By Emily Stonehouse Downtown Minden is about to get a fresh facelift, and not just because spring is in the air. The Minden Business Working Group, a steering committee of 20 individuals with ties to…
Top Stories
Landfill security pilot program to launch in Haliburton
By Adam Frisk Concerns about nightly trespassing and illegal scavenging at local landfills led to a heated debate at last week’s council meeting, resulting in a scaled-back plan to test security cameras at a single…
The helpers
By Emily Stonehouse The world feels difficult, that’s no secret. Unless you are one of the very lucky individuals who is able to stay entirely apolitical, whether that be based on privilege or ambivalence, the…
Harcourt Timber Mart fire ‘a huge loss’ to…
By Emily Stonehouse A devastating fire in Harcourt last week has left the community wondering about next steps. Shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, the Highlands East Fire Department received a call for a…
Black History Month in the Haliburton Highlands
By Emily Stonehouse Black History Month is recognized over the month of February, and has been across the country since 1995. In 1978, the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) was established. Its founders presented a…
Representation
By Emily Stonehouse When I was growing up in the Haliburton Highlands, playing house league hockey on Thursday nights, I used to get changed in a closet. It was tucked around the back of the…
Olympic fever grips Haliburton
By Adam Frisk Haliburton residents are getting into the competitive spirit and are eager to cheer on Team Canada as the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games get underway in Italy. The Olympics officially got…
Fluff
By Emily Stonehouse There’s been no shortage of news. Most of it has been bad. We can’t look the other way. And the algorithms of our allegedly “smart” devices are curated so that we can’t…
Oxtongue Lake Pike Derby a reel-y good time
By Thomas Smith In the far off land of Dwight, our neighbours to the west of Algonquin Highlands, the Winterbottoms are hard at work preparing for the 49th Annual Oxtongue Pike Derby. Originally started by…
Power
By Emily Stonehouse Dysart passed their budget earlier this year by following a standard status quo pattern. Very few feathers were ruffled. If you blinked, you may have even missed it on the agenda altogether.…
Haliburton Gymnastics maps out next steps
By Emily Stonehouse “If you build it, they will come.” That’s the mindset of Kathy Judson as she shared the iconic Field of Dreams quote, in reference to her newest project: a gymnastics gym in…
How Haliburton Village Pharmacy is redefining care
By Adam Frisk When you step into Pharmasave Haliburton Village Pharmacy, the typical "big-box" experience of fluorescent lights, aisles of industrial cleaning products, and a lotto machine shouting "winner, gagnant!" is nowhere to be found…
Dysart council approves ‘palatable’ 4.98% tax hike
By Adam Frisk he Municipality of Dysart et al council approved the 2026 budget, with the final property tax increase set at 4.98 per cent, a notable drop from the 5.83 per cent initially proposed…
2016
By Emily Stonehouse There’s a viral trend circulating online these days about throwing it back to 2016. While the year may seem in the not-so-distant rearview mirror, I think it came as a startling realization…
First county baby arrives on New Year’s Day
By Emily Stonehouse January 1 is a date that brings fresh starts, new beginnings, and the start of a brand new chapter. For one Harcourt family, January 1 will symbolize something a little extra special.…
But
By Emily Stonehouse It’s dark, the nights are long. Swirling snow and screaming winds, we wake up to dig ourselves out. Every day. But, it’s getting lighter. The days are stretching thin. Wisps of daylight…
Busy holiday season for downtown businesses
By Adam Frisk The 2025 holiday shopping season was a banner year, thanks to the early arrival of winter weather, community loyalty, and a surge in tourism, according to local businesses. For stores like Algonquin…
New carbon monoxide detector laws in effect
By Thomas Smith Changes to the Ontario Fire Code are here. On New Year’s Day, new carbon monoxide regulations were put in effect across Ontario. Carbon monoxide detectors will need to be installed on every…
New carbon monoxide detector laws in effect
By Thomas Smith Changes to the Ontario Fire Code are here. On New Year’s Day, new carbon monoxide regulations were put in effect across Ontario. Carbon monoxide detectors will need to be installed on every…
Ready?
By Emily Stonehouse It’s no secret that over the holiday season, our thoughts are heightened. There’s an edge to our emotions, a fray to our feelings. Seasonal times tend to have that effect on people.…
Dogsled Derby returns to Haliburton Highlands
By Emily Stonehouse When you type the word “dogsled” into the Haliburton Highlands Digital Archives, a free online portal that provides access to thousands of past community newspapers, there are nearly 400 hits. Nearly all…