Many neighbours relieved affordable housing project is cancelled
Heather Wright Photo
Petrolia’s Senior of the Year
June 26, 2025
The Independent
Les Whiting is known for his public speaking. As Petrolia’s Town Crier, he has written hundreds of poems about the people of the town.
So, when Mayor Brad Loosley surprised Whiting Monday, naming him Petrolia’s Senior of the Year, it was not a surprise that Whiting kept council in stitches while recounting his resume.
Aside from being the town crier for 20 years, he also Chair of the Committee of Adjustment, member of the Board for Petrolia Discovery, and the Community Refrigerator, a member of the Rotary, St. Andrew’s Society and the Scotch Club.
“I’m hardly old enough to be a senior although I’m sneaking up on it,” Whiting joked. “And this helps a lot – I’ve been feeling kind of guilty lately because I’ve taken all the good jobs that younger people should be doing.”
Front Page
Many neighbours relieved affordable housing project is cancelled
July 12, 2026
Cathy Dobson/The Independent Tony Gioiosa says he speaks for about 50 neighbours when he says the Inn of the Good Shepherd’s decision to scrap an affordable housing project at the corner of Exmouth Street and Melrose Avenue is welcome news. The neighbours don’t like the shelter operation currently there and they also don’t want it replaced by affordable housing, said
Read More
Front Page
St. Clair firefighters may help with more medical calls
July 12, 2026
Heather Wright/The Independent St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar wants to see local fire departments dispatched more often when there are long wait-times for paramedics. Agar brought the issue to Lambton County Council July 2 after talking to a Port Lambton resident. He had a visitor to his home who recently had an operation. The wound started bleeding. “They were
Read More
Front Page
PW charges could go from $10K to $36K
July 12, 2026
Heather Wright/The Independent A new study on development charges in Plympton-Wyoming suggests raising the fees to as much as $36,963. That’s more than three times the cost the municipality is now charging to builders of new single-family homes. Town councillors got their first look at the Development Charges background study June 29. It’s prepared every five years to update what
Read More
Front Page
A walk in the (Art) Park
July 12, 2026
Cathy Dobson/The Independent Eighteen years after she took on the chairmanship for Petrolia’s annual Art in the Park, Carol Graham runs a well-oiled machine in the Hard Oil Town. “It’s become a coveted event for artists because it’s juried and is so well-attended,” Graham said as the crowds arrived Friday for the two-day event in Victoria Park. This year, a
Read More