KITCHENER — It’s not set in stone.

But if the newly formed top line for the Kitchener Rangers keeps scoring, the yet unnamed threesome might become a fixture at the Aud.

We knew freshly minted captain Francesco Pinelli and long-time linemate Declan McDonnell had sizzle.

But adding winger Joseph Serpa to the mix, like the Rangers did for Friday’s 5-1 thrashing of the visiting Sarnia Sting, morphed the deadly duo into a terrific trio.

“I thought they were good,” said Rangers general manager and head coach Mike McKenzie. “Declan and Frankie have played together quite a bit and are a pretty obvious pair for us. We’re just trying some things out to see who fits as that third guy.”

Again, it’s early and things can change, but Sarnia really had no answer for the unit in the one-sided affair at the Aud.

It was four zip for the good guys midway through the third period before Sarnia’s Zach Filak broke Pavel Cajan’s shutout bid.

The Czech goalie really wasn’t tested as the Rangers kept their perfect record intact and improved to 3-0 on this young season.

Pinelli, named captain earlier Friday, scored a short-handed goal and added an assist. McDonnell also had the goal-assist combo and was a physical force. Serpa chipped in with two helpers.

It has been a turbulent ride for the Cambridge kid.

Serpa had 14 points in 50 games in his first full campaign two years back before losing a key year of development when the league shutdown last season due to the pandemic.

Now, at 19-years-old, he finds himself trying to make up for lost time.

And, so far, he’s delivering with six points in his first three games, which puts him in a three-way tie for the team lead in scoring with Pinelli and Michael Petizian.

“It’s exciting playing with some top guys,” he said. “I’m happy that the team has the confidence to put me with those guys and trust that I’m going to go up there and fit in.”

McDonnell is the reliable two-way member on the line. Pinelli brings the superior skill. Serpa offers a bit of both.

“I like to think I bring a lot of skill and smarts,” he said.

Serpa also adds character. He’s a guy that toiled on the third and fourth line in the past, so he’s not taking the promotion for granted.

“I feel like I’ve never had anything handed to me,” he said. “I’ve had to work through the ranks and to finally be on the line with the top guys and putting up points is a good feeling.

“But I’m not really too surprised. I put in so much work in the off-season. Even if I had a slow start, I’d still be confident in the work I put in and know that good things would be coming.”

Serpa has always been Kitchener’s in-house secret.

“He’s one of those guys where we know how good he is but maybe people around the league might not know,” said McKenzie. “You might look at our roster and wonder what he’s all about but we had him pencilled in as a top six guy and he’s showing that early and that he’s ready to go.”

Serpa feels the pandemic robbed him of his chance for a breakout season, so he’s eager to get to work.

“I really feel like I have a chip on my shoulder and something to prove on a nightly basis,” he said. “When I get out there with the top guys I feel like I really belong.”

Reid Valade potted a pair for Kitchener on Friday while rookie Cameron Mercer added three assists.

The Rangers are back in action Tuesday when they host the Guelph Storm at the Aud at 7 p.m.

Josh Brown is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on sports for The Record. Reach him via email: jbrown@therecord.com

KITCHENER 5, SARNIA 1

First period

1. Kitchener, Valade 2 (Petizian, Mercer) 8:43

Penalties: J. LeBlanc, Kit (roughing) 11:58, Hill, Sar (hooking) 14:49, O’Donnell, Sar (holding) 17:11

Second period

2. Kitchener, McDonnell 2 (Pinelli, Serpa) 13:00

Penalties: Pryce, Sar (elbowing) 7:48, Guy, Sar (tripping) 16:51

Third period

3. Kitchener, Pinelli 3 (McDonnell) 6:19 (sh)

4. Kitchener, Valade 3 (Serpa, Mercer) 8:48

5. Sarnia, Filak 1 (Guy, Voit) 11:15

6. Kitchener, Petizian 2 (Valade, Mercer) 18:19

Penalties: Valade, Kit (interference) 5:53, Serpa, Kit (tripping) 14:00

Goalies: Cajan, Kit (W2-0-0-0), Thornton, Sar (L0-1-0-0)

Shots on goal

Kit: 17-11-10=38

Sar: 10-11-4=25

Referees: Brandon Biggers, Jason Faist

Linesmen: Kevin Hastings, Kyle Rodgers

Attendance: 4,365

WATERLOO REGION — There’s no relief in sight for homebuyers in Canada.

A new Royal LePage report predicts the aggregate price of a Canadian home will climb 16 per cent in the fourth quarter this year to $771,500, compared to the same period last year.

The aggregate price is calculated using a weighted average of the median prices of all property types, and includes resale and newly-built homes, the report said.

In Kitchener and Waterloo, the report found the aggregate price for the third quarter rose by 25.7 per cent year-over-year to $742,800. Detached homes were up 33.7 per cent to a median price of $871,100, while condos rose 9.5 per cent to a median of $419,100.

In Cambridge, the third-quarter aggregate price climbed 26.2 per cent to $767,000; the median price for a detached home also rose by 33.7 per cent to $873,900, while condos jumped 27.1 per cent to $574,600.

Record-low inventory and high demand continue to conspire to push prices higher in Waterloo Region, said broker Mike Milovick of Kitchener’s Royal LePage Grand Valley Realty.

“Right now, I’m seeing about a 14-day amount of inventory on the market. That is an extremely low amount, and even relative to last year, the number of listings is down about 30 per cent, and last year we had a low inventory market,” he said.

Fourteen days’ worth of inventory means it would take just two weeks to sell the current inventory of homes at the current pace if no new listings were added.

“We usually have over 1,600 houses on the market at one time, and today we might be around 230.”

Buyers escaping higher-priced Greater Toronto Area communities continue to compete with local residents for the few listings available — meaning multiple offers and bidding wars are still common, Milovick said.

“I’ve been with buyers looking specifically around the $700,000 and lower range (for a single-family house), and I feel that there’s about 100 buyers looking in that specific range,” he said.

“What I’m seeing is maybe two listings come up a week, and literally when the properties sell, they’re receiving six to 12 to 20 offers.”

Milovick believes the province will have “some very difficult decisions to make” around land use in order to build more homes to address existing demand and immigration-driven population growth. “It’s a building challenge, there’s just simply not enough homes.”

Prices across Canada aren’t accelerating as quickly as they were a few months ago; demand typically eases during the summer, and relaxed pandemic restrictions gave people more time for other activities.

“In addition, a year of relentless competition for too few properties drove some would-be purchasers to the sidelines as buyer fatigue set in,” Royal LePage president and CEO Phil Soper said in a release.

But the company is expecting an “unusually busy” winter leading into a brisk spring market, he said.

The report didn’t include a fourth-quarter forecast for Waterloo Region communities, but prices in the GTA are expected to rise 14.5 per cent compared to last year.

“I do believe that prices in our area will continue to increase,” Milovick said, especially in light of low interest rates. As well, average household income is higher in Waterloo Region compared to places like Mississauga, while prices remain lower, he said.

“I actually believe there’s still room for prices to run here.”

Brent Davis is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment reporter for The Record. Reach him via email: bdavis@therecord.com

KITCHENER — The trial of two men charged with murdering Shaun Yorke heard no testimony Friday because the scheduled witness did not show up.

A teen who lived in Yorke’s house finished his testimony on Thursday. A new Crown witness was set to take the stand Friday, but a court clerk announced late morning that the court was closed because the witness “didn’t arrive.”

The Crown and defence planned to spend the remainder of Friday negotiating an agreed statement of facts.

Yorke, 45, was shot to death on July 8, 2018, in his townhouse at 150 Elm Ridge Dr. in the Forest Heights area of Kitchener.

Kenneth Morrison, 30, and Mowafag Saboon, 27, both of Kitchener, are on trial for first-degree murder. Two boys previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing of Yorke and were sentenced to three years in custody.

The judge-alone trial, which began last week, resumes Monday.

WATERLOO — Halfway through the regular-season schedule and the results have been anything but predictable.

The Ontario University Athletics football season resumes Saturday with a full slate of games, including three matchups in the topsy turvy West division that has three teams (Waterloo Warriors, Western Mustangs and Windsor Lancers) sporting 2-1 records and three (Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Guelph Gryphons and McMaster Marauders) at 1-2.

“No one’s undefeated, no one’s winless, no one’s clinched the playoffs, and no one’s out of the playoffs ... all six teams control their own destiny, including us, with three football games remaining,” said Golden Hawks head coach Michael Faulds.

“When I was a player (2005-09 at Western), probably with about 90 per cent accuracy you could pick the winners for the entire season. This year, you’d be wrong in half the games.”

The Golden Hawks resume their push for one of four available playoff spots against McMaster, which dropped a 27-24 overtime decision to Windsor last week. Laurier is coming off a bye week and riding a two-game losing streak, having dropped a 36-16 decision to Western in its last outing. The McMaster-Laurier clash is a 1 p.m. kickoff at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton.

Warriors head coach Chris Bertoia has noticed something else about the West — that his team is the only one to win a road game this season, against Laurier at University Stadium.

“It’s certainly an interesting stat that we brought to the attention of our players,” said Bertoia.

“Every team is competitive, and every team is playing with confidence at home. It’s cliché, but every game means something this year.”

The Warriors are also coming off a bye week and resume their schedule in Guelph with a 6 p.m. start against the Gryphons, who have dropped two straight since opening the season with a 23-21 win over Western. Waterloo’s last outing was one to forget, a 34-13 loss to McMaster in which the visiting Warriors fell behind 27-2 at halftime.

Bertoia expects a stiff test from Guelph, which pushed the undefeated Queen’s Golden Gaels (4-0) to the limit last week before dropping a 14-8 decision in Kingston.

“They’ve got a lot of talent, they’re well-coached, and defensively, that front seven of theirs is very stout, the best front seven we’ve seen so far,” said Bertoia.

“They have a good offensive line as well; I think they’re getting a few players back. They have talent in their receiving corps, and they’re finding their way at quarterback, which is such a huge and critical position in this sport.”

Shawn Lal started for Guelph against Western, didn’t dress in a 14-12 loss to Windsor and exited during the first half of last week’s loss. He was replaced by Deandre Rose, who went the entire way against Windsor. Lal is listed as No. 1 on Guelph’s depth chart.

There are no such issues at Waterloo, where Tre Ford is the undisputed signal-caller and will attempt to rebound from a subpar performance against McMaster. The versatile Ford is second in the OUA in passing, completing 63 of 95 passes for 803 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He is fifth in rushing, with 25 carries for 280 yards and two touchdowns.

The Guelph roster features a pair of Waterloo Region players in linebacker Jared Beeksma (Jacob Hespeler) and kicker Eric Stranz (Southwood).

Meanwhile, Connor Carusello is expected to return from a Week 1 injury to lead the Laurier offence against McMaster. Rookie Taylor Elgersma has started the past two games in Carusello’s absence and performed admirably. In his last start, Laurier led 16-14 in the fourth quarter but surrendered three touchdowns in the final five minutes, including a 55-yard punt return.

“There are definitely a lot of positives from that game; it’s not all gloom and doom, so we try to build on things like how well we played on defence and clean up the areas where we weren’t so good, like blocked punts and dropped footballs,” said Faulds.

The McMaster roster includes defensive back Mario Alyas (Jacob Hespeler), defensive back Joshua Cumber (St. Benedict), defensive back Dylan Hillier (Preston), offensive lineman Jacob Bradley (Jacob Hespeler) and defensive end Gregory Thomas (Southwood).

Mark Bryson is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on sports for The Record. Reach him via email: mbryson@therecord.com

CAMBRIDGE — Gord Cooke is the furthest thing from a crunchy-granola, sandal-wearing environmentalist.

He’s an engineer and businessperson who got interested in sustainability almost by accident.

Just as the 1970s oil crisis hit, he got a job with a small company in Saskatoon that made heat recovery ventilators — devices that replace stale air in a building, while capturing the heat from the air leaving the house in winter, and using it to preheat fresh air coming in.

He began more or less as a salesperson, trying to get builders to install the heat recovery machines in the homes they built. He bought a blower door — a big, fridge-sized device that tests a home’s air tightness — and began trundling it out to homes to win builders over.

Today, Cooke is a nationally recognized leader in the promotion of energy-efficient housing. He was recently honoured with a Clean50 Lifetime Achievement Award, a top national award for significant achievement in furthering sustainability. Past honourees include former Green party leader Elizabeth May and scientist and activist David Suzuki.

His company in Cambridge, Building Knowledge Canada, employs 25 people. It educates builders on the latest energy-efficient technology and evaluates the energy efficiency of more than 5,000 new homes a year.

“We model the energy performance of houses before they’re built,” he says. “Builders will give us the plans for 30 different models, and we’ll tell them the most energy-efficient model for that house ... We try to make it simple for builders to make these decisions.”

Cooke’s knowledge, and his passionate advocacy, has led to the adoption of efficient technologies in Canadian home building, not only with niche builders, but across the industry, says Sean Wadsworth, vice-president at Branthaven Homes in Burlington.

“Gord Cooke and his team at Building Knowledge are best in class at what they do,” says Geoff McMurdo, chief administrative officer at Activa Homes. “They’re very, very good.”

Those changes have come about, but not because builders and homebuyers are demanding greener designs, or because people want to save money on their energy bills. Only six to eight per cent of buyers will place a high priority on energy efficiency, Cooke says.

But buyers and builders want homes that are high-quality, comfortable and livable. The beauty of building sustainably, Cooke says, is that improving energy efficiency hits all those goals.

An energy-efficient home is more comfortable, without drafts or a chilly basement or that cold room over the garage; healthier because there’s less moisture, dust and pollen, and more durable, he says. And it costs about the same to own as a house that’s less sustainable.

“If you were to offer it (energy-efficient design) to customers as an upgrade, more often than not, they wouldn’t choose it,” says McMurdo at Activa. “They’d put the money into countertops” or other visible features.

But that’s partly because buyers just assume builders are already thinking about these things, Wadsworth says.

“They kind of expect it,” he says. “Just like when you buy a new car today, you would expect that model would be more efficient than the one that was built five years ago.”

The technology has advanced tremendously, Cooke says. Even new houses built today to the minimum Building Code standards use about one-quarter the energy that houses used in the 1970s, he says.

And within 10 or 15 years, he says, the Building Code will require all houses to be net zero — using as much energy as they’re able to produce on-site through things like solar power or geothermal systems.

Many builders are already offering these homes — Activa in Waterloo Region and Terraview in Guelph are already building entire “net-zero ready” subdivisions — where every single-detached home is designed for solar power.

Activa is embracing sustainable homes because “it’s the right thing to do,” McMurdo says, but also to have their homes stand out, and because it makes sense to embrace a trend that is clearly the way the industry is headed.

In the next 30 years, there will be plenty more problems to solve, Cooke says: how to reduce the amount of carbon used to build a house, how to improve water efficiency and to reduce stormwater run-off, how to build denser neighbourhoods but still ensure you can’t hear your neighbours through the walls.

“Some builders say, ‘I’ve been doing it this way for 30 years.’ Yes, well then, stop,” Cooke says. “Cars aren’t built the same way they were 30 years ago. Neither should homes.”

Catherine Thompson is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on urban affairs for The Record. Reach her via email: cthompson@therecord.com

WATERLOO — Quiet Place will become busier if city council approves three 12-storey apartment towers beside the Ion rail tracks and the Albert McCormick Community Centre.

The proposal in the works for more than three years goes before Waterloo council at a public meeting 6:30 p.m. Monday.

The apartments are proposed at 535 Quiet Pl. on a vacant, triangular lot of 1.2 hectares that is meant for intense development. The site is nestled between the community centre and a small neighbourhood of detached homes. An older apartment building not far away stands at nine storeys.

The full development is proposed at 423 units with 424 parking spaces and 254 bicycle parking spaces. Most would be two-bedroom units; no three-bedroom units are planned.

Council has been asked to tinker with rules on setbacks, parking, and landscaping, and to permit a slight increase in height. City approval won’t happen until a later date, pending further review.

The developer, Hickory Terraces, contends the location and buildings are well-suited to meet provincial and local plans to house more people on less space.

“The proposed development follows the contemporary architectural style and supports a more pedestrian and transit-friendly, higher density complete community,” says a report filed at Waterloo city hall.

Towers are designed with rooflines, materials and colours meant “to create interesting facades and skylines.”

The proposal is within walking distance of two community centres, parks and transit. Nearby housing was developed in the 1970s.

Hickory Terraces is a developer involved in other big apartment projects including Auburn Green and Auburn Terraces on Auburn Drive, Cedar Creek on Old Albert Street, and Maple Hill Creek on Erb Street West.

If approved by council, construction could start next year with completion near the end of 2023, according to a report.

Jeff Outhit is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment reporter for The Record. Reach him via email: jouthit@therecord.com

WATERLOO REGION — The school vaccination program in Waterloo Region will resume next month after being put on hold since spring 2020 due to the pandemic.

Public health will start the program on Nov. 1, after appointments open for booking on Monday.

Most clinics will be outside school and work hours at public health offices located at 99 Regina St. S. in Waterloo and 150 Main St. in Cambridge.

Details about mobile clinics will be shared when they are finalized.

Children in Grade 7, 8 or 9 this school year are eligible to receive their school program vaccines or complete the series if already started.

Grade 7 students normally have the opportunity to receive three vaccines in school-based clinics: hepatitis B (two-dose series), meningococcal ACYW-135 and human papillomavirus (two-dose series).

The meningitis vaccine is required for attending school under the Immunization of School Pupils Act. Although the act has not been enforced during the pandemic, students’ immunization records will be reviewed in the future for required vaccines.

Appointments will be released in blocks every two weeks over the next year. They can be booked online or by calling 519-575-4400.

Public health asks for patience as it works to get students across the region caught up.

Call 519-575-4400 ext. 5001 with questions about the school vaccine program catch-up process.

WATERLOO — The Canadian Shield is offering rapid COVID-19 antigen testing kits for sale on its website.

The tests, from Markham-based BTNX Inc., are available to Canadian Shield customers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, following provincial guidance.

The tests deliver results in 15 minutes. Customers must confirm they’ve reviewed an instructional video and other training resources in order to purchase the tests.

“Due to regulatory issues, everyday Canadians are paying some of the highest prices in the world for rapid testing — we strongly believe that we can play a role in making that no longer the case,” Jeremy Hedges, chief executive officer of Waterloo-based PPE manufacturer The Canadian Shield, said in a release.

The kits sell in packs of five for $49.95, or $9.99 per test, online at canadianshieldppe.ca. They can also be picked up at The Canadian Shield’s head office at 640 Bridge St. W., Unit 1, in Waterloo.

WATERLOO REGION — This week Waterloo Region reached a big COVID-19 vaccination milestone with nine out of 10 eligible residents having at least one dose.

“While we are pleased to see the 90 per cent milestone for first doses, we do encourage everyone who is eligible for a second dose now to get that dose as soon as possible,” said Vickie Murray, operations lead for the region’s vaccine distribution task force.

Another 20,683 second doses are needed to reach the threshold of 90 per cent of eligible residents fully vaccinated. About 10,000 of those are now eligible for second dose.

“Our goal is to continue to aim for the highest vaccination rates possible to protect our community from the spread of COVID,” Murray said during Friday’s briefing.

Regional Chair Karen Redman thanked all residents who have stepped up to get vaccinated.

“Thank you for making our community a safer and healthier place,” Redman said.

A total of 898,441 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been given to regional residents: 90.12 per cent of residents 12 and older received at least one dose, and 85.92 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The number of daily doses being given is gradually decreasing, currently at about 900 doses a day.

Close to 160,000 residents are not yet fully immunized or not yet eligible. Of those, about 77,000 are eligible to get the vaccine but not yet fully immunized, and 82,000 are children under 12 who cannot yet get it.

Murray said it’s unlikely a registration process will be needed to sign up children to be ready for when the vaccine is approved for the younger age group. That was used early in the region’s vaccine rollout to queue up people who were eligible, but that was before launching an online system that allowed people to book their own appointments.

“Fortunately, I would tell you that our scheduling system is much more robust now than it was early in the pandemic,” Murray said. “I think that will be a smoother and more efficient process for everybody.”

Planning is underway to be ready to immunize children under 12 as soon as possible, including working with local school boards and ensuring the region’s mass clinics are family friendly.

“We have some great ideas on how we can make some changes that will provide an atmosphere that is supportive for families to come into,” Murray said.

Medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang was asked what she’d like to say to health-care and hospital staff who have chosen not to get vaccinated. Employees at the region’s three hospitals who had not yet been vaccinated by Tuesday were put on unpaid leave and have until early November to meet the requirement or risk termination.

“My message to all those who have not yet gotten vaccinated is to encourage them to be vaccinated. The vaccine is safe and effective and will help protect them, their loved ones, and help our community emerge from this pandemic,” Wang said.

She urged the same for any resident who still needs a dose or two.

“If you have not yet been vaccinated, it’s not too late to get the vaccine.”

Johanna Weidner is a Waterloo Region-based general assignment reporter for The Record. Reach her via email: jweidner@therecord.com