Thursday, January 6, 2011

Meetings streamed online well received

75 people have tuned into the first four City Council meetings broadcast online. City Clerk John Hannam says they're tracking unique visits to the live streaming site. Hannam says the next step will be to narrow down where the viewers are from.

TBAY Medical Hostel proposed

A member of the Atikokan General Hospital board feels there's a need for an affordable place to stay in Thunder Bay for regional patients and their families traveling for medical purposes.  Marlene Davidson says a medical hostel could be an alternative to those who can't afford the 75 to 100 dollar a night hotels.  Davidson envisions the hostel being similar to one in Thunder Bay set up for aboriginal patients.

Horwath makes election promise

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath continues to attack the McGuinty Government's failure to remove the HST from hydro, and home heating bills.  Horwath says Northerners are struggling and need a break.  Horvath says if her party is elected she would remove the HST from home heating oil and natural gas.

Air Bravo Thunder Airlines deal falls through

A deal between Air Bravo to purchase Thunder Airlines has fallen through.  President Ken Bittle says Air Bravo was unable to meet the deadlines and stipulations set out in the contract.  The two companies announced the deal in November. Bittle says it will be business as usual.

Accused teens in court

The two teenage girls who are accused of second degree murder will be back in court next month.  The 14 and 15 year old were lead into court in hand cuffs Thursday morning.  The accused were remanded into custody until their next court date.  The charges stem from the death of a 16 year old Sachigo Lake First Nation girl.

Another attempted robbery at a local drug store

No one was hurt after a third armed robbery of a drug store.  Police say a woman tried to rob the Shoppers Drug Mart on Red River at about 7 o'clock last night. The woman was armed with a syringe and when she was denied pills she fled on foot.  At this time police are not connecting this with a similar robbery that happened Tuesday night on Memorial.

Ndrangheta expert sheds more light on the organization

Thunder Bay's cocaine trade could be on the rise. Italian Author Antonio Nicaso has written several books on Ndrangheta and in an exclusive interview with our newsroom says this organization is one of the biggest cocaine traffickers in the world and view Canada as a great place to invest money and as a conduit to the US cocaine market.  Nicaso says Thunder Bay's port could be very attractive to Ndrangheta because laws and regulations in Canadian Ports are Lax in comparison to the US.