Thunder Bay Police are charging a 27 year old woman with abducting a six year old girl from the Lanark Crescent area last night. Police found the girl in the custody of the woman shortly after in the area of Bay and Algoma Streets. The young girl has been returned to her guardian and was unharmed.
The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Board of Directors is sending their bar issue for review. President Reta Stoger was visibly upset with media after their meeting last night and says they've sent the issue to the policy committee and they'll be looking at the fate of the bar. No other comments were made after the meeting about the future of the CLE bar.
The City's bus drivers are one step closer to striking. The Amalgamated Transit Union held a strike vote and 99 percent were in favour of taking job action. ATU President Sheila Kivisto says they'll be heading into mediated talks Wednesday. Kivisto says a stumbling point includes wages and notes they are the second lowest paid transit members in Ontario. No strike date has been set.
It appears Thunder Bay drivers still aren't getting it. Allstate Canada asked teens from St. Patrick's High School to stake out the intersection of Arthur and Selkirk Streets for one hour today. Company spokesperson Tony Bossio says out of the 185 distracted drivers spotted 7 were talking on their cell phones and over 25 were texting. Bossio calls the results astounding.
OPP are probing a shooting in the community of Caramat last night. They say that a man was shot in the leg on his Highway 625 property last night by a man with a long gun after a confrontation. Police say the suspect was wearing a black ski mask and ran off towards a bush road. Police say they are still trying to locate the gunman.
The City is giving the hospital the go ahead to ban smoking on their property. An amendment to City smoking by-laws will allow hospital security staff and Health Unit officers to ticket anyone found smoking on the hospital grounds. City Councillor Andrew Foulds was uncomfortable with the outright ban and asked hospital officials why they didn't create a designed smoking area on the grounds. Health Sciences Centre Spokesperson Tracie Smith says they consulted the public and heard loud and clear that having a 100 percent smoke free grounds was the way to go. City staff will be coming back to Council in six months time with hospital data on how many tickets were issued and if people have been going to Oliver Road to smoke.
City Council will take their infrastructure priorities to the public. Council heard from City Manager Tim Commisso about the 175 million dollars in infrastructure upgrades that are needed over the next four years. A public meeting on future infrastructure projects will be held within the next three weeks. Meanwhile, the City has heard from it's staff about their budget priorities for the next year and will vote on it at it's October 28th meeting.
Thunder Bay's Crime Prevention Council says local residents feel safer since the group's inception in 2010. Coordinator Amy Siciliano spoke to City Council at their meeting Monday night. She told them about how they've made inroads in the past year including creating their Hate Crimes Awareness Committee with the local police force. The group is also pleased to announce they received over 867 thousand dollars in a public safety grant which will allow them to network with National Crime Prevention organizations.
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre renewed a smoke free
commitment Monday. Initiative spokesperson Kelly-Jo Gillis feels
patients that do smoke, are being given the tools to quit. Support also
includes care kits, follow ups with patients after leaving the hospital
and staff trained to help others quit smoking.
Registration numbers for minor hockey leagues in the Thunder Bay area have made a significant drop. Trevor Hosanna is the General Manager of Hockey Northwestern Ontario. He believes a mix of high costs, safety concerns and a growing lack of interest is to blame. Efforts are being taken to make the game safer, and more fun while reducing costs where possible.
On the city hall beat tonight...councillors will be getting an update from the city manager about priorities for the city as they relate to sewers, roads and other infrastructure. There is also a budget update scheduled as well as a proposal to sell the Prosvita Hall property on High Street to the Indian Friendship Centre. Thunder Bay's Crime Prevention Council is providing a yearly update to City Council tonight.
The driver of a transport truck is recovering from minor injuries after a mishap involving two transports in the region. OPP say the accident happened on Highway 17 between Raith and Shabaqua at around 5 o'clock this morning. They say that one of the transports landed in the ditch and needed to be pulled out. There were no dangerous goods being transported by either vehicle.
The Provincial Government is one step closer to having a financial accountability office. The bill has passed third reading in the legislature, and Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell says it will make sure instances like the scandal with the gas plants in southern Ontario, never happens again. She believes the office will make sure money is distributed equally across the province. The creation of an accountability office was a key demand from the NDP in the 2013 budget.
Nipigon OPP have charged three people involved in drug trafficking. Officers arrived at the Nip/Rock High School friday and noticed a young man who appeared to be selling drugs to students. A search yielded several grams of marijuana. He remains in custody at a Youth Detention Facility in Thunder Bay pending a bail hearing.
FedNor Minister Greg Rickford is defending his government's handling of the Ring of Fire. Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas was critical of how little appears to be done in the development of the Chromite project. Rickford stressed negotiations take time and it should be soon that local municipalities will be involved in shaping the project. The issue popped up repeatedly at last week's Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference.
Fire and Rescue are looking into the cause of a fire on dawson road around 1am. The blaze was too intense to battle from within the building, which suffered heavy smoke and fire damage. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated. No one was home at the time of the blaze, and no one was injured.
Thunder Bay's Mayor Keith Hobbs is hoping FedNor Minister Greg Rickford will be announcing some funding for the proposed Event Centre soon. During an event Friday the Minister refused to comment on funding applications that are currently being reviewed. Hobbs says he has high hopes. Hobbs says the Event Centre would be the crowning jewel in the waterfront development project.
The Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of fame is inducting its aclass of 2013 tonight. In the athletes category it will be paralympic athlete Andrea Cole, former NHLer Tony Hrkac and Canadian Womens Hockey Star Katie Weatherston. In the building category its Brian Mallan and Brian Mclean...in the team category Sailor Jim Cameron gets the nod.
FedNor Minister Greg Rickford is defending his government's handling of the Ring of Fire. Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas was critical of how little appears to be done in the development of the Chromite project. Rickford stressed negotiations take time and it should be soon that local municipalities will be involved in shaping the project. The issue popped up repeatedly at last week's Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference.
Thunder Bay's Mayor Keith Hobbs is hoping FedNor Minister Greg Rickford will be announcing some funding for the proposed Event Centre soon. During an event today the Minister refused to comment on funding applications that are currently being reviewed. Hobbs says he has high hopes for the project and will keep pushing for Federal funding. Hobbs says the Event Centre would be the crowning jewel in the waterfront development project.
FedNor Minister Greg Rickford is in Thunder Bay today and he brought his cheque book with him. Over 3 million dollars was announced for several area projects including over a million for the City to renovate the Whalen Building and the Delaney Arena. Rickford says the investment in Thunder Bay is going to improve the economy. 49-thousand dollars is going towards the Friends of Chippewa Park and another 49-thousand will go towards hosting the Canada Rural Revitalization Foundation's national conference in Thunder Bay.
