Chair of city diversity committee resigns, calls out city councillor

The London Free Press

The chair of a city council community advisory committee has resigned in protest of the conduct of a city councillor and a fellow member of the committee. In a post to social media Tuesday, Ryan O’Hagan, the now-former chair of the diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression community advisory committee who uses the pronouns they and them,…

London firefighters battle suspicious downtown-area blaze

The London Free Press

Firefighters battled what’s been determined to be a suspicious fire just south of London’s downtown core, London Fire Department officials wrote in a post on social media. No time was provided in the update, but it said that firefighters arrived at 313 Horton St. “to a fully involved fire working fire with flames showing.” That…

Social Justice Scholarship open for applications

Owen Sound Sun Times

The Grey Bruce Labour Council is seeking submissions for its 2024 Social Justice Scholarship award in memory of Robert White. The award is named after White, a past president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Canadian Labour Congress. It’s available annually to graduating secondary school students in the Grey Bruce area, the Grey Bruce […]

120 winter shelter beds extended to July as $687K in funding endorsed

The London Free Press

City councillors had high praise for the social agency running the city’s emergency winter shelter beds as they endorsed nearly $687,000 in funding to extend the program until the end of July. Councillors voted unanimously to endorse the extra two months of funding for Ark Aid Street Mission’s 120 winter response beds at Tuesday’s meeting…

Ontario Provincial Police corral loose hogs (no handcuffs needed)

The London Free Press

Although it’s not an ordinary task for police, Ontario Provincial Police say officers helped a Huron County resident round up her pigs after they got loose. “This is not something the OPP normally does,” police noted on social media at about 8:30 p.m. on Monday. According to police, officers showed up to the Central Huron…

Owen Sound council calls for increase to social assistance rates

Owen Sound Sun Times

Owen Sound council is joining other municipal governments across Ontario in calling for the provincial government to increase social assistance rates to assist individuals and families grappling with the rising cost of living. On Monday, council unanimously supported a motion by Coun. Jon Farmer that asks the government to increase the maximum amounts one can […]

London social-media performer, 24, mourned after Hwy. 401 crash

The London Free Press

A 24-year-old Londoner killed in a crash along the westbound lanes of Highway 401 Friday has been identified as Omar Barzak. According to Middlesex OPP, the two-car crash that closed the highway for six hours happened at about 2:15 a.m. between Culloden and Putnam roads in Thames Centre, east of London. The driver of the […]