GuelphSouth

Note to readers

Due to staffing cuts at the Mercury, some blogs will not be updated for an indefinite period.
Thanks for reading GuelphSouth. Questions or comments can be sent to editor@guelphmercury.com.
Roger LeBlanc.
Mercury news editor

Mary Swan at library

On March 3 at the Westminster library branch, local author and Giller Prize nominee Mary Swan will take part in the Friends of the Guelph Library speaker series.
Call 519-827-9013 for ticket information.

Music at the library

Music for Toddlers — at the Westminster branch of the Guelph Public Library, 9:30 a.m. Children aged 13 to 24 months and their caregivers welcome.
Music for Babies begins at 10:15 a.m. for children birth to one year.
Call 519-829-4404 to register.

Shooting suspect in court

A bail hearing is set for today for a Guelph man charged in connection with a shooting that injured a Mississauga man.
Guelph Police yesterday described the incident that happened Tuesday as an accidental shooting that occurred when a Guelph man showed a friend his licensed handgun.
The gun was discharged, slightly injuring the 25-year-old man's leg.
The Mississauga man later went to a hospital in Kitchener, where he was treated and released, police added.
The south-end Guelph man, also 25, was held in custody on a charge of careless storage and handling of a firearm and careless use of a firearm.

Man shot at home

A 26-year-old Guelph man arrived at a Kitchener hospital yesterday with minor injuries after being shot at a south-end Guelph residence early that morning.
Kitchener police were called, but the incident was eventually linked to the Royal City, Guelph Police Sergeant Manfred Hoyer said.
Guelph Police took over the investigation.
The firearm was legally registered, however a 25-year-old Guelph man has been arrested with improperly storing and operating a firearm.
All the parties knew each other, Hoyer said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Guelph Police at 519-824-1212 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Dinner & auction

The Rotary Club of Guelph South's Pasta Dinner and Silent Auction is Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children 5-12, Under 5 free.

Silent auction, dance

Whistle Stop Co-Op preschool annual Valentine’s Day dance and silent auction takes place today at the Puslinch Community Centre to help raise money for the school.

Still an eyesore 7 months later

Seven months after fire gutted a Milson Crescent home, it still looks very much like a house gutted by fire.

Neighbours are fed up.

Most of the windows at 89 Milson Cres. are covered with plywood. At the front, large sections of siding are missing while along the side of the two-storey home bits of blackened and twisted siding and other debris litter the ground.

Bright yellow caution tape hangs limply from the back deck, which overlooks a popular walking path and beyond that, the Hanlon Expressway.

At the front of the house, two no trespassing signs warn off interlopers.

"It's still quite an eyesore," laments neighbour Don Bleach, who lives down the street but frequently passes the burned house while out for walks with his wife Laurie.

Read the full Mercury story

Gravel pit watchdog set for annual meeting

What options do concerned residents have to oppose gravel pits in their neighbourhood?

Very little has been the answer for many years, says Gravel Watch Ontario vice-president Elaine La Chappelle.

Regardless of the concern -- effects on groundwater quality, dust, noise from blasting -- the Ontario Aggregate Resources Act trumped all and few licences were turned down, she said.

In the spirit of joining together the often isolated battles in individual communities, Gravel Watch Ontario was formed.

And it is in the spirit of learning how to navigate environmental law and Ontario legislature that the group is gathering Feb. 19 at the Puslinch Community Centre for its fourth annual public meeting.

Read the complete Mercury story

Scottsdale house fire

Careless smoking may have been the cause of a garage fire early yesterday morning.

Guelph fire department responded to a single-family home on Scottsdale Drive at about 1:30 a.m. and found a small fire had started in a chair inside the attached garage.

It was quickly extinguished, leaving minimal damage.

No one was injured.

PHOTO: A couple of couches sit in the front yard of a home on Scottsdale Drive after a fire at the house early Tuesday morning. (Guelph Mercury/Ryan Pfeiffer)