School mourns student, holiday snowstorm reunion, mayor accuses feds of ‘short changing’ city: Top Windsor stories this week

Customers and employees trapped at a Walmart during a major snowstorm last year reunited, Windsor’s mayor accuses the feds of “short changing” a reimbursement request for costs incurred during the Ambassador Bridge blockade, and a Blenheim high school mourns the death of a student after a fatal crash.

Here’s a look at the top stories on ctvnewswindsor.ca this week:

Blenheim District High School mourns death of student after crash

A flag at half staff is seen at Blenheim District High School in Blenheim, Ont. on Dec. 15, 2023. (Jim Knight/CTV News London)

Blenheim District High School students and staff are mourning the loss of a 17-year-old student following a single-vehicle crash in Chatham-Kent.

Police responded the scene on Allison Line between Charing Cross Road and Erieau Road near Blenheim around 9:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Lambton Kent District School Board administration tells CTV News they were notified of the tragic passing of a Blenheim District High School student on Friday morning.

'We’ve become more like family': snowstorm 2022 reunion at Chatham Walmart

Staff and residents - stranded during the 2022 snowstorm - reunited Thursday to reminisce in Chatham, Ont., on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

Stranded customers reunite with the employees who cared for them after a state of emergency was declared during a major holiday snow storm.

“It was an adventure,” resident Debra Donaldson says. Her car was stuck in a drift on Pioneer Line so she walked to Walmart for the bathroom and a ‘quick return’ on Friday December 23, 2022.

She would be the last person to enter the store that afternoon and one of many forced to find a place to sleep for the night.

“Just right over there in front of u-scans and I was on a mattress with a blanket and a pillow and I was trying to sleep I got maybe a little bit of sleep,” says Donaldson.

$64,000 in drugs seized, employee arrested after raid at downtown magic mushroom dispensary

Products seized during a raid at an illegal magic mushroom dispensary in the 300 block of Ouellette Avenue in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Source: Windsor Police Service)

Windsor police have seized $64,000 in drugs and made an arrest after a raid at a dispensary that sells psilocybin or “magic mushrooms” in downtown — for the third time.

Members of the Drugs and Guns Unit (DIGS) executed a search warrant around 4 p.m. on Tuesday at ‘Fun Guyz’ on Ouellette Avenue.

Officers charged a 21-year-old employee who was on scene at the time, with possession of a substance for the purposes of trafficking.

‘Middle finger to the people in our community’: Windsor mayor accuses feds of short-changing city for blockade reimbursement

Police officers move in on demonstrators near the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., Feb. 12, 2022. (Source: @_OnLocation_ / Twitter)

Windsor’s mayor and city council are fuming mad at the federal government for “short-changing” a reimbursement request to cover legal and policing costs incurred during the Feb. 2022 Ambassador Bridge blockade, to the tune of almost $1 million.

It centres around a letter recently sent by Public Safety Minister Domenic LeBlanc, where he explains to the city why it will soon be in receipt of an “ex gratia payment in the amount of $6,094,915 on behalf of the Government of Canada to help the City of Windsor cover extraordinary expenses incurred in dealing with and ending the illegal blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in February 2022.”

“This letter is a middle finger to the people in this community,“ said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens during Monday night’s regular meeting of council, because he said it’s a different number than what was promised a year earlier by former public safety minister, Marco Mendicino.

Senior women sought after LCBO thefts

LaSalle police are asking the public for help identifying two women linked to two separate theft incidents from a local liquor store. (Source: LaSalle police)

LaSalle police are asking the public for help identifying two women linked to two separate theft incidents from a local liquor store.

The incidents occurred on Nov. 25 and Nov. 29.

Police say the suspects have not yet been identified, prompting the need for community cooperation in solving these cases.

On Nov. 27, store employees reported that two females, believed to be in their 60s or 70s, stole merchandise resulting in losses exceeding $500. During their initial visit on Nov. 25, the suspects allegedly concealed multiple bottles of alcohol in their bags, only paying for two small items before leaving without attempting to pay for the concealed merchandise.