Peterborough Police Seeking Woman Involved In Theft From Convenience Store

Peterborough Police Service is seeking a woman who allegedly stole items from a convenience store in the George Street and Townsend Street area reported on Monday.

Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Police Service.

The incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Saturday as police were called to the store. Upon arrival, officers learned a woman had left the store without paying for a number of items. 

The suspect was described as:

• Dark brown hair 

• 25 to 35 years old 

• Between 5'5" to 5'9"

• Bruising on face 

• Wearing:

  • purple peacoat 

  • gray sweater 

  • skinny black pants 

  • dark brown/black shoes 

Anyone with information is asked to call Peterborough Police at 705-876-1122 x555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.

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Encouraging and Supporting Young Artists at the Heart of The Peterborough Folk Festival’s Emerging Artist Award

The Peterborough Folk Festival is getting ready for their 2023 festival and the Emerging Artists program submissions are now open to the community.

photo courtesy of the peterborough folk festival.

This years’ Peterborough Folk Festival kicks off at Market Hall on Aug. 18 followed by two full days of live music, children's activities, food and artisan vendors on Aug. 19 and 20 on the hillside at Nicholls Oval Park (next to the Otonabee River.)

Now in its 34th year, Peterborough Folk Festival is among Canada’s longest-running, free-admission music festivals.

Each year the Peterborough Folk Festival welcomes more than 12,000 people to Peterborough and the surrounding region, making it the second-largest cultural event of the summer season.

Striving for gender parity, diversity and inclusivity in the performance line-up, there were 28 artists including 11 local performers in the 2022 festival lineup.

Submissions for 2023 Emerging Artist will be accepted until the end of May, and the winner of the award will be announced later in June. Interested candidates can find more information online here.

Successful candidates receive showcase performance spots at Peterborough Folk Festival to be held this Aug. 18-20, as well as an opportunity to attend the Folk Music Ontario Conference in October where they have the chance to perform and interact with artistic directors, agents, funders and other musicians.

Nathan Truax was awarded the Peterborough Folk Festival’s Emerging Artist Award for 2022.

“When they told me I was being honoured as Peterborough Folk Festival’s Emerging Artist for 2022, I was blown away,” says Truax. “When you’re coming into your own as an artist it’s so important to know your community is behind you. Being the recipient of this award solidified everything I’ve been working towards for the past several years. It was like getting a comforting, warm hug from all of Peterborough.”

The 27-year-old artist joins a long list of celebrated Peterborough-area musicians who have received the Emerging Artist Award from PFF, starting with Millbrook’s Serena Ryder in 2001.

Recognizing young and emerging local talent, the annual award’s recipient is selected by a committee who assess applicants on skill, dedication and artistic merit. Applicants for the Emerging Artist Award may be solo artists, groups or bands and must live in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, including Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations. They must be under the age of 30.

“Receiving this kind of support is definitely a boost for an artist,” says Truax, who released his eight-song solo country music album Pickin’ the Label in March 2022.

Truax maintains performing at Cameron’s Pavilion Stage during Peterborough Folk Festival 2022 alongside local artists Benj Rowland and Kayla Mohamed, continues to be a career highlight. “Playing music with good friends, out in the open, surrounded by a community that supports you and you know is rooting for you – well, there’s nothing better,” he says.

For more information on how to get involved as an artist, sponsor, volunteer or vendor, at the Peterborough Folk Festival, visit the website.

To help ensure PFF remains a free festival for the City, County and region surrounding Peterborough, email sponsor@peterboroughfolkfest.com and find out how to make a contribution to the event.

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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Sign-a-fied, Dave Donaldson Contracting, Innovation Cluster and Carveth's Marina

PTBOCanada is delighted to be running StoosNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

Sign-a-fied, Peterborough’s newest sign company has opened at 774 Rye St., at the site of the former Signarama.

Peterborough business owner and entrepreneur Steve Daynes acquired Signarama and has retained its core staff of designers, production workers and service experts. Sign-a-fied is local, indigenous-owned and managed and is not part of a franchise. Sign-a-fied is a full-service sign company offering custom digital signage design, from design to fabrication, servicing, and installation. Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Dave Donaldson Contracting has added some key new pieces of equipment, including a mini swing hoe and a brush head.

The swing hoe can get into some tight spaces, while the brush head is like a giant weed whacker, designed to clear minor brush on driveways, cottage roads, fire roads, widening laneways for fire and rescue and service vehicles or for reclaiming agricultural lands. For details and a quote, call Dave Donaldson in Warsaw at 705-652-7366.

The Innovation Cluster Peterborough and the Kawarthas recently announced the winners of the Cubs' Lair 2023 entrepreneurial competition.

The $3,000 first-place prize went to Richa Sharma for her ground-breaking business, TastEATools, an edible cutlery manufacturing business. The runner-up was Sustainabite, a business app that collects surplus food from local grocery stores and fast-food chains. Third place went to Titan SmartLock, a highly secure smart lock solution controlled either manually or by your smartphone.

Randy Hauth at Carveth’s Marina introduced the Boaters Assistance Association last year, which works like a roadside assistance program.

If you hit a rock or run out of gas or just need a ride, you can call for help. Hauth has added a new twist this year, a GPS tracking system so that when you need help, help knows exactly where you are. It tracks ignition status, battery alerts and a one-touch SOS signal.

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Peterborough U16 AAA Petes Eliminated From OHL Cup After Semifinal Loss

The journey for the OHL Cup ended for the Peterborough U16 AAA Petes as they suffered a 4-2 loss to the Vaughan Kings in the semifinals of the playoffs at the Scotiabank Pond Rink in Toronto on Saturday night.

The Petes had a perfect penalty kill during round-robin play, sharing the honour with the Barrie Colts. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough U16 AAA Petes.

The Petes had qualified for the playoffs on tiebreakers with a 2-2 record of the Lindros Division to advance.

Their first opponent was a quarterfinal matchup against the Toronto Nationals who won their division with a 3-1 record.

Toronto drew first blood as Matthew Sarabando scored just over five minutes in for an early 1-0 lead. Peterborough countered quickly as Kaiden Harmon tied it up just 30 seconds after the first goal. The Petes were not done yet as Josh Avery tacked on another for Peterborough just under 90 seconds later for a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

Peterborough put Toronto’s goaltender James Meridith under siege. They peppered him with 14 shots in the period, the most of either team but the score remained the same going into the final frame.

Play was back and forth for almost 12 minutes until Kieran Riley tied the game for Toronto as the period’s only goal.

Overtime ran short as Harmon played the hero for Peterborough, scoring the game-winning goal with an assist from Lucas Moore to advance to the semifinals in a 3-2 win.

Wil McFadden got things started early for Peterborough against Vaughan, scoring 1:55 for a 1-0 lead. Things went downhill for the Petes as they allowed three consecutive goals from Carter Kostuch, Mason Kim and Vasily Serov respectively for a 3-1 deficit after the first period.

Peterborough kept themselves in the game, scoring the second stanza’s only goal from Cohen Bidgood to make it 3-2 into the third.

The Petes did all they could to tie the game, firing 13 shots to Vaughan’s four. Unfortunately, the Kings’s goaltender Aleksei Medvedev stood tall when it counted and stopped them all. Vaughan scored an empty-netter to punch their ticket to the OHL Cup championship as Peterborough was eliminated by a score of 4-2.

The 4-2-0 Vaughan Kings and 6-0-0 Toronto Jr. Canadiens will compete for the OHL Cup title on Monday. These two teams played each other in their first game of the tournament with the Canadiens winning in a 5-1 convincing fashion on Wednesday morning.

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Jim Carrey Spotted In Peterborough While Scouting Filming Locations For Ace Ventura 3

UPDATE: 12:20 p.m. 01/04/23

APRIL FOOLS! Did we get you? Jim Carrey was sighted at Peterborough Airport in 2014. It is said that he has property in the Buckhorn area.

Renowned actor Jim Carrey was recently spotted in Peterborough and several other local spots, scouting potential filming locations for his next movie, Ace Ventura 3.

Twitter Photo.

The Newmarket native has had ties to Peterborough, owning a cottage in the Bancroft area and spending several days there in between shoots.

He reached out to fellow Canadian actress Linda Kash at Market Hall (best known for her role as the Philadelphia Cream Cheese angel) to collaborate and help find potential filming spots in town.

“Both of us were big in the 90s and I don’t know how we never had the chance to work together,” explained Kash. “When he called me and asked for my help, I couldn’t say no. I’ve always loved watching him and was a big inspiration to me when I was starting my acting career.”

A movie poster teaser of Ace Ventura 3. A sequel for the series’s third incarnation ahs been 18 years in the making.

Carrey’s movie series, ‘Ace Ventura’ is reputable for its plot of the title character of a pet detective rescuing captive or missing animals.

One spot Kash recommended was the Riverview Park and Zoo as Carrey was brainstorming ideas for exotic animals to be missing in his upcoming film, according to Cathy Mitchell, zoo program supervisor.

“Jim was discussing ideas of what animals we could showcase for his upcoming film,” she explained. “We made suggestions of our beloved otters, Hazard the lynx and several other animals but he was particularly fond of Pablo, our 10-year-old Capybara. We’re incredibly honoured that our beautiful Pablo could become a movie star in the near future.”

Pablo celebrated his 10th birthdya on Valentine’s day. Photo courtesy of Riverview Park & Zoo.

The Peterborough Memorial Centre was in the presence of Carrey as the Peterborough Petes’s mascot Roger was discussed as a potential ‘missing animal’ for the third movie. This would follow in the footsteps of the first movie as it used ‘Snowflake,’ an actual dolphin that was kidnapped while being the Miami Dolphins’ mascot in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

“Roger has been an incredible and iconic mascot for the Peterborough Petes for the past 12 years,” said Adam King, Petes director of marketing. “To potentially see him on a big stage with an actor as famous as Jim Carrey would be wonderful for the Petes organization and Peterborough.

Peterborough Petes Mascot Roger, caught by surprise at the Canada Day Parade last year. Photo by David Tuan Bui

Kash recommended Peterborough Lift Lock as another filming location for the movie. Carrey said the unique structure could be a perfect spot as a climax scene for the movie as a ‘final showdown’ according to Chad Buchner, Ontario Waterways manager of canal operations.

“With the way the Lift Lock was built and how it operates, Jim told me that there are several angles he could go with filming scenes here,” he explained. “We could have someone falling from atop the Lift Lock, get trapped underneath the water or a boat chase scene along the Trent-Severn Waterway. The possibilities are practically endless.”

File Photo.

A projected date has not yet been released for Carrey’s third movie in the series.

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Peterborough U16 AAA Petes Clinch OHL Cup Playoff Berth Despite Back-To-Back Losses

Despite losing their last two round-robin games, the Peterborough U16 AAA Petes are limping into the OHL Cup playoffs with a 2-2 record at the Scotiabank Pond Rink in Toronto on Friday.

The Petes had a perfect penalty kill during round-robin play, sharing the honour with the Barrie Colts. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough U16 AAA Petes.

The Petes shared their 2-2 record with the Mississauga Rebels and Northern Ontario Hockey Association in the Lindros Division of the OHL Cup but had won out on tiebreakers.

The Petes had a good start, winning two straight games against the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (4-1) and Don Mills Flyers (6-1) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Josh Avery, Wil McFadden and Kayden Buller scored a goal in each game while goaltender Masen Johnston rolled off back-to-back wins for Peterborough. The team rang off 10 consecutive goals during that two-game span.

Peterborough had a double-header on the final day of round-robin play, playing two games on Friday (one at 8:30 a.m. and another at 1:45 p.m.) before playoffs began.

Their third game was against the Waterloo Wolves and fell behind early, seeing a 2-0 deficit after 10:38 of play. Both teams traded goals since then up until 7:50 into the third period as Noah Vandenberg gave Waterloo a two-goal cushion, scoring and making it 5-3 late in the game. McFadden gave the Petes a jolt, scoring on the power play just over three minutes later to cut the deficit in half. Cohen Bidgood tied the game 1:38 later to make it 5-5 as overtime was required to determine a winner.

The victor was decided just under five minutes into the extra frame as the Wolves’s Brady Martin banged in his second of the game to give Waterloo a 6-5 overtime win over Peterborough.

The Petes played the Mississauga Rebels in a matinee game to round out their round-robin play. The Petes found themselves killing off a penalty but were rewarded with a shorthanded goal from Max Seon to go up 1-0. Peterborough conceded the next three goals from the Rebels early in the third period. The Petes mustered an empty-net goal thanks to Avery but it was too little, too late as they fell in a 3-2 loss.

The Petes start their playoff run against the Toronto Nationals in a quarterfinal matchup with puck drop at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. The latter was the division leader in their round-robin bracket with a 3-1 record.

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Ontario Government Provides $250,000 to YMCA in Peterborough and Quinte to Offset COVID-19 Expenses

The Ontario Government and Ontario Trillium Foundation have provided the YMCA of Central East Ontario a $250,000 Community Building Fund grant to help offset any costs incurred from the COVID-19 pandemic, announced on Friday afternoon.

(from left to right) MaryAnne Wooldridge, General Manager Balsillie Family Branch; MPP Dave Smith and David Allen, President and CEO of YMCA of Central East Ontario. Photo by Samantha Bianco.

The money was split between the Balsillie Family Branch location in Peterborough and the Belleville branch and the John Williams branch in Quinte West. The former got the lion’s share with around $200,000 of the grant according to MPP Dave Smith.

“Today’s funding announcement has been a tremendous help to the Peterborough YMCA in continuing to provide services within our community,” said Dave Smith, MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha. “This allows them to continue focusing on the important work they do best, which is helping to support the health and wellness of children, families and individuals right here in our region.”

In addition to paying off the upkeep of operation expenses, the grant helped it purchase software with web and virtual costs.

“Like so many other organizations, the past few years have been a really challenging time for our YMCA,” explained David Allen, YMCA of Central East Ontario president and CEO. “This grant allowed our YMCA to cover software and operational expenses at a time when membership revenue was limited.”

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New Art Gallery of Peterborough Exhibit Features Award-Winning Artist Tim Whiten

Explore the art work of award-winning artist Tim Whiten through the Art Gallery of Peterborough’s (AGP) current exhibition Elemental: Earthen until May 21.

photo courtesy of the art gallery of peterborough.

The exhibition features a selection of the artist’s early to recent work – from the beginning of the 1970s onward – alongside several antiquities generously loaned from the McMaster Museum of Art.

“It is an honour and a privilege to share Whiten’s work during this exciting time in his long and impactful career,” says AGP curator Fynn Leitch.

photo courtesy of the art gallery of peterborough.

Tim Whiten was born in Inkster, Michigan in 1941. He does not consider himself an artist but an "image maker who also creates cultural objects," and in a career that spans over forty years, he has sought to navigate the territory of the human condition with the intent of inviting experiences and encouraging “sensing” over “reading.”

Whiten recently won the esteemed Gershon Iskowitz Prize.

The exhibition, Elemental, is part of an expanded, multi-venue survey celebrating Whiten’s extensive career, developed in partnership between the Art Gallery of Peterborough, Art Gallery of York University, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, and McMaster Museum of Art from 2022 to 2023. This series of exhibitions is thematically linked by the classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire - a reference to Whiten’s interest in alchemical practices. Elemental: Earthen is the third of four exhibitions and focuses on the element of earth and its associations with home, sustenance, power, transformation and alchemy.

“Together, these objects create a space to explore Whiten’s ongoing engagements with the fundamental composition of the universe and who/what we are as human beings,” shares Chiedza Pasipanodya, guest curator of Elemental: Earthen.  

The AGP is located at 250 Crescent St. Admission is free.

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PRHC Names Cardiac Centre After James Neill Who Donated $5 Million, Largest Contribution in Hospital's History

James "Jim" Neill has been immortalized in Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) history as the Cardiac Centre has been named after him after he made a $5 million donation in a sign-unveiling ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

Photo by Samantha Bianco.

The donation is in support of cardiac care and was given back in 2021. The sign was revealed at the exterior northeast corner of the hospital, naming it the James B. Neill Cardiac Centre.

Neill had ‘no idea’ that it was the largest donation PRHC had ever received when that information was made known to him.

“To have my name on the side of the building, to see it associated with such an outstanding hospital and such exceptional and talented healthcare professionals, is a great honour,” said Neill. “It’s my hope that when patients, visitors and staff look up and see it, they’ll be encouraged and inspired to support their hospital in whatever way they can, much as the donors who came before inspired me.”   

Photo by Samantha Bianco.

PRHC and its foundation Foundation members were present with Neill, his family and friends at the ceremony to commemorate the event. The former expressed their gratitude to Neill for his generous donation.

“Mr. Neill is saving and improving the lives of thousands upon thousands of present and future patients and for that, as well as the inspiration his donation will provide to so many, we’re incredibly grateful,” said Lesley Heighway, PRHC foundation president and CEO.

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Innovation and Technology Showcase Returns to Fleming College April 5

Creativity, dedication and teamwork will be on full display at the Venture North building during the annual Fleming College Innovation and Technology Showcase on April 5.

photo courtesy of flemng college.

A highlight of the academic year, this event is a chance for Fleming College’s Global Business Management students to present the applied projects they have been working on. 

Twenty teams comprised of 73 students are competing in this year’s challenge with a wide array of projects.

Some projects paired students with established, external organizations. A team working with a local non-profit organization helped that organization connect with community members and increase memberships, while another team paired with a Toronto office furniture company created a marketing plan to attract new clients.  

Other projects include the creation of a parking app to help market unused parking spaces on private and commercial properties, where another project focused on identifying environmentally friendly ways to handle industrial waste.  

After an initial round of judging on April 5, 10 teams will go on to the finals taking place at Fleming College’s Sutherland Campus on May 10. Student teams are eligible for cash prizes which are sponsored by IEEE.

Other sponsors for the Innovation and Technology Showcase include Community Futures Peterborough, Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, Ashburnham Realty, Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce and the Innovation Cluster.  

The showcase is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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