NOHFC Re-brands

The Northern Ontario Heritage Funding is changing.   The provincial government is now focusing on five specific areas of growth for the north in making its funding decisions, which Mayor Keith Hobbs believes is a positive move as does Thunder Bay City Councillor Ken Boshcoff who says the public likes it when governments hit the refresh button.  The fund's so called enhanced programs include one for infrastructure, another for innovation and a third for business opportunities.

Small Business Week Starts Monday

Starting on Monday its small business week. The week long business networking event will run from October 20th to the 26th.  John Guarasci is the manager of the local Business Development office in Thunder Bay and says it's a celebration of entrepreneurship.  For a list of events you can click here.

Tbaytel Talks Pick & Play

Tbaytel officials ears are burning after the Federal Government's Throne Speech mentioned unbundling tv cable packages and reducing cellphone roaming fees within Canada.  Spokesperson Katie Crowe says they're interested in the idea of pick and play channels but they need to find out the finer details.  Crowe adds that they already offer voice and data roaming within Canada and they only charge when users use a foreign cell phone tower.

Luncheon Of Hope On Today

Tbaytel's Luncheon of Hope in support of local breast cancer initiatives is back for its 21st year this afternoon.  Health Sciences Foundation Spokesperson Heather Vita says this year's special guest is Maureen Holloway who is a breast cancer survivor and a national broadcaster.  Since it's inception the luncheon of hope has raised over 260-thousand dollars for the Northern Cancer fund.

Bed Bugs Back At LU

Lakehead University is dealing with another four to five cases of bed bugs in their Pretie residence. Residence Services Spokesperson David Hare says they haven't stopped spraying dorms since bed bugs were reported earlier this fall.  Hare says they've had a total of 12 cases of bed bugs since the start of the school year.

NDP Critic Visits T.Bay

NDP Infrastructure Critic Percy Hatfield is listening to the concerns of Northwestern Ontario and bringing them back to Queen's Park. Hatfield spent the day in Thunder Bay Thursday and talked to City Reps about the region's infrastructure needs.  Hatfield says he was pleased when his leader Andrea Horwath asked him to tour the City and get a feel for its infrastructure shortfalls.

NAPS Investigates Death

Provincial Police and Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Police Are investigating a death in Fort Severn First Nation. A NAPS officer was called regarding a serious assault that happened at a home in the community on Wednesday.  A woman was taken to the nursing station and died from her injuries. She has been identified as 24-year-old Georgina Stoney. Police say 19-year-old Tommy Miles Junior has been charged with second-degree murder.

Driver Flees Scene Of Crash

City Police are investigating an early morning single vehicle accident on the North Side.  Police say a car struck three hydro poles in the area of 350 North Cumberland Street after two o'clock.  The driver of the vehicle then fled on foot and its unknown whether any injuries were sustained in the crash.  Power was knocked out in the area as well as some traffic lights on Cumberland and Water Streets.

Second-Degree Murder Charge

Provincial Police and Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Police are investigating a death in Fort Severn First Nation. A NAPS officer was called regarding a serious assault that happened at a home in the community on Wednesday. A woman was taken to the nursing station and died from her injuries. She has been identified as 24-year-old Georgina Stoney. Police say 19-year-old Tommy Miles Junior has been charged with second-degree murder.

NOMA Weighs In On Throne Speech

The President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is giving thumbs up to the Speech from the Throne.  Canfield was invited to take in the speech on Parliament Hill yesterday.  He says the real highlight for him was getting to meet with members of the federal cabinet afterwards. Canfield admits the Throne Speech was short in specifics, but says some of the issues raised, like skills training will help both the mining and forestry sectors in this region.

Dryden Police Axe Comm Centre Jobs

The Dryden Police Service is shutting down its Communications Centre in 2014.  The Centre will close on March 31st subject to Ontario Civilian Police Commission approval and will be run by the Owen Sound Police Service.  Chief Rob Davis outlines one of the reasons behind the move.  The decision will result in the loss of 9 full time and 4 part time positions.

Police Looking For Honda Prelude Driver

City Police are looking for the driver of a silver Honda Prelude after it rear ended a stopped school bus Thursday morning.  The man who was driving the vehicle fled the scene, Police found it parked in a laneway a short distance away from the collision site on Peter Street.  Police are having a hard time finding the driver of the vehicle as he doesn't live at the address he provided to the Ministry of Transportation.  None of the children were hurt by the collision.

Police Release Crash Victim Name

Thunder Bay OPP are releasing the name of the 64 year old man who died after his vehicle hit a rock cut.   Peter Wright of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta was airlifted to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Police are continuing to investigate the Wednesday afternoon collision on Highway 11/17 near Sistonen's Corner.

NOHFC Gives Out 100-Thousand Dollars

Chelsea Rivalin

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is giving out over 100-thousand dollars in cash to two local businesses. Chelsea Rivalin owns Bindleweed Farm and says she's using her cash to help prepare her Nolalu farm. The funds helped purchase greenhouses, an irrigation system, farming tools and fencing.  Meanwhile, The Blue Door Bistro will use their share of the cash to hire staff and expand their operating hours.

Rafferty Not Impressed

Thunder Bay MP John Rafferty is not pleased with the Throne Speech. Rafferty is concerned with the lack of attention Northern Ontario received. He added that the promise of action once there's a balanced budget is likely not to happen.

Strasser Back As NOSM Dean

Dr. Roger Strasser is going to be the Northern Ontario School of Medicine's Dean until 2019.  He was reappointed at a meeting recently with his new term ending June 30th, 2019.  Strasser was the first Dean of the school and started in 2002.

MP Hyer Responds to Throne Speech

Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer describes the Throne Speech as fluffy, but is happy with the protection of consumers it offers. That includes similar legislation to that of his proposed private members bills. Hyer proposed a passenger's rights bill aimed at airline companies and a cell phone bill requiring companies to unlock phones by request, free of charge.

New Gold Takeover Complete

A friendly takeover of Rainy River Resources is now complete. New Gold says it now controls all of the company's shares, completing a deal announced in June. Executive chair Randall Oliphant says he's pleased the acquisition is now complete and they can focus attention on advancing Rainy River's gold project north of Barwick. New Gold is in the process of completing a detailed review and update of the feasibility study as well as advancing the permitting efforts for the project.

Mayor Hobbs at the Throne Speech

Mayor Keith Hobbs is reacting to the Throne Speech made yesterday. Hobbs had a chance to meet briefly with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Mayor said that in their meeting Harper acknowledged that Northern Ontario was not specifically mentioned. He went on to add that it does not mean issues like The Ring of Fire and forestry will not be addressed.

Swedish Doctors Visiting NOSM

A group of medical professionals from Northern Sweden are visiting the Northern Ontario Medical School. The group is interested in learning what NOSM is doing to retain family doctors in the north.