Another armed robbery on City's southside

Thunder Bay Police are looking for one man who robbed a Mac's Mart at gun point this morning. Officers say the man entered the store on North Edward Street at around 2 o'clock.  They say he produced a handgun.    No one was injured and the suspect ran off with cash and lottery tickets.

Tourism Organizations set to go

It won't be long now before the provincial government officially announces the formation of 13 new tourism regions. The Regional Tourism Organizations will effectively kill the three regions we now have in the northwest and bundle them into one. Tourism Minister Michael Chan tells The Giant News it should be announced within a month. Chan says no decision has been made on where the announcement might take place



 

City man fined in easement case

A resident is being fined for building his garage illegally. Don Cooper of Ryerson Crescent was dinged 2 thousand dollars after court was told he ignored information given to him as part of a permit he received from the Building Division. It was found that telephone lines run underneath the garage. Cooper has been ordered to remove that portion above the easement.

Students cuts hair for cancer patients

Westmount Public School student Finn MacDonald's head is going to feel a bit breezy for the next while. The 11 year old got his haircut in his his battle against cancer. His hair will be donated to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program that provides wigs to cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy.

820-thousand dollars of pot seized in T-Bay

A Thunder Bay man has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and other drug related offences. Police say a John Street residence was searched by Thunder Bay's combined forces organized crime unit on Thursday. That search resulted in the seizure of 89 pounds of Marihuana, 1 pound of Cannabis resin, and 13 thousand dollars in cash. OPP Detective Sgt. Randy Belluz says they spent three weeks investigating before searching the John Street home. The street value of the druges is 820-thousand dollars. Charged is 50 year old Theodore Bobrowski. Belluz says the illegal drugs will be destroyed at a later date.  The combined forces organized crime unit consists of members from the OPP, Thunder Bay Police, R.C.M.P., The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service and the Anishinabek Police Service. 

Walmart expansion underway

The expansion of Thunder Bay's Walmart store is now underway. Store manager Ryan Holomego says when it's completed next year the store will be 60 thousand square feet larger. The renovations will allow the store to provide a wider selection of groceries and other products He says it'll also mean an expanded staff adding that more employees have already been hired to prepare for expansion and there will be "quite a bit of hiring" taking place as the opening day approaches. The construction also means the store will not be open 24 hours anymore. Starting July 2nd store hours will be 7 am until 11 pm.

Garage fire is under investigation

Thunder Bay Fire and rescue dealt with a garage fire this morning. Crews responded to the call on Mountain Road around 4 o'clock his morning. When they arrived the garage was engulfed in flames and crews worked to stop the fire from spreading to other buildings. No one was hurt and the cause is under investigation.

Thunder Bay has second lowest jobless rate in Canada

For the second month in a row the Jobless rate in Thunder Bay has seen a big drop. Our rate fell from 6.1 percent in April to 5.4 percent in May. That's way below the national average of 8.1 percent and the Provincial average of 8.9. Saskatoon is the only City in Canada with a lower rate.

First Nations history available for viewing

There's a bit of history on display at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Starting Friday you can view the original Treaty 5 document signed 100 years ago between the government and area First Nations. The Gallery's Allistair MacKay says that the original hand written document and another accompanying one will be well protected in a special case to prevent any accidents or vandalism. The documents will be on display beginning at noon Friday until June 13th.

A record field to graduate from Con College

It's graduation day on Friday at Confederation College. A record 14 hundred and 40 students will get their diplomas. President Pat Lang says it's a special day for her as well, one she never gets tired of.  She enjoys seeing how the students have grown since they first arrived. There are a couple of firsts at Friday's ceremonies. 16 grads will get Aboriginal Relations certificates and the first group of Med Lab assistants will graduate. There are 2 ceremonies, at 9 in the morning and then at 2 in the afternoon.

School field trips not being cancelled

Public schools in the city are not being told to cancel field trips in the wake of this weeks tragic accident. 4 year old Willow Scott-Hannam died after being injured during such an excursion to Fort William Historical Park. Director of Education Cathy Siemieniuk says schools are being asked to review trips to make sure they comply with board policy.  As such,  she says there's no blanket decision on field trips but schools are taking the extra step to make sure the process is followed.  Siemieniuk says it will take several weeks to complete the  internal investigation into the accident.

Safety lane nets unsafe vehicles

City Police continue their efforts to get clunkers off the road. Last Wednesday night they were pulliing over vehicles at Water and John Street. Sgt. Andy Clark says they look for private and commercial vehicles that look like they may need some work . Two mechanics on site look over the vehicles and determine if they are safe to drive or not. Last night they took the licence plates off of at least 20 vehicles.

Great Lakes mayors agree to protect shorelines

Mayor Lynn Peterson is just back from a mayors conference on the Great Lakes. Peterson says 8 Ontario mayors agreed to protect beaches and coastal areas of their lake shorelines. The mayors are working with the provincial government on six different projects including the testing of beaches and sewage outflows around the Great Lakes. The deal will also see a new organization created to bring experts together to exchange ideas and practices

4 organ donations performed in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay performed 4 organ donations after cardiac death last year.  Those operations helped Ontario lead Canada with the most C-D organ donations.  Trillium Gift of Life President Frank Merkel says there's strong support for organ donation in Thunder Bay. Across the province 100 organ donations were made after cardiac death.

Aquatic species invade Lake Superior

The United States and Canadian Governments are taking a stand against the spread of invasive species. The Lake Superior Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Plan was unveiled on Wednesday in Thunder Bay. Canadian Chair of the Lake Superior Binational Forum Glen Dale says they want to post tips on invasive species at the border. To prevent invasive species anglers can power wash their boats and equipment. Live baits are to be properly disposed of away from streams and water systems.

Tourism Minister calls child's death devastating

This weeks tragedy at Fort William Historical Park has the attention of Ontario's Tourism Minister. In an exclusive interview with The Giant News, Michael Chan calls the death of 4 year old Willow Scott-Hannam devastating. She was struck by a horse drawn wagon Monday on a school field trip and later died of her injuries.  Chan is calling on the city to pull together and grieve together and come out of the situation stronger. He says he's being kept up to date on the investigations and his staff are in touch with Fort officials almost on an hourly basis. Chan expects lessons will be learned from the tragedy.

Irwin kicks off the Border Cats season

Olympic women's hockey gold medalist Haley Irwin throws out the first pitch to start the Northwoods League season for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. The Cats went on to win the game 1-0 on the shoulders of starting pitcher Garret Yount who went 6 and a third innings giving up just a pair of hits.  Drew Irwin got the save for the Cats.

Northern Ontario Heritage Party soon a reality

The Northern Ontario Heritage Party is one step closer to gaining official party status. Party spokesperson Ed Deibel says they're waiting for a letter from the Ontario Elections Commission. More than 1 thousand one hundred and fifty signatures in favour of the party were sent to the commission. The NOHP is hoping to put 11 candidates in place for the next provincial election.

Innova developer backs out

A southern Ontario company isn't building a new shopping centre at Innova Business Park after all. The city's Mark Smith says the developer is claiming global market conditons are making it impossible to find anchor tenants. Smith says the company wasn't under any legal obligation to develop the property. He says First Gulf Developments had the ability to back out of the agreement in a certain period of time and exercised that right before that time expired. First Gulf planned to develop a 600 thousand square foot plaza. Smith says all is not lost for Innova though. He says interest in the area has prompted the city to build two entrance roads into the property over the summer

Facebook page set up for Willow

The death of 4 year old Willow Scott-Hannam is being felt by everyone in the city. There is a Facebook site that is dedicated to the kindergarten student who died following an incident at Fort William Historical Park on Monday. Mayor Lynn Peterson is also expressing condolences.   She says the entire community is saddened by the tragedy and our hearts and prayers are with the family.  Funeral arrangements are still being worked out.

Coroner's probe begins into 4 year old's death

The Regional Coroner's office is investigating the death of a four year old Hyde Park kindergarten student. Willow Scott-Hannam was on a field trip to Fort William Historical Park on Monday when the accident involving horses and a wagon occurred. Dr. Michael Wilson says the investigation has begun and could take several months to complete. Wilson says after the investigation concludes they will decide whether or not to launch an inquiry into the death.

City gets a C minus for transparency

The Canadian Newspaper Association has given the City of Thunder Bay a C minus when it comes to being transparent. President John Hinds says they asked several simple questions to City representatives ranging from the Mayor's travel expenses to pieces of property the City purchased. He says as an example they asked for the amount of money that the municipality spends on cell phones for city employees. For information he says should be readily available Hinds says they requested over 2 thousand 500 dollars for that information. For the Mayor's travel expenses the cost would have been 62 dollars. Hinds says out of 35 municipalities Thunder Bay comes in at 31.

Local Tim Horton's outlets present Camp Day

Tim Horton's coffee shops in Canada are collecting money for underprivleged kids today.  It's Camp Day, where money from coffee sold at each outlet goes towards sending children to camp. All the company outlets in Thunder Bay participated with local celebrities helping to promote the cause.   Pictured:  Tim Horton's employee Darcia Harasym serves up doughnuts at the Memorial and John location.

Holy Cross students get active

Holy Cross School students are celebrating Clean Air Day. The Mayor, school administration and parents led students in some morning activities. The school is taking the Earth Week to Clean Air Day Challenge by taking part in a province wide movement to increase physical activity. In Thunder Bay, schools in both the Public and Catholic Boards are registered to participate.

Another person pulled out of the Kam River

Another intoxicated person had to be rescued from the Kam River. A 20 year old woman was pulled from the River at Kam View Park yesterday morning just before 5 AM. When officers arrived they found a 60 year old man assisting the woman up the ladder. They were both taken to the Health Sciences Centre as a precaution.

Border Cats kick off season today

Its time to play ball at Port Arthur Stadium. The Border Cats open the Northwoods League season against the Duluth Huskies. Currently there's construction work taking place around the stadium to prepare for the Junior championships. Owner Brad Jordgenson admits it will be be an inconvenience to fans. The first pitch will be thrown at 6:35 by Thunder Bay's Golden Girl Haley Irwin.

Hyde Park kindergarten student dies

The Lakehead Public School Board has confirmed the death of a four year old student who was injured in a horse and carriage accident at Fort William Historical Park. Dead is Willow Scott-Hannam. Director of Education Cathy Siemieniuk says her heart goes out to the family. Siemieniuk says they will have grief counsellors on site to talk to family members, staff and classmates of the deceased.  The Coroner's Office, Ministry of Labour, Lakehead Public School Board and the Fort are all conducting internal investigations.
It was only last week that four year old Willow took part in a Habitat for Humanity ground breaking ceremony for its new homes on Mary Street.  She was photographed placing her foot in the recently poured cement.  The organization has posted a photo of Willow.

Ministry of Labour Probes child death

The Ministry of Labour is now involved in the tragic death at Fort William Historical Park. Spokesperson Bruce Skeaff says it is considered a workplace probe because they investigate all serious injuries or deaths at a workplace whether its a worker or non worker. Skeaff says they'll be looking at the death from a health and safety point of view

Fort GM says staff saddened by tragedy

The General Manager of Fort William Historical Park is speaking out about Monday's tragedy. Sergio Buonocore says the entire staff is saddened by the turn of events that led to the death of a 4 year old school student in the farm area. Buonocore says the Fort is conducting it's own investigation into the incident. He says all public programming on the farm has been suspended until the probe is completed. Buonocore says the Fort was closed today out of respect but will reopen on Wednesday

OPP officer faces charges

An OPP officer in Northwestern Ontario is charged with Uttering Threats. A police investigation was started after an incident that occurred in Terrace Bay on Sunday. As a result they say that 40 year old Constable Gregory Stutton was charged. As well they say that 6 long guns and two hand guns were seized from his home resulting in two firearms charges. Police say Sutton is an 8 year veteran of the Schreiber OPP detachment and was off duty at the time of the incident. He has been suspended from active duties. He appears in court in Thunder Bay July 5th.

May was warm and dry

Environment Canada is saying that summer came early to Thunder Bay and the rest of the province. In it's weather review for May it says that warm temperatures were the norm in the northwest. It was also a dry month. In Thunder Bay we had about 38 millimetres of rain in May which is 28 millimetres less than normal making it the driest May since 1997.

Tree fire causes power problems

Thunder Bay Hydro customers on the city's south side have their power back. It follows an outage at around 1 o'clock in the afternoon according the Hydro spokesperson Eileen Dias. She says the problem was resolved about 45 minutes later. She says about 38 hundred customers located in the downtown south core from the Thunder Centre shopping plaza to Arthur Street were affected at it's peak. The outage was caused by a tree on a power line that caught fire

Thunder Bay "Age Friendly"

Thunder Bay is now officially "age friendly". City Council granted the status to the local committee at Monday night's meeting. Spokesperson Mary Lou Kelley says Thunder Bay's population is aging rapidly. A report on seniors issues include community safety and affordable housing. The local committee hopes to get the World Health Organization to deem the City "age friendly".

Curb side pick up for food drive

You can donate canned goods just by leaving them at the end of your driveway. It's part of the Postal Food Drive and Kraft Hunger Challenge. This Saturday, postal workers will pick up bags of non- perishable food items. There's also drop off locations on Saturday with postal trucks stationed at Qualtiy Market Stores, the Lakehead Labour Centre and the Balmoral Postal Sorting Station. Flyers will be distributed to those areas of the City that are eligable for curbside pick up. Kraft Canada will also be matching money donations made today until June 11th. Food collected through the drive will go towards Northwestern Ontario food banks.

City rec trails to get a facelift

Thunder Bays recreational trail system is getting 1.4 million dollars worth of improvements. Councillors have voted to approve the spending for those upgrades. Parks Manager Paul Fayrick assured councillors the upgrades will be done as effeciently as possible.  He says improvements will be done in sections with each section taking two days to complete. The contract has been awarded to Bruno's Contracting

City turns to new voting machines

Don't look for any changes to the way votes are counted in the upcoming municipal elections. City Clerk John Hannam says that the city has entered into an agreement with Dominion Voting to provide new voting machines. He says that the new machines will offer a wide range of different capabilities including the ability to help people with disabilities vote and it will allow people to vote from any poll in the city something which could not take place in other elections. Hannam's comments follow a presentation by three citizens who wanted the city to go back to a hand counting system from the current electronic system. Hannam countered by saying hand counting is the most innaccurate form of voting that exists because it's open to all kinds of human error.

Tournament organizers plead for a break

City administration is considering several requests by organizers of the World Junior Baseball championships.  They asked the city to allow them to collect 15 per cent of the concession revenues that would normally go into city coffers.   They're also asking the city to waive rental fees for Port Arthur Stadium and the cost of lighting for the tournament if it runs a deficit.  There was also a request to open another entrance to Baseball Central to take the pressure off the only existing entrance off of Central Avenue.  Administration says it will have an answer back in two weeks.

Girl's hockey team recognized by city

The Thunder Bay Queens Midget AA Team were recognized at Monday night's city council meeting. The team was honoured for winning gold at the Ontario Women's Hockey Association Provincials in Mississauga and for winning gold at the Esso Cup National Tournament in Regina. Also recognized at Monday's meeting were plasma donor Bert Harding and keyboard virtuoso Conner Curran.

Northwest residents still live risky lifestyles

Residents of Northwestern Ontario still live a lifestyle that poses a cancer risk. The latest report card from Cancer Care Ontario indicates we smoke more than the provincial average and are more overweight as well. Michael Power of the Regional Cancer Centre says even cutting down on smoking would help reduce rates considerably. He says there is also concern not enough of us are getting cancer screened for colon or prostate cancer. The report card also shows the local Centre is doing a good job in cancer radiation treatment.

Children hurt at Fort William Historial Park

A 4 year old girl is in hospital with a severe trauma after an incident at Fort William Historical Park this morning. Don Stokes of Superior North EMS says the girl was one of several children who were injured in the accident that took place around 11:30.   He says six children were hurt  in the accident that involved work horses and a wagon.  Three were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, three others were taken to hospital for more serious injuries including the girl. Marty Mascarin with the Historical Park says that the students were part of a program run by the Park along with the Lakehead Public School Board.  He say they're not certain as to exactly what happened to cause the accident or how the children got hurt.  He says normally the students ride in the wagon while it is pulled by the horses, however he can't say if this was the case in this incident.

10am drinking in honour of Fifa World Cup

Starting June 11th, you'll be able to crack open a cold one an hour earlier at your favourite drinking establishment. The province is allowing licensed bars and restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages earlier in the day during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Minister of Consumer Services Sophia Aggelontitis says the change in drinking hours will help accomodate the delayed game times. The games are being telecast from South Africa with some games starting as early as 7:30 am ET.

Low to moderate fire hazard

Rainfall over the weekend in much of Northwestern Ontario has helped ease the forest fire hazard.  Ministry of Natural Resources Information Officer Debbie McLean says the current hazard is listed as low to moderate. McLean adds the forest fire hazard still remains high in the Quetico Park area where three fires are still burning.
Meanwhile, 100 fire crews from B.C. are staying in Thunder Bay before flying out to help battle blazes burning in Northeastern Ontario.

Multiple stab wounds cause of death

A post mortem has revealed that Randy Lawrence Cromarty died as a result of multiple stab wounds. The 39 year old was the victim of the City's first homocide. 28 year old Thea Debra Gliddy is facing a charge of second degree murder. Gliddy is due back in court June 23rd.

Labour peace at George Jeffery

The 20 or so professional therapists at the George Jeffery Children's Centre now have a new contract. The two year deal gives them a total wage increase of 4 per cent along with improved benefits.  Suzanne Pulice, of the Canadian Auto Workers union  says it's a good deal, but still falls short,  adding other therapists at similar centre's in Northwestern Ontario make slightly more.  The  highest paid therapist at the Centre will get over 75 thousand dollars a year at the end of the contract.

OPP go back to the basics in cold case file

The OPP will be using billboards and bus ads to try to solve a 44 year old cold case. Detective Sgt. John Horne is hoping the compelling murder cases of Doreen Hardy and Jane Bernard will spark some interest and some tips. The two were last seen getting into a car on Cumberland Street in August of 1966. Witnesses gave police a description of the driver and Horne believes that someone knows who this person was. The women's bodies were located in Shuniah Townhip just yards from each other. Both of them had been strangled. There is also a 50 thousand dollar reward being offered in the case.

Stolen vehicle found near Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay OPP recovered a stolen vehicle after responded to an accident over the weekend. The single vehicle accident happened on highway 17 just west of Raith at around 9:30 Saturday morning. When officers arrived they discovered the vehicle had been reported stolen in Winnipeg and the 19 year old driver was arrested.

Smoking restrictions in City parks take effect

Starting Tuesday children's play areas in city parks will be smoke free. The bylaw means smokers will have to remain at least ten metres away from playground equipment, public beaches and entrances to recreational facilities. Thunder Bay is the 6th community in Ontario to regulate smoking in public parks. Vancouver has outlawed smoking in all city parks and beaches effective this September.

Combined Forces Crime Unit make another drug bust

Over ten thousand dollars worth of drugs are off the streets thanks to the Combined Forces Organized Crime Unit. Officers searched a house in Neebing Friday and found a large quantity of prescription pills and other drugs as well as 17 firearms and cash. Officers were looking for two people who weren't home at the time when they searched the house. No arrests have been made.

Lakehead University students graduate

The future begins now for the graduates of Lakehead University who received their diplomas on the weekend.   About 2000 students took part in three separate ceremonies at the Community Auditorium. For Fred Gilbert they were the last ceremonies he would preside over in Thunder Bay before he retires as university president.   He will do it one final time on Friday as students at LU's Orillia campus hold their convocation.