Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Wednesday (August 26) for Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton, forecasting possible thunderstorms with heavy rain.

A weather event will affect an area stretching from Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury southeast across Georgian Bay to Lake Simcoe and the Kawartha Lakes.

Thunderstorms with heavy rain may produce local amounts of 50 to 75 mm.

The special weather statement is in effect from 5 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and continuing until 7 a.m. on Thursday morning.

Environment Canada meteorologists are continuing to monitor this developing situation closely.

Rainfall warnings may be issued as the event approaches and details become clear.

Earlier this summer, 99-year-old Guy Aiello announced he would be walking the distance of a marathon in July to raise funds for equipment and technology at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

The long-time supporter of the hospital decided he wanted to do something challenging, unforgettable, and inspiring in honour of his 100th birthday this fall.

And that he did — on Tuesday (August 25), the PRHC Foundation announced on its Facebook page that Aiello had walked more than 42 kilometres while raising a total of $20,880 for the foundation.

“He captured the hearts of our community with his spirit and determination,” the foundation writes.

An avid walker, Aiello begin his fundraising marathon on Canada Day, walking 1.8 kilometres every day except Sundays throughout July.

The money Aiello raised through his walk will be used to help fund the hospital’s most critical priorities for equipment and technology.

“Our deepest thanks to Guy and everyone who supported his fundraising challenge,” the foundation writes. “We know the very best hospitals depend on the generosity of many donors working together and we are very grateful for your support.”

The federal government has announced financing of $7.6 million to help build 25 residential units at 3789 Water Street in Peterborough.

Kawartha Participation Projects (KPP) — which provides housing services and supports to people with physical disabilities living in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Northumberland — will provide management of the building.

Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef made the announcement on Tuesday (August 25) via the Zoom video-conferencing platform, on behalf of Canada’s families, children and social development minister Ahmed Hussen, who is also the minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

“The need for housing in our community was great before COVID, it’s only increased since,” Monsef said. “We need innovative partners and solutions to address the housing needs in our community and projects like this one do just that.”

“This partnership with KPP represents the Government of Canada’s continued commitment to investing in both accessible and affordable housing here in Peterborough-Kawartha.”

Construction on the Water Street building by developer Greenleaf/Cor-Plan began in 2019 and is expected to be largely complete by summer 2021.

The building will include 14 two-bedroom units, seven three-bedroom units, two one-bedroom units, and two studio units. While the entire building will meet all municipal accessibility requirements, five of the units are earmarked for KPP clients and will be specifically designed to meet their accessibility needs.

“Our partnership with Greenleaf will allow Kawartha Participation Projects to provide affordable and accessible housing with health care supports to our clients who would otherwise be homeless or in long term care,” said KPP CEO Patrick Cooper.

The development is receiving financing through the National Housing Strategy’s Rental Construction Financing initiative being delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The building is designed to achieve energy-efficiency savings of 18 per cent and greenhouse gas emission reductions of 23 per cent relative to the 2015 National Energy Code for Buildings.

“It was an easy decision to work with KPP to tenant the fully accessible suites with tenants who actually need them,” said Greenleaf/Cor-Plan president Sheldon Rokin. “We will achieve the mandated reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions with an insulated concrete and steel building. This type of construction offers further advantages of being highly fireproof and soundproof.”

Peterborough’s rental vacancy rate in 2019 was 2.1 per cent according to CMHC’s annual rental market report.

“Peterborough has a great need for all types of housing. Solving our housing challenges requires innovative solutions and cooperation from all levels of government, as well as private partners,” added Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien. “The funding through CMHC will add 25 residential units to our housing stock and will increase density in the north end of our city.”

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has announced it is staggering the beginning of the school year over a two-week period, with students returning to class beginning on Monday, September 14th.

Director of education Jennifer Leclerc issued a statement on Monday afternoon (August 24) on behalf of the board, which has 87 public elementary and secondary schools in Peterborough, Northumberland, and Clarington.

The school year was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 8th, but the board will instead use that first week to give schools additional time to prepare for the return of students to the classroom.

Students will begin returning to school on Monday, September 14th, but with student and class groups scheduled to attend school on different days throughout the week. All students will be in attendance full-time on Friday, September 18th.

“This two-week period will provide all our staff and students the additional time we believe will be crucial for everyone to prepare learning spaces, and to finalize, understand and be comfortable with, the many new routines that will be a part of the normal school day,” Leclerc states. “Finalized schedules will be shared with parents through their local school as soon as possible.”

From September 8th to 11th, schools will remain closed to students so principals and school staff can become familiar with new pandemic-related school practices, realign elementary classroom sizes and staff assignments based on changes resulting from students learning at home, confirm and adjust secondary school student timetables, and organize classrooms in safe layouts — which includes moving and storage furnishings, desks, and other equipment throughout the schools.

The board will also use this time with teaching and administrative staff to organize its “Learn At Home” online school for over 5,300 students who have opted for remote learning — representing 16 per cent of the board’s 33,300 students.

The board also announced that secondary school students will alternate their two subjects every week, instead of every day as originally planned.

From September to November, students will take their first period class every day for one week, and then take their second period class every day the following week. From November to the end of January, students will take their third period class every day for one week, and then take their fourth period class every day the following week. Final assessments will occur at the end of each course in mid-November and mid-January, respectively.

“We realize this is an extended amount of time for students on each subject,” Leclerc states. “The safety improvements of this model, however, are significant.”

Leclerc says this change means students can remain in a defined classroom for the entire week without travelling to another classroom, limits the number of contacts and touch points for students and staff throughout the day, and allows schools to implement staggered breaks and lunches for students during the day so that they can have a break from their classroom (the previous plan called for students to remain in their first period classrooms to have lunch).

“While our intent with the original school plan was to structure the school day safely for everyone through organized timetabling and limited movement, we feel this plan is a safer and better alternative,” Leclerc states. “Any parents or students who feel that this change may affect their interest in participating in our online Learn At Home program should contact us at kpr_info@kprdsb.ca.”

The Trillium Lakelands District School Board — which has 48 public elementary and secondary schools in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, and the District Municipality of Muskoka — has already released its return-to-school plan, which will see a staggered start to the school year for the first two weeks for elementary students and the first week for secondary students.

In Kindergarten to Grade 8, students attending in-school will attend one day during the week of September 8th to September 11th, and three days during the week of September 14th to September 18th. For secondary students attending in-school, only Grade 9 students will return on Tuesday, September 8th. On Wednesday, September 9th, half of Grade 9 to 12 students will attend. On Thursday, September 10th, the second half of Grade 9 to 12 students will attend, and from Friday, September 11th onwards, all secondary school students will attend.

A similar staggered schedule will be in place for at-home remote learning. For details, visit Return to School Plan 2020 for Families on the school board’s website.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board — which has 36 Catholic elementary and secondary schools in Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Clarington — released its return-to-school plan on August 13th, and also intends to use a staggered start to the school year.

“Final details are being worked out and will be communicated to parents early in the week of August 24,” according to the school board’s website.

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell will be spending much of Tuesday (August 25) visiting the Peterborough area.

Hosted by Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism, she will first meet with Peterborough Mayor Dianne Therrien and Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones.

She will then visit local tourism destinations that have safely re-opened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her itinerary includes visits to Rolling Grape Vineyard and ZimArt’s Rice Lake Gallery in Bailieboro, The Silver Bean Café in downtown Peterborough, and Harley Farms and Lang Pioneer Village Museum in Keene.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell is Ontario’s 29th Lieutenant Governor. As the representative of Her Majesty The Queen, she carries out constitutional and ceremonial duties and facilitates citizen and community engagement.

She took office in later 2014. She is an officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario, and the recipient of numerous distinctions and fellowships.

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting 105 new COVID-19 cases today, after an increase of 115 yesterday. This is the seventh day in a row where the average number of new cases has exceeded 100. The majority of new cases reported today are in Toronto (30), Ottawa (24), Peel (21), and York (9). The remaining 30 of Ontario’s public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 19 reporting no new cases at all.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there is another new case to report today in Northumberland — the fifth new case in a week. However, another case in Northumberland has also been resolved, leaving only one active case. There is also another new case in Hastings and Prince Edwards counties, reported on August 21 through close contact transmission, for a total of two active cases.

There are no new cases to report in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, or Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 103 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (97 resolved with 2 deaths), 177 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (157 resolved with 32 deaths), 31 in Northumberland County (30 resolved with no deaths), 15 in Haliburton County (15 resolved with no deaths), and 46 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (39 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported on May 7 by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

Province-wide, there have been 41,507 confirmed cases, an increase of 105 from yesterday’s report, with 37,673 (90.8% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 78 from yesterday. There have been 2,798 deaths, an increase of 1 from yesterday, with 1,804 deaths reported in long-term care homes (no change from yesterday). A total of 2,781,748 tests have been completed, an increase of 18,790 from yesterday, with 9,229 tests under investigation, a decrease of 6,886.

This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.

Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

Confirmed positive: 103 (no change)
Active cases: 4 (no change)
Deaths: 2 (no change)
Resolved: 97 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 24,050 (increase of 50)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 223, including 177 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 1, in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 14 (no change)
Deaths: 32 (no change)
Resolved: 202, including 157 in Kawartha Lakes, 30 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (increase of 1, in Northumberland)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 46 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 2 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change)
Recovered: 39 (no change)
Total tests completed: 21,454 (no change)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 41,507 (increase of 105)
Resolved: 37,673 (increase of 78, 90.8% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 40 (decrease of 1)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 12 (increase of 1)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 7 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 2,798 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,804 (no change)
Total tests completed: 2,781,748 (increase of 18,790)
Tests under investigation: 9,229 (decrease of 6,886)

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

A 61 year old is facing animal cruelty charges after Kawartha Lakes police seized 27 dogs from a camping trailer in Lindsay.

Police announced details of the charges on Monday (August 24).

On Friday, August 14 at around 11:30 a.m., police — in a joint investigation with the animal welfare inspectors — located a camping trailer at a Kent Street West address in Lindsay, where they discovered 18 adult dogs and nine puppies.

Due to the conditions the dogs were found in, police seized the animals and turned them over to the humane society for examination and care.

As a result of the investigation, 61-year-old Janie Brooke Rumm, of no fixed address, was charged with cruelty to animals and cause damage to animal – fail to provide suitable/adequate food, water, care, shelter.

Rumm appeared in court on Friday (August 21) for a bail hearing.

An ongoing seasonal problem that tends to settle down, only to return with greater urgency for a permanent solution, is back and at least one Bridgenorth business owner says he’s losing business as a result.

Drew Sinclair, owner and operator of Chemong Shores Marina at 894 Garthone Avenue on the east shore of Chemong Lake, says a large influx of people fishing off the James A. Gifford Causeway and encroaching on his property has resulted in the loss of several of large watercraft that typically dock at his 50-slip facility.

“Our main pier, that runs parallel to the causeway, slips all the large boats, which is the majority of our income,” says Sinclair, noting just three of the 12 slips have been re-booked for next year with the remainder indicating they won’t be back.

“There are people casting against those boat 24 hours a day in large volumes,” he adds. “That’s having an impact on us financially. A lot of the (owners of) bigger boats are leaving because they don’t want damage done to their boats plus they don’t feel secure sleeping on their boats when there’s so many people wandering around the property all night.”

“I had the OPP out here this week. They want me to put up as many no trespassing signs as possible, so if I do see them as 3 a.m. they can be charged. But what are the odds of that happening? For me to put out signs every 20 feet as requested, one, it looks undesirable and, two, it’s going to have no effect. People fishing don’t obey signs as it is.”

One of the issues is anglers who cast their lines between the boats and sometimes snag their hooks on boat covers.

“A standard canvas on one of these large boats is $6,000 to $10,000. If someone puts a hook in it, the boat owners are going to come to me and say ‘Why are you allowing this?’ Unfortunately Peterborough County owns this property that is literally 30 feet away from my dock.”

“People cast and bang on the boats, over the dock, and under the dock. You can talk to them until you’re blue in the face, but they just wave at you.”

Mike Duncan, a conservation officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, also met with Sinclair earlier in the week and walked the area.

A phone call placed to him by kawarthaNOW wasn’t returned by this article’s deadline, but Sinclair says he was informed “as long as they have a fishing licence and are taking the proper amount of fish, (the MNR) really have no concerns.”

Sinclair adds he has reached out municipal officials but had received no response as of the writing of this article.

“I have to run a business,” Sinclair says. “I can’t sit on the phone for five hours a day trying to find the right person.”

But County of Peterborough acting CEO Sheridan Graham tells kawarthaNOW that Sinclair’s concern “is on our radar” and that the matter, along with the related substantial increase in littering in the area, is on the agenda for the next county council meeting on Wednesday (August 26).

Ennismore deputy-mayor Sherry Senis notes there’s been a similar littering issue at Gannons Narrows that will be broached in the report to council.

“We’re aware of it … we’ve had complaints from various people and we intend to deal with it,” says Senis, pledging if the causeway matter isn’t covered specifically in that report “I’m certainly going to bring it up.”

“We put in place some bylaw enforcement signs,” she adds. “We’ve put up signs saying that people shouldn’t fishing on certain parts of the causeway because it’s dangerous. That seemed to work fine last year. There weren’t a lot of issues.”

“But this is 2020, and COVID seems to have altered the way some people act. I’m not sure if it’s cabin fever where pretty much everyone was forced to stay inside for a long period of time but now that they have been released, a lot of them have lost their perspective. This kind of thing is happening all across Canada in vacation areas. We don’t want to see our local businesses suffer. They’ve suffered enough this year already.”

Asked if a fishing ban could be put in place on the causeway, or at least on the section that borders Sinclair’s marina, Sheridan says “That’s part and parcel of what we’re taking to council to review. It’s really about enforcement and whether or not we need to expand our current bylaws.”

“We empathize with their (business owners’) situation and we’re trying to address it as best we can. It’s very frustrating for the county too. We don’t want to take away from people enjoying the area.”

At present, Kawartha Guard Service is contracted by Peterborough County to monitor the causeway for littering offences. In addition, seasonal county waste management staff attend the area on weekends.

Sheridan says both have been asked to step up their attendance on the causeway and at Gannon’s Narrows.

In addition to Chemong Shores Marina, neighbouring Great Outdoors Landing has also experienced adverse effects from the influx of anglers. kawarthaNOW reached out to its owners for comment but they couldn’t be reached.

For his part, Sinclair says he has sought legal advice.

“If this continues and it affects us financially, I’ll have to try and go after Peterborough County,” he says.

“I’m not asking for them (the county) to re-invent the wheel. These people come down and they litter all over the place. I have to shovel garbage pretty much on a weekly basis from Garthorne Avenue — diapers, gloves, whatever they want to drop. We’re trying to run a business here. We have to clean up after these people. That isn’t right. If I lose 50 per cent of my income then I’ll be looking for restitution. And it won’t just be me. There are a lot of people on this street that will jump on board.”

Specifically, Sinclair wants to see fishing off the causeway limited to the south limit of the bridge.

In the background is the recent announcement of federal and provincial funding for improvements to 1.4 kilometres of the causeway, including repairs to the bridge. Sinclair says inaction on the situation he has raised is giving him pause for thought.

“They would like to take a portion of my land to facilitate that, which I’m all for, but it’s going to boil down to if I’m still having financial repercussions because they don’t want to step up to the plate. Obviously I’m not going to be that willing to go along with whatever plans they have.”

New bylaws and increased enforcement aside, Ennismore Mayor Andy Mitchell says, at the end of the day, this is all about people — both local and those visiting — respecting the land and waters they enjoy so much.

“Put your garbage away, be courteous to the people around you,” urges Mitchell, promising that Sinclair’s request for a fishing restriction won’t be ignored.

“It’s not unusual that a particular ratepayer has a specific request. It’s important to take a look and see what you can do. If someone has a particular idea, we’ll take a look at it. That’s what we do.”

“But I’ll go back to what I said. When you’re interacting in public spaces, it is absolutely important that everybody be courteous to the next person. We live in a wonderful community. I understand why people want to visit, whey they want to recreate here, but when we’re going about that we need to do it in a respectful and courteous way. If everyone does that, then things will work well.”

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the northern Kawarthas region, including Haliburton and Hastings counties, for Sunday afternoon (August 23).

Conditions are favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms that may be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and heavy rain.

Isolated severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon. Thunderstorms will be moving from west to east.

Very strong wind gusts can damage buildings, down trees and blow large vehicles off the road. Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads.

The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management recommends that you take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.