Howe International...

More than 1,000 job seekers line up for Costco interviews

More than 1,000 people stood outside for hours waiting for job interviews for the new east Windsor Costco on Wednesday. The lengthy and ever-growing line began at the front door of the Serbian Centre, where the job fair was being held, and snaked...

Ex-michigan governor walks across Gordie Howe bridge

The ribbon cutting is done and controversy over the Gordie Howe International Bridge has cooled — at least a little. So former Michigan governor Rick Snyder, perhaps the most crucial player in getting the instantly iconic infrastructure built, decided...

Iconic fountain to return next fall

The countdown is on. The new Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain is set to return to Windsor's waterfront next year, with the city announcing a Sept. 21, 2027, grand reopening date for the “iconic” landmark. The City of Windsor marked the...

SPITFIRES STUMBLE

Patience can be a tough commodity at times. Two games into the season and the Windsor Spitfires are trying to keep things in perspective after earning just a single point. “We got one out of four points, which isn't great, but put it in perspective,”...

BEER UNDER PRESSURE

Brewer Tyler Parry works with some increasingly expensive beer cans at Walkerville Brewery. The brewery has kept beer prices steady so far, but with tariffs upping the cost of everything from aluminum cans to ingredients, the owner says something has...

LIGHTNING STRIKE

A lightning strike caused Wednesday's fire at Chatham's Greenfield Global plant, company officials say. “Lightning struck a corn-based ethanol storage tank” at the 275 Bloomfield Rd. facility early Wednesday morning, a company release said in the...

United Way program helps kids beat down barriers and achieve success

The United Way says one of its key youth education programs is improving grades and “life outcomes” for students in some of the region's most poverty-stricken neighbourhoods. The Prosperus initiative, a United Way partnership with more than 30 local...

DOGGIE PADDLE

A happy golden retriever bounds into the water — which had its chemistry adjusted so it was safe for the canines — at Riverside Centennial Pool during the third annual Pooch Plunge on Sunday.

SAILOR'S DELIGHT

The unending migration crisis in Spain's north African territory of Ceuta is inflicting potentially terminal damage on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez before next year's general election, analysts say. But the Socialist, a progressive hero who has made...

TIDYING UP TOPPLED TREES

Workers with Davey Tree Care Services remove storm-damaged tree limbs on Ford Boulevard on Wednesday. The company has multiple crews helping with the cleanup from last week's tornado. The city has received more than 1,000 requests for service after...

Windsor-detroit still feeling impacts of 9/11 terror attack

The Twin Towers were destroyed, America was under attack and Windsor's mayor had a sickening realization. Windsor-detroit — North America's busiest border crossing — seemed like an obvious target. Mike Hurst was cruising down Riverside Drive on Sept....

Horses euthanized after suffering suspicious injuries

An Essex County family is searching for answers after two beloved horses suffered catastrophic wounds just hours apart, forcing their owners to euthanize both animals. Essex OPP launched an investigation into what they call suspicious injuries. They...

LABOUR OF LOVE

Members of Unifor Local 195 were out in full force Monday ahead of Windsor's annual Labour Day Parade. The parade marched along Ottawa Street to Lanspeary Park, where workers and supporters gathered for a celebration featuring speakers, entertainment...

STORM WALLOPS REGION

A massive storm ripped through the Windsor region Thursday afternoon, tearing the roof from one house and carrying it a block away onto another home. The hardest hit area was east Windsor, where Sandra Smith pulled up to her Ford Boulevard home to...

The Maestro's dying wish: WSO gifts concert tickets to cancer centre staff

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra has fulfilled one of Maestro Robert Franz's final wishes. On the first anniversary of Franz's death from cancer, the WSO announced Wednesday it is giving every employee at his beloved Windsor Regional Cancer Centre two...

JAZZ CAN BUILD A BRIDGE

The Windsor members of the Borderland Ensemble — Trevor Lamb, left, Austin Di Pietro and Zach Mckinney — said they hope to make a point alongside their Detroit-based bandmates with a free performance at the Detroit Jazz Festival on Saturday, their...

Club grown from tragedy holds vigil to remember those lost to overdoses

Joe Newman was a nurse so he knew the risks, but it wasn't enough to keep him out of danger. Newman, who died of a fentanyl overdose on Christmas Day 2020, was among hundreds of Windsor-essex residents mourned and remembered Monday on International...

DOGGED PURSUIT

Justin Tao is tethered to his pomsky, Toki, during the Zulu Challenge at Malden Park on Saturday. “It's a family challenge. Sure, it's hard to do, but you're always going to remember who you did it with,” said the organizer. The obstacle course event...

SPANNING A CENTURY

Ted Spodarek remembers watching builders dig into the blue clay under the Detroit River in the late 1920s to make way for the footings of the Ambassador Bridge when he was just a boy. Now 103, Spodarek returned to the city to set foot on the Gordie...

WHEELY FUN TIMES

Antoine Boudrias helps set up the ferris wheel at Mcauliffe Park in Tecumseh on Wednesday. The annual Tecumseh Corn and Music Festival — which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year — kicks off today and runs through Sunday at the park.

STILL STANDING

Laurie Kowtiuk stands outside her historic house at 78 Fox St. N. in Essex. Kowtiuk purchased her more than 150-year-old house in 1987 and has spent decades restoring it, earning a heritage designation.

Poilievre calls for continued fight against `terrible' U.S. auto tariffs

Government bailouts won't be a longterm solution to keep Canada's automotive industry afloat during the trade war with the United States, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says. During a visit on Monday to Windsor, the nation's automotive capital,...

Bridge owner offers up derelict homes

The Ambassador Bridge company says it's ready to hand over derelict houses to the City of Windsor and spare taxpayers from costly expropriations in exchange for a few “surplus” municipal roads. It's a plan the company says city council agreed to in...

MARCHING IN MEMORY

Members of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment march through Dieppe Park in downtown Windsor on Wednesday during a ceremony marking the 84th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. The ill-fated attack on Nazi-occupied France claimed the lives of 907 Canadian...

New docuseries draws attention to the creative community in Windsor

Windsor artist Jeff Denomme — the name behind The Haunted Zoo brand — is the focus of a new docuseries called The Zookeeper, providing a peak behind the curtain of what it takes to be an artist in Canada's Motor City. According to Denomme, being...

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

Three-year-old Shane Clayton runs through the water at City Hall Square earlier this week. The next couple of days will bring more splashpad weather, with temperatures expected to hit a high of 26C on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, rain is in the...

PIPING HOT PARADE

Pipers lead a parade of followers through downtown Amherstburg during the Bagpipes in the Burg event held every Friday in July and August during summer Open Air Weekends. The pipers make another appearance Friday at 7 p.m. This weekend's Open Air theme...

IN CRUISIN' CONTROL

A little midday rain certainly didn't damper these drivers' spirits at the Ouellette Car Cruise on Friday. The annual summer event attracted car-lovers and vehicles of all shapes, sizes and eras from both sides of the border. “I think it's that pride...

City seeks housing proposals for old W.D. Lowe school site

Five acres of urban land present a “prime opportunity” for affordable housing — as long as the developer keeps a 103-year-old school building 's historic facade intact. That's according to Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who, on Thursday, invited...

Province says it's keeping promise of police helicopter

Windsor police will still get the helicopter promised to them in Ontario's 2025 budget, the province's solicitor general says. “Helicopters play a vital role,” Michael Kerzner said during a visit to Windsor on Tuesday. “We will have a helicopter that...

Michigan senator confident Canada-u.s. ties will endure

A Michigan senator who visited Windsor this week encouraged Gordie Howe International Bridge travellers to “give people a little grace” while officials sort out border officer staffing. Aware of long U.s.-bound lines at the new port of entry, Elissa...

A PROUD DISPLAY ON A SUNNY DAY

Windsor-essex Pride Fest organizers are calling this year's Pride Parade the largest ever, as hundreds of participants and onlookers lined the street donning rainbow colours. The parade kicked off at 11 a.m. Sunday travelling down Ottawa Street,...

DETERMINED TO ROLL

Justin Bellemore of Windsor camps out at the entrance to the Gordie Howe International Bridge multi-use path on Tuesday. Bellemore arrived more than 24 hours early to become the first cyclist to use the bridge at Wednesday morning's official opening of...

`Share our experiences more with the United States'

For the first time in decades, cyclists and pedestrians have crossed the Canada-u.s. border over the Detroit River. Early Wednesday morning, more than a hundred people lined up at the foot of the International Gordie Howe Bridge to be among the first...

Sarnia jobs at risk, mayor says

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HOWE PARTY A ONE-SIDED AFFAIR

Canadian dignitaries celebrated a new era of cross-border trade with a ribbon cutting and a ceremonial hockey game on the long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge on Friday. Touted as one of the most significant infrastructure projects in North...

Americans end up paying cost of tariffs, Dilkens says

“At this point of Donald Trump's presidency, I'm shocked by very little.” That was Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens's reaction on Tuesday to news the U.S. president planned to impose 50-per-cent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian exports, including goods...

HOSPITAL ON HORIZON

Representatives from the Fancsy family and Windsor Regional Hospital join Ontario Premier Doug Ford and local and provincial politicians Thursday in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Fancsy Family Hospital. The acute care hospital is expected to cost...

CREATING AL FRESCO

Elizabeth Macdonald, a member of Windsor-essex County Plein Air Artists, captured the landscape at King's Navy Yard Park during the Amherstburg Art Crawl Saturday. The annual event brings artists into public spaces for live painting, demonstrations and...

Gordie Howe bridge set to open: Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump says the Gordie Howe International Bridge will open July 27 after his administration negotiated what he described as a “better deal” for the U.S. — though Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will still keep most of the...

BRING THE HOUSE DOWN

The city has issued demolition orders for 17 derelict houses owned by the Ambassador Bridge, delighting area residents — though Windsor's fight with the company continues. “It's about time. It'll be a big relief to see these come down,” said Wayne...

100 YEARS OF HELP

After a century of giving back to the animal community, the Windsor/essex County Humane Society raised $100,000 for two new rescue and relief vehicles. Earlier this year, the organization launched its Fuel the Future campaign to replace its old rescue...