Image

Dresden bank to become new youth and community hub

May 29, 2026

The Independent

The former TD Bank in Dresden will have new life – Dresden Sidestreets Youth Centre has purchased the building with plans to turn it into a community hub.

The branch closed in June 2025. Sidestreets worked with a local lawyer, Stuart Kiar, and Realtor Karen Melton to strike a deal for the building.

The hub will not only welcome teens, as it has since 2000, but will expand to serve families and the broader community. Officials say youth drop-in programs will be the first services offered from the building. The organization plans to include community events, family activies, workshops, meetings, and seniors’ activities in the future.

“This space gives us the opportunity to expand youth programming while also creating a place where the entire community can come together. We see this as an investment not just in youth, but in the future of Dresden,” said Lori Ouellette, chair of the centre board of directors in a news release.

Both Ouellette and Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff say the centre will also bring renewed activity to the downtown.

Sidestreets will sell its current building across from the post office, to pay for the renovations to the former bank.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Energy Minister says proposed pipeline will protect Canadians, put Sarnians to work

July 15, 2026

Cathy Dobson/Local Journalism Initiative Ontario’s Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce was in Sarnia Wednesday rallying support for a new all-Canadian pipeline from Alberta to Ontario that would remove dependency on the U.S. for crude oil delivery.  The 3,300-kilometre Northern Shield Energy Corridor is proposed from Hardisty Alberta to Sarnia-Lambton’s refining hub, and would travel through Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern

Read More

Image
Front Page

Burn ban in affect in Plympton-Wyoming

July 15, 2026

The Independent Plympton-Wyoming has an open air burn ban in effect. The town’s Open Air Burn bylaw says burning isn’t allowed on poor air quality or smog days. Environment Canada has issued an orange air quality warning because of the smoke from wildfires in Northern Ontario. Officials say smoke from an open fire can further degrade the air quality. Town

Read More

Image
Front Page

Former principal joins Petrolia council race

July 15, 2026

Second mayoralty candidate in Brooke-Alvinston Heather Wright/The Independent A former LCCVI principal has thrown his hat into the ring for Petrolia council. Greg Nemcek filed to run for a councillor’s position Monday. Nemcek retired last year and currently is the chair of the Lambton OPP Detatchment Group board. He’s one of five people running for the councillor seats – only

Read More

Image
Front Page

Air quality deteriorates because of wildfire smoke

July 15, 2026

FROM LAMBTON PUBLIC HEALTH Lambton Public Health is encouraging residents to take precautions following an ‘Orange Warning – Air Quality’ issued for Sarnia-Lambton by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and Environment and Climate Change Canada. This warning is issued when the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is forecast to reach, or has reached, the ‘very high-risk’ category

Read More