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Petrolia elementary school students want to know what town councilors do, why the house on the hill isn’t fixed up and if the town is going to do anything about their bikes and skateboards being caught in the sewer grates. About 200 students filled the Victoria Playhouse theatre Monday as council held its regular meeting during the day on the

A child selects a book while the politicians open the newly renovated Inwood Library   Marie Shilson and Nola Tait can remember the “little wee white house” which was once the Inwood Library. As they sat in the new expanded Inwood Library, they could hardly believe the difference. Brooke Alvinston and the federal government spent about $225,000 to renovate the

The shelves at the Petrolia Food Bank are low this fall, even after the traditional Thanksgiving donation bump. Food bank manager, Sandra Hartman, says throughout the summer and into the fall there has not been enough donated food to meet the needs of the community. “We’ve had to purchase a lot more than we normally do,” she says as she

  The production of It Had to Be You has been a fantastic learning experience for Michael Vanhevel. The crooner from Grand Bend has been honing his craft in bars and one-man shows and spent the last two summers working in theaters in Ontario with Victoria Playhouse Petrolia’s David Hogan and David Rogers. So when D2 Entertainment approached him with

The reconstruction of Princess Street in Petrolia is on schedule. That’s according to Joe Adams, director of operations for the town. The $1.3 million project began in September. Construction workers have now installed the watermains and all services from Nelson Street through the intersection at Dufferin and Princess and are installing new catch basins and leads. The second crew is

Photo courtesy of OCAA   Brigden’s Clint Smith has successfully defended his Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men’s cross country championship with a victory  at Redeemer University College in Ancaster. The LCCVI grad beat an Oshawa runner by five seconds to claim the top prize last Saturday (Oct. 26). Smith’s medal total at the provincial championships now stands at four after he

  Jean Windover is hopeful a new stained glass window in the Petrolia Library reflects a little of her long-time friend. Friends, family and members of the Margaret Stokes IODE in Petrolia donated money to purchase the window to honour the life of Pat Moloney who died recently after a long battle with cancer. The flowering dogwood window is a

  The oil history of Oil Springs is making headlines at Western University in London. A number of students taking their masters in public history recently visited Oil Springs, touring Fairbank Oil Properties and the Oil Museum of Canada, including the oldest oil fields in North America. Charles Fairbank gave the group a firsthand look at the jerker line system

Dawn-Euphemia is getting anxious about the cost of policing; and they’re not alone. Recently, Ontario’s Auditor General told the OPP it needed a funding model which was clearer and more transparent. The OPP has now finished their work and is inviting municipalities to find out how it will work Nov. 15 in London. Dawn-Euphemia Deputy Mayor Leslie Williams plans to

There will continue to be two fire chiefs in Plympton-Wyoming. After the retirement of long-time Wyoming volunteer chief Bill Davidson, council was considering whether it would be a good idea to merge the position with the chief’s job in Camlachie. The departments have operated separately since amalgamation but Dennis Gannon, operations manager of the Office of the Fire Marshal, recently

Editor’s note: The Independent recently requested an interview with Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli about the concerns about industrial wind turbines. We submitted five questions and here are the unedited responses forwarded by the minister’s office. When will the province outline how it will handle FIT program? The Large Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program is being replaced with a new competitive

When spring rolls around and you hear the roar of the lawnmowers, it may not be your neighbour cutting the grass. The Western Ontario Outlaws Lawn Tractor Association has been racing several different classes of souped up lawnmowers since 2007.  Wendy Calvank says they had several spots to race including a farm on Lasalle Line. But that track closed down