Flood concerns, drug busts, and a measles scare lead Chatham-Kent's Top 10 stories on BlackburnNews.com for 2019.
Top Three
This year will go down in local history as especially wet, windy, and wavy in Chatham-Kent.
And that is why flooding concerns are our editors' choice for CK's top story of 2019.
With water levels in Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie reaching new record highs in the summer, residents living along the water -- especially on Erie Shore Drive -- have battled flooding and erosion-related issues all year.
Two significant flooding events in the spring and the fall, in particular, prompted a pair of separate "State of Emergency" declarations -- one in the Dover and Tilbury areas along the Thames River in February and another in the area of Erie Beach in August.
Dozens of flood watches and warnings have also been issued by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority over the course of the year -- more than doubling the number of alerts that were sent out in 2017.
Chatham-Kent council officially declared a "Climate Emergency" in July this year and Wheatley Provincial Park even had to indefinitely close its beach to motorists for safety reasons after the waves caused some serious erosion along the shoreline.
And if the current forecast holds up for 2020, lakeside property owners are likely in for another difficult year ahead.
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Coming in second is another developing story as Chatham-Kent police continue a local crackdown on illegal drug activity in the municipality.
A recent conversation with local police chief Gary Conn revealed that police have seized around $3.3 million of narcotics this year -- an increase of more than $500,000 compared to 2018.
Included in that was the largest single drug bust in Chatham-Kent's history -- when officers seized $2.6 million in drugs from a Chatham apartment.
That investigation led to the arrest of 36-year-old Jonathan Toornstra who was later sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of charges that were laid in connection with that bust.
In April, officers also arrested 11 others in a coordinated operation called "Project Fresh", which police said took approximately six months of work to carry out.
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Rounding out this year's top three stories is a measles scare that took Chatham-Kent by storm in March 2019.
At that time, the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit issued a warning that it had reason to believe a person in the community may have contracted the virus and could have exposed others to it as well.
A lab test later confirmed that while the description of the patient's symptoms were very convincing for measles, the test results came back negative.
Chatham-Kent's medical officer of health, Dr. David Colby, said even though it turned out to be a false alarm, the situation underscored the need to ensure everyone is vaccinated for the measles virus.
An outbreak in Michigan earlier this year also heightened concerns about the possibility for a similar situation locally.
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The Best of the Rest
Court case delays, a challenge to the province's pit bull ban, and a big anniversary for a local auto restoration and auction business helped to round out this year's Top 10.
4. Court cases we're still following that were not resolved in 2019
There are several developing cases that our newsroom continues to follow as they crawl through the courts including a Wallaceburg woman accused of murder, a Wallaceburg man accused of attempted murder.
5. Pit bull ban challenged
Chatham Kent Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls who introduced a private member’s bill in the legislature earlier this year to reverse the ban on pit bull-type dogs. That move has been met with mixed reactions since its introduction and is expected to come to a key vote in 2020.
6. Teacher strikes
While the issue isn't restricted to Chatham-Kent alone, the ongoing labour disputes between the province and teachers unions in Ontario is certainly having a noticeable effect on local classrooms, including two one-day strikes involving high school teachers at the Lambton-Kent District School Board this past year.
7. Federal election -- CK stays Conservative
Canadians elected another Liberal government federally, but Chatham-Kent voters stayed blue -- electing two new candidates to replace long-time Conservative MPs Bev Shipley and Dave Van Kesteren who both retired this year. Lianne Rood now represents Lambton-Kent-Middlesex while Dave Epp took over in Chatham-Kent Leamington.
8. RM's 40th Anniversary bash wows CK
You'd be hard-pressed to find a celebration in Chatham-Kent that matched the bash that was organized by Rob Myers and his team for RM Sotheby's 40th anniversary and Retrofest this past summer. The weekend attracted thousands of local residents and out-of-towners (including Kid Rock) to downtown Chatham, raising an estimated $250,000 for three local charities in the process.
9. Allegations levelled against Chatham Ophthamologist
Another developing story that our newsroom continues to follow, the allegations against Dr. Christopher Anjema -- which have not yet been brought to a discipline committee hearing -- have drawn a lot of attention locally. A hearing date still has not been set for the case, but Dr. Anjema is accused of disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct -- specifically, regarding medical services offered to a patient, including uninsured services. He is also accused of inappropriately billing the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) by ordering or conducting unnecessary tests and investigations.
10. Casino opens in Chatham
Cascades Casino took a gamble in 2019 and moved its gaming operations to Chatham with the new casino opening its doors for the first time in July. The move marked the end of an era in Dresden -- the former home of the slots -- with long-time Dresden-area municipal councillor Joe Faas remarking at the time that it would be difficult to say what kind of economic impact the move will have on that community.
