A school bus driver is among four people charged by South Simcoe Police with speeding through a school zone this morning.  The driver was clocked at 88 kmh in a 60 kilometre an hour zone near Sir William Osler School on County Road 88.  Another driver was caught doing 99 kmh in a 50 zone near Cookstown Public School.  Ten minutes later, the same officer stopped someone going 90 kmh on the same stretch.  A fourth was charged with speeding near Innisfil Central School.  Police say that driver had a radar detector mounted on his dashboard.

Provincial Police say the remains found in Caledon at the weekend have been identified as 42 year old Sonia Veraschin of Orangeville and they have ruled her death a homicide.  Veraschin was reported missing a week ago.  Police believe her car was used to transport her body to the area wherre she was found, then returned to Orangeville.

Been a buzz about if for the last few days, we can confirm today that six time Canadian figure skating champion Jennifer Robinson has stuck her toe-pick into the race for councillor in Barrie’s Ward 8.  Two others are contesting the seat left by Jerry Moore - Don McNeil and John Webb.

The building permit has been issued and the steel will start rising out of the ground in the next few weeks.  After years of wrangling, Park Place - on the former Molson Park grounds in Barrie - will start to take shape.  Billed as an upscale, open-air shopping experience, Park Place will be home to as many as 100 shops and services - including Bed, Bath and Beyond, Golf Town, Future Shop, Best Buy, Urban Barn and Milestone's - and it's expected to create up to 5-thousand jobs.  Not only that, but North American Develoment Group, has given the city $16-million for road widening along Mapleview Drive and upgrades to the Highway 400 ramps at Mapleview, to help solve existing congestion and ensure traffic flows freely once Park Place is open.  The first shops are expected to be in business by August of next year.

Orillia OPP are looking for help identifying a woman - a 'person of interest' - in the June murder of 58 year old Robert Evans of Orillia. Evans' body was discovered in his Andrew Street home, by a neighbour, on Tuesday June 29. Police say Evans may have been in the company of this woman on Thursday or Friday of the previous week. She's described as 25-30 years of age, very tall and very thin with long, straight blonde hair. Police say she may have information that would be helpful to their investigation. Anyone with information regarding this woman is asked to police at 705-326-3536.

If you want to get through a difficult task easier, walk backwards.  Prevention Magazine has found people were better able to perform difficult tasks faster by walking in reverse.  Scientists think what they call the ‘ avoidance’ mode of walking backwards helps to focus your thinking (kind of like your focus if you were retreating from a dangerous situation).  They also warn that if you’re going to try it, you slow your pace by about half.  And you might want to practice on a treadmill with rails, using them for support.

This could bode well for filling up your gas tank.  The price of oil is down sharply in overseas trading thanks to a surge in the American dollar against the Euro.  Benchmark oil for October is down about $1.70 cents to just under 73 dollars a barrel.  The average price of gasoline in the Simcoe County area today is 98.8 cents a litre.

The lure of employment and money in their pockets is keeping more and more teenagers from pursuing a higher education.  A Stats Canada survey finds one-in-five Canadian teens is no longer in school -- that’s 20 per cent of those aged 15 to 19, compared with a worldwide average of 15 per cent.

Forensic experts have begun what police say will be a 'very detailed' autopsy on the human remains discovered Sunday near Orangeville.  It will be late today, perhaps tomorrow, before they release the results.  Police have yet to say whether the remains are male or female.  They're also still collecting evidence from the scene in Caledon, about 12 kilometres from Orangeville.  The discovery was made Sunday, almost a week after 42 year old Sonia Varaschin, of Orangeville, was reported missing.  Blood stains were found in her car and her townhouse.

Huronia West OPP say they were called to a fast food restaurant on Mosley Street in Wasaga Beach on Sunday morning after getting reports of chairs being thrown and a television being ripped off the wall. Police began their investigation, located a 24-year-old Woodbridge man, and charged him with intoxication in a public place. He'll be in a Collingwood courtroom next month.

Barrie Police say they're investigating the sudden death of a 70-year-old man who lived in the apartment building on the east end of the St. Mary's Church property on Amelia Street. A post mortem has been scheduled for today, Monday September 6th. More details to you when they become available from police.

Sunday evening at 7, many Orangeville residents will gather to light a candle of hope for Sonia Varaschin. It's been six days since the disappearance of the 42-year-old nurse. Meanwhile, the town of Orangeville has bonded through things like Facebook and Twitter, posting or reading details on the case as they become available. In the last couple of days, officers from the Toronto Police Mounted Unit have been going through local cornfields, looking for clues. Last Monday, police found Varaschin's blood-stained car in an abandoned laneway, leading them to a trail of blood in and around her Orangeville townhouse.

If in the Wasaga Beach area and looking for something to do today (Sunday), check out the Back to School Property and Bicycle Auction. It's being hosted by the Wasaga Beach Community Policing Committee at the Huronia West OPP detachment on River Road. Public viewing and bidding for this silent auction starts at noon. There are lots of cool items to bid for, with funds raised going to the Community Policing Committee in its effort to make Wasaga Beach a safer place.

Huronia West OPP say they and Clearview Township fire fighters were needed on Saturday to quell the flames damaging a house on Centre Line Road. The area between the 7th and 9th concessions of Sunnidale was closed to traffic while crews battled the blaze. More details will be posted when they become available from the OPP.

The Barrie Colts start their OHL pre-season play this Sunday afternoon with a clash against the Attack in Owen Sound.  The two teams will then meet on B.M.C ice in Barrie ice for a tilt this Monday evening. Game time for that one, 6 p.m

Foul play is not suspected, but witnesses did find it strange last night when minivan pulled up beside an elderly woman in the Town of Innisfil, three people got out (ten men and a woman) and led her into the vehicle.  The woman was seen walking near Jans Boulevard and Innisfil Beach Road around 6 o'clock last night when the van approached.  She appeared to be carrying a couple of bags with pillows inside.  Once inside the dark blue or purple van, it appeared the woman was given a drink in a clear cup.  She's described as 65-70 years of age and was wearing a blueish/white long skirt, pink tank top and walked stopped over.  South Simcoe Police are looking for the public's assistance identifying all involved.  If you can help, 905-775-3311, ext 1009, is the number to call.

Barrie Police have appointed a new Deputy Chief.  Bruce Carlson replaces Mark Neelin, who was recently appointed Chief of Police.  Carlson has been with the Barrie Police Service since 1981 rising through the ranks from Auxiliary Constable and Cadet to Inspector responsible for the Criminal Investigation Division.

Remember that smoking toddler in Indonesia?  Two years old.  Two pack-a-day habit.  Would throw tanturms when his parents refused to let him smoke.  He's kicked the habit after extensive rehab.

Barrie Police are looking witnesses after a cyclist was struck by a car around 6:45 this morning on Tiffin Street near Ferndale Drive.  The cyclist suffered serious head injuries and was taken to hospital in Toronto for treatment.  Witnesses are asked to call Barrie Police at 705-725-7025.

A man wearing a mask tried, just before 7 o'clock this morning, to get into the TD Bank branch at 534 Bayfield Street in Barrie.  When he couldn’t, police say he waited around the corner for another opportunity, apparently thinking he hadn’t been seen.  He had.  Bank employees called police; there was a brief foot chase.  A 21 year old Barrie man has been charged with attempted robbery and a number of weapons offences.

The clues have been few, the extensive searches ongoing, in the disappearance of 42 year old Sonia Varaschin of Orangeville.  An addition to air and foot patrols, the OPP and Toronto Police mounted units have been called in.  Police said this morning that neighbors in her townhouse complex remember hearing noises around 2 o’clock Monday morning - the day she was reported missing.  A beige fitted bedsheet and comforter appear to be missing from her home.  Police also say that her assailant likely had a considerable amount of blood on his person and clothing after the attack, and that his demeanor has likely changed; that he may seem more stressed than usual.  Police are asking again that everyone in and around Orangeville keep an eye out for anything unusual on their properties, articles of clothing, for instance. 

The OPP reporting a horrific fatal accident on Highway 400 around 11:30 pm Thursday night.  They say a car and pick up truck collided in the southbound lanes south of County Road 88.  Both drivers got out to look at the damage, as one returned to his vehicle to turn on the emergency blinkers he was struck by a minivan, thrown right over the centre median and then struck by a northbound vehicle.  The 24 year old Orangeville man pronounced dead at the scene.  There were no other injuries.  The highway was closed in both directions between Highway 9 and County Road 88 and was expected to remain so until roughly 6:30 a.m. Friday morning.

Are you ready for the back to school rush next week? Never mind the school supplies and clothing,  are your driving skills up to snuff?  Ten Barrie students, members of the CAA School Safety Patrollers team will be on hand tomorrow morning at the Petro Canada station on Highway 400 at Major Mackenzie helping to promote back to school safety.  The ten students were chosen after attending a leadership camp in Oshawa in July.  They’re among one-thousand Barrie students involved in the safety patrol program.

Hurrricane Earl has weakened to a Category Three Storm but a hurricane watch has been issued for southern Nova Scotia anyway.  Earl has bounced back and forth between Category Three and Four as it makes its way up the Atlantic coast of North America.  It's expected to pass the Outer Banks of North Carolina tonight and hit the Maritimes Saturday morning.

Just as things were quieting down after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico comes this, an oil rig explosion in the Gulf about 300 kilometres west of the BP site.  Thirteen workers on the rig were all found bobbing in their survival suits.  The U.S. Coast Guard says it can see a kilometre-and-a-half long sheen on the water near the well.  The good news is this was a shallow well and any clean-up would be considerably easier than what was experienced with BP.

The coroner has determined that foul play is not a factor in the death of a woman yesterday in Barrie. The 51 year old woman was found dead yesterday in a townhouse at 549 Yonge Street.

Provincial Police are appealing to property owners, cottage-goers and others to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, as the search continues for a missing Orangeville woman.  It might be something as simple as an article of clothing, it could be human remains.  They're also looking for help establishing a timeline of events leading up the the disappearance of 42 year old Sonia Veraschin.  She was last seen Sunday night.  Her blood smeared Toyota Corolla was found late Monday morning in an alley near the town hall.  Anyone with information that can place Veraschin, anywhere, between Sunday night and Monday morning, is asked to contact the Orangeville Police Tip Line at 519-941-2522, ext. 2211.  Police have spoken with a minivan driver they had hoped might be able to place Veraschin's vehicle in the alley early Monday morning.  He said he did not see the car.  Police have also spoken with Veraschin's boyfriend and say he is not a suspect.

Adults are sending more and more text messages compred to a year ago.  They still lag behind teens, not just in the number who are texting, but also in the number of texts sent.  PEW Research in the U.S. found 72 per cent of adults texting, up from 65 per cent a year ago. Eighty-seven per cent of teens are texting, averaging 50 messages a day.  Adults average 10.

If a federal election was held today it’d be too close to call between the Conservatives and Liberals.   An EKOS poll gives the Tories 29.4 per cent support and the Liberals 29.1 per cent.  When the summer began, the Harper government had what many considered a comfortable 11-point lead.  What went wrong?  Many of those surveyed pointed to the scrapping of the long form census, saying it costs the country vital data.

An autopsy was being performed this morning on the body of a 51 year old woman found dead yesterday at a townhouse complex at 549 Yonge Street in Barrie.  Police expect to be release more details this afternoon.

Police in Orangeville were able to talk with the driver of a minivan they thought might be able to help them as the search continues for a missing Orangeville woman.  Police were hoping he might be able to help with the timeline of events in terms of when Sonia Veraschin’s car might have been left in an alley near the town hall.  He told police he had not seen the white Toyota Corolla in his early morning travels on Monday.  Veraschin was reported missing late Monday morning. Police have also spoken to her boyfriend and do not consider him to be a suspect.  Blood stains were found on Veraschin's car and in her townhouse leading police to believe she's been the victim of foul play.