> Grimsby to implement downtown construction plan over ’26-’27 /Pg 3 > Grimsby Polar Bear Dip set for Jan. 1 at Bal Harbour Pg 8 > Non-residential recycling pick up ends Jan. 1 Pg 11 > West Lincoln sets new building fees Pg 17 Thursday, January 1, 2026 Vol. 14 Issue 35
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World record holder
Children from St. John Catholic Elementary School’s YMCA Child Care Centre have earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World
Records. They completed the longest chain of Rainbow Loom bracelets. For more coverage, please turn to Page 4.
Affordable housing: foundation of stable, strong community By Joanne McDonald For NewsNow Affordable housing can change lives for residents of Lincoln but the policy makers and the people who live there must decide what kind of community they want to be, say advocates with Affordable Housing Lincoln (AHL).
The precarious life that comes with homelessness may not be as visible as in larger urban centres, but a growing number of Lincoln households are spending far past the 30 per cent of income benchmark to keep a roof over their heads, leaving less for food and health care - a house of cards
where one crisis, one lost paycheque, can trigger imminent collapse. In Lincoln alone, one of the fastest growing municipalities across Niagara, the number of households with unaffordable housing will more than double, from 1,215 to 2,500, by 2051. A recent panel or-
ganized by Affordable Housing Lincoln (AHL) and Poverty Project Trinity United Church Beamsville drew a large crowd, including a full slate of Town councillors to the Fleming Centre in Beamsville. Panelist Mike Kirkopoulos, CAO Town of Lincoln said preliminary plans for
affordable housing on Town-owned land at the former Beamsville District Secondary School (BDSS) will go to Council in the first quarter of the new year. It’s a good start, an opportunity that will only come around once say AHL members, but they See HOUSING, Page 6