FERGUS - Long-time volunteer John Campbell is calling this year’s 80th anniversary of the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland games his last. He started volunteering with what was then just the Fergus Highland Games in 1967, previously a one-day event that drew thousands to Victoria Park.
Plaques commemorating agriculture, volunteers stolen from Arthur fairgrounds
ARTHUR – Bronze plaques honouring a century of service by the Arthur Agricultural Society have been stolen from the Arthur fairgrounds, a month after another went missing from a Mapleton park.
Town issues ‘unsafe order’ for building at centre of recent heritage dispute
ERIN - The owner of a building at the centre of a heritage dispute recently heard by Ontario’s land tribunal has been hit with an order to prove whether the building is structurally sound.
‘Exactly what the tartan should be’: behind the Scottish festival’s anniversary design
FERGUS – Robert Paterson knew he had a hit when he saw the Fergus Scottish Festival's colours warp and weft across the woven swatch of a special tartan he designed to mark the festival's 80th anniversary.
Fergus Scottish Festival welcomes record-breaking crowd
FERGUS – With the whack of a sword against a shield, Scotland’s scarlet and gold bedazzled Lord Lyon King of Arms opened the 80th Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games to cheers and applause on Saturday.
Former students suing school board, alleging sexual abuse by past principal
WELLINGTON COUNTY – The Upper Grand District School Board has been named in two separate but related $5-million lawsuits surrounding allegations of abuse by a former school principal.
Tribunal sides with town in dispute over heritage designation
ERIN – Save for some minor wording changes in a town bylaw, the Ontario Land Tribunal has tossed a case attempting to stop a heritage designation for a Hillsburgh building.
Goofie Newfie’s liquor licence reinstated
FERGUS– The Goofie Newfie’s liquor licence has been reinstated following a 10-day suspension by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario that left taps dry and the business scrambling to adapt.
Court hears sentencing submissions from lawyers in sexual assault trial
GUELPH - Defence lawyer Dean Paquette has asked a judge to acquit Puslinch resident Brian Cox of all charges in a sexual assault trial that began in March, while Crown prosecutor Marilyn Dolby has asked for convictions.
Sexual assault trial continues with testimony from accused Puslinch man
GUELPH – A Puslinch man accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls in the 1980s continued testifying in his own trial this week. Testimony from Brian Cox on Wednesday and Thursday focused largely on disputing allegations of non-consensual sex acts.
Puslinch man accused of historic sexual assaults takes stand in own trial
GUELPH – A Puslinch man accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls in the 1980s testified in his own trial on Wednesday.
Study ‘first piece of the puzzle’ in understanding Grand River’s health
WELLINGTON COUNTY – Lining the bottom of the Grand River are tiny bugs hinting at a much larger world.
Jesuits Canada alleges former Guelph finance director embezzled millions
GUELPH – Jesuits Canada is suing its former finance director alleging he misappropriated at least $3.8 million from the organization.
Alcohol sales suspended at Goofie Newfie following sexual assault case
FERGUS – The taps have stopped flowing at the Goofie Newfie in downtown Fergus following an order from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
‘This was a cold case’: behind the investigation into the death of Monica Chisar
SOUTHGATE – More than a year after she was reported missing, Monica Chisar’s remains were discovered in a wooded area just north of Mount Forest. She was just 29 years old. A 19-month investigation led detectives to Hamilton, and a Kosovo expat on the run from U.S. authorities.