Lindsay Advocate — News. Community. Wellness.

Health unit further clarifies mandatory mask announcement

Published on July 8, 2020 in Community/Health by Lindsay Advocate

The local Health Unit is clarifying its instructions about mandatory mask wearing in commercial premises — a policy that takes effect July 13. Commercial establishments are premises that are openly accessible to members of the public and used for the purposes of offering goods or services for sale.

An establishment would include a mall or other structure containing commercial premises, including: retail stores, convenience stores, restaurants, personal services settings, grocery stores and bakeries, gas stations, indoor farmers’ markets, areas of mechanics’ shops/garages/repair shops which are open to the public.

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Kawartha Lakes joins call for more federal money to help municipalities

Published on July 7, 2020 in Municipal by Lindsay Advocate

Mayors and chairs from across Ontario, represented by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), the Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario, and the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario, issued a call for action on the COVID-19 financial emergency.

Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham echoed the sentiments expressed by Ontario municipalities by saying, “We need immediate provincial and federal support to cover lost revenue and additional costs caused by the COVID-19 crisis.”

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The reopening mantra: Do the right thing and let the rest go

Published on July 7, 2020 in Opinion by Nancy Payne

The only behaviour I can control is my own.

Never has that felt more true than right now, as summer lures us out of isolation back into a world where we’re still trying to figure out what’s safe, what’s considerate, and what we can live with. (This article by Advocate writer Kirk Winter is an excellent starting place.)

A Saturday afternoon in Bobcaygeon made me realize just how differently we all see those three things.

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Trustees opt for ‘fresh face and new ideas’ with incoming director of education

Published on July 7, 2020 in Education by Kirk Winter

Many board of education watchers were pleasantly surprised when Trillium Lakelands District School Board trustees chose Wes Hahn as the new director of education.

Hahn hails from the District School Board of Niagara, a progressive board where he was known for his hands-on approach and frequent visits to schools.

Niagara board chair, Sue Barnett, says Trillium Lakelands will be fortunate to have him.

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Need a break? Boys & Girls Club summer camps are ready to go

Published on July 5, 2020 in Around Town/Community by Jamie Morris

Summer living should be easy, especially for our kids, especially this year.

As Amy Terrill, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes (BGCKL) notes, during a crisis children have “even more need for some sense of normalcy, playtime, physical activity and social contact.”

To meet the needs of kids who’ve been cooped up and isolated for months, the club has just kicked off 10 weeks of summer camp.

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Eleven unresolved community cases of COVID-19 in city

Published on July 3, 2020 in Community/Health by Roderick Benns

There are 11 unresolved COVID-19 cases in Kawartha Lakes, according to the local health unit, all of whom are self-isolating in their homes.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit data shows 171 confirmed cases total for Kawartha Lakes, minus the 141 cases considered ‘resolved.’ There are also 19 COVID-19-related deaths tied to confirmed cases in the community.

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Canada Day reflection: An ‘accidental Canadian’ considers his roots

Published on June 30, 2020 in Community/Opinion by Kirk Winter

With Canada Day in the offing, I often think of how my extended family first arrived in this great land. My mother’s parents from Northern Ireland and Scotland made a conscious decision to immigrate to escape overpopulation and unemployment at home.

My Dad’s paternal grandfather left the Midlands of England hoping for more opportunity in a new land. However, my dad’s maternal grandfather had no intention of coming to Canada when he left Norway in 1894. Only through a series of unplanned and and life altering events did this former whaler not end up settling permanently in the United States, his intended new home, when he left Stokke, Norway at the age of 18.

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‘Peoples’ Economy’ summit plans new economic normal in Kawartha Lakes

Published on June 29, 2020 in Business/Community/Social Issues by Lindsay Advocate

Some residents of Kawartha Lakes are seizing the moment of economic upheaval to chart a path forward for a new “economic normal” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initial group – which has started out as half a dozen local leaders including Mike Perry, Laraine Hale, Dennis Geelan, Helen Scott and Ameila Valenti – is working to build a peoples’ movement to implement economic measures that serve people and the environment better than the free market, according to a press release.

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Remembering the polio epidemic of 1951

Published on June 27, 2020 in Just in Time by Ian McKechnie

In the late summer of 1951, a young man named Harold Mitchell journeyed to the Canadian National Exhibition with some friends.

To a lad from Wilberforce, a trip to Toronto’s annual extravaganza would have been quite an outing – what with all of its colourful midway rides, mouth-watering aromas wafting from hamburger stands, and awe-inspiring entertainers offering quite the contrast to the quieter environs of rural Haliburton County.

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Mayor worries behaviour of some people will set city back in wake of pandemic

Published on June 27, 2020 in Municipal by Kirk Winter

At his weekly press scrum, Mayor Andy Letham said he is concerned by behaviours he has witnessed or heard about across Kawartha Lakes — behaviours that could force a harsher response from city enforcement agencies.

“Some people out there are behaving like the pandemic is over,” the mayor said, “and it is not.”

“This behaviour could set us back months.”

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