Summer is flying by. It’s already the second last weekend of June! Check out this weekend’s lineup of events and get involved in one (or several) events happening in the region to make the most of it:

Visit the Waterloo Public Square this Saturday, June 20 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. for an Indigenous market. Twenty unique vendors from across Southwestern Ontario will be on-site and live Indigenous music will be playing throughout the event. Details can be found on the Uptown Waterloo event page.

Are you a major comic book fan? This Saturday, June 20 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., head to Gaukel Block in Kitchener for the Kitchener Comic Arts Festival. You’ll have the chance to meet plenty of special guests, grab signed copies, and even participate in a scavenger hunt. Check out the Kitchener Comic Arts Festival website for full details.

Come to Kitchener’s Victoria Park for the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival, happening this Saturday, June 20 between 12 p.m. or 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 21 between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. This large annual event celebrates the diverse cultures that form part of our local community. Lots of food vendors will be at the event, making it a perfect opportunity to explore traditional dishes from around the world. Music, dancing, live performances, and plenty of other vendors will also be at the festival. Full details can be found on the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival website.

On Sunday, June 21 between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., head over to the Waterloo Public Square again for Go Skateboarding Day. All ages and experience levels are welcome. Lessons and vendors will be available at this global skateboard community event. Full details can be found on the Waterloo Town Square Instagram.

ERIN – The Town of Erin must refund $5 million to developers after reaching a settlement in a dispute over how development charges were calculated.

The charges — levied on new residential units and commercial development — are a municipal tool used to fund growth-related infrastructure, shifting much of the cost of accommodating growth away from existing taxpayers.

Six developers — Mattamy Homes, Coscorp, Empire Communities, Hillsburgh Heights, Beachcroft Investments and National Properties — took Erin to the Ontario Land Tribunal over how much they had to pay the under a town bylaw updated in July 2024.

Coscorp has a subdivision planned on 8th Line, proposed to contain 434 units, and Mattamy’s portion next door could contain 194 units.

Also along 8th line is a 306-unit development proposed by Empire Communities.

Hillsburgh Heights and Beachcroft have respectively proposed 369-unit and 933-unit developments on Trafalgar Road.

National Properties, along with Northern Capital and Solmar Development, is behind the ongoing Erin Glen subdivision.

Among 31 issues raised, the group complained the Erin bylaw, based on a $73,783 Watson and Associates background study, implemented an increase in charges that was unfair, excessive and illegal.

The bylaw raised the development charge for an urban single or semi-detached unit with water services by 54% (from $33,437 to $51,403).

The charge for a rural single or semi-detached build without water services was increased by 28% (from $25,083 to $32,159).

In December, the town agreed to substantially reduce the charges during a three-day mediation with the developers, which were represented by three law firms.

The settlement, approved by the land tribunal on June 9, ultimately focused on six areas: fire services, parks/recreation, roads, public works, water and a growth forecast.

Hardest hit were town-wide projects, which do not include water services. Charges that fund parks/recreation, fire, roads and public works projects were reduced or outright eliminated.

Based on a complete urban build-out, roughly $67 million was reduced from the amount that could be recovered through development charges, with water projects taking a $7-million hit.

Roughly $74.5 million in total was dropped, shifting those costs onto the tax base or water users, or potentially forcing delays and cancellations of infrastructure projects.

For a rural single or semi-detached unit, the total development charge was nearly halved to $16,497, from $32,159 in the appealed bylaw.

For an urban unit, it drops to $33,199 (down 35% from $51,403).

Compared to rates in place prior to the appealed 2024 bylaw, the rural charge ends up about a third lower.

But the urban charge barely changes. Water charges more than doubled under the bylaw and mostly survived the settlement, offsetting other reductions. So builders pay close to what they did before, but with more going to water services.

“The settlement was not what the developers wanted, not what we wanted, but we came up with something somewhere in between,” Erin Mayor Michael Dehn told the Advertiser.

Having less development charge revenue up front may delay projects benefitting new homeowners, Dehn said. But he downplayed the impact, saying future homeowners will pay one way or another.

“It’s all taxes, or user fees or other grants from the government,” Dehn said.

As part of the settlement, the town was ordered by the land tribunal to issue refunds — totalling just over $5 million, according to the town — to developers that paid elevated charges during the appeal period, retroactive to July 2024.

The town is calculating its total revenue reduction resulting from the appeal, and hasn’t identified specific projects that are now underfunded or unfunded.

“The town is thankful that the appeal has come to a resolution after a year and a half of discussion and negotiations,” stated Erin treasurer Wendy Parr in an email.

As of May 31, the town has spent $387,879 related to the appeal.

None of the legal firms representing the developers — WeirFoulds; Davies Howe; and Cassels, Brock and Blackwell — responded to requests for comments.

Watson and Associates managing partner Byron Tan also did not respond to requests for comment.

MISSISSAUGA – The province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) won't be laying charges following an investigation into an allegation of sexual assault against a Wellington OPP officer.

The province's police watchdog opened an investigation on Jan. 29 after learning about the allegation from police.

Details were scant, with SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette previously telling the Advertiser the allegation "could potentially" involve an on-duty Wellington OPP officer and "may have occurred in Guelph."

Last month SIU director Joseph Martino determined no charges would be laid, and chose to withhold his report after speaking with the complainant in the case.

MORRISTON – A Puslinch boy walked away from Canada’s national science fair with a gold medal, a challenge award, and a $10,000 university scholarship. 

The purpose of his project? To reduce milk waste with an innovative way to test it for freshness. 

“One million cups of milk are wasted every day in Canada,” Wesley Goodridge told the Advertiser. 

The Grade 7 Aberfoyle Public School student travelled from his Morriston home to Edmonton, Alberta for the Canada-Wide Science Fair at the Edmonton Expo Centre from May 23 to 30. 

He was one of nearly 400 students in Grades 7 through 12 to compete at the fair, where he got to sleep in university dorms, eat in the school cafeteria and “meet lots of young innovators who became friends – an overall awesome experience.” 

Expenses for his trip were covered by the Canadian Black Scientists Network because of his success at its science fairs. 

Goodridge earned the gold medal for being one of the top 10 projects in the junior (Grades 7 and 8) category at the fair, and the challenge award for the number one agricultural project in his age group. 

Goodridge said he was so excited to hear of his wins that he was “honestly kind of screaming in my head.” 

And his dad, Lawrence Goodridge, really did scream his head off. 

“This is a big deal,” he said of his son’s accomplishment. 

The scholarship can be used at various universities, though right now Goodridge has his eyes on the University of Guelph, where he hopes to study science while also taking to the skies to train to be a commercial pilot. 

Goodridge said he’s always been interested in science, noting, “My dad is a food professor at the University of Guelph and always shows me stuff and I always have questions to ask.” 

His project, called Test Before You Toss, uses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to measure milk’s bacteria levels. 

He picked the topic after travelling to Rome with his dad, a professor and Canada Research Chair in food-borne pathogen dynamics, who was doing work with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

There was a large display in the cafeteria with information about food waste, and it got Goodridge thinking. 

Many people are confused about best-before dates, and throw away food that is still usable. Or they rely on sometimes unreliable observations about look, smell and taste to judge quality, Goodridge said.  

He wanted to find a fast, simple way to measure bacteria at home, without counting the bacteria itself, as that takes too long.  

“ATP is in every cell, and bacteria are cells, so [measuring ATP] is a good way to  indicate spoilage,” he said. 

And measuring ATP only takes about a minute, he said.

The Methylene Blue Dye Reduction Test often used to test milk freshness on farms takes up to six hours.  

Goodridge uses a handheld ATP bioluminescence test, and then inputs the number into a custom artificial intelligence model that provides clear recommendations based on the number. 

For example, it may determine that the milk is spoiled and should be thrown out, or it may find the milk will spoil in about 24 hours so should-be used quickly. 

It even goes on to provide recipes such as pancakes, muffins and creamy soups to help use up that milk before it sours. 

Goodridge said he really enjoyed the judging during the Canada-Wide Science Fair, when judges walked around the room approaching the young scientists and asking them questions about their work. 

He also enjoyed when local students came to check out the fair, and he had milk samples and the handheld test available to demonstrate. 

For next year’s science fair, Goodridge plans to expand on his idea but make the milk testing approach more accessible, as the handheld ATP bioluminescence test is quite expensive. 

He has hopes of leveraging a new test that uses colour to measure freshness. He also hopes to expand on the types of dairy products that can be tested, including yogurt and high-fat milks.

For more information about Goodridge’s project, click here or visit the Youth Science Canada website.

ELORA – Faced with a ticking clock and to avoid an Ontario Land Tribunal hearing, Centre Wellington council approved a zoning bylaw amendment to allow a small infill development on South Street in Elora.

Council heard from three delegations on the matter at its June 15 meeting.

Hugh Handy, vice president of GSP Group and speaking on behalf of Keating Construction, said the company has tweaked the proposal following public meetings in December and January, where neighbours raised concerns about density, traffic, parking, height and compatibility with the existing neighbourhood.

Handy said they have reduced the number of units from 25 to 23 and added a wraparound porch to South Street-facing units and changed them to bungalows to better fit in with the neighbourhood. The balance of the townhouses will be limited to two storeys.

But residents were still concerned.

Randall Howard said neighbours submitted an alternate proposal that has not appeared in any documents and said it has been “white-washed out of the record.” He added neighbours still have concerns about intensification and wondered why this proposal has such high density compared to a similar proposal on Sideroad 19 in Fergus.

Howard said the underground stormwater tank system proposed for South Street to accommodate run off is unproven, and to remove so many trees will only cause more drainage problems.

“Residents have worked hard to come up with a proposal to keep everyone happy but the process has shut us out,” he said.

“We respectfully ask you to defer the decision until the briefing is complete and you can consider the alternate proposal.”

Bob Jackson, another neighbour in the area, also asked for a deferral. He too raised the Sideroad 19 proposal that was approved and said the South Street proposal has 40 per cent more density.

“We need a consistent application of planning policy,” said Jackson.

Councillor Lisa MacDonald noted the application had come to council late in the game.

“I recognize we can’t defer,” she said. 

“I think we’ve run out of time, especially with the OLT (Ontario Land Tribunal) … We have several applications at the OLT right now and our legal fees are just skyrocketing.”

Senior development planner Deanna Maiden agreed that if the decision was deferred, the applicant could appeal to the OLT due to the non-decision.

But rather than being boxed into a corner, councillor Bronwynne Wilton said she appreciates the latest proposal.

“I think this type of project is exactly what we’re looking for right now,” she said, adding townhomes suit the needs of many demographics and infill projects are far better than urban sprawl, both in terms of saving agricultural land and keeping infrastructure costs low, which in turn keeps taxes low.

Council unanimously approved the proposal.

FERGUS – Fergus Highland Rugby is celebrating its 35th anniversary and is opening its clubhouse doors and field to the community to give rugby a try.

“There’s a lot of running and challenged aggression,” said Joe Bowley, past president of the club, who continues to play, coach and sit on the executive.

“It’s a good sport for everybody.”

On June 20 the club is holding a full day of rugby matches and family fun followed by a banquet at the clubhouse in Victoria Park in Fergus.

The day’s events run from 10am to 4pm and doors open for the banquet at 6pm with dinner served at 7pm.

Rugby is a popular sport in England and when Bowley immigrated to Canada 20 years ago, he quickly joined a men’s team right out of high school.

“Now we have teams from under 6 to over 65 with 800 members,” he boasted. “We’re one of the strongest clubs in the province.”

Teams participate in league play in cities and towns across the province and the club hosts its share of games in Fergus as well.

The U18 boys team won at the provincials last year, which is a nice feather in the club’s hat.

There are girls’ and women’s teams, “and we’d like to grow that,” Bowley said, adding there is capacity and interest in rugby locally.

On June 20, there will be stations set up where people can test skills like passing and goal kicking.

A good number of alumni have committed to attending and Bowley said it should be fun to catch up with old friends.

He said he loves the physical and mental aspects of the game, “but there’s a social side, too.”

He particularly enjoys that rugby can be multi-generational, where parents, their parents and their children all play.

“We have people here who have played for 50 years,” he said. “It’s just a great game.”

For more information about the club, the banquet and the 35th anniversary celebration, visit highlandrugby.com.

Calculating that it will come out ahead, Woolwich Township will drop its development charges on new homes by 30 per cent if its application to a new federal-provincial program proves successful.

Under the Development Charge Reduction Program (DCRP), the two senior governments are making $8.8 billion available to municipalities that agree to reduce development charges – levies applied to new homes in order to cover costs associated with growth – by 30 to 50 per cent over at least three years.

Meeting this week, Woolwich councillors backed a staff recommendation to apply for the funding ahead of the June 19 deadline. Tuesday night’s session was a special meeting required to meet the timelines of the program, which was just announced on June 1.

The spring brought some cooler weather, and this week brought some rain, but weather guru David Phillips says the upcoming summer should be a hot one.

With the summer solstice, the new season will begin this Sunday at precisely 4:24 a.m. It’s expected to be warmer than normal.

“Environment Canada’s models for July and August…are all saying warmer than normal,” said the senior climatologist.

Two EDSS athletes finished in the top three at provincials earlier this month.

Jaxon Lamb placed third in javelin, with a distance of 54.58m, and Jonah Walker received the bronze in the 300m junior hurdles after diving across the finish line to secure his place.

The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) took place in St. Catharines between June 4 and 6.

Have you seen the movie Independence Day?

In the 1996 alien invasion flick starring Will Smith, the forces of Earth are forced to use Morse code following the collapse of the planet’s communication infrastructure. And though it’s a fantastical science fiction epic, this exact scenario could play out in real life – which is why Elmira amateur radio enthusiasts are gearing up for “Field Day” on June 27.

“This event started sometime around 90 years ago, between the government and the military and ham radio operators, who have always made their services available in times of trouble,” emergency coordinator John Scheeringa told The Observer.

Chris Kaskampas and Kylie Rayfield are EDSS’ outstanding senior male and female athletes of the year.

Kaskampas, 17, competed in soccer, football, basketball, tennis and badminton.

Rayfield, 18, competed in soccer, field hockey and ice hockey with her high school teams.

EDSS student Kylie Rayfield was named the female senior athlete of the year. [Submitted]

“We’ve seen so much violence against women globally, and we’ve had enough. It’s not good to tick off a bunch of educated, organized women.”

Those are the words of Elmira-raised Brittany Wellington, one of the organizers behind last Sunday night’s Funeral4Justice vigil. Her sister was one of the complainants in the high-profile legal case in Kitchener against neurologist Jeffrey Sloka in which he was accused of 48 counts of sexual assault, a trial that resulted in a not-guilty verdict on April 24 after five years of proceedings.

“Obviously, as a family, we’ve been dealing with this for a substantial amount of time. When the verdict came out, we were despondent, to say the least. We absolutely did not anticipate that was going to be the result,” she told The Observer.

Fourteen-year-old Lukas Storer started a new club at EDSS to skip a day of school.

“I wanted to do something that I like and not have to try out for a team,” the Grade 9 student said about starting a fishing club.

The nature of that club was based on his passion for the outdoors.

What makes a book Christian, exactly?

Does it have to feature Jesus in some prominent role, or promote a belief in the supernatural? Maybe the themes are allegorical, like the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, or maybe the ideas presented are rooted in a Judeo-Christian worldview. Does it matter if the authors themselves identify as Christian, or Catholic or Mennonite?

For Kitchener publisher Andrew Mikelsons, founder of Andy Fairchild Publishing, the answer is simple: it just has to be a good book.

There’s nothing political about being hungry.

Amidst charges from the Conservative Party of Canada that food bank usage in the country is at record highs, the Food Bank of Waterloo Region is looking to raise the resources needed to meet the skyrocketing local need.

Their goal: 1.5 million meals to get them through summer.

“In Waterloo Region, more than 26,000 children live in food-insecure households,” said CEO Kim Wilhelm.

On June 11, authors from two Indigenous-owned publishers, Ojistoh Publishing and Kegedonce Press, shared excerpts from their books in celebration of Indigenous Heritage Month at the Dana Porter Library.

The event also featured January Rogers, owner of Ojistoh Publishing, and Richard-Yves Sitoski, marketing and publishing coordinator for Kegedonce Press, who each presented two of their authors.

Mohawk physician Karenna’onwe Hill saw her new book The Good Mind, in print for the first time as she unboxed copies of it at the event an hour and a half after they were ready for pick-up. Released by Ojistoh Publishing, Karenna’onwe’s book is about her late mother, born and raised in the territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River. “There’s a piece of me that didn’t realize the beauty of my mother until after she was gone,” the author shared. “After my mom passed, I wanted to fulfil her dream of writing a book.” She wrote The Good Mind in hopes of inspiring Indigenous people to embody the traditional teachings and knowledge of their people, like her mother did.

Daniel Lockhart, who publishes under D.A. Lockhart, presented his book Commonwealth. It is a poetry collection published with Kegedonce Press that explores the Lenape population’s migration to Indiana. Through this book, Lockhart reclaims spaces of Indiana through his ancestral heritage. He hopes for non-Indigenous readers to acknowledge that wherever it may be in North America, Indigenous culture is always present. He stressed, “[Our language is] developing alongside everybody else… [I]t’s important to not only hear those songs, those stories, but to know that if I’m doing that, you likely have similar ones, and I want those to be shared.”

Onodaga clinical social worker Dawn Cherry Hill followed with her book Memory Keeper. Another release from Ojistoh Publishing, this memoir tackles Dawn’s journey with her Indigenous identity and trauma as a residential school survivor. She touches on the patrilineal system imposed by the Canadian government which disregards the matrilineal inheritance practiced by many Indigenous cultures and how finding out that she is actually Onodagan and not Mohawk shaped her perspective on her identity. “This is not the ending of my story. It’s the beginning of a new chapter,” Dawn said. “One rooted in truth, in lineage, and in the strength of Hodinashoni women, who carried our clans long before any government tried to rewrite them.”

Coltrane Seesequasis, an author of Cree heritage, followed with his book Secrets of Stone. This book is the first of his four-part-fantasy series A Wolf in the Sun, published with Kegedonce Press. It follows the tale of a young wolf named Silversong and is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have gone extinct and are replaced by animals. He describes the subtle ways in which his people influences his approach to storytelling. “Themes of community, of ideas and knowledge and wisdom being passed down from one generation to the other; themes of spirituality and how everything is just an interconnected web … came into it, like subconsciously,” Seesequasis said.

Sitoski, who represents Kegedonce Press, touched on the Canadian literary landscape for Indigenous writers and how their publishing houses support these authors. He reported that Indigenous literature is “having a bit of a renaissance right now,” but emphasized that there are still issues to address in the literary space for Indigenous creators, such as the lack of representation and the claiming of Indigenous identity by non-Indigenous people. He also mentioned how they hire Indigenous people at all stages of book production to protect authors’ voices. “I am of settler descent … so I don’t do any substantive role when it comes to things like editing,” Sitoski elaborated. “In translations that need to be done, we always approach Indigenous translators of Indigenous descent. We consult with elders when necessary,” he explained.

ELORA – The banners have been back for a while and so has the contextual display.

But visitors to the Jefferson Elora Community Centre should take a pause, look at the historic Elora Mohawks banners, and consider the words and symbolism in the accompanying art piece by Indigenous artist Kory Parkin.

Council and members of the township’s advisory committees gathered on June 10 for the official acknowledgement of the display, which has been worked on by staff; the diversity, equity and inclusion advisory committee; members of the Riverhawks and Hawks lacrosse executive; and members of the Indigenous community.

It hangs inside the arena over the doors to the lobby beside the Mohawk banners.

Centre Wellington Township received a letter in 2018 from the Ontario Human Rights Commissioner requesting that the township address the use of Indigenous names, logos and images, by non-Indigenous groups, in township facilities.

The Elora Mohawks subsequently changed their name to the Hawks and township staff got to work to try to ensure these elements were addressed respectfully, thoughtfully, and in a way that supports understanding and reconciliation.

“The goal was not to erase history but provide broader context,” said managing director of community services Adam Gilmore.

Lacrosse is an Indigenous sport referred to as The Creator’s Game, and appropriating words and symbols without context, learning or building relationships with Indigenous communities is disrespectful and potentially harmful to Indigenous youth, who need to see themselves as more than stereotypes, officials say.

In a video clip, Parkin talked about the symbols he used in the piece, called Two Rows Together: A Path of Truth and Accountability.

The two rows are the two nations – Indigenous and settlers. The Tree of Peace is a sacred symbol of unity. Purple represents the Haudenosaunee people. All together it represents  living parallel paths while respecting the laws, traditions and ways of life of each other.

“Reconciliation is not a destination,” said Mayor Shawn Watters. “It’s an ongoing commitment. And this is an important milestone.”

More about this piece and the ongoing work the township has undertaken, can be found at centrewellington.ca.