Patients evacuated after gas leak at Petrolia hospital
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Curveballs for Cancer raises $50K
October 10, 2025
It was another curveball Al Bezaire and his wife, Ericka, were not expecting – the overwhelming support of the community for Lambton College Baseball’s Curveballs for Cancer event.
Oct. 7, Members of the Lambton Lions turned over a check to Oncologist Dr. Julie Lebert and Bluewater Health Foundation Executive Director Kathy Alexander for just over $50,000. It was raised through sponsorships, including from Marcotte Disposal, raffles and admission from those attending the Sept. 20 game between the Lions and Sault St. Marie.
Bezaire, who is the coach of the Lambton Lions ball team, originally hoped to raise $2,000.
“Our community continues to show just how wonderful they are,” Bezaire said. “That number was never even in the stratosphere when we first started. Incredible.”
The family organized the event as a thank you to Bluewater Health staff for their “amazing care” after Ericka was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Port Lambton woman been given a clean bill of health.
And, in case you were wondering, the Lions won both games of the double header 8-1 and 11-3.
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Patients evacuated after gas leak at Petrolia hospital
September 10, 2026
Dawson Currie/For The Independent Patients at Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital in Petrolia were evacuated for a gas leak Wednesday night. Petrolia/North Enniskillen Fire Department was called to the hospital just before 8 pm for reports of a natural gas smell in the basement of the main building. Firefighters found hospital staff already working on evacuating patients from the Emergency Department
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OPP lay over 1,000 speeding charges Labour Day weekend
September 9, 2026
The Independent Over 1,000 speeding charges in southern Ontario during the Labour Day weekend. West Region OPP say officers targetted “The Big Four” bad driving behaviours; aggressive driving, failure to wear a seatbelt, distracted driving and impaired driving which are the leading contributing factors to death and injury on Ontario’s highways. From Sept. 4 to 7, 1,004 speeding charges were
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Port Lambton 16Us win OBA title
September 9, 2026
The Port Lambton 16U Pirates were a perfect 5-0 at the Provincial Championship over Labour Day weekend. The Pirates defeated Simcoe team 11-6 to capture the gold. The 11-team tournament was originally scheduled to begin Thursday, but heavy rain left the diamonds in Petrolia, Courtright and Port Lambton too wet to play until Saturday. Port Lambton opened with a 13-5
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Sarnia footballer remembered after drowning at The Cove
September 9, 2026
The Independent The Sarnia Football Club is paying tribute to one of its members who drown over the Labour Day weekend. Monday, Sarnia Fire Rescue’s Marine Unit was called to The Cove near Canatara Park around 3 pm for a possible drowning. People on ski-doos, boats and sail boats aided Sarnia Fire, Point Edward Fire, fire and police departments from
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