Most read stories of the week: Turnout in Dover for Friday the 13th, driver sentenced in double-fatal crash, propane tanks found at Cambridge encampment

Die-hard bikers gather in Dover on snowy Friday 13th, but most leave bikes at home

Snowy conditions appear to have kept the usual Friday 13th crowds away from Port Dover.

Bikers usually flock to the Ontario lakefront town whenever the 13th of the month falls on a Friday. The tradition dates back to 1991 and the event regularly attracts tens of thousands of visitors.

But as of Friday morning, CTV News only spotted three motorcycles downtown.

There were still dozens of people in the streets and shops selling their usual Friday the 13th T-shirts, but many visitors said they had opted for four-wheeled transportation to get into the city.

Al Lancaric and his brother drove in from Toronto.

“In the summer, yes, it was great,” said Lancaric. “You couldn’t walk through here, there were so many people, but today that’s not the case.”

Regardless of the weather, many visitors said they still wanted to come to town to make sure they could get a t-shirt and meet some of the people they look forward to every year.

“The nightmare will never be over”: Driver convicted, family reacts with tragic double accident

The driver, who was charged in a horrific crash that killed two children in 2021, was convicted on Tuesday after testimonies about emotional victims were read out in court.

The accused, who was young at the time of the indictment, was sentenced to two years of probation, including 200 hours of community service. He also faces a $6,000 fine and serves a three-year driving ban, concurrently on all counts.

On January 31, 2021, Susan Lodge was driving home with her three children when an accident in North Dumfries claimed the lives of two of them.

Evan, 12, died at the scene. Amanda, 10, was revived at the scene but remained in a coma and died in hospital a few days later.

Alyssa, 9, and mother, Susan, survived.

Susan was in tears and holding a photo of her three children as she read her statement on Tuesday.

“I’m not fine. I’ll never be fine,” she said. “Will I ever experience pure joy again? At this point, I can’t see it.”

Alyssa, Susan and Greg Lodge stand with friends and family behind them outside the Kitchener Courthouse on January 10, 2023. (CTV News/Krista Sharpe)

‘Like a rocket about to explode’: Dozens of propane tanks found around bonfire area in Cambridge

The Cambridge Fire Service says a bonfire that shut down Highway 401 in Cambridge on Wednesday night could have been far worse as dozens of propane tanks were later found in the area of ​​the fire.

On Thursday, Cambridge Fire Brigade Fire Safety Officer Captain John Percy said those propane tanks could be “like a rocket that could explode”.

“Our main concern after that, after the people, is the use of propane tanks in the area, and it was probably 60 propane tanks,” Percy said. “One that we would use for our grill, used at this facility. The challenge with propane is that it is a compressed gas.”

The fire caused a section of eastbound Highway 401 in Cambridge to be closed for several hours just after 9 p.m.

An emotional farewell to Forwell Super Variety in Kitchener

After more than 60 years in business, the employees of a Kitchener staple have to say goodbye to their customers for good.

Forwell Super Variety has been on Lancaster Street since 1961.

“As a family, we decided we had to close,” said manager Tracy Schneider.

Schneider said it was a difficult decision, but one that they had to make due to a looming road construction project on Lancaster Street. The work is expected to take a few years. Schneider said the store was aging and in need of repairs, and the family worried it wasn’t worth keeping it open.

Schneider said her greatest memory of the store is the three decades she worked alongside her father.

“My dad said ‘sleep here in the office,’ and we slept in the office and we ate snacks and read magazines and apparently we were security by the time we were 15,” Schneider said.

Forwell Super Variety in Kitchener, Jan. 11, 2023. (CTV News/Spencer Turcotte)

Thieves dump 8 trucks in a gravel pit outside of Guelph, Ontario. To get catalysts

Police are investigating after someone overturned eight large trucks in a gravel pit outside of Aberfoyle, Ontario. and the catalytic converters of the vehicles were stolen.

In a video posted to Twitter on Friday, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Const. Joshua Cunningham said the theft happened the night before.

Catalytic converters are part of a vehicle’s exhaust system and contain precious metals such as rhodium, platinum, and palladium that can be sold on the black market.

“Theft of catalytic converters is nothing new, but what is unusual about the incident is that the thieves used an on-site device to tip the trucks on their sides, causing far more damage to the vehicle than was necessary,” Cunningham said.

A Canada Building Materials spokesman said the theft took place in a gravel pit outside Aberfoyle. The estimated cost of the damage has not yet been determined, but eight trucks were overturned, the spokesman said.

Trucks overturned during a catalytic converter theft in a gravel pit outside of Aberfoyle, Ontario. (OPP)