Shootings in Waterloo Region, surrounding area
Waterloo Region and the surrounding area have been dealing with a number of shootings this week.
Last Saturday, a man was seriously injured in a shooting that started on the highway and ended up in a Kitchener neighbourhood. On Sunday, a Fergus man was killed during an interaction that involved OPP discharging their firearm.
On Thursday morning, someone reportedly shot people parked inside a vehicle in Kitchener. Hours earlier in the city, a man was injured in an officer-involved shooting.
On Saturday, Bryan Larkin, the Chief of Police for the Waterloo Regional Police Service, posted a message about the recent gun violence in our area.
'It's about time': Waterloo Region educators, parents react to new vaccine policies
As the start of the school year fast approaches, Ontario announced new measures on Tuesday to ramp up safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, any child born in 2009 is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and education workers will be required to be tested frequently if they aren't vaccinated.
The vaccine policy shift comes as good news for 11-year-old Amelia Fischer, who no longer has to wait for her birthday in November to get the shot.
"It's about time, it's been a lot of back-and-forth but obviously we're excited for Amelia to have the opportunity to be vaccinated before heading back into school," said Amelia's mother, Elaine Fischer.
"It gives me a bit more peace that she can sustain going to school and stay healthy."
On Tuesday, Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore also announced vaccine policies for high-risk settings, including education workers. While vaccination won't be mandatory, those who decline vaccination must undertake regular COVID-19 testing.
COVID-19 by the numbers (as of Aug. 22):
- Waterloo Region: 18,785 cases, 288 deaths, 18,343 resolved
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 8,414 cases, 126 deaths, 8,245 resolved
- Brant County: 3,545 cases, 20 deaths, 3,467 resolved
- Haldimand-Norfolk: 2,781 cases, 54 deaths, 2,704 recovered
- Huron County: 1,993 cases, 57 deaths, 1,920 recovered
'I have not stopped smiling!': Guelph couple celebrating after vaccine clinic proposal
Jocelyn Rauchfleisz of Guelph has been volunteering with Waterloo Region's vaccine effort since December 2020. Her boyfriend Ryan Galway joined the effort in March of this year. The couple has spent a lot of time helping at the Pinebush clinic in Cambridge.
“It feels like a family, this is our clinic family. Everybody here, we are friends,” said Rauchfleisz. “We support each other. We are here for the good and the bad.”
On Monday morning, right before the clinic opened, it was definitely something good. Disguised as a morning meeting, their fellow volunteers jumped into action when they got the cue with some carefully placed signs.
Then Galway appeared and got down on one knee, even though he was supposed to be on a fishing trip.
“The signs said will you marry me in a Pokemon font because she loves Pokemon. Then I had a shirt that said will you marry me with the x-files UFO logo,” said Galway.
And the answer?
”I said yes, but it didn't come out a verbal yes! It was more like a hug because I was actually speechless,” said Rauchfleisz.
Missing four-foot-long python, Little Lady, found safe two months later in Cambridge
A four-foot-long ball python reported missing in Kitchener in early June has been found safe in Cambridge more than two months later. Sarah Arndt, with Ground Search and Rescue Kitchener-Waterloo, said the snake, named Little Lady, was located around 1 p.m. on Tuesday in the area of Dolph and King Streets in Preston.
The python had gone missing from a residence near Chandler Drive in Kitchener around June 9.
On Tuesday, Arndt said the rescue group was contacted by someone who had located a snake, but they weren't sure it would be Little Lady because of the distance between Kitchener and Cambridge.
The distance between Chandler Drive and where the snake was found in Preston is about 12 kilometres. Stephanie Bilodeau said she discovered the snake sitting in the sun in an apartment parking lot.
"I was kind of confused," Bilodeau said. "I was like 'someone is missing their pet.' You don't just casually lose a python."
Airport mix-up forces Irish woman who moved to Waterloo to leave dog behind in Dublin
A woman who recently moved to Waterloo from Ireland was forced to leave her dog behind after security changes at the Dublin airport. Now, Sarah McCarthy is scrambling to get her rescue pup to Canada.
"I myself had ticked all the boxes that I needed to, to ensure she had all the paperwork," she said.
McCarthy moved from Northern Ireland to Waterloo two weeks ago for work. She planned to bring her three-year-old terrier Rita with her. But just 24 hours before her flight, she was told by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) she couldn't bring along her pup.
