Local Runners In Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon takes place today and about a dozen Thunder Bay runners will be there including Susan McDonald.  She couldn't finish the race last year because of the deadly bombing and says returning wasn't an easy decision to make. McDonald says for her returning it's all about conquering fear.

Man Charged With Drinking & Driving

For the second time this month, police have a 55-year-old city man in custody. Less than two weeks ago, police found the man passed out in his car a fast food drive thru, where he was arrested for failing to stop at the scene of an accident. On Saturday, police were investigating a hit and run on the city's south side, when the man drove back to the scene to speak with police where he was charged with impaired driving.  He will appear in court on Tuesday.

Con College Celebrates KPI Report

Confederation College is tooting its own horn.  They're celebrating mostly good marks in the Ontario Key Performance Indicators Report. President Jim Madder says they were ranked number one in grad employment rates.  The report also identified a decline in student completion rates from last year but Madder notes that's because students are getting hired in their field before graduating.

NSWPB Releases Natural Resources Report

A new study conducted by the North Superior Workforce Planning Board is identifying what employers in Natural Resource Management are looking for in potential employees.  Executive Director of the NSWPB, Madge Richardson, says  most employers listed hard work ethic as an important characteristic in potential employees.

Federal Funding Issue For Police

The Police Services Board is looking to its National and Provincial counterparts for help with a funding issue. Chief JP Levesque says the Federal Government recently made the Police who are investigating a federal case responsible for paying for witness expenses. Levesque doesn't think it will rack up a huge bill for them since they haven't had too many cases that would fall under this new legislation.

NOMA Meeting Gets Underway This Week

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is meeting in Fort Frances this week.  Mayor Keith Hobbs is leading the city delegation and says the top issue is sure to be how the  province's Municipal Property Assessment Corporation has been giving big companies a tax break and sticking the municipal taxpayer with the bill.  The NOMA meeting gets going on Thursday.

New Police Station For Fort Hope

A new police station is being built in the remote northern community of Fort Hope. 3.5-million dollars in funding is going towards the detachment. Kenora MP Greg Rickford announced 1.82-million dollars in funding recently, while the province is on board with the rest. Rickford notes since 2009, the Conservative Government has invested in new police stations for eight First Nations communities in the Kenora riding alone.

Flooding Unlikely

So far so good. The head of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority says there is no need to worry about flooding even with our snowy spring. Bill Bartley says they don't have any concerns just yet. Bartley says officials will keep monitoring the situation but doesn't think we are in store for any spring floods.

Staal Foundation Open Looking For Help

The organizers of the Staal Foundation Open at Whitewater Golf Course are hoping the volunteer spirit in the city kicks in. About 450 volunteers will be required for this summer's PGA Tour Canada event. Executive Director Scott Smith says there will also be a chance for some volunteers to live the dream and work along side the golfers. Smith adds that volunteers will be an important part of making the tournament a success.You can go to the tournament website and look for where you  can get involved.

Thunder Bay Runners Return To Boston Marathon

Thunder Bay's Deborah Frederickson is one of about a dozen locals who will be participating in tomorrow's Boston Marathon. She was there last year and crossed the finish line only moments before the deadly bombing and admits it will be an emotion filled race for everyone. Frederickson says running in the race will be part of the healing for her.

Highway 102 Open

Both lanes of highway 102 are now open to traffic. The OPP say highway 102 and highway 11-17 at Sistonen's Corner was closed this morning as a result of a single tractor trailer collision.

Collision Causes Highway Closure

The poor weather is already causing highway closures in the area. The OPP say highway 102 and highway 11-17 at Sistonen's Corner is closed as a result of a single tractor trailer collision. Officials say the junction is closed until the trailer can be removed.

Con College Students Receive Awards

Three Film Production students from Confederation College are receiving awards from the North of Superior Film Association. Darren MacDonald, Deborah Blundell and Jessica Corbett took home prizes for their short films. The winners were selected from 27 short films.

DFC Residence On Hold

It's going to be some time before we see a residence for Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School built on Confederation College land. College President Jim Madder says he has not seen any progress just yet. The building is expected to house 150 beds for students and another 50 for families visiting from the remote north.

TBPSB Supporting Area Youth

The Police Services Board is kicking in 2-thousand dollars for a regional award show. They are giving the cash to the Northwestern Ontario Aboriginal Youth Achievement and Recognition Awards. Members of the Board felt it would show good will to area youth and will improve their relationship with police.

Dryden Lawyer Joins Ontario Court

A Dryden resident has been appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. Sarah Trach has been named a judge by the Provincial government and will preside in Kenora. Trach has been working at McAuley & Partners for the past ten years, focusing on family law.

Mining Company Sells Stakes

A junior mining company is selling off some of its interests in northwestern Ontario. King's Bay Gold says it's handing over its 20 per cent stake in two properties in the Nestor Falls area to Cameron Gold Operations, a subsidiary of Australia's Chalice Gold Mines. King's Bay earns 100-thousand dollars Canadian in the deal. The site's remaining interests were owned by Coventry Resources which was bought out by Chalice in February.

Movie Nights In The Park

The City is launching some late night movies in the parks this summer.  You can help pick the films that will screen on Friday nights from May 16th to the 30th.  The movies being discussed include Thor, Divergent, Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hook, Ghostbusters and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  For a complete list and to vote click here.

Police Report Numerous Collisions

Police are reporting numerous collisions today as the result of the snowstorm. They say that a van drove through the window of the Bargain Shop in the Grandview Mall this afternoon. No one was hurt.   There are also no injuries after two school buses collided on Selkirk Avenue at around 3 o'clock. Police say no students were on board.   And only minor injuries to report in a two vehicle mishap on West Arthur Street and Mapleward Road over the noon hour.

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.

T.Bay Woman Wins New Car

A Thunder Bay woman is the winner of a new GMC vehicle. Pauline Quinn won a new GMC Terrain in the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's License to Win.

Dryden Woman Wins Lotto 649

A Dryden resident is a million dollar lottery winner.  Marie Martin bought the winning Lotto 649 ticket in Thunder Bay when she was shopping in the local mall.  The 71-year-old bought the ticket at Teraz Express.

Hospital Board Meetings Online

Thunder Bay's Hospital is opening its board room doors to the public. The hosptial board decided to start airing their board meetings live online. The first webcast will be aired today at 5. Click here to go to the webcast.

More Snow Coming

There's still some more snow on the way today.  Environment Canada Meteorologist Dave Rodgers says we received 2 centimetres of snow overnight. We can expect another 10 centimetres in the City today and by the US Border 15 centimetres. Warmer weather is in store for the Easter long weekend.

Police Awards Tonight

15 members of the local police force are being honoured tonight for their long service in policing. The Exemplary Service Awards are being handed out at the Valhalla Inn.  In addition to three types of medals, an international peace operations medal will be presented.

Local Plant Debate At QP

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is asking the Premier to reveal her government's plan to meet Northwestern Ontario's energy needs. It comes after the local plant burned its last piece of coal recently. Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli answered Horwath in question period yesterday. Chiarelli says he met with those concerned and they had their questions answered. Chiarelli and Horwath argued over whether the current conversion of the local power plant will be able to supply the region's energy needs.

Conservation Program Launched

17 First Nation Communities are participating in the Ontario Power Authority's saveONenergy conservation program.  The program helps residents reduce their electricity consumption and build a conservation culture.  Fort Severn, Webequie and Eagle Lake First Nations are just some that are taking part.

Moose Tag Reductions

The province is reducing the number of moose tags available for the 2014 hunting season. The 18 percent reduction province wide comes after recent aerial surveys showed less than hardy populations. The survey showed notable decreases in Dryden, Thunder Bay  and Fort Frances districts. 

Early AM B&E

A 22-year old man is in custody following a spree of break and enters overnight on the south side.  Just after 2 o'clock this morning, officers responded to a break and enter in progress in the 14-hundred block of Hamilton Avenue.  Police caught the man after a foot chase.  It's believed the man was also stealing from vehicles in the neighbourhood.  Any residents from the Walsh and Franklin Street area, who are missing articles from their vehicles, are asked to contact Police.  The suspect will be in court today to answer to charges of break and enter and resisting arrest.  

Police Officer Charged

City Police are charging one of their own.  The officer involved in a collision last week in a police cruiser is charged with failing to stop for a red light. She was en-route to a call for service, but it wasn't an emergency situation. Police say she's back to work on her regular schedule.

Boily Stays Behind Bars

 A 27 year old city man remains behind bars after a court appearance today.  It appears Tyler Boily will have to spend more time in jail  as he awaits a bail hearing.    Boily is facing 3 charges including Impaired Driving Causing Death in connection with last months 2 vehicle collision on Highway 61 near Arthur Street which resulted in the deaths of Daniel Brooks and Michelle Parker .  His bail hearing today had to be postponed because of some legal technicalities.   He will now be in court again on April 28th.

More Snow On The Way

Brace yourself for more snow.   There's a snow storm moving into the City.  Environment Canada Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says there's no way we're missing this one.  Thunder Bay could see about 10 to 15 cm of snow starting tonight and lasting much of Thursday.

Three Charities To Benefit From Open

Three local charities will be the benefactors of this summer's Staal Foundation Open golf tournament at Whitewater Golf Course.   The tournament's Executive Director Scott Smith says  the Health Sciences Foundation and the United Way will collect ticket sale proceeds while the St. Joseph's Foundation will pocket parking profits.  Smith says he can't predict a fundrasing goal since this is the first time the event has been held.

Wynne Coming To Region

The Premier is making a visit to Northwestern Ontario next week. She'll be attending the Regional Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Fort Frances.  

United Way Gives Out Cash

Two local youth programs are getting cash from United Way.  The Community Clothing Assistance will use just over 6 thousand dollars for a leadership course.  3-thousand dollars is going towards the Evergreen United Neighbourhood youth hub program. The cash was raised through a local high school fundraising challenge earlier in the year.

Food Strategy Open House Tonight

You can have your say on how our city gets its hands on locally grown and produced food.  An open house on the food strategy is taking place tonight from 4:30 until 7 at the Oliver Road Community Centre. Councillor Rebecca Johnson says they'll have several draft recommendations up for discussion.  Johnson says they want to know which recommendations the public thinks they should focus on.

Police Probe Hit And Run

City police want your help in finding two people who were involved in a traffic accident on the city's south side just before 7 o'clock on Monday evening.  They say the two were the driver and passenger in a car that blew a red light and smashed into a pick up truck at Victoria and May street.   The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with minor injuries.  Police are looking for two men who they say  ran away after the collision.  

Last Coal Burned

Today marks the last day our local generating station burned its last piece of coal.  The Thunder Bay Generating Station was the oldest coal-fired station in the province and is the last in Ontario to burn the fossil fuel.  The plant is scheduled to be converted to burn advanced biomass.

New NOACC President

There's a new person at the helm of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce.   Nathan Lawrence has been elected as the organization's new president.  Lawrence says he wants to make sure all the chambers are working together on future projects.   Lawrence believes all the chambers should be allowed to voice their concerns and opinions on issues critical to them.

Court House Could Bring Police Savings

City Police are looking for cost savings in the new consolidated courthouse. Chief JP Levesque says there's potential but it's too soon to say a solid figure of how much they could save. He adds having both courts in one building is freeing up three cars. Other efficiencies include moving to an electronic court document process which will free up officers time.

Police Budget Slightly Over

Police Board

Thunder Bay Police continue to be slightly over in their 2014 operating budget and the year's not even half over. Chief JP Levesque says they saw overages in overtime and benefits.  Levesque says it's too early to say if they'll be able to find cost savings to balance out the 322-thousand dollars they have overspent.

Promising Economic Prediction

A study done for the North Superior Workforce Planning Board is predicting big things for the construction labour market in northwestern Ontario .  The BuildForce Canada report, for the local think tank,  predicts up to 7 billion dollars of  investment in next 5 years.   Board spokesperson the report sites growth for the mining, forestry and road building sectors.   It doesn't, however, include the proposed new events centre in Thunder Bay

911 Tech To Be Upgraded

Thunder Bay Police hope to start testing the new enhanced 911 service in the city by September. The new program will allow residents to text 911 and is expected to be live by January. Inspector Sylvie Hauth asked the police services board today for permission to upgrade their current 911 provider.  The cash will be used to upgrade the tech that dispatchers use to take calls from the public.

Attempted Break And Enters

City Police investigating two separate attempted break and enters overnight. The first took place just after midnight in the 1800 block of East Walsh Street with the second one taking place in the 2000 block of Hamilton Avenue just after 1:00.  In both incidents two males in dark hoodies on bicycles knocked on the doors of the homes first before attempting to gain entry. In both cases the thieves fled when the homeowners were awoken and discovered the two men attempting to gain entry. There were no injuries. Anyone with information is asked to contact Thunder Bay Police or Crime Stoppers.

Survey Gauging Support

True North Entertainment and Sports is looking to hear from the public on their interest in having a Winnipeg Jets affiliated hockey team based in Thunder Bay.  They have created a survey with the program Survey Monkey. The company is looking for support for their venture in the proposed event centre.  To take the survey click here.

City To Ask Feds For CBC Money

The City is asking the Federal Government to provide more funding for public broadcasting.  They made the decision following local job cuts announced by the CBC last week.  Councillor Andrew Foulds made an emotional plea last night saying the Sudbury won't be able to provide the same coverage as the local Voyage North.

EMS Gets New Equipment

The City is giving the go ahead to Superior North EMS to purchase new vehicle locator equipment. The new GPS tech will cost the city over 86-thousand dollars.  Ferno Acetech Canada will provide the equipment.

City Formalizes Agreement

The City is entering into an agreement with the local health authority.  They formalized a funding agreement with the Northwest Health Integration Network last night.  The deal will see funding continue for Supportive Housing, Meals on Wheels, Friendly Visiting operating out of the 55 plus centre and the Dialysis Transportation Program.

Boshcoff Not Giving Up

City Councillor Ken Boshcoff isn't taking no for an answer.  Boshcoff is still hopeful that one day Thunder Bay can play a role in hosting a national museum for Fox.  Councillor Aldo Roberto feels the City did the right thing by respecting the Fox family's wishes for a national museum in B.C. near where Terry was born.

Waterfront Property Saved For Public Use

The City is keeping a piece of waterfront land for the public to enjoy. The land in question is located next to the splash pad and has Muskoka style lawn chairs on it. It was to be developed for business but Council decided last night to keep it as a public use space.