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The president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture says a new dextrose sugar plant in Sarnia will provide another way for local farmers to be profitable. Comet Biorefining will build a commercial scale biomass derived sugar facility in the TransAlta Energy Park in Sarnia. The plant will produce dextrose sugar from corn stover – the stalks leaves husks and cobs

Travel is slow going and school buses are off the roads as the region deals with heavy wet snow and high winds. All school buses from Lambton and Kent Counties were pulled off the roads this morning and groups began cancelling events due to poor travel conditions. In Petrolia, the municipal office will open at noon and the Oil Heritage

Central Lambton’s Oil Heritage is now on the map for motorcycle enthusiasts. Several years ago, the regional tourist group Ontario Southwest printed a unique map for motorcyclist called Cruise the Coast. “Two years ago we joined the map and it was all about the waterfront,” says Marlene Wood, the general manager of Tourism Sarnia Lambton.  “The waterfront is one of

Don McCabe is hopeful a crop tour of Lambton, Kent and Middlesex farms has opened the eyes of Ontario’s new Environment Commissioner. Dianne Sax’s introduction to Ontario’s farm community was a bit bumpy. After being appointed, Sax took aim at fuel subsides including those given to farmers for coloured fuels saying they should be eliminated. That worried McCabe, the president

Tuesday’s return to winter came just in time in Petrolia. Officials with the Town of Petrolia have been watching the skies and the forecast waiting for the white stuff so people can begin making snow sculptures. The town started its annual contest Feb. 1, however there hasn’t been very much snow. In fact, Laurissa Ellsworth, director of marketing for the

Deal needs league approval first   The Alvinston Flyers are moving to Petrolia. Over the past month there has been plenty of speculation the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey club was considering a move to Petrolia for the 2016-17 season.  Flyers President and General Manager Dennis Meston told The Independent exclusively the paperwork was sent to the Ontario Hockey Association offices

The Ministry of Labour continues to check up on safety issues at Eastern Power. Tradesmen walked out of the plant on Oil Springs Line near Courtright last August citing a litany of safety concerns. The Ministry of Labour said there had been 192 work orders issued against the company building the gas powered energy plant in June. By August, the

Plympton-Wyoming would have to double its budget to make sure its roads are in good shape. That’s the finding of the consulting firm BM Ross. Ken Logtenberg recently went over the study of Plympton-Wyoming’s road system with council. Logtenberg says the municipality has about 249 kilometers of roads – the majority – 103 km – of those are gravel. Logtenberg

Petrolia wants to know where its water is going. Mike Thompson, director of operations, says right now up to 17 per cent of the water treated at the Petrolia plant is lost. Thompson says every year the town treats about 200,000 cubic meters of water that is never billed out and that means big financial losses for the town. The

They’re coming. That’s the word from the committee from the Lambton Anglican Deanery preparing to bring a Syrian family to Petrolia. The federal government has been working frantically to bring up to 25,000 Syrian families who are now refugees to Canada. It’s estimated millions have fled the war-torn country over the last four years. Sylvia Fairbank says they recently received

Canadian hockey star Theo Fleury is bringing his motivational message to Petrolia. Fleury – formerly of the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks – was the first person to speak out about being sexually abused by a former coach. His account of it Playing with Fire is a best seller. He’s now a tireless advocate for

The Town of Petrolia is depending on Lambton County and the province to help keep property taxes to the rate of inflation in 2016. Town councillors got their first public look at the budget Thursday during an afternoon budget session at Victoria Hall. The proposed budget increases municipal spending to $6,189,794 – $314,894. That works out to about a five