No Buses and Rural Schools Closed

Today's snowstorm leading to the cancellation of all school buses for both rural and city students.  As well, all rural schools are closed including Crestview, Five Mile, Gorham and Ware, Kakabeka Falls, McKenzie, Nor'Wester View, Valley Central, and Whitefish Valley. The Thunder Bay Christian School is also closed today.  City Schools are open, but with no busing.  

City Gets 567K In OLG Cash

The latest dividend to the city from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation works out to 567 thousand dollars.   The money is the City's share of the slot machine revenues and a portion of the game table revenue from the local casino.  The amount is almost 20 thousand dollars lower than the cheque that was presented in January.

No School Buses Today

The slick road conditions forcing the cancellation of all school buses today.  No buses will run for rural or city schools and rural schools are also closed today.  City schools are open but the following rural schools are closed.  Crestview, Five Mile, Gorham and Ware, Kakabeka Falls, McKenzie, Nor'wester View, Valley Central, Whitefish Valley as well as the Thunder Bay Christian School.

The NDP Walk Out Of Q-P

Andrea Horwath

The provincial NDP is showing its passive aggressive side.   Leader Andrea Horwath and her members walked out of the legislature during question period this morning because Premier Kathleen Wynne was not there to answer questions about the growing gas plant scandal.   Premier Wynne is in Sault Ste. Marie to make an announcement.  Meantime, There's no backing down for opposition leader Tim Hudak who says he will not be withdrawing his comments linking the premier to deleted emails in the gas plant scandal.  Hudak says Premier Wynne is making the wrong choice by threatening legal action against him over focusing on creating jobs in the province.

Hudak Discusses Johnson Dismissal

Ontario's Conservative leader Tim Hudak is addressing the firing of PC candidate Tamara Johnson in Thunder Bay-Superior North. During a news conference in Toronto today Hudak didn't talk about the details of the dismissal, nor did he  mention Johnson by name, but says candidates have to be on the same page.   He says he wants all PC hopefuls and caucus members focused on the issue of bringing jobs back to the province and nothing else.  Johnson was fired on the weekend following comments made on social media about businesses in the Fort William First Nation.

Overcrowding Solution Still Escapes Officials

With reports of record overcrowding at the Regional Hospital,  MPP Bill Mauro says finding a solution isn't proving to be easy.   Mauro says he's been working with the health minister and her staff on a regular basis to try to get some answers but he can't make any funding promises at this time.  Mauro says the key is replacing the 60 long term care beds which were taken away from the city recently.

City Tax Increase Pegged At 2.1 %

City Hall is out with its budget numbers for 2014. The financial picture shows that if the budget were to be passed the way it is there would be an increase in the tax levy of 2.1 per cent. They say the proposed budget will allow the city to maintain current services while continuing to fund infrastructure upgrades. City Manager Tim Commisso says there is room for cuts.

Tax Appeal Hearings Postponed

The Resolute Forest Products tax appeal hearings that were scheduled to take place in Thunder Bay starting Monday have been postponed.   The city was preparing to fight the provinces reduced tax assessment for the company.  However Mayor Keith Hobbs says the company asked for a postponement in order to wait for the results of a similar appeal in another community.   Hobbs says the postponement could be as long as four months and doesn't believe the delay will hurt the city's position.

Overnight Blaze

City fire crews battled a garage fire on Empress Avenue near the corner of Red River Road.  A second alarm was called in around 4:45 this morning and it took firefighters close to a half an hour to bring the blaze under control.  A total of five units were on the scene.  Two cars were inside the garage, but was there no damage to any other buildings in the area and there were no injuries.      

Bad Weather In T-O Delays Flights

If you plan to leave by plane to Toronto today or you are expecting someone from the big city, there may be delays.  Thunder Bay  Airport arrival and departure information shows many flights to and from T-dot are delayed due to the weather there.   You can view the arrival and departure information at this LINK

Gas Tax Will Hurt North: Fedeli

Progressive Conservatives say Liberal plans to add a new province-wide gas tax to fund rapid transit in southern Ontario will have a huge impact on the north. Critic Vic Fedeli says an extra 10 cent a litre will lead to higher prices for other products trucked to northern Ontario. He says that will have a devastating on consumer prices.   Fedeli says raising the capital for the project should be others ways than raising taxes.

Hobbs Gives State Of The City Address

Mayor Keith Hobbs is reiterating the city's importance in the mining industry. Hobbs addressed the withdrawal of Cliffs Natural Resources from the Ring of Fire during his state of the city address Monday He said that the regions mining potential should not be overshadowed by one company. Hobbs adds that work still needs to be done on transportation infrastructure and consultations with First Nations communities.

Director Set To Retire

The Catholic School Board's Director of Education Joan Powell is retiring. She made the announcement at Monday night's school board meeting. Powell will be retiring at the end of April.

Cold Snap Continues

There's more cold weather on the way says Jeff Coulson of Environment Canada.  Coulson says we are in the grips of a massive deep freeze that extends across much of western Canada, with only a brief reprieve on the way.  Our normal daytime high for this time of year is minus 6. Coulson adds we might see a break in the weather early next week but expect another cold snap in the week leading up to Christmas

Horizon Walks Out Of Talks With FWFN

Horizon Wind isn't commenting on why it walked out of a meeting that included Fort William First Nations Chief Georjann Morriseau.    Morriseau says the meeting was called to discuss treaty rights with Horizon and the Ministry of Environment  before any decisions are made  on the company's proposed wind farm on the Nor' wester Escarpment.  She says that shortly after the meeting began company officials walked out without giving a reason.  Morriseau considers the consultation process with Horizon to have broken down.

Holiday Train Here Dec. 1st

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be stopping in Thunder Bay once again.   The food bank fundraiser will stop in the city Sunday December the first at 8:45 in the evening at the Syndicate Avenue train station.  This years entertainment includes  Melanie Doane and Crystal Shawanda

Swimming Advisory For Boulevard Lake

You are swimming at your own risk if you go to Boulevard Lake.   The Health Unit has issued an advisory for the main beach, Sandy Cove and Sunny Side.   It's because of high e-coli bacteria levels.

Policing Oliver Paipoonge

Mayor Keith Hobbs is in favour of renewing a policing contract with Oliver Paipoonge.  The contract sees the City Police force patrol the rural areas outside of Thunder Bay.  Mayor Keith Hobbs notes the policing model is beneficial even though it takes away officers patrolling in the City limits.

Virdiramo Opposes Site For Expanded Program

Expanding the alcohol management program by the city's homeless shelter is not sitting well with all city councillors.   Joe Virdiramo says allowing the program to expand to the old EMS building on George Street is only going to make problems in that area of the city worse.   He says it's because there's an overabundance of social services in the area and the city may be creating a ghetto.  Shelter House officials made their case for expanding the program to the new facility, but Councillor Virdiramo says another location would be better 

Elderly Man Struck By Car

An 83 year old man is recovering in hospital after police say he was hit by a car on the city's north side this morning.  They say the man was crossing on a green light at Balmoral and Beverly when he was struck by a car making a right turn.  The car driver, a 74 year old woman, is charged with careless driving.