Waterloo Region church stops holding in-person service after charges laid
After announcing they would stop holding in-person services, and several members being charged for gathering, a church in Woolwich Township held a drive-in service Sunday morning, an option that is allowed during the Ontario-wide COVID-19 lockdown.
For the past two weeks, however, Trinity Bible Chapel has held in-person services which resulted in a number of charges and fines that could potentially cost as much as $10.8 million total in addition to jail time. The church will be represented in court by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
Loblaw set to close company-run transportation operations in Cambridge, 150 employees laid off
Loblaw Companies Ltd. has confirmed that it will be ceasing its company-run transportation operations at its location on Maple Grove Road in Cambridge in two months.
A total of 150 layoff notices went out to employees at the shipping centre on Tuesday. In an emailed statement, a company spokesperson said that the company's operations there will close effective March 7. The decision and announcement were reportedly made as the result of a contract ending.
Waterloo Region continues to hit record high COVID-19 numbers
In a week that saw COVID-19 case number records broken in Ontario, Waterloo Region marked the single highest day increase on Sunday with 203 new cases. This brings the totals in the area to 7,339 confirmed cases, 175 deaths, and 6,072 resolved.
Despite Sunday being the first time The Region of Waterloo Public Health has increased their own total count by over 200, the provincial government said their number for Waterloo Region increased by 200 earlier in the week.
On Friday, the region announced that 22 tickets and six court summonses were handed out between Dec. 28 and Jan. 6 for COVID-19 lockdown violations.
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 3,073 cases, 54 deaths, 2,543 resolved
- Brant County: 1,137 cases, 6 deaths, 941 resolved
- Haldimand-Norfolk: 1,114 cases, 40 deaths, 879 resolved
- Huron Perth: 847 cases, 24 deaths, 716 resolved
Customer steals $250 worth of groceries from Wilmot Township store
A grocery store owner in Wilmot Township said a thief walked out of her store with a basket of items without paying for them. Security footage from Saturday evening shows a shopper browsing the meat section at Cloverleaf Farms Food Outlet and Deli in New Hamburg, taking about $250 worth of products, and then exiting the store and right into a running car.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures and you never know what someone else is going through," the store owner said.
A few days later, a Good Samaritan sent cash to help cover the cost of the stolen items.
"You just can't wrap your head around something like that, when someone is that kind," Sheid said. "We can't tell him enough how much we appreciate it."
Automated speed enforcement on its way to some Waterloo Region school zones
There will be several automated speed enforcement (ASE) units installed around a handful of Waterloo Region schools within the next few months. The region announced on Tuesday that signs will be going up in the areas this week to let the public know about the incoming machines that could be issuing tickets in 90 days.
ASE uses a camera and a speed measurement device to help reduce speed in identified areas by capturing and recording images of vehicles travelling in excess of the posted limit. The Region of Waterloo will be responsible for issuing fines from violations caught on the machines, just like with red light cameras.
