The case worker who placed a teen with a history of behavioural issues into a foster home where she killed a toddler broke down on the witness stand Tuesday during questioning by the lawyer for the dead boy's mother.[...]

The YMCA and the City of St. Catharines have saved the Port Weller day camp. The two groups have agreed to share the city's Port Weller Community Centre facility monitor, with the Y picking up the cost of the city employee's salary in exchange for a discounted rent.[...]

All Baker Lewis needed to win his first major cooking competition was some grapefruit and a love for simple cuisine.[...]

The Niagara Symphony is on its way to fiscal health, but the road to recovery will be easier with a little help from the city, it says. Jack Mills, the symphony's executive director, asked city councillors to guarantee a $60,000 line of credit for 30 months.[...]

Niagara Region's most cramped long-term care home can finally expand after a $3.2-million boost from the province Tuesday. Regional council approved a $7.[...]

Family and Children Services Niagara will be holding their 2nd annual Family Day Free Skates at eight different locations on Family Day, Feb. 15. This year, they will be offering free skating at Rink at the Brink in Niagara Falls, sponsored in partnership with the Winter Festival of Lights.[...]

A man on trial for raping a woman almost 10 years ago claimed he simply "took control" of the situation as the woman was sexually naive, court heard Tuesday. "She didn't really know what she was doing so I kind of took control.[...]

Brief and succinct. People will be given five minutes to express their views about the controversial Bay Beach development during the March 1 council meeting. At Monday's meeting, council voted to waive the rules of procedure and keep speakers on both sides of the Bay Beach issue to five minutes.[...]

The annual Mayor's State of the City address is set for Thursday at the Hilton Hotel and Suites on Fallsview Boulevard.[...]

One agency focuses on investment marketing for all of Niagara. The others deal with retaining businesses and expansion within their own municipalities.[...]

The vital role honeybees play in agriculture cannot be overstated. According to experts, as much as a third of the food we eat directly or indirectly depends on bee pollination. Bee pollination as an industry is valued at $1 billion in Canada, and more than $14 billion in the United States.

Though twins Victor and Walter Boldt prefer to hear the gospel music playing from their record player, they are eagerly awaiting the impending sounds of construction crews.

Eight of Niagara’s top chefs will compete to see whose cuisine will reign supreme at the second annual Iron Chef Niagara. Johnny Rocco’s Italian Grill on Lundy’s Lane wanted to create an event in which the community would benefit and also participate, so last year “Iron Chef Niagara” was born.

After spending an evening dishing out spaghetti recently, Grand Avenue School students have served up a big donation for the Canadian Red Cross. On January 29, students presented more than $2,900 to Canadian Red Cross representative Julie Guthrie during an assembly at the Grimsby school.

A threatening sounding conversation overheard by a staff member at Queen Mary Elementary School led to a one-and-a-half hour lockdown at it and the adjoining high school.

WELLAND — The city will be asking for an extra $2 a month from average taxpayers. City councillors adopted its 2010 operating and capital budgets during a special city council meeting Tuesday, increasing taxes by 1.[...]

ST. CATHARINES — Ian Brindle, a renowned Brock University scientist and scholar whose academic writing has appeared in more than 80 publications, has been named Brock's new vice-president of research.[...]

TORONTO — Here are the winning numbers from Ontario Lottery and Gaming for Tuesday's Encore, Ontario Pick 3, Ontario Pick 4 and Daily Keno draws: The winning Encore number was 6767884. The winning Ontario Pick 3 number was 440.[...]

WAINFLEET — The Township of Wainfleet finished its 2009 fiscal year in the black. During Tuesday's council meeting, aldermen were told last year's operating budget had a surplus of about $265,000.[...]

WAINFLEET — The great address debate will have to wait another week. Township council Tuesday night deferred its decision on whether to change street addresses to allow full input from council. Alds.[...]

If left unchecked, Toronto's budget deficit could hit $1.2 billion by 2019, warns the Toronto Board of Trade.

The head of Adam Giambrone’s campaign says the young TTC chair is having “a painful day” but doesn’t think his admission of an “inappropriate relationship” with a university student will kill his dream of being Toronto’s mayor.

Mayoral candidate Adam Giambrone has admitted he had an inappropriate relationship with a young woman.

Dealing with foul-mouthed riders is no picnic for TTC workers, and not being able to use a ticket paid for in cash is enough to make any passenger hot under the collar.

Nuclear power plants in Pickering and Darlington have different futures under a proposal now being finalized, the Star has learned.

Toronto Argonauts co-owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski have completed an agreement to sell the franchise to B.C. Lions owner David Braley.

Toronto police have arrested four teens in an attempted armed robbery of another youth near Coxwell Avenue and Gerrard Street in the east end.

The funeral for Brendan Burke, son of the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, Brian Burke, took place in Canton, Mass., on Tuesday.

A civil lawsuit stemming from a scuffle between outrageous celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and a manager for the Black Eyed Peas has been dropped.

Premier Dalton McGuinty will prorogue the Ontario legislature briefly, although the break isn't expected to start until after next week.

The Ottawa Senators notched their 12th win in the last 13 games with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the visiting Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accused the Conservative government of having no plan of action to deal with a medical isotope shortage expected to worsen later this month.

The City of Ottawa is considering a 10 per cent increase for water and sewer rates this year.

Police in Ottawa have arrested a man and a woman in connection with a Monday afternoon bank robbery in Ottawa's east end.

The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, now under the baton of Canadian conducting superstar Yannick Nézet-Séguin, begins its first tour of Canada later this month.

There were no injuries in a downtown fire in Stayner Tuesday afternoon. Fire broke out at the building housing One Stop Realty Inc. in downtown Stayner at about 3 p.m.[...]

A building fire has prompted the closure of Highway 26 through Stayner. The Clearview Fire Department is battling a fire at One Stop Realty on Main Street. The highway has been closed between Perri Street and Airport Road.[...]

A man was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital with minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle in downtown Barrie. Barrie police Sgt. Valerie Gates said the patient was "conscious and breathing" when he was taken away by paramedics.[...]

TORONTO - Ontario's welfare caseload continued to climb in December despite signs of a tentative economic recovery. More than 440,700 Ontarians depended on social assistance - an increase of 1.6 per cent, or almost 7,000 recipients from November 2009.[...]

Canadian Forces brass and rank-and-file were reeling from the shock of a highranking officer charged with multiple counts of murder and rape, but experts doubt it will be a black mark for the military.[...]