County Closeup

When Joe and Peter Dollo came home from World War II, the brothers decided to go into business. Together, with the support of their wives Florence and Christina, the Dollos opened a small grocery store on Minden's main street. It was 1946, and the small store became the family business, with everyone pitching in to make it a success. That's the origin story of Minden's Foodland, now celebrating 70...

Selfless, dedicated, fair-minded, and caring. Those are adjectives used to describe Murray Fearrey, who, after more than 50 years spent in Haliburton municipal politics, died last Thursday, May 28th. He was 84.Flags are flying at half mast at the municipal building in Haliburton and numerous locations across the county in honor of a man who dedicated his life to public service. Born and raised her...

Emergency room wait times in Ontario have increased by 67 per cent in the past five years, a new report has found. The study, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, found that 90 per cent of patients waited 4.5 hours for an initial assessment at ERs across Ontario in 2024 and 2025, up from 2.7 hours five years prior. And while the report goes on to state the rise in ER wait times is direc...

The picket lines are up in Haliburton County as more than 300 full and part time Community Living Trent Highlands staff have entered into a legal strike after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the Ontario Government failed to come to an agreement on the latest contract offer. Community Living Trent Highlands operate two homes in Haliburton and additional outreach services across the c...

It's been a long road for the Haliburton Highlands Arts Centre Foundation, but the organization is hoping that within the next six months to a year, their plan to build a world-class performing arts space will become a reality. Recently, the group finalized the site plan as part of their application to the Municipality of Dysart. Getting to this stage has taken years of work and a steadfast commit...

Canada Post recently announced its plan to convert all home delivery addresses to community mailboxes. In a statement detailing the plan, provided to CanoeFM, the Crown Corporations says taking this action will quote "ensure it can meet the evolving needs of Canadians in a financially sustainable way," end quote. Starting later this year, Canada Post will eliminate door-to-door mail delivery to 13...

Susan Tromanhaser credits her father for passing on his curiosity for people and willingness to just ask questions. It's been the thread that's woven through her life both professionally and personally, she says. And it's that curiosity that's kept her busy for more than three years documenting the lives of locals here in Haliburton County in a weekly column for the Highlander newspaper. The colum...

Susan Tromanhaser credits her father for passing on his curiosity for people and willingness to just ask questions. It's been the thread that's woven through her life both professionally and personally, she says. And it's that curiosity that's kept her busy for more than three years documenting the lives of locals here in Haliburton County in a weekly column for the Highlander newspaper. The colum...

Rick Whitteker's love of the natural world has shaped his career, his activism and even his leisure time. And it's that love and fascination that's led him to write his first book, fittingly entitled, ‘Nature Nuggets' and it focuses on all the wonders to be found here in Haliburton County in all four seasons by way of hiking, kayaking and snowshoeing. The book is a collection of past columns Whitt...

What started as a group of locals assisting the Ontario Genealogical Society in 1990, with the creation of a province-wide index of all cemetery headstones, eventually became the origin story for the Haliburton Highlands Genealogy Group, focused on local family history and genealogy. With more than 80 members, the local group meets five times a year, but for many members, including Espina, the day...

If you live and work in Haliburton County, owning a car is essential. But with the cost of living these days, including gas, insurance, and maintenance, a car can be out of reach for many people in the region. And that fact is creating pinch points for local businesses trying to recruit and retain employees. The same goes for anyone who has appointments or errands to run. Simply put, there is no a...

Mike Knight has been into music since he was a boy growing up in the UK. A lover of all kinds of music, he is also an accomplished bass player and sound engineer for local music events in Haliburton County, under the name Makk Sound. Now, Knight has realized another dream through the creation of his own recording space called Apple Tree Studio. Named after a beautiful apple tree that grows in his...

The facts are staggering. According to the World Health Organization, one in six people experience loneliness with social disconnection linked to more than 871 thousand deaths each year. Roughly 52 per cent of Canadians report feeling lonely at least once a week. That's why, during Mental Health Week, May fourth through tenth, the Lakelands Pubic Health is aiming to combat loneliness head-on by cr...

It's the fastest way to get medical assistance, but in the last few years more than half of the calls to 911 both here in Haliburton and across the province are for non-emergencies. CBC Radio recently played actual calls to 911 to highlight some of the frivolous reasons people call for help, including one where a woman called 911 because she dropped her phone in a snowbank. That's why Mike Slatter...

When Jack Hutchison learned of the opportunity to lead Haliburton Highlands Health Services as its new CEO, he jumped at the chance to do so. Having grown up in Minden, Hutchison knew first-hand how vital triple H S is to local residents and seasonal visitors. So, this was his chance to give back to the community that helped shape him and his career. That's why his move from Moosonee back to Halib...

Facing massive third-party costs in a largely tourism-based economy, Haliburton County Council is taking the proactive step to see what can be done to improve the financial sustainability of the County and its two-tier structure by hiring a consultant to look at its current governance model. At a recent special session, Gary Dyke, Haliburton County CAO, presented a report, entitled Exploring the F...

Named in honor of a former Ontario Premier, The Leslie M. Frost Centre was, at one time, the first outdoor education center in Ontario. It was dedicated to environmental and resource managementeducation. Recently, it was announced that the long-defunct centre, located in Algonquin Highlands on the shores of Lake St. Nora had been sold for $3M dollars. Canoe FM spoke to a real estate agent who's as...

The Town of Minden Hills declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon after heavy rain combined with melting snow to cause flooding in the municipality. Numerous roads have become impassable and a section of Bobcageon Road suffered a devastating washout, with the road collapsing under the rushing water. Bob Carter, Mayor of Minden Hills, made the declaration to ensure the town and its residents...

Coming Full Circle is a new and innovative pilot project that was identified as a gap needing to be filled by Point in Time and the Haliburton County Connections Committee. The two organizations applied for a federal grant and pulled in the Canadian Mental Health Association who now oversees the program. It's a guest-led, peer approach that aims to overcome the barriers of access in communities an...

Though you wouldn't notice it to look at him, Brandon Nimigon has the weight of more than 100 years resting on his shoulders. He's the new owner of Bernsteins – a building that has stood for more than a century and has a storied past, to say the least. Nimigon purchased the building that previously housed Bernstein's, but it's had a number of other identities; including a deli, a grocery store and...

It's out with the old and in with the new – a state of the art x-ray machine at Haliburton Highlands Health Services. The new x-ray device will allow the old one, that's served the community since 2014, to be decommissioned. Its replacement, fully funded through a community campaign with the Triple H S Foundation, ensures quality care remains closer to home for residents and visitors to Haliburton...

The snow is melting and the temperatures are warming. For gardeners, this is the time to plan and plant seeds in anticipation of a good growing season ahead. SIRCH in Haliburton, which stands for Supportive Initiative for Residents in the County of Haliburton is inviting those with green thumbs to grow a row of vegetables to help supplement the organization's goal to feed those locally who struggl...

If you've been to the gas station lately to fill up, no doubt you've seen how much per litre prices are soaring. The pain at the pump we're all feeling these days has come from a perfect storm. The war in Iran, initiated by the US and Israel, and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz which supplies about 20% of the global oil, has caused markets to react negatively, driving per barrel prices...

Tourism is Haliburton County's second largest industry, next to construction. That's why Angelica Ingram, Tourism Manager for the County of Haliburton wants to capitalize on the growth of the region and its many tourism partners by reigniting a former group that was dedicated to enhancing and promoting all the County has to offer for visitors here. That's also why Ingram is encouraging local busin...

After a prolonged hiatus, thanks to the pandemic and other shifting priorities, The Land Between is bringing back its talking circles in Haliburton County and beyond to offer first-hand accounts and discoveries and to build a stronger understanding of the changes taking place in the forests of Haliburton County, particularly those pertaining to wildlife. It's not the first time these talking circl...