Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac announced today he will not seek re-election in the Fall. McIsaac told Orillia Matters that no one thing made his mind up and that he had no regrets. He added that it was a honour to serve the people of Orillia and that he's at peace with the decision.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is sounding alarms about the availability and the use of alcohol. The Health Unit points to the increased availability in Ontario - grocery stores, convenience stores, highway gas stations, along with a new "Bring Your Own" policy. The increased availability normalizes ...

The City of Orillia has confirmed the preferred locations for its next municipal boundary expansion. The recommended option would see the City to secure just under 200 hectares of develop-able land from Severn Township and Oro-Medonte with an effort to accommodate projected growth over the next 20-30 years. Mayor Don ...

A 21 year old man found himself charged with drug trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime, obstruct a peace officer and other infractions when he was pulled over yesterday morning on King St in Orillia. Cocaine, suspected fentanyl and cash were seized. The accused is of no fixed address.

Barrie Police have charged a 28 year old local man with sexual assault involving a child and believe there may be more victims. Yesterday, arrested 28 year old Daniel Tillim. His charges include sexual assault, sexual interference, and invitation to sexual touching. Tallim is the owner of Alpha Martial Arts on Little A...

An independent organization called Accreditation Canada that assesses quality and safety performance at hospitals across the country, has awarded Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital with Exemplary Standing. The recognition is based on an on-site survey that took place March 30th through April 2nd of this year. During t...

Southern Georgian Bay OPP nabbed three area people for suspected impaired driving earlier this week. On Monday, a 60 year old Hillsdale woman was charged after she left a medical facility in Penetanguishene - she was arrested at a residence in Hillsdale where she refused to comply with a demand as well. Later that day ...

A brazen robbery at the 400 Market in Innisfil has South Simcoe Police appealing to the public for tips. Police say it happened in a parking lot at the market, this past Sunday morning at 9:15. The victim is a vendor at the popular Flea Market, who lost 3-hundred thousand dollars worth of merchandise. Six suspects arri...

Orillia OPP have laid charges in relation to several complaints of theft and fraud from patients and staff within Soldier's Memorial Hospital. A 34 year old woman from Burlington has been charged with disobeying a court order and making false statement in writing. The investigation is ongoing - police believe there may...

Barrie Police are looking to the public to help solve and hit and run that significantly damaged a parked car. The offending vehicle is a dark coloured pickup truck - possibly a black Dodge Ram. It happened at 7:30am on Wednesday April 29th at the South Barrie Go Station. Police say there was a small light coloured car...

A report of a stolen bike in Barrie ended up in not only the bike being recovered, but a drug bust too. Barrie Police spotted the stolen bike being ridden in the city's downtown Wednesday afternoon. The 39 year old Barrie man who was riding it also had a significant amount of cash, meth and cocaine on him. He faces cha...

Orillia OPP are investigating a collision that saw a pedestrian hit on Ridge Road in Oro-Medonte. Last night around 10, police attended when a vehicle struck someone sitting on the roadway beside his bicycle. The victim, who suffered life-threatening injuries was taken to RVH in Barrie. No charges have been laid at thi...

Barrie Police are investigating a smash and grab robbery in the city's Park Place plaza this afternoon. Around 1p.m. four suspects entered a camera store, smashed several glass display cases, and fled the scene with stolen merchandise. It was over in less than a minute - police say four masked suspects are described as...

A home in Severn is a total loss following a fire Sunday night. 34 firefighters battled the blaze on Brennan Line with mutual aid provided by Ramara Fire. The family that lived in the home was evacuated safely along with two family pets. There were no injuries and the cause remains under investigation, but it's not con...

Work will begin soon on transforming the outdoor recreation space in foundry park which surrounds the Orillia Rec. Centre. Two new amenities will be built - a skatepark and pickleball courts. The Foundry Park skatepark is the first phase of the project to get underway with groundbreaking set for early May. Funds come f...

Orillia OPP are investigating a collision involving a pedestrian in the city, where the driver failed to remain at the scene. At around 5:45 on Friday afternoon, police were called to the scene after a blue sedan had struck a youth at a crosswalk at the intersection of Highway 12 West and Monarch Drive. The driver is d...

The time it takes to get police record check done with the OPP has dramatically improved. Last year a significant backlog was creating a processing time of 12 to 14 weeks. After newly allocated resources and review - it now stands at an average of 10 days - even though the standard threshold is 30 days. For those livin...

Southern Georgian Bay OPP have charged one motorist with impaired driving after a traffic stop in Perkinsfield. At around 11:30 on Thursday morning, police stopped a vehicle while doing traffic enforcement on Simcoe Road 6. After an investigation, the driver was taken to the police detachment for further testing. The 5...

The City of Orillia has mobilized additional resources to assist with flood mitigation in the Cedar Island Road and Davey Drive area. As lake waters continue to rise into the weekend, the Province and Simcoe County are supporting the City by providing over 50,000 sandbags, a sandbagging machine and additional sand, as ...

Ninety-nine secondary school teachers in Simcoe County received layoff notices today. The Simcoe County District School Board delivered redundancy letters to 99 full and part‑time secondary teachers with declining enrolment given as the reason. In our area layoffs include 5 notices to staff at Orillia Secondary Schoo...

Barrie Police have charged a man in connection with a historical sexual assault and believe there may be more victims. Thirty-eight year old Brice Bunn, also known as Brice Jacobs was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference in relation to an incident that occurred in August 2014 at the former Spotlight Even...

The Barrie Police Major Crime Unit has released photographs of three women and are looking to the public to identify them. It's in connection with a shooting in the city's downtown early Easter Sunday morning. A 30-year-old Barrie man remains in hospital after being shot at close range. Three people have been arrested....

A program that trains family doctors in Orillia is growing. Five doctors in training will be coming to Orillia this year in a joint venture between Soldiers Memorial Hospital and the University of Toronto. Four resident physicians started in Orillia last year. Each spends two years in the family medicine teaching unit ...

A 29-year-old man from Barrie was charged yesterday with possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material. Barrie Police Service Internet Child Exploitation Unit received a report from the National Centre of Missing and Exploited Children sparking a ...

Grocery store giant Sobeys is recalling a number of products containing cheese due to a possible listeria contamination. The products were sold nation-wide. In Ontario the stores that sold the products are Sobeys, Foodland, IGA and Safeway. Below is a list of products sold in Ontario Creamy Carbonara Pasta Salad with B...