Peterborough Currents: Our favourite stories from 2024

There is a virtuous cycle that drives our work at Peterborough Currents: The more journalism we publish, the more our community supports us with donations. And the more donations come in, the more journalism we are able to publish.

This pattern continued in 2024. Increased reader support enabled us to publish 75 articles to our website, send almost as many email newsletters, and release two in-depth podcast episodes. We also had record traffic to our website and surpassed 8,000 subscribers to our email newsletter.

But the following “Best Of” list isn’t about numbers. Website traffic doesn’t drive us at Currents; we don’t find it’s a very good indicator of the impact of our journalism. And our reader-funded model allows us to focus on quality, not quantity.

So in this annual list, we share the stories we were most proud to publish in 2024. All of them are stories that would have gone untold in Peterborough if it weren’t for the financial support of our readers. Thank you!

Do you want to power more community journalism in 2025? Please sign up as a monthly supporter.

Child welfare agencies eliminate funding for children’s mental health program

Currents reporter Brett Throop published four in-depth articles focusing on the local child welfare crisis this year. We were proud to publish all of them, but this one felt the most urgent. This article revealed that a little-known but highly effective mental health treatment program for children in care was facing elimination at a time when child welfare advocates say it is needed more than ever.

“We look after the whole person”: Non-profit offers housing — and much more — to women and their children fleeing abuse

Sometimes, it feels like there’s nothing but bad news when it comes to housing in Peterborough. At times like these, it can be helpful to examine solutions and successes from the past. In the 1980s, a grassroots group of residents re-mortgaged their own homes so they could buy duplexes to rent as affordable housing to women fleeing abuse. Today, those very houses still serve as havens from abuse. We hope this in-depth story about Kairos Non-Profit Housing reminds our readers that citizens really can make a difference.

This contaminated site is ready to be cleaned up. Will it happen?

We successfully challenged the city to release its documents about the contaminated former Outboard Marine factory. And once we got our hands on the documents, we published this thorough account of the environmental concerns and what it would take to clean the site up. This has become our most widely-read story of all time. “The article was excellent and the author went deep to get the background details, context and left no questions unanswered,” one reader said about the investigation. “I appreciate that level of investigation on a story and felt that I was given a clear view of multiple perspectives.”

Saying goodbye to Glebe House, where several hundred refugees spent their first nights in Peterborough

Nothing lasts forever. For years, Glebe House was the first stop in Peterborough for refugees relocating to the region. But by 2024, the New Canadians Centre (NCC) had secured other housing for that purpose and so the agency decided not to renew its lease for Glebe House. NCC staff and volunteers, as well as newcomers who remembered staying in the house, gathered to pop champagne and share memories on the last day of the lease. Currents reporter Alex Karn joined the group and told the story of their goodbye to Glebe House.

PODCAST: A deep dive into Peterborough’s 2025 budget

We love municipal budget season at Peterborough Currents because it opens up so many different ways to engage with our local government. Our annual podcast exploring the budget process is becoming a favourite with our audience, too. “I have a better-informed opinion on the budget,” one of our supporters wrote to us after listening to the podcast. “I’ve never felt so well informed!”

Peterborough safer supply pilot shares program evaluation amid nation-wide backlash to the approach

As safer supply programs became a flashpoint across Canada, we published this in-depth look at how the program works in Peterborough. The article struck a chord and was shared all over the country. “I found your article a veritable encyclopedia of information,” wrote someone from Kenora, Ont., after they read it.

These stories were made possible by the 390 readers who support Currents financially.

Do you want to see more thoughtful and insightful stories from Peterborough Currents in 2025? Please sign up as a supporter before the year is up.

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At a peaceful farm in Douro-Dummer, horses serve as “strong and steady” companions for people with disabilities

There are so many groups doing great work to make the Peterborough area more inclusive and welcoming, and we’re always happy when we get a chance to shine a spotlight on one of them. This story, by freelance writer Li Robbins, covered PARD Therapeutic Riding, which makes the benefits of horseback riding available to people with disabilities in the region.

“We worship all the gods here”: Hindu temple opens in downtown Peterborough

It’s exciting to watch Peterborough change, grow, and become more diverse. When a Hindu temple opened in downtown Peterborough, Currents reporter Alex Karn dropped by to learn more. Their article documented how Peterborough’s growing South Asian community is working to make the city feel more like home.

Fact-checking the MPP on Peterborough’s budget

This fall, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith made several claims about Peterborough’s budget that struck us as misleading when we first heard them. So, we did our research and we fact-checked him. Smith didn’t respond to our questions before we published this story, but after we published, he accused us of not understanding the budget process. “Your lack of understanding of the budget process renders the rest of your article skewed and flawed,” he wrote. However, he has not addressed the substance of our criticisms, and we stand by our reporting and analysis.

Watch how Peterborough grew over the years

How have the City of Peterborough’s boundaries evolved over the years? That was the question one of our readers asked us to answer in 2024. We love answering reader questions, so we got to work researching this one. We quickly realized that an animated video would be the best way to communicate what we’d learned. Currents publisher Will Pearson had to learn some new GIS and animation skills to make this video, but we were glad we put in the effort because the video was a hit with many of our audience members. “Congratulations on the video,” one of our supporters wrote to us. “Well done!”

Overdose outreach team disbands as federal funding expires

In 2024, federal funding expired for MSORT, an overdose outreach team that supported people at risk of a drug overdose. As a result, the program ended. This wasn’t a surprise: it was a pilot project and was never expected to be permanent. Still, the ending of the program saddened many who received MSORT services or worked for the program. Currents reporter Brett Throop reported on the grief that rippled through the community as a result of the ending of MSORT.

Architecture firm denies blame for PRHC’s leaky roof

At Peterborough Currents, we don’t generally focus on breaking news. We don’t have the staff resources to move as quickly as other news outlets in Peterborough, so we don’t prioritize being the first to a story. But sometimes, we learn of something important that no one else has reported on, and we break the story. We first wrote about the hospital’s leaky roof lawsuit in January 2024, and we wrote this update in September. If it wasn’t for Currents, citizens might not know that there’s a lawsuit underway that could determine if taxpayers or corporations will be on the hook for fixing the PRHC’s leaky roof.

Reclaiming cultural food practices in Curve Lake First Nation

Sometimes, you have to show up in person to tell a story properly. This fall, Currents reporter Alex Karn was invited to join Elder Janet McCue on the waters of Chemong Lake as Curve Lake First Nation community members harvested wild rice around them. As a result, Karn was able to describe what it looks and feels like as a community reclaims a cultural food practice. We published this story in the lead up to Curve Lake’s fifth annual Mnoominkewin, a community event celebrating all things wild rice.

Our favourite stories from 2024