> More than 1,100 visit Bethlehem at Calvary Gospel Church / Pg. 7 > Home Hardware prepares to reopen Pg. 2 > Conrad Black draws crowd to Author Series Pg. 3> Santa to make Jordan stop Pg. 6 Thursday, December 11, 2014 Vol. 3 Issue 32
www.wn3.ca 100% Niagara owned, operated and printed.
Proudly serving Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln & Winona
Circ: 25,733
Up Front Ambulance standing by A holiday food drive with a twist is taking place this Friday, Dec. 12, in support of the Grimsby Benevolent Fund’s Christmas Hamper program. Volunteers with St. John Ambulance will be at the Real Canadian Superstore, 361 South Service Rd. in Grimsby from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and they have an ambulance standing by – to be filled with food. Just one food item can make a difference; come out and help.
Have breakfast with Santa Take your little ones to the Grimsby Peach King Centre this Saturday, Dec. 13 and you can have breakfast with the jolly old elf himself. Breakfast will be served from 8 a.m. to noon. There will be an area where only the youngest of “shoppers” are permitted: Santa’s Clauset, a shopping and wrapping area for children only. Tickets – $5 each or $20 for a family to a maximum of five people – are available at the door. Presented by the West Lincoln Memorial Auxiliary.
Merry Christmas! Santa Claus himself received a warm welcome to downtown Grimsby on Saturday night as the 57th edition of the Santa Claus Parade rolled through
town just after dusk. Thousands lined the parade route to watch. For story and more photos, Pages 12-13. Grant-Photo
Grimsby grow-op goes up in smoke By Katherine Grant NewsNow An illegal marijuana extraction lab was uncovered during the investigation into a Saturday afternoon fire that caused about $200,000 damage to a Grimsby greenhouse operation. Niagara Regional Police and the Fire Marshal’s office have now released the scene but the investigation is ongoing, said Acting Staff Sgt. Les Vuyk, 8 District, NRP. Although the extraction of hash oil and other marijuana byproducts can make the
process dangerous due to the flammable solvents used, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, said Vuyk. “The Fire Marshal is reviewing the evidence,” he said adding there was nothing growing in the greenhouses and no one on the premises Saturday. The call for the Sobie Road fire came in just before 3:30 p.m. “The captain (Tim Leach) reported a fully involved structure fire upon arrival at the scene of the fire,” said
Grimsby Fire Chief Mike Cain. West Lincoln and Lincoln fire services sent tanker trucks to the scene. In total 16 fire trucks were deployed. “The working relationship we have with West Lincoln and Lincoln is nothing short of outstanding,” said Cain. “The crew did an excellent job of containing the fire and knocking it down,” said Cain. It took about 90 minutes to get it under control. The greenhouse had been the site of a legal marijuana growing operation but during the course of examin-
ing the site after the fire, firefighters thought things seemed amiss and police, already on scene, were notified, said Cain. “We always do an investigation post-fire and something potentially illegal was identified. As soon as the scene is determined to be suspicious or related to illegal activity the investigation takes a whole different direction,” said Cain. The outcome of the investigation will determine if criminal charges will be laid, said Vuyk.