Friday Briefing
Friday Briefing: Police Search for Convicted Chatham Killer
Police are searching for convicted Chatham killer Mason Jenkins after he walked away from a minimum-security prison, plus this week's full recap
By CKNow4 min read
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Morning, CK, and happy Friday. We're leading with an urgent one today — please give the story below a real read. Here's the week that was.
⛽ Gas & ☀️ Weather
Gas (Regular): Prices around Chatham range from 176.6¢ at Mobil (664 Grand Ave E) up to 179.9¢ at Petro-Canada today.
Gas (Diesel): Diesel ranges from 247.9¢ at Esso (410 Queen St) up to 287.3¢ at Mobil (664 Grand Ave E). Check today's cheapest stations on GasBuddy →
Weather: A chilly start to a nice day. Morning brings 8° (feels 6°) and mainly sunny. Afternoon warms nicely to 20° with a mix of sun and clouds. Evening cools to 15° and turns partly cloudy. Overnight drops back to 8°.
📣 CK Spotlight
154 Semenyn Avenue, Unit 24, Chatham
Courtesy of Bridget Blonde, REALTOR®, Nest Realty Inc. Brokerage
Bridget Blonde has a new listing in Chatham built for exactly the kind of homeowner who's done with stairs and yard work. This ranch-style end-unit townhouse gives you a little extra light and yard space, plus a double car garage so January mornings don't start with a windshield scraper. Inside, everything you need is on one floor: a bright living room with a gas fireplace and deck access, an eat-in kitchen with plenty of cabinetry, and a primary suite with a walk-in closet and 4-piece ensuite, plus main-floor laundry.
Here's the part worth knowing: the finished basement adds a large family room, a den perfect for a home office, and a third full bathroom — real extra living space, not just storage. And a $100/month association fee covers snow removal and lawn care, so two of the biggest homeownership chores are simply handled.
🚨 Major Story — Police Search for Convicted Chatham Killer After Prison Walkaway
Mason Jenkins, 49, of Chatham, was discovered unaccounted for during a Thursday morning count at the minimum-security Collins Bay Institution in Kingston. Jenkins is serving a life sentence for the 1998 first-degree murder of his younger sister, Jennifer Jenkins, and for trafficking. Police are actively searching for him.
He's described as a white male, 5-foot-9, approximately 255 pounds, with a fair complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair currently shaved bald. He was last seen wearing a light green jacket, blue jeans, and rubber boots.
🎙️ Major Story — CK Mayoral Candidates Take Part in First Debate
Chatham-Kent's mayoral candidates faced off in a debate this week as the fall campaign continues to heat up.
📰 This Week's Full Recap
A quick note from Will: If you haven’t visited cknow.ca in the last couple of days, you’ll notice things look completely different. We officially wrapped up migrating the website over to our own custom platform. Your newsletter delivery and morning routines won't change one bit, but having our own foundation means we can finally build real, helpful tools for Chatham-Kent instead of just sending emails.
🗳️ The CK 2026 Election Tracker is live: Confused about your ward after the boundary shakeup? We built a zero-spin lookup tool at cknow.ca/vote. Just type in your street address to see your exact ward, voting locations, and verified candidates—zero algorithms, zero bias, and no AI nonsense. Try the tracker here →
👶 CKPS dispatcher and officer save an infant's life. A genuinely lovely story to come out of this week. Read more →
🔍 Officers recognized for investigative work and recovering $10K in stolen goods. Read more →
🏛️ Council approves committee and board changes ahead of the new term. Read more →
🗳️ Walpole Island welcomes newly sworn-in Chief and Council for 2026-2028. Read more →
💼 Healthcare job fair offered 50 opportunities in Chatham. Read more →
🎨 New mural unveiled in honour of CK Hospice. Read more →
⚖️ Tilbury murderer sentenced to at least 15 years. Read more →
🤖 Council directs staff to study AI data centre land-use policy. Read more →
💧 Drinking water confirmed safe after ethanol fire cleanup. Read more →
🐟 Investigation continues into dead fish in the Thames River. Read more →
🚒 Council moves forward with extensive Fire and Rescue report. Read more →
🩺 CKHA saw a sharp jump in opioid overdose visits in July. Read more →
⏱️ CKHA launches online Emergency Department wait time clock. A genuinely useful new tool before you head in. Read more →
🦟 Mosquitoes in Tilbury test positive for West Nile Virus. Read more →
🚨 Tilbury man and woman arrested after domestic assault, breach of conditions. Read more →
🎟️ SCCDSB names Back-to-School 50/50 raffle winner and top-earning schools. Read more →
🗳️ Leela Thomas re-elected Chief of Walpole Island First Nation. Read more →
🐕 Chatham dog recovering after drug exposure. An investigation continues into how it happened. Read more →
New and Improved CKNOW
🎉 Weekend & Week Ahead
This weekend: the Wallaceburg Kinsmen PumpkinFest countdown continues (Oct. 3), and Chase the Ace returns to the Wallaceburg Legion.
Looking ahead: Dresden's Meet the Candidates night (Oct. 1) and a blood donor clinic marking Living Donation Week (Oct. 13).
Restaurants, home services, real estate, auto shops and more — all in one place. Free to search, free to list.
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