Image

February 13, 2015

Three police officers who lost their lives while on duty will be honoured by Lambton County.

Councilors have agreed to name three bridges named after the officers.

OPP Const. William Rodgers was killed February 25, 1970 in a blinding snowstorm. He’d been at the scene of an accident on what is now Egermont Road. He was directing traffic around the accident while two people stood with him.

But in a whiteout, a car couldn’t avoid the trio and plowed into them killing them all. Harold Coffin, who is a OPP officer working at the Point Edward Casino asked council to dedicate the Oil Heritage Road 402 overpass to Rodgers.

He also asked that the Forest Road overpass be renamed in honour of OPP Const. Randy Chatterson and the bridge over the Ausable River just outside of Grand Bend be named for OPP Const. Gary MacDonald.

The pair was on night shift as partners May 2, 1975 when they were involved in a head-on collision with a transport truck. The truck dragged the cruiser down the highway, the officers were killed and the cruiser was demolished.

Now that the county has agreed to the renaming, the Ministry of Transportation will pick up all the costs of the new signs to honour the fallen officers.

Coffin hopes to have dedication ceremonies for the bridges this summer.

In Ontario, 58 bridges have been renamed in honour of officers killed on the job.

 

Share This

Image
Front Page

PC MPP Pinsonneault ‘disappointed’ Ford government reneges of promise of EA for Dresden dump

April 19, 2025

Province “must ensure we have the tools and resources to respond to any unpredictable decisions” from Trump, MPP adds Heather Wright/The Independent Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault says he’s disappointed the province won’t require the York1 project at the Dresden dump to undergo a full Environmental Assessment. But he seems to be supporting the Ford government’s move, saying “we must ensure

Read More

Image
Front Page

Logos don’t matter in case of emergency: trainer

April 18, 2025

John Wright/The Independent Mt. Brydges Bulldogs President Andy Friyia called it “the scariest moment I’ve ever witnessed live in a hockey game.” He’s talking about a devastating injury to Jaxon Moorhouse of the Bulldogs at the Greenwood Recreation Centre in game five of the Yeck Division semi-final series. Two players who were battling for the puck behind the net fell

Read More

Image
Front Page

Waits at the first day of advanced voting

April 18, 2025

Today is the first day of advanced polling in the federal election and it seems polling workers are busy. In Petrolia, voters had to dodge children at the annual Petrolia Lions Easter Egg Hunt Friday. In Wyoming, residents report a busy polling station adding that it is efficient. In Forest, it is reportedly taken some people an hour to vote.

Read More

Image
News

Vandenberg’s interest in politics sparked by son’s run for MP

April 18, 2025

Tara Jeffrey/The Independent It’s a damp and dreary Thursday morning in Petrolia, where George Vandenberg has joined a group of men who meet regularly at the Coffee Lodge. “George and I go way back, like 50 years,” says John McCharles, the town’s former mayor who invited Vandenberg to talk with farmers, seniors, some new, and old familiar faces ahead of

Read More