Philip Alves

The York Catholic school board has announced its plans for students of the tornado-damaged St. Peter Catholic Elementary School. Repairs are underway but the Woodbridge school won’t be ready when the first bell rings Sept. 8.

There’s no denying it — there is a definite buzz in the halls of the new Kleinburg Public School. After a year of making due at Michael Cranny PS, staff are busy working alongside construction workers to put the finishing touches on their new school, which is set to welcome students come Sept. 8.

The lives of many Vaughanians — human and animal — were changed forever by last week’s tornado. The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was on scene the morning after the storm to help care for pets evacuated from their damaged homes.

Students at St. Peter Catholic Elementary School and their parents face a change in their back-to-school routine come Sept. 8. The Woodbridge school was in the path of the tornado that ripped through the city last week and will not be ready in time for the start of the academic year, the York Catholic District School Board announced Thursday.

What began as a story about the awesome and indiscriminate power of nature quickly became a story of neighbour helping neighbour. Last Thursday, sometime before the supper hour, a ferocious F2 tornado packing a minimum punch of 180 kilometres an hour skipped across Vaughan, tearing roofs from houses, uprooting trees and scarring the communities of Woodbridge and Maple.

A 16-year-old Toronto boy has reportedly died after he and a group of friends snuck into the Thornhill Outdoor Pool late last night. At about 11 p.m. on Aug. 23, York Regional Police received a call about a boy in distress, Constable Marina Orlovski said today.

York Regional Health Services inspectors charged one Vaughan restaurant with infractions under the Health Protection and Promotion Act on Aug. 13.

It’s an unassuming house on what feels like a sleepy street in old Thornhill. “Standing here, looking around you, it’s very difficult to believe that Yonge St. is less than 150 feet away,” said Nigel Connell under a grey sky. “The gardens and the atmosphere, it’s absolutely fantastic.”

It’s a miracle Vaughan escaped without the loss of a single life or any serious injuries, Mayor Linda Jackson says. Four areas of the city were hit hard by wicked weather, which spawned tornadoes, that tore through yesterday evening: Martin Grove Rd. and Andrew Park, Moonstone Pl. and Houston Rd. and Islington Ave. and Gamble St. in Woodbridge, and in the area of Melville Ave. and Haymer Dr. in Maple.

Residents in Maple and Woodbridge are cleaning up after a severe storm last night that led the city to declare a state of emergency. A number of apparent tornadoes were reported in the Martin Grove Rd. and Hwy. 7 and Jane St. and Major Mackenzie Dr. areas of Vaughan.

Police are asking the public for help as they investigate a serious assault that occurred in Woodbridge on Aug. 9. Two friends were walking in the Weston Rd. and Ashberry Blvd. area around 7:10 p.m. when a car pulled up beside them. Four males got out of the car and physically assaulted one of the individuals with weapons, including a piece of pipe, police say.

Police are looking to identify a man they believe grabbed two women inappropriately while they waited at bus stops. On July 27 at about 11:30 p.m., a man struck up a conversation with a woman waiting for a bus at Weston Rd. and Hwy. 7. The woman turned away from the man, who then grabbed her from behind, police say.