Dryden Making Cuts

Cuts are starting to be made within the City of Dryden.  Staff are trying to find roughly 1-million dollars in savings thanks to the reassessment of the Domtar Mill.  City Manager Joe van Koeverden says they've already come up with roughly 500-thousand dollars in staff reductions.  Van Koeverden wouldn't comment on possible reductions at the Dryden Development Corporation.

Hyer Urges Feds To Keep ELA Open

Thunder Bay's MP is urging the Federal Government not to close the Experimental Lakes Area, west of Vermilion Bay.  Bruce Hyer says when it comes to the future of the facility the government only has 2 real options.  Hyer says the cost to close the facility would cost around 25 times the cost of operating it for one year.

Energy Task Force To Have Another Meeting

The City's Energy Task Force continues to meet with members of the Ontario Power Authority over their plans for the Mission Island Power Plant.  The conversion to natural gas was put on hold and now the two sides are trying to find a compromise that would allow the plant to stay open beyond 2013.  The next meeting is scheduled for February 28th and the City plans to rehash their concerns with the new Energy Minister in Toronto at the Ontario Good Roads Conference.

V. Kelner Sells Its Helicopters

On the Local business front, Expedition Helicopters of Cochrane has acquired the fleet of V. Kelner Helicopters located in Thunder Bay.   With the addition of two aircraft to its fleet of 12,  it makes Expedition the largest helicopter operator in Northern Ontario.

Zone Watch Policing Coming Soon

City Police hope to have their new website and community based social networking site up and running by the Spring.  Spokesperson Chris Adams says they'll start recruiting members for the zone watch program in April.  Thunder Bay Police received 97-thousand dollars to establish the new websites.

Mixed Bag Of Issues For Good Roads

City Councillors are looking forward to airing their grievances with Provincial Cabinet Ministers during the Ontario Good Roads Conference in Toronto.  Councillor Joe Virdiramo says they hope to ask the Province for some extra funding to offset the 4 police officers needed to staff the new consolidated court house.  Virdiramo says they'll also be speaking to Ministers about senior care, disaster relief, energy and mining readiness.  The Good Roads Conference gets underway on Sunday and runs until Wednesday next week.

Fire Destroys Dryden Business

Major fire in Dryden.  No one is hurt but a business is destroyed.    Details from Bruce Walchuk in the video

Mauro Likes Transit Mention

Thunder Bay area MPP Bill Mauro is giving his government's Speech from the Throne two thumbs up.  Mauro says the Premier promised to do more work improving transit in the Province, and that's good news locally for the Bombardier plant. Tuesday was Wynne's first throne speech and at least one of the opposition parties needs to support the speech in order to avoid triggering an election.

Cumming St. Apartment Fire Suspicious

Thunder Bay's Fire Department feels a large blaze that consumed most of a nine unit apartment building over the weekend on Cumming Street is suspicious.  Early Sunday morning, emergency responders were notified of a large fire in the vacant building. The fire is highly suspicious due to the fact that it occurred in a vacant building that is secured from intruders and under reconstruction from a previous fire.  No known ignition sources were found in the building.  Thunder Bay Police are now pursuing more information relating to the cause of this fire.

Something For Everyone In Throne Speech

Thunder Bay MPP Michael Gravelle feels Premier Kathleen Wynne provided a balanced Speech from the Throne.  Gravelle says there was something for everyone in the speech from the throne and hopes the opposition parties will support it.  Gravelle is also happy Wynne talked about the transportation and energy needs for the Ring of Fire project.  In her first throne speech Tuesday, Wynne promised they would give local residents more say in whether they get a wind farm, gas plant or casino.

More FedNor Funding Announced

FedNor Minister Tony Clement is spreading the wealth on his visit to Thunder Bay today.  PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise is using 1.5 million dollars to offer workshops, training, coaching and mentoring activities to women entrepreneurs in Northwestern Ontario.  The training will be provided to women across the region via video conferencing and traveling.

Heritage Week In T.Bay

The City is celebrating local history during heritage week.  Part of the celebrations includes offering more access to the City archives.  A variety of events are planned this week including a lecture Thursday on restoring the heritage home called Windrose.  A special clay exhibit will also be available until Saturday at the Museum. 

Sleeping Giant Announces Bib #1

Organizers with the Sleeping Giant Loppet are getting ready for the March 2nd race. Bib #1 is going to Al Comeau who is an avid loppet competitor in the 50 km event and won his age group. Comeau is a retired Sleeping Giant Provincial Park Superintendent.

30 Year Old Faces Driving Charges

Thunder Bay Police are charging a 30 year old man with possession of stolen property, dangerous driving, fleeing police and driving while disqualified.  The charges come after Police tried to pull him over in the area of Secord and Pearl Street this past weekend.  Officers say he refused to stop and they gave chase.  The Iroquois Falls driver was later located on foot by uniform officers in the area of Banning Street and Dufferin Street.

Clement Takes On New Role With Ring Of Fire

FedNor Minister Tony Clement is publicly taking on federal responsibility for the Ring of Fire.  Clement says he's familiar with the work that needs to be done before the project can get off the ground.  Clement adds his main role is to listen to all interested parties and save decision-making until later.  He'll be meeting with First Nation leaders and other stakeholders tomorrow.

Police Look Into New Camera System

City Police want to put 100-thousand dollars towards purchasing a video recording system for its police officers.  Inspector Alan MacKenzie says the newer system sits on the officer's uniform and costs the same as buying a dash board camera.  MacKenzie says dash board cameras are limited in what they record.  MacKenzie and several officers are test driving the product and will be looking into what legal issues might arise from recording their conversation's with the public.

Airport Gets FedNor Cash

Thunder Bay's Airport is getting 1.5 million dollars from the Federal Government.  FedNor Minister Tony Clement made the announcement this morning.  The money will be used to expand the airport's industrial park.  Meanwhile, FedNor funds are also going towards the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Center.  They are using 739-thousand dollars to create a manufacturing lab. Another 680-thousand dollars is going towards two small businesses working on developing a digital mammography device.

School Rankings Out

The Fraser Institute is ranking Thunder Bay's elementary schools as average.  Most schools came in at 5.8 out of 10 just below the Provincial average of six.  Spokesperson Peter Cowley says Algonquin Avenue, St. Jude Catholic, and Westmount Public all are showing steady signs of decline in the rankings.  The rankings are based on the Provincial Government's standardized tests.

WinterFest A Hit

Event planners at City Hall are extremely happy with the first ever WinterFest at Prince Arthur's Landing yesterday.  Sophie Best says it went better than expected especially the snow sculptures. She estimates 5 thousand people came by the waterfront during the day and even more for the evening fireworks. Best says it's likely the event will be back next year with possibly more snow sculptures

Clement Visiting The Lakehead

Tony Clement, the Minister for FedNor will be in Thunder Bay today .  He's expected to make two key FedNor funding announcements.  Clement's first speaking engagement is at the Thunder Bay International Airport this morning.  He'll then speak at the Da Vinci Centre and attend another news conference at the P.A.R.O. Centre for Women's enterprises this afternoon.