Joy Jarvis is challenging residents to swim for Hopice on Sunday July 7th.  Joy is a long distance swimmer, who will be taking to the Muskoka River from the town docks to swim out to Centreview Island in Lake Vernon and back to raise money for our local hospice.
Swim Challengers can join Joy at predetermined sites to complete the final 3km, 2km or 1km of swim, exiting at River Mill Park.  Pledges made for the swimmers will go directly to the operation of Hospice Huntsville.
To find out more visit www.hospicehuntsville.com

The North Simcoe-Muskoka LHIN has appointed a new Chief Operating Officer.  CEO Jill Tettmann made the announcement yesterday.  Neil Walker joins the local LHIN from Markham Stouffville as the Chief Operating officer of the local  hospital.
The appointment is effective September 3rd.

There’s only 5 days left to participate in HBR’s Licence application by making a comment about our licence application on the CRTC Website or by writing a letter to the commission on MuskokaOnline.com.
The CRTC allows 30days for the general public to make comments on our application to become a Community Radio Station on the FM dial.
To make a comment visit our website at www.muskokaonline.com
The CRTC has scheduled a hearing for July 22nd.

The SS Bigwin will be plying the waters of Lake of Bays this weekend and Dorset will be celebrating its return to the waters with a community BBQ. The Bigwin, came to Dorset in 2002 for restoration, and over the course of several years and tremendous amounts of money, she set sail in 2010.
Cruises on the on this historic ship will take place at 12.30pm, 1.30pm & 2.30pm tomorrow at the Dorset Docks.

The Town has found a tenant for the Huntsville Train Station waiting room.  The space has been empty since the Northlander train service was cancelled by the Provincial Government.  The lease agreement will allow for the space returning to its original use as a waiting room if train service is restored by offering a short term lease to the tenants.

Tri Muskoka is looking for volunteers for the Sprint Triathlon & 5150 race which takes place at the Canada Summit Centre on the weekend of June 22-23rd.
Organizers are looking for volunteers who can help with positions that include medical, lifeguard, registration, water stations, finish line, swim boat support and swim entry and exit.
Tri Muskoka’s event will be bringing races from all over the province and the world and is one of the biggest events that Huntsville will host this year.
To find out more or volunteer, visit their website @www.trimuskoka.com/volunteers

The clock tower at Town Hall is in need of some TLC, and town staff will be asked to undertake an RFP to make repairs to the structure.  The historic Clock Tower was renovated in 2005 at the time when the Theatre was added to Town Hall.
In subsequent years since this renovation inspection of the tower has determined the deterioration of the floor joist holding up the clock. These joists have been supported by temporary floor jacks for some time.
However, the floor jacks were never meant to be a permanent solution to the deterioration and recent inspections require work to be done to rectify this situation with a permanent solution.

Over 75 tons of debris was removed from Fairy Lake on the weekend, making the waters safer for boat users.  4 bins of wood debris, found floating in the lake, had been retrieved after the flood by conscientious property owners and then brought to the collection site on Saturday.   The clean up was initiated by the Fairy Lake Association and their members.

The Royal bank of Canada, the country’s largest mortgage leader is raising its rates and analyst predict other banks will follow suit leaving the threat of a mortgage war.

Mortgage rates became a major source of contention when some lenders ratcheted their rates to all-time lows and received a scolding from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who has been trying to cool off the housing market.

They came. They ran. By the hundreds, from the young to the not so young, Huntsville’s 2^nd annual Huntsville half: Band on the Run race was a terrific success. The Race last Saturday had participants from all over Ontario and beyond competing in five categories with the newly added kids Ikm. Highlights included moms and dads racing with their kids, retired couples competing side by each, and The Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department rank and file in full fire-fighting gear, some running with full oxygen tanks across their shoulders, and sponsor Algonquin Outfitters carrying a canoe the entire race.

The celebration was accompanied by many local musicians performing along the race route including  Christine Heron’s opening set at 7AM, with more from J’aime Payne opening for Laganza, The Sadies and headliner The Sheepdogs.

Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement joined fellow Conservatives in voting down amendments to the Veterans burial fund.  “This is not a partisan issue. It is something all members, regardless of party affiliation, should have been able to support.”

If passed, veterans applying for assistance would have faced a 66% rejection rate.  The bill was defeated 151 to 125.

Mayor Claude Doughty is concerned that the town’s staffing costs continue to grow.  Doughty told council that in 2010, staffing costs grew 6% over 2009, while in 2012 the increase was 19% over 2010.
Doughty says the increased costs are for fewer staff, and the town must concentrate on getting back to core businesses, by freeing up salary dollars for public works, which is without a director due to budget constraints.
The town elected to remove $45,000 during budget deliberations in April and not hire a replace head for Public works.
At Monday’s council meeting, councilors voted to fill the vacant position using un- budgeted income from Lakeland power.
Before council went into closed session, Doughty expressed his concerns that the town wasn’t frugal enough, and they had to make some hard decisions.

On Monday during the ongoing debates on the 2013 Provincial Budget, Norm Miller, MPP for Parry Sound – Muskoka took the opportunity to voice local concerns about the proposed changes by the government to the current funding and delivery of physiotherapy across the province.
“I have met with local physiotherapists, and share in their concerns, particularly the lack of consultation that took place before the decision was made by the current government to plan for this budget cut.” stated Miller.
In the 2013 Budget, the Ministry of Health has planned to spend $44 million less on providing physiotherapy.  This amounts to a 22 percent cut from the $200 million that was provided for physio last year.
Miller said that “When speaking with physiotherapists, service providers in long-term care homes and those working in the retirement community, all have raised concerns about how their patients will be affected by these proposed changes to physiotherapy”.
Miller asked that the government delay implementation of the proposed changes until adequate consultation has taken place to ensure that physiotherapy service continues to be available to those who need it most.

The South East Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce is throwing its hat into the ring in the Medical Marijuana debate in Georgian Bay Township.
In a press release, the chamber explained the need for medical marijuana, but also the financial impact if Georgian Bay Council were to change its mind on working with Mettrum, the company interested in locating in the village of MacTier.
The proposal saw an underused arena being used to host the firm that would create 35 jobs in the first year and up to 300 jobs by 2024.
Georgian Bay Twp had entered into a letter of intent, but some councillors are having second thoughts.  The Chamber warns that if the twp changes its mind, Mettrum will walk away from the area.

Council will be continuing a discussion they started at the last council meeting tonight at a special council meeting scheduled for 7pm in council chambers.
The discussion is centred around a laundry list of priorities that council envisioned at the beginning of the term.  Tonight’s exercise is to decide what priorities council wishes to make for the last 2 years of their mandate.

The inaugural meeting of the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association will be wrapping up today.  The organization has been meeting at Deerhurst Resorts.  The Organization representitives, 17 in all, are meeting to discuss policy, share ideas and network. 
The group took a tour of Huntsville last night.

Councilor Karin Terziano reported to council that the Library continues to be an important service provided in the town and their membership continues to grow, last year by over a thousand for a total of 10,400 people that use their services.
Terziano said that more people borrow books from the library than buy books.