Selwyn Township is calling on the provincial government for extra resources to improve library services across Ontario.
During the 2025 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference, Mayor Sherry Senis and all members of Selwyn Council gave a delegation to Billy Dnault who is the Parliamentary Assistant of Minister Cho (Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming).
Senis’s presentation consisted of background information about library budgets as well as recommendations on how the province may be able to help.
She said that in 1992, the provincial government created the Provincial Libraries Operating Grant (POLG), however that funding was frozen after just three years. So while the government continues to support local libraries, it is at a cost set in 1995.
Senis said that since then, the value of the province’s investment in public libraries has decreased by over 60 per cent.
The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre held an Open-House on Friday inviting everyone to experience the new facility located in Douro-Dummer on Television Road. Pictured above working on a turtle are veterinarian Dr. Kristen Janke on the left and University of Montreal student Simon Maher on the right.
Two high speed internet projects that were set to be complete by the end of the year in North Kawartha have stalled out.
At the Aug 12 Council meeting Edward Hilton, Economic Development Officer for the township presented a report updating council on the Accelerated High Speed Internet Program (AHSIP).
He said that the AHSIP is a provincial initiative that was launched in 2020 aimed at connecting unserved and underserved areas across Ontario with high-speed internet.
There are two projects within the program slotted to enhance internet connectivity within North Kawartha.
Hilton’s report said that the projects include what is referred to as Lot 10 which was awarded to Rogers Communication which would cover the majority of the township and Lot 35 which was awarded to Bell Canada and covers parts of Haliburton County, including the Eels Lake area.
Hilton told council that connectivity for properties in Highlands East along Eels Lake is provided through the Apsley Bell Central Office.
Camp Kawartha’s executive director has co-written a new book outlining a roadmap of how to engage children and youths with the outdoors and encourage a kinship with the earth.
Jacob Rodenburg, executive director at Camp Kawartha and Cathy Dueck coordinating consultant have teamed up to produce The Wild Path Home: A guide to Raising the Earth Stewards of Tomorrow.
Rodenburg said, “The idea behind the book was how can we raise kids who care for the Earth. You can’t expect that to happen on its own, it really needs to take an entire village. So, the other thing to think about is what do kids need at each age and stage of their development that’s going to encourage them, empower them, and activate them to do positive things for the Earth.”
The book is a product of a government funded Pathways Project which was organized by Rodenburg and Dueck.
This short documentary is a portrait of a tiny town, Lakefield, Ontario, and its independent weekly, the Herald. Across North America, newspapers are dying, but in Lakefield, Terry McQuitty, the town paper’s publisher, carries on a rich, 150-year-old tradition. Set to the pace of small-town life, Unheralded is a testament to the vital role newspapers can still play, and the close bond between reporter and reader.
