So far, not so good, for Thunder Bay Port Authority

It could be a tough year for the Thunder Bay Port Authority. Overall the Port has seen a drop of 12 percent so far this year mainly due to a decrease in grain shipments. CEO Tim Heney says wet weather on the prairies have led to a huge decrease in grain shipments. Heney says increases in coal and potash have helped lessen the blow.

Positive Lyme disease Deer tick found

Another lyme disease positive tick has been turned in to the local health unit. The tick was plucked off of a human who picked up the tick within the city limits. This is the second positive test for Lyme disease in a tick since the health unit started monitoring and testing in 2005. It's the first positive tick found on a human in Thunder Bay.

One man is dead after a motorcycle

A motorcycle accident has claimed the life one man and left a woman in hospital. Nipigon and Schreiber OPP responded to the accident yesterday just after 3:30 and say it appears the driver lost control on wet pavement. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger was taken to the Health Sciences Centre with undetermined injuries.

Three arrested after separate assaults

Three people are in police custody after separate assaults yesterday. Thunder Bay Police say at 4:30 in the morning a man was assaulted with a knife on the North side and suffered minor injuries. Then at 11 a man was threatened with a knife on the south side and near noon another man was assaulted with a hockey stick. Two men and one woman are facing charges.

Sharp shares Lord Stanley's Mug

Thunder Bay hockey fans now have their Stanley Cup "fix". They lined around up the Fort William Gardens to get a chance to get their picture taken with the cup and Patrick Sharp of the champion Chicago Blackhawks. Sharp brought the cup to his hometown to share with everyone. He then took hockey's Holy Grail with him for some private time with family and friends. A city official estimates the crowd at between 2500 to 3000.

Accident sends child to hospital

A young child is not hurt seriously after a traffic accident on Copenhagen Road. Police say the vehicle appeared to have lost control on the road at around 2:30 Friday afternoon. The child was taken to the Health Sciences Centre for treatment.

Looking Sharp, Patrick set to display the cup

It's Stanley Cup madness at the Fort William Gardens Saturday. Patrick Sharp of the champion Chicago Blackhawks is displaying the Cup at the Gardens from 11 to 1 so you can get your picture taken with it. There will however be no autographs allowed. That's being down so as many people can get a chance to see the cup.

City takes sky pics of waterfront project

The city now has a birds eye view of the waterfront development.  On Thursday city waterfront officials took too the sky on a fire truck's aerial platform to take these photos of the work that's taken place so far at Prince Arthur's Landing.

Bells for peace

The bond with Thunder Bay's Japanese sister city of Gifu is a bit stronger now. Both communities rang their bells at the same time Friday to symbolize peace. The bell ringing took place at 11 a.m. Pictured: Local students  Eiji Moller and Emma-Lee Taniwa join Councillor Joe Virdiramo in ringing the bell in front of City Hall.

Remote areas to get high speed internet

More homes in the remote northwest will be getting high speed internet. Federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews made the announcement in Thunder Bay. He says the project will be completed by the end of next year by three companies.  TBay Tel, Spectrum Telecom Group, and Galaxy Broadband Communications.
There are about 45 hundred households that will benefit.  The over 8 million dollar cost is being split between the federal and provincial governments, the feds spending 5 and a half million and the province the other 2.8 million..

More HST bashing for Horwath

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was in Thunder Bay again today to talk about the negative effects of the HST.  Horwath delivered a speech at the Roach's Taxi Stand to discuss the impact of the harmonized sales tax on the community's small businesses and families.

Blues Festival set to go

One of the city's biggest crowd draws takes place this weekend. The annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival is on at Marina Park. Organizer Bob Halverson says there will be no issues with the waterfront construction thats taking place.  He's encouraging people to take the free shuttle bus from the Community Auditorium. It will be leaving  every 15 minutes while the festival gates are open.    Gates open on Friday at 4:30 and Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m.

Tick program working

The District Health Unit says it's pleased with the response to it's tick and lyme disease program. Spokesperson Anita LaPointe says only one tick has been found to have the disease out of the hundreds the public have left for testing. She says in all of last year 218 ticks were submitted and so far this year 465 have been dropped off.  LaPointe expects those numbers to increase in the fall.

Stamp this loan: PAID IN FULL

You the city taxpayer have finally paid off the loan the city took out in 2000 to support the Regional Health Science's Centre. That 35 million dollar debenture will be officially paid off on Saturday. City Manager Tim Commisso says what this will do for next years tax increase is not known. He says the 3 and a half million dollars amounts to 1 per cent of the current operating budget. He says it's too early to talk about any tax reduction. The interest over the life of the loan was 10 million dollars

FedNor comes through for the Worlds

Organizers of the World Junior Baseball Championships can breath a bit easier now.   The Harper government has come through with some support for the event.   The FedNor grant amounts to 75 thousand dollars and will be used towards marketing efforts.   The championships are being held from July 23rd until August 3.

Gilbert gives GG choice a thumbs up

Lakehead University President Fred Gilbert calls it an interesting choice. Gilbert is reacting to the appointment of David Johnston as the next Governor General. Gilbert says he knows Johnston, which makes the choice personal for him. Gilbert says Johnson has a background in law along with a great inquiring mind and will serve us well as Governor General. Johnston begins his new job in the fall

Robichaud defends herself

The new president of the Regional Health Sciences Centre insists the controversy surrounding her will not cause a distraction for her new job. Andree Robichaud is leaving her health executive position in New Brunswick under a political storm. She's even been accused of poor management. She calls that interesting since it was only brought up when she announced her resignation. Robichaud hopes people will judge her on her own merits when she get here in October.

Another forest fire update

The forest fire hazard is still low to moderate in the region.  One new fire was reported yesterday. It is in th Sioux lookout district about 120 kilometers north of Pickle Lake.  Sixty Ontario staff as well as two waterbombers, and one birddog are assisting with escalated fire activity in Manitoba.  Crew training and audits continue in the region.

Sioux Lookout Drug Bust

Sioux Lookout OPP are charging two people after a major drug bust in the community. Police executed a search warrant at the residence earlier this week. Two people were arrested and police seized a large quantity of marijuana worth over five thousand dollars.  Arrested were 31 year old Quirino Agustin and twenty-four year old Aaron Saville, both from Sioux Lookout.  The two were released from custody and have September court dates.

Thunder Bay Crimestoppers 2010 Stats

Thunder Bay's Crimestoppers program is on the right track for 2010. To date 406 calls have been made to Crimestoppers around the district. Co-ordinator Constable Wendell Brown says they're pretty much on par with the 2009's stats. Brown adds they've paid out over 9 thousand dollars.