But the town that has seen actors like Sir Alec Guinness, Maggie Smith, and Christopher Plummer grace its stages,  also had a dark side. 

Like many Canadian towns and cities, it has its share of addiction issues. And in the mid-2000’s, it found itself in the throes of a serious methamphetamine problem.

In fact, according to the RCMP, two-thirds of the meth labs that were busted in Ontario in 2005 were in the Stratford area. 

The drug trafficking scene can attract violent people and sometimes people get seriously hurt, or worse. 

That’s what happened to Derek Ritz, who has been missing since New Year's Day of 2017. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look into the disappearance of Derek Ritz, or as most knew him, Ritzy, and talk about what needs to be done to bring this case to a close. 

These marches were held one year after the Stonewall riots, and in many ways, could be considered the very first Pride parades. 

The Stonewall riots of 1969 were a watershed moment for the gay rights movement, which later evolved to include members of other persecuted sexual minorities and became the 2SLGBTQ+ community. 

And now, every June, we mark Pride Month. 

But 55 years into what we might call the Pride movement, we have to ask the question….are the gains that have been made in those 55 years bring stripped away by renewed levels of homophobia and transphobia? 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we take a look at Pride, how far we’ve come, and how far we still need to go, as we talk to Pride leaders, and victims of homophobic crimes. 

But, in some cases, the searches come to an end and there’s no resolution for families whose loved ones have disappeared. 

It was 30 years ago this month that Mistie Murray of Goderich disappeared, and she has never been found. 

While there have been reported sightings of a young woman that some believe was Mistie, police decided that she had been murdered. And that determination led to a trial that devastated a family, and cast suspicion upon her adoptive father, who was later acquitted of murder. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we take a look at the case of Mistie Murray, the legal drama that followed, and where things stand today, 30 years after she vanished. 

This episode is written and produced by Patrick Magermans, and hosted by Scott Kitching and Adelle Loiselle. 

To learn more about missing children in Canada, go to www.missingkids.ca 

And that battle is made all the more difficult for voters when information is mixed with misinformation. 

Misinformation can come from other countries, but sometimes, misinformation is produced within our own borders by partisan third party groups that use social media to spread lies. 

On this episode of The 519 Podcast, we take a look at online misinformation, and how voters can separate what’s real from what is not. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look into the story of the Windsor Slasher and explore this dark chapter of extreme violence and homophobia in the city’s history. 

This episode was written and produced by Patrick Magermans and is hosted by Scott Kitching.

To no one’s surprise, this has led to a serious increase in the amount of people who do gamble. That has led to a growth in gambling addiction. And while gambling addiction isn’t a new phenomenon in our society, the extreme circumstances of beating the addiction in the digital landscape is. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we take a look at the explosion of online sports betting and gambling, and how it’s impacting us locally.

This episode was written and produced by Patrick Magermans and is hosted by Scott Kitching. 

But sadly, sometimes our furry friends fall victim to contagious diseases. That's what happened in Windsor, where an outbreak of Parvovirus has claimed the lives of at least 18 dogs (as of the end of December) in the city.

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we examine the outbreak with Windsor Essex County Humane Society Executive Director Lynnette Bain and Michelle Macnab, Director of Community Vet Services at the Hamilton Burlington SPCA. 

This episode was written and produced by Patrick Magermans and is hosted by Scott Kitching. 

The next morning, she and a male companion went to retrieve her car. It was the last time she was ever seen. 

Despite extensive searches, her remains have never been found. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at her case through the eyes of Matthew Nopper, co-founder of the group Please Bring Me Home, which works to find missing people. 

In the 30 years since her murder, no one has been arrested. 

On this episode of The 519 Podcast, we look into Sonya’s murder and follow the work of her sister, Meggie Cywink, and original investigator Chris Gheysen in their pursuit of solving the case. 

Hosted by Scott Kitching

Written and Produced by Patrick Magermans

38 years later, his wife Mary Ellen is still looking for answers - even as police have offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

This episode of the 519 Podcast examines his disappearance from Ayton and who may know something about what happened to Neil.

At 4:11 pm on August 14, 2003, approximately 55 million North Americans found themselves without power.

The widespread outage stretched across parts of Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look back at “The Great Northeast Blackout - 20 years later” 

We’ve explored the ghost stories of Texas Road and the Park House Museum located on Dalhousie Street. But just a few houses down from the Park House Museum is another haunted house. 

On this episode of The3 519 Podcast, we learn more about the spooky happenings within the Gordon House - home to tourism Amherstburg and potentially a few residential ghosts. 

This episode is hosted by Hayley Cheng. 

But that’s not the case for many people. Around 1,700 children are adopted each year in Canada. Although many still grow up in a loving home with their adoptive parents, they may still question who their birth parents are, why were they given up for adoption, and what their lives would’ve looked like if they had not been adopted. 

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we speak with Colleen O’Grady Johnson, an adoption search angel originally from Woodstock who reconnected 825 families over the last 18 years. 

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we talk about the development of radar technology in Southwestern Ontario and the impact it had on the Second World War. 

This is The Secrets of Radar and the Second World War. 

On this episode of the ‘519 Podcast’, we look at the Victorian serial killer Thomas Niell Cream and discuss his life in Ontario. 

On this episode of the ‘519 Podcast’, we listen to the jarring confession tapes of serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer, who killed 8 seniors during her time working in nursing homes. 

That’s because paranormal happenings are rarely predictable, and the same things never seem to happen twice. You might feel a chill that raises the hair on the back of your neck, or hear the creaking of old floorboards and the grumbling of old pipes. But only now and then, does someone claim to have seen a ghost, and rarely is that ghost ever caught on camera. Ghost sounds being captured are few and far in between, and objects moving on their own are not often seen either. 

However, these things all happen in the oldest building in Essex County. At the Park House Museum, you can count on it, in fact. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at the Haunting of the Park House Museum

When we want water, we turn on the tap, and there it is. And, by and large, we trust that the water coming out of our tap is clean and safe for us to use. We’re completely dependent on that water as we use it for everything in our lives, from brushing our teeth, to bathing, to cooking with it, and obviously to drink it.

But, what happens when something goes wrong? What happens when that water becomes tainted?

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we take a look at how an entire town’s water supply became so dangerous that it led to severe illness and death. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at the disappearance of Lois Hanna, and talk about theories as to what could have happened on the night she was last seen.

If you know anything about Lois's disappearance,  please contact: PleaseBringMeHome.com

To listen to more details about Lois's story: Sheddinglight.buzzsprout.com

This week on the 519 Podcast, we look into one of these cases: the unsolved murder of Karen Caughlin, which has been haunting Sarnia for nearly 50 years. 

Sadly, this was not the case in the early 1900’s, when the Klan's twisted ideas bled across the border into Southwestern Ontario. It was during this time that there were parades of thousands of Klansmena nd crosses were burned at their meetings. 

It’s not exactly a bright spot in Ontario’s history, needless to say. It’s not an overly well known history either.

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at the KKK's history in our region. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we examine the St. Patrick's Day Riot of 2012.

How it happened, the fallout, and what was done to ensure it would never happen again.

But the subject of this episode was very unique in what she brought to the table. 

In a time when breaking through the barriers of racism was already near impossible, Mary Ann Shadd Cary had to deal with a historically terrible era of sexism. Despite it all, she became the first Black woman to open, own, and run a newspaper.

This was a significant achievement. But the amazing part is, this was just one of the things she was able to accomplish in her lifetime. It was essentially a single line in a resume that grew for decades, with recognitions and contributions to the abolition movement, to educating settlers in Canada, to getting a law degree, to helping the Union in the American Civil War. 

She was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada in 1994. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we tell her story. 

Henry and Mary Bibb settled in Old Sandwich Towne in Windsor, Ontario in August of 1850. Five months later they opened ‘The Voice of the Fugitive’, the first ever black owned newspaper in Canada. It was a massive step forward for the anti-slavery movement, as well as a significant milestone in Black Canadian History. 

As difficult a task as it would have been to start ‘The voice of the Fugitive’, the road leading to that moment was much more difficult

Henry Bibb was born a slave, seeing nothing but the horrors of human ownership through his entire adolescence. And while Mary was born a free woman, being a black woman in America during that era was no cake walk either. They had a lot to overcome to get to where they were. In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we tell their story. 

This is 'Printing for Freedom’.

In fact, the number was the highest we have seen in two decades. And it had been growing for years, leading up to 2022. 

From 2010 to 2019,  Ontario saw around 75 to 100 fire-related deaths each year. Then, when COVID-19 hit, people started spending a lot more time at home. 

And we started seeing more people lose their lives in fires.

In 2020, the number was 115. In 2021, it was 125. 

And in 2022, the number climbed to 133. 

So, are fires getting more dangerous or are we becoming more complacent? The answer, oddly, is both. 

This is 133 Dead: Ontario's Tragic Record Breaking Year.

The gruesome crime happened in the small town of Listowel in 1894 - and has become a part of local legend.

On this episode of ‘The 519 Podcast’ we look at the Murder of Jessie Keith and the time Jack the Ripper was thought to be in Ontario.

“It’s a Balloon… It’s a Meteor…. No, it’s a UFO!” was the headline for a story that included roughly 200 other witnesses being referenced in the article. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast we look at the Rob’s UFO sighting and dive into his eight years of adventuring with Mark McNabb in UFO exploration. 

It led to a hectic investigation that, unfortunately, did not turn up many promising leads. 

As time passed, it became what’s known as a ‘cold case’ that would haunt investigators for decades. 

That is, until the case was re-opened in 2016.

This is the story of how the tragic murder of a little girl was solved decades after it happened. 

There have been lawsuits that have brought the problems at EMDC to the forefront at Queens Park. 

However, things don’t seem to have gotten much better. , 

Overcrowding continues to be a problem. And just recently, another inmate died at the jail. When you add up the problems at the EMDC, it becomes clear, it is one of Ontario’s most dangerous places to live. 

This is ‘Surviving the EMDC'

But where Egan differed from many of his comrades, was his understanding that many of the German sailors who were trying to kill him were not Nazis. Many were, like him, men who had patriotically answered the call of their country. So, when he was tasked with looking after U-Boat sailors who were taken prisoner, he treated them with kindness, dignity, and respect. So much so that the captain of U-575 invited him to the crew's reunion years later, a reunion he travelled to Germany to attent. 

This is his story. 

If you grew up around Woodstock, you’ve probably heard of the Topping family. The Topping farmhouse was on Lot Eight on Cuthbert Road, Concession Six just south of Sweaburg in Southwest-Oxford. And it was in that farmhouse that Timothy Topping massacred his family on a chilly winter morning.

But, this is not just another murder case, it’s grown into a whole lot more. 

Maybe you’ve gone out to Critter’s Lane yourself, late at night with your friends, hoping to catch a glimpse of a ghost. Could these ghosts be the spirits of the Topping family, lingering in the last place they were happy together?

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at the Topping family tragedy and whether or not the ghosts of the victims still haunt the area.

The exorcism was carried out  by his father, Diego Zepeda-Cordera, as well as his mother, Ana Mejia-Lopez, and family friend, Alex Osegueda. Allwere members of the now shuttered Pentacostal Missionary Church of Christ. They tied Walter down in the basement of their family’s basement apartment, praying to rid him of his demons over the one week period. 

And according to them, it worked. But, at what expense?

A mother and father lost their child, and the three were tried in a court of law for murder. 

On this episode of ‘The 519 Podcast’ we present "The Exorcism of Walter Zepeda."

Kids were getting ready for another day of summer, people headed off to work, and it was a fairly normal day. 

Until it wasn’t. 

The calm of that summer day in the Lake Erie town was shattered when an explosion rocked a section of the downtown. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we present  ‘Rising from the Ruble: The Wheatley Explosion’. 

A cow manure powered garbage truck has hit the streets of Hensall, Ontario, a small town in Huron County. 

These carbon negative garbage trucks are a part of a 6 month pilot program run by Bluewater Recycling and Enbridge. If all goes well, manure powered garbage trucks could be a mainstay in our municipalities. And potentially well beyond. 

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at whether these, shall we say, poop powered garbage trucks give us a glimpse into the future of fuel. 

The 519 Podcast looks at what’s going on inside our healthcare systems and asks experts about solutions that could solve some of the issues.

But, his story didn't end with his arrest. It continued in directions that are really quite unbelievable. 

Sitting in his holding cell and awaiting trial, there were really only two options for Matthew Lamb. Execution, or life in prison. And as far as open and shut cases go, this was definitely one of them.

In part 2 of The Windsor Spree Killer, we hear again from Will Toffan, author of  “Watching the Devil Dance” and find out how Matthew Charles Lamb spent the rest of his very short yet chaotic life.

While they have become a far too frequent occurrence south of the border, and they are significantly more rare in Canada, they have happened here. It’s a phenomenon that we’ve begrudgingly had to accept, and an image we’ve somehow developed a stomach for. 

But in 1966, these sorts of violent events weren’t as common. There wasn’t even a label for it. No ‘mass shooters’ or ‘serial killers’. Back then they were just bad people, plain and simple. If something of this magnitude did happen, it was such an anomaly that it was hard to forget the name of the shooter and their victims, unlike today. 

So when Canada’s first ever spree killer attacked the streets of Windsor on June 25th, 1966, it was a complete shock to everyone. 

This is part 1 of a 2-part episode about Matthew Charles Lamb, Canada's first spree killer. 

Why do we accept what amounts to verbal abuse of young people, simply because it happens at a sporting event?

Most minor sports leagues in our region are experiencing a shortage of referees and umpires, and the argument could easily be made that this is a problem of our own making. 

In this episode of The 519 Podcast, we speak to two sports organization officials about the challenges they are facing, an umpire's association president who says it's getting harder to find people willing to put up with the heckling, and two 15-year-old umpires who describe the impact the verbal abuse has on them.

Countless commercials, and even studio segments, promoting betting on the games. Were we too hasty when allowing single game betting in Canada? What are the downsides? On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we explore the new reality of sport gambling in Canada and what it all means.

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles.

It became what is now known as the Victoria Steamboat Disaster, causing the deaths of 172 people. And back when London only had a population of around 20,000 people, few in the city were unaffected.    How did this happen? Who, if anyone, was to blame? 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we talk to Dan Brock, a London historian and author of 2011 book, “Fragments from the Forks” which details the disaster. 

Convicted of raping and murdering Lynne Harper at the age of 14, Truscott spent the next decade behind bars and nearly 50 years being considered guilty of the crime by both the justice system and most people in the country.

However, Truscott was not guilty.

In this episode of The 519 podcast, we present The Steven Truscott Saga and the Woman Who Set Things Right. We look at how Truscott was convicted and how he and his wife Marlene fought to clear his name.

The story was startling and, for some, likely conjured up images of a real life Cruella DeVille. 

But when you take a closer look at stories like these - ones that involve what we often call ‘animal hoarding’ - it’s not hard to wonder how this can happen. 

Who in their right mind would fill their home with dozens of animals? 

In many cases, the people are not in their right mind. 

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we learn more about animal hoarding from Kara Kelly of the CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services and Liz White, president of the Animal Alliance of Canada.

Whether it’s from books, movies, TV or elsewhere, just about everyone in the area knows something about the Black Donnellys. 

On this two part series, the 519 Podcast examines their story, including how the massacre of the Lucan area family happened and whether this was 'Vigilante Justice or Violent Anarchy.'

Whether it’s from books, movies, TV or elsewhere, just about everyone in the area knows something about the Black Donnellys. 

On this two part series, the 519 Podcast examines their story, including how the massacre of the Lucan area family happened and whether this was 'Vigilante Justice or Violent Anarchy.'

This episode of the 519 Podcast looks at the variety of scams and how you can protect yourself. 

But there are also a lot of Canadians who are unaware that the one-time head of Labatt Breweries was once the victim of what was then the most famous kidnapping in Canadian history. 

On this episode of The 519 Podcast, we look at the 1934 kidnapping near Sarnia of John Sackville Labatt, the 53-year-old grandson of the brewing empire's founder.  

In that same incident, Constable Jack Lewis, a Sarnia Police Officer, was also killed.

This week, the 519 Podcast tells their story.

For seven days, the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor was essentially shut down, causing massive economic repercussions on both sides of the Detroit River.

Some protesters claimed it was because of vaccine mandates, while others said it was COVID-19 restrictions in general, and some even said they wanted to replace the federal government.

No matter why these people were actually there, their presence caused a big problem.

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we speak to a reporter who covered the blockade, Windsor's mayor, its deputy police chief, and an economist about the protest near the Ambassador Bridge.

But for many in the region, the landfill would be perilously and alarmingly close to the Thames River. 

There were concerns about the impact, not just on the health of the river, but also on the aquafer of the area, where many residents got their drinking water. 

The stage was set for a long-running battle between a company that wanted to fill an empty quarry with garbage and local residents who wanted no part of it. 

This is the story of how that community rose up, organized, and fought a years-long battle that it ultimately won.

There's the Donnelly massacre, the Amherstburg Rebellion, and the Victoria steamboat disaster. But some of the most interesting stories are the ones that don't get told very often. These stories often involve Black Canadians and Black people who came from the U.S. to escape slavery. 

There was a time when Ontario was seen as a safe haven for escaped slaves, and a place where their descendants could flourish and be truly free. Laws in Ontario were progressive for the era, and they provided safety. 

But, it’s important to recognize that laws are only as good as the people upholding them, and that while Black people escaped slavery by coming to Ontario, that doesn’t  necessariliy mean they escaped racism. 

And that’s as true now as it was in the 1800’s.

Perhaps that why it's important to have Black History Month, so that these stories get the attention they deserve. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we tell one of those stories. 

This the story of Josiah Henson, an escaped slave who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom's Cabin.

But behind the curtain, it was a much different story. In the 1980s, Helmuth was leading a double life. One was that of a successful businessman, church-goer, and philanthropist. The other was that a cocaine abusing patron of prostitutes and strip clubs.

As you’ll hear in this two-part episode of The 519 Podcast, that double life led to Helmuth Buxbaum hiring hit men to kill his wife. On July 5, 1984, her body was found at the side of Highway 402 just west of London. This is the story of how Hanna Buxbaum, a well regarded mother of six, met her tragic and violent end.

It hasn't quite worked out that way. 

With the rise of the Omicron variant, in some ways it feels like we're back to square one. We're back to closed gyms and theatres, and kids learning from home instead of being in the classroom. 

As we get closer to the two year mark of the pandemic, there's no question, this has been hard on all of us. But you could easily argue that it has been especially hard on our health care workers. 

Many are sick, tired, and facing abuse from patients and families. Some of them have had enough. 

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we speak with Dr. Adam Kassam, President of the Ontario Medical Association as well as Doris Grinspun, the CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles. 

But what happens when you slide off that highway into the ditch? Or if a truck does?

Highway 401 is one of the busiest highways in North America. Our 400 series highways host over 400,000 drivers per day.

Keeping them moving - especially when the weather gets bad - isn’t easy.

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we talk to Gary Vandenheuvel, owner and operator of Preferred Towing in Sarnia. Gary and his team are featured on the Discovery Channel show 'Heavy Rescue 401' and they keep us moving even when Mother Nature stands in the way.

Pizza. That food that tastes as good at lunch as it does at 2 a.m. after a night out. 

We all know there different types of pizza associated with different cities. There's New York Style Pizza and Chicago Deep Dish. 

But what about the pizza styles that rarely get talked about?

These are the ones that tend to be known by few more than the locals.

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look at Windsor style pizza. 

And we speak with George Kalivas, who has made a documentary about Windsor style pizza called ‘The Pizza City You’ve Never Heard Of’ 

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles and Hayley Cheng.

Capital punishment was officially abolished here in 1976, although it had been effectively abolished by a series of commutations and moritoriums dating back to 1963. The last executions in the Canadian justice system happened in 1962. 

But there was a time when capital punishment was a reality in this country. 

Most of those who met the hangman’s noose were men, but there were some women who were handed the ultimate punishment. 

One of those women was Elizabeth Workman of Sarnia, who was hanged in 1873 for killing her abusive husband. 

This is her story. 

But what about the people whose contributions to the war effort involved work on this side of the ocean. 

These people never wore military uniforms, never held rifles in their hands, and never stormed the beaches of Normandy. 

But they made sure that the soldiers who did, and the rest of the country, had food to eat. They were young women who signed up to work on farms when male farmers and farm labourers traded in their barn clothes for soldiers' uniforms. 

This is the story of The Farmerettes.  

But, what are the odds of somebody actually putting a razor blade or poison into Halloween candy? Is this something that actually happens? Or is it just a myth?

On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we examine whether Halloween is more trick than treat.

We speak with Dr. Joel Best of the University of Delaware, who has studied Halloween sadism, and examine how true some of these stories actually are.

This episode is hosted by Hayley Cheng, Craig Needles and Patrick Magermans.

That all changed in April of that year, when the bodies of eight bikers were found in vehicles on a rural road near the town. 

On this episode of The 519 Podcast, we look at the Bandidos Massacre.

They were baseball a team that fought prejudice and injustice just to play the game they loved. And in the 1934 season, they became champions of  the Ontario Baseball Association, being the first all-Black team to have ever done so.  On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we hear from Blake Harding, the son of one of the star players in the original 1934 team, as well as sports historian Bill Humber, and authors Brock Greenhalgh and Dr. Heidi Jacobs. 

In this episode of The 519 Podcast, we look at what has been done to make classrooms safer and whether it's enough. We speak to Directors of Education for three school boards in the region and Annie Kidder, the head of the education advocacy group, People for Education. 

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles. 

It damaged roughly 100 houses and 25 other buildings, leaving a damage bill of about $130-million. 

It also claimed one life and affected the lives of an entire community, effects that linger 10 years later. 

On August 21, 2011, an isolated supercell thunderstorm that formed and gained strength over Lake Huron, came ashore in Goderich as an F-3 tornado.

In this episode of the 519 Podcast, we look back at that fateful day in Goderich, what has happened since, and how the community is doing now. 

This episode is hosted by Hayley Cheng.  

With the delta variant causing another spike in COVID-19 cases, and the number of people getting vaccinated seemingly stagnating, the debate now seems to be about can governments can do to mitigate the fourth wave of the pandemic.

The key, most experts agree, is vaccination.  

But how to you get people who are vaccine hesitant or outright refusing the vaccine to change their minds and roll up their sleeves?    Some argue, that's where vaccine passports come in.  Quebec says it's bringing in vaccine passports, and they've become an issue in the Nova Scotia election.    But what about here in Ontario? So far, the province is saying they're not necessary.    On this episode of the 519 Podcast, we hear from infectious disease specialist Dr. Zain Chagla about how vaccine passports might be the key to ending the pandemic. 

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles. 

In a recent episode, we heard from economist Mike Moffatt about why prices have gone up this way they have. We also talked to a realtor who pointed to the lack of supply and how it's making it very hard for buyers to find what they're looking for in their price range.  In this episode, we hear from first time home buyers Alex and Tristan - who were successful in finding a home.. 

What was their house searching experience like? Was it discouraging to see houses they loved sell for hundreds of thousands over the list price? And what advice do they have for other first time home buyers?

This episode is hosted by Craig Needles. 

And they give so much. But it’s not just companionship and unconditional love that dogs give us. 

Some dogs contribute in a much different way. They help solve crimes and find missing people. 

That’s the focus of this episode of the 519 Podcast. Host Craig Needles speaks with Constable Kristopher Black, K9 unit officer and dog handler with Lambton OPP, about police dogs Blitz and Celeana.

Prices at an all time high, bidding wars, and properties selling for hundreds of thousand dollars over the asking price. The real estate market in our region has been breaking records in the past year. 

Are these numbers here to stay, or is this a bubble that will inevitably burst?

We hope, by the end of this episode, we will answer some of your questions and leave you feeling a little more hopeful about buying a home. 

It happens all the time. We've even coined a term for the people who do it. We call them porch pirates. 

But that's usually for the thefts of things like Amazon packages. 

There are other times when thefts from front porches hit like a punch to the gut. Like the recent theft of a special wheelchair from the home of a 9-year-old girl in London. 

The story has a happy ending of sorts, as the public came together to raise money for a replacement. 

But it shouldn't have to come to that. 

And that's the focus of this episode of the Blackburn News Podcast, hosted by Craig Needles. 

It's where you can find people doing what they have waited so long to do. That is, gather with others with a semblance of normalcy. 

This is what we’ve been waiting for., and it’s a good time to take a look back to the restaurant struggles we’ve had and have a look forward to where outdoor and indoor dining is headed in the future.

This is Patio Mania, a Blackburn News podcast looking into one of this summer’s most anticipated social gathering places, and where we’re at with the bar and restaurant industry. It's hosted by Craig Needles

But many of those same people that you ask will also say we have a long way to go. 

June is Pride Month in Canada. 

And where things stand is the focus of this edition of the Blackburn News Podcast. 

This episode is hosted by Hayley Cheng. 

On a quiet Sunday night in northwest London, Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha, their daughter Yunma, son Fayez, and Talat, the grandmother and pillar of the family, went for an evening walk. 

But instead of coming home from that walk, Salman, Madiha, Yunma, and Talat were murdered, while Fayez was left in hospital with serious injuries.

In this episode of the Blackburn News Podcast, hosted by Craig Needles, we learn more about the family. We also hear from some prominent Muslim voices in the London community who say we should not be surprised or shocked that something like this would happen in Canada, .a country that many would argue has long deluded itself into believing that racism and Islamaphobia are problems that exist elsewhere, but not here. 

Professor Campbell talks about the reaction to the discovery, the shameful history of residential schools, and how many Canadians turned a blind eye to their existence over the years. 

More resources can be found here:

http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf

https://oncanadaproject.ca/settlerstakeaction

https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/

It's hosted by Craig Needles and Hayley Cheng. 

This episode is hosted by Hayley Cheng and Craig Needles.

And it did so largely outside the attention of most Canadians. 

But that changed when Michigan Governer Gretchen Whitmer gave Enbridge a deadline to shut the pipeline down. 

That deadline came and went this week, with Enbridge saying that it will not shut the line down without a court order. 

So why is the battle over this pipeline so important?

That's what the Blackburn News Podcast set out to learn in this episode, hosted by Craig Needles. 

Some people believe the stories, while others are a little more skeptical. 

Whether you believe or not, there are few things that can get the hair on your arms standing up better than a good ghost story. 

In part two of Ghost Town, our five part series series on some of the haunted houses and areas of our region, host Julie Bullivant takes us through London's haunted Grand Theatre. 

So where does the fault lie?

Is it at the feet of Prime Minister Trudeau for not getting enough vaccines quick enough, or is it at the feet of Premier Ford for the way vaccines have been distributed. 

Like most things, the answer is more complicated. 

So, host Craig Needles decided to speak to a couple of people with different perspectives: London North Centre Liberal Peter Fragiskatos and Professor Amir Attaran, a frequent critic of both the federal and provincial response to the pandemic. 

In this episode of the Blackburn News Podcast, host Craig Needles speaks with marijuana retail store owners about what has worked and what barriers to success are still in place for pot shop proprietors. 

But as host Hayley Cheng examines in Episode 10 of the Blackburn News Podcast, anti-Asian racism has always been a part of Canadian life.