Haliburton is once again welcoming world-class mushers for the 17th annual Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby Jan 19-20.  

The International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Cup-sanctioned event hosted out of the Pinestone Resort will feature seven different racing disciplines, ranging from one-dog skijoring to full eight-dog sleds. The event usually fluctuates between 80 and 100 entrants, according to organizer Tanya McCready of Winterdance Dogsled Tours. 

 McCready said the dogs are the central draw of the derby, which has helped the event to succeed. 

 “Some people will say it’s the mushers but the mushers only do what we do for the dogs. We just speak for the dogs, as we say. To see any creature that is so excited and so happy, joyful, passionate about what they do is incredible,” McCready said. “For people that love dogs to come and watch 400-500 dogs we’ll have there that weekend, all just having the time of their lives, is pretty infectious.” 

 The races themselves are the same every year, McCready said. But Pinestone Resort is adding new elements to its hosting, including a live band and a patio barbecue to watch the races from, she added. 

 The weather forecast is looking more positive this year, McCready said. 

 “There have been a couple of the years in the last five that we’ve had rainstorms right before and it’s been really down to the last day that we have to call it whether we’re able to run,” McCready said. “I hope this year the weather won’t be our biggest challenge.” 

 The event is free, outside of the show by CCR tribute band Bootleg Creedence Jan. 19 at 9 p.m., which has a $15 admission.

The first race starts at 9 a.m. Jan. 19.  “The mushers are very friendly, open people. They love talking about their dogs,” McCready said. “If you love dogs, it’s just a great place to be.”

Former Minden resident Garry Taylor Handlen was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury in the Supreme Court of British Columbia Jan. 17.

The National Post reported the jury found Handlen guilty of murdering the 12-year-old Monica Jack in 1978.

Jack had been riding her bike on a highway in Merrit, B.C. when she vanished, according to a 2014 B.C. RCMP press release. Her bike was discovered a day later, but it took 17 years before her body was located in a rural area, about six kilometres from the highway she was travelling on.

The National Post reported Handlen confessed to the murder during a nine-month undercover RCMP operation in 2014 which began in Minden. The jury was asked to consider the confession. In the confession, Handlen said he took Jack from a highway pullout, sexually assaulted and strangled her.

Handlen, 71, was first charged with the offence Nov. 28, 2014 and arrested in Surrey, B.C. without incident, according to a 2014 RCMP press release. He was also charged with the murder of 11-year-old Kathryn-Mary Herbert, who disappeared in 1975 while heading to her home in Abbotsford.

The first-degree murder conviction carries with it a minimum sentence of imprisonment for life in the criminal code. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28, according to CBC News.

Haliburton Highlands OPP has previously confirmed Handlen was at one time living in Minden.

The Highlander will have more in the story in an upcoming edition.

Haliburton is once again welcoming world-class mushers for the 17th annual Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby Jan 19-20.

The International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Cup-sanctioned event hosted out of the Pinestone Resort will feature seven different racing disciplines, ranging from one-dog skijoring to full eight-dog sleds. The event usually fluctuates between 80 and 100 entrants, according to organizer Tanya McCready of Winterdance Dogsled Tours.

McCready said the dogs are the central draw of the derby, which has helped the event to succeed.

“Some people will say it’s the mushers but the mushers only do what we do for the dogs. We just speak for the dogs, as we say. To see any creature that is so excited and so happy, joyful, passionate about what they do is incredible,” McCready said. “For people that love dogs to come and watch 400-500 dogs we’ll have there that weekend, all just having the time of their lives, is pretty infectious.”

The races themselves are the same every year, McCready said. But Pinestone Resort is adding new elements to its hosting, including a live band and a patio barbecue to watch the races from, she added.

The weather forecast is looking more positive this year, McCready said.

“There have been a couple of the years in the last five that we’ve had rainstorms right before and it’s been really down to the last day that we have to call it whether we’re able to run,” McCready said. “I hope this year the weather won’t be our biggest challenge.”

The event is free, outside of the show by CCR tribute band Bootleg Creedence Jan. 19 at 9 p.m., which has a $15 admission. The first race starts at 9 a.m. Jan. 19.

“The mushers are very friendly, open people. T hey love talking about their dogs,” McCready said. “If you love dogs, it’s just a great place to be.”

Road projects and reserve building drove Highlands East capital forecast upwards, which projected the municipality will spend over $965,000 more in capital projects in 2019.

Highlands East council reviewed the forecast during a special meeting Jan. 9. The forecast projected a significant increase in capital expenditures in the municipality in 2019, with every department except environmental expecting an increase in its capital budget.

Chief administrative officer and treasurer Shannon Hunter said the municipality’s asset management plan is apart of the increase, with departments reserving money for future asset needs.

“This is just a draft document, but it is fairly realistic,” Hunter said during the meeting.

Nearly half of the capital forecast increase is coming from the roads department, with an over $429,000 increase projected for roads capital expenditures.

A significant portion of the projected $1,721,101.97 roads budget has been allotted to repair work at Cardiff. A total of $544,207 has been budgeted for phase 2 of the project. Another $243,207 has been
allotted to the completion of 2018 work, but Hunter said that was carried forward from last year’s budget.

“I’m just not 100 per cent sure where the money is going to come from, $550,000,” Mayor Dave Burton said about the project. “But I would like to see it done.”

Hunter said the Cardiff roads project in total was presented from the beginning as costing about $1 million, but council opted to split it up across multiple budget years.

Coun. Cam McKenzie said the project should be completed.

“We decided we’re going ahead with it. People have kind of accepted it now,” McKenzie said. “If we have the funds, let’s get it done, once and for all.”

Deputy mayor Cec Ryall said the long life cycle of the new roads helps make the project worthwhile.

“You can’t do it half done. That’s not an option,” he said. Council did not make any specific motions regarding the forecast during the meeting.

Hunter said she expects the full draft budget would be delayed until March.

“Draft budget will not come as quickly as what you’ve been accustomed to,” Hunter said. “Have a feeling this year our budgeting will be a long process.”

The Pinestone Resort is relaunching a program to take damaged food shipments often bound for landfills and provide them to local non-profits.

The community food share program aims to help provide food shipments to food banks, community kitchens and other programs, according to a Dec. 13 press release. The program primarily acquires non-perishable food items that have been diverted because of package damage during transit, taking them instead to a storage depot in Minden, the press release said.

Pinestone general manager John Teljeur said the idea came from his two years on the board of directors of the Ontario Association of Food Banks, mimicking other food recovery programs.

“To me, it makes sense as a community member we use the power of the resort and our buying power to facilitate this thing,” Teljeur said.

The program originally started two years ago, but ended when Teljeur left Pinestone Resort for some time, he said. Now that he has returned to his position, the program is coming back with him.

Wilberforce Food Bank manager Ken Mott said his organization has gotten an SUV full of food from the program recently. He added the food bank used the program frequently while it was running two years ago.

“It’s a great program. We used it a lot. John had this a couple of years ago and we accessed it pretty much every month,” Mott said. “We kind of wish it would have stayed.”

Teljeur said the early days of the program have been “a little wonky,” as setting up scheduling and contacts takes time. He noted the availability of the food shipments is not consistent and there are logistical challenges with local, volunteer-run organizations.

“There are a few groups that have expressed interest. The challenge for a lot of these organizations is who has the time or the resources to pick this stuff up,” Teljeur said.

The food shipments the program can acquire can vary greatly and has included soup bases, crackers, coffee, sugar and more in the past, he said.

“The shame of the whole thing is that the food that’s there is still in good shape,” Teljeur said. “If you can find a way to divert that from landfill and bring it to somebody else, then everyone wins.”

Any non-profit organization or service club that is interested in getting involved can call John Teljeur at 705-457-1800 ext 4258 or email john.teljeur@gmail. com.

Janis and Joe Blimkie are thankful for the help of Good Samaritans and emergency responders after escaping from their wrecked vehicle Jan. 6. 

 The pair’s vehicle was totalled after skidding on ice on a tight bend on Barry Line Road, Joe Blimkie said. The vehicle fell into a ditch and rolled, ending up upside down in a pond while water started to fill it.

  Blimkie said they could not recall the rolling, only a rough bump as the vehicle fell into the ditch.

  “Next thing we knew, we were upside down inside the car. Neither of us were panicked,” he said. “We knew where we were, we knew we were probably in water.” 

 The two found themselves in a difficult position, with airbags deployed and little light getting inside. Blimkie said he was on his back, the steering wheel above him, with his leg wedged up underneath it. The car’s emergency alarm system was not able to connect to make a call, Blimkie said, nor could he connect as he used his cellphone. 

 With the water engulfing him up to his chin, Blimkie said he began to worry. 

 “Started to panic then, thinking how long we’re going to be here,” Blimkie said. “There was no one else on the road.” 

 Fortunately, a metal pole from a wire fence punctured through the window of the vehicle on the passenger side, allowing Janis Blimkie to climb out of the vehicle. 

 “It was a real comfort to see her get out. When she got out she was standing up to her waist in water and then she assisted me,” he said. “I was able to twist my body around and go over into the other side.” 

 Teresa and Darren Johnston came upon them about two-to-three minutes after the crash, and Blimkie said they took quick action. They called 9-1-1, provided warm blankets, called neighbours for assistance and then drove couple to their home to warm up. 

 “We were unbelievably grateful. We would have been there 20 minutes, half-an-hour, depending on who is going to use that road that afternoon,” Blimkie said. 

 The cold of the water only set in after they exited, he said.  “I didn’t feel the cold when I was in the car lying in the water. It was when I got out that I really started shaking like I had never shaken before,” Blimkie said.

  Emergency responders arrived on scene, including firefighters, OPP and EMS, Blimkie said. They were checked for injuries, but there was nothing major noticed at first, although they experienced bruising after a couple of days. 

 “Thank goodness, when you see the pictures of the car, it’s unbelievable that no one really got hurt,” he said. 

 The Hamilton couple, who were visiting their cottage in the Haliburton area, were able to rent a car to get back home.

  Blimkie said they are grateful for all the people who helped them in their hour of need.

  “Very, very, lucky, extremely lucky,” he said. “Thankful to the people up there that helped us out because they were a godsend to us.”

Future planning and driving change became a point of contention as Dysart et al council reviewed its  budget at a special Jan. 10 meeting.

  The meeting offered council a chance to give feedback to preliminary budgets with staff across all of the town’s departments.

 “This is sort of the vision. This is the communication back and forth. This is where we get to be a little project-oriented and planning for our four-year term,” Mayor Andrea Roberts said. “We are trying to get more sustainable and that’s something I’ve heard time and time again at the county.”

  Staff presented a projected $333,238 deficit but treasurer Barbara Swannell said $200,000 of that is new money being transferred to reserves. 

 “This hasn’t come about with frivolous spending. This has come about with being responsible for municipal operations,” Swannell said. 

 However, Coun. John Smith raised concern about the process for arriving at a preliminary budget and said council should have planned together more beforehand.

  “We just went through an election campaign and candidates put forward different priorities. We talked about processes we were going to engage in. One of them was to build a plan,” Smith said. “Until you have that conversation and agree on some of those priorities, this is presumably a continuation of the status quo.” 

 “I’ve been here for 12 years and it’s not,” Roberts retorted, adding this was the meeting for council to provide feedback to start planning. 

 Smith again questioned the budgeting processes after a presentation from the museum department, which brought forward an estimated cost of $149,000 for 2019. 

 He said he would like to see some of that budget directed toward core services and wanted council to guide the budget more.

  “We as a council, in my opinion, ought to focus on the core activities that are essential services to our community,” Smith said. “You and others talked about this during the election campaign, the importance of building a plan. It needs to be a council plan, not a staff plan coming from the bottom-up.” 

 Chief administrative officer Tamara Wilbee responded that staff works based on plans developed with council and community input, including a cultural plan and economic development plan. She further said there will be opportunity to review those plans but those in-depth discussions would occur over the year. 

 “There will be more opportunity for council, committee and community input at those types of discussion,” she said. 

 Smith retorted he understands why staff is working off these plans, but there is a new council in place who should guide new planning. 

 “There are three members of council here that weren’t here before. There’s a new mayor. They talked during the election campaign about doing things differently,” Smith said.

  Roberts responded that council could plan for its term in the day’s budget review, but a new strategic plan would probably not come for at least a year down the road. 

 “We’ll talk about where we want to see ourselves in four years and that’s where we put some money into reserves,” she said.

  In a Jan. 13 Facebook post about the meeting, Deputy Mayor Patrick Kennedy said it will take time to implement and plan for new ideas and priorities from the current members of council.

  “It quickly became apparent that many priorities and initiatives were developed by the former council.

That is fine as departments need lead time to develop their new budgets reflective of the priorities of the council of the day,” Kennedy said in the post. 

Future planning and driving change became a point of contention as Dysart et al council reviewed its budget at a special Jan. 10 meeting.

The meeting offered council a chance to give feedback to preliminary budgets with staff across all of the town’s departments.

“This is sort of the vision. This is the communication back and forth. This is where we get to be a little project-oriented and planning for our four-year term,” Mayor Andrea Roberts said. “We are trying to get more sustainable and that’s something I’ve heard time and time again at the county.”

Staff presented a projected $333,238 deficit but treasurer Barbara Swannell said $200,000 of that is new money being transferred to reserves.

“This hasn’t come about with frivolous spending. This has come about with being responsible for municipal operations,” Swannell said.

However, Coun. John Smith raised concern about the process for arriving at a preliminary budget and said council should have planned together more beforehand.

“We just went through an election campaign and candidates put forward different priorities. We talked about processes we were going to engage in. One of them was to build a plan,” Smith said. “Until you have that conversation and agree on some of those priorities, this is presumably a continuation of the status quo.”

“I’ve been here for 12 years and it’s not,” Roberts retorted, adding this was the meeting for council to provide feedback to start planning.

Smith again questioned the budgeting processes after a presentation from the museum department, which brought forward an estimated cost of $149,000 for 2019.

He said he would like to see some of that budget directed toward core services and wanted council to guide the budget more.

“We as a council, in my opinion, ought to focus on the core activities that are essential services to our community,” Smith said. “You and others talked about this during the election campaign, the importance of building a plan. It needs to be a council plan, not a staff plan coming from the bottom-up.”

Chief administrative officer Tamara Wilbee responded that staff works based on plans developed with council and community input, including a cultural plan and economic development plan. She further said there will be opportunity to review those plans but those in-depth discussions would occur over the year.

“There will be more opportunity for council, committee and community input at those types of discussion,” she said.

Smith retorted he understands why staff is working off these plans, but there is a new council in place who should guide new planning.

“There are three members of council here that weren’t here before. There’s a new mayor. They talked during the election campaign about doing things differently,” Smith said.

Roberts responded that council could plan for its term in the day’s budget review, but a new strategic plan would probably not come for at least a year down the road.

“We’ll talk about where we want to see ourselves in four years and that’s where we put some money into reserves,” she said.

In a Jan. 13 Facebook post about the meeting, Deputy Mayor Patrick Kennedy said it will take time to implement and plan for new ideas and priorities from the current members of council.

“It quickly became apparent that many priorities and initiatives were developed by the former council. That is fine as departments need lead time to develop their new budgets reflective of the priorities of the council of the day,” Kennedy said in the post.

Janis and Joe Blimkie are thankful for the help of Good Samaritans and emergency responders after escaping from their wrecked vehicle Jan. 6.

The pair’s vehicle was totalled after skidding on ice on a tight bend on Barry Line Road, Joe Blimkie said. The vehicle fell into a ditch and rolled, ending up upside down in a pond while water started to fill it.

Blimkie said they could not recall the rolling, only a rough bump as the vehicle fell into the ditch.

“Next thing we knew, we were upside down inside the car. Neither of us were panicked,” he said. “We knew where we were, we knew we were probably in water.”

The two found themselves in a difficult position, with airbags deployed and little light getting inside. Blimkie said he was on his back, the steering wheel above him, with his leg wedged up underneath it. The car’s emergency alarm system was not able to connect to make a call, Blimkie said, nor could he connect as he used his cellphone.

With the water engulfing him up to his chin, Blimkie said he began to worry.

“Started to panic then, thinking how long we’re going to be here,” Blimkie said. “There was no one else on the road.”

Fortunately, a metal pole from a wire fence punctured through the window of the vehicle on the passenger side, allowing Janis Blimkie to climb out of the vehicle.

“It was a real comfort to see her get out. When she got out she was standing up to her waist in water and then she assisted me,” he said. “I was able to twist my body around and go over into the other side.”

Teresa and Darren Johnston came upon them about two-to-three minutes after the crash, and Blimkie said they took quick action. They called 9-1-1, provided warm blankets, called neighbours for assistance and then drove couple to their home to warm up.

“We were unbelievably grateful. We would have been there 20 minutes, half-an-hour, depending on who is going to use that road that afternoon,” Blimkie said.

The cold of the water only set in after they exited, he said.

“I didn’t feel the cold when I was in the car lying in the water. It was when I got out that I really started shaking like I had never shaken before,” Blimkie said.

Emergency responders arrived on scene, including firefighters, OPP and EMS, Blimkie said. They were checked for injuries, but there was nothing major noticed at first, although they experienced bruising after a couple of days.

“Thank goodness, when you see the pictures of the car, it’s unbelievable that no one really got hurt,” he said.

The Hamilton couple, who were visiting their cottage in the Haliburton area, were able to rent a car to get back home.

Blimkie said they are grateful for all the people who helped them in their hour of need.

“Very, very, lucky, extremely lucky,” he said. “Thankful to the people up there that helped us out because they were a godsend to us.”