Bounty sails into Thunder Bay

There's excitement among ship lovers in Thunder Bay. The HMS Bounty sailed into the harbour Tuesday as people watched from vantage points at Hillcrest Park and Marina Park. Captain Robin Walbridge says it was a great trip here.   He says the Great Lakes system is his favourite place to sail.  The Bounty is open to the public from noon until 8 Wednesday.  It's docked at Pier 3 at the Marina.  Here's the sound of the Bounty cannons as they were shot off at the Marina by the crew.

Powered by Podbean.com

Power to south side should be restored by 5:30

There are still several hundred Thunder Bay Hydro customers without power on the south side. It follows a lightning strike around quarter to one this afternoon. Hydro's Eileen Dias says the outage was substantial. Customers affected are in the Arthur, Piper, Selkirk and Marks street areas and should have all power restored by 5:30 this afternoon

Kenora OPP taser two people

It's not something that happens everyday in Northwestern Ontario.  Kenora OPP Constable Dave Cain says they used a stun gun on two people following the Friday night Harbourfest Concert.  Police tasered two crowd members who they believe were preventing officers from breaking up a fight on the harbourfront. Cain says charges will be laid against the two people.

Storm blasts south side

City crews were busy Tuesday afternoon cleaning up damaged caused by a storm during the lunch hour.   A city worker says evidence shows that tree limbs were downed by lightning.  Top:  Tree destroyed at Vickers and Donald Streets.  Middle:   Tree limb knocked down at Miles Street at Paterson Park.  Bottom:  Tree hit on Arthur Street

Power outage hits south core

Power was out to a large area of the south downtown core this afternoon.  Thunder Bay Hydro says it was due to a lightning strike at around quarter to one. Hydro spokesperson Eileen Dias says at the height of the outage there were 3 thousand customers without power.  That number was reduced to 500 by 1:35.   They expect all power will be back by 5:30 pm.

The Brian Stevenson era: Day one

Brian Stevenson is getting used to his new surroundings. Stevenson is the new president of Lakehead University and today was his first day on the job. Stevenson says he has 5 major goals including keeping costs in check, improving connections between LU and the community, achieving academic excellence in teaching and research, developing a strategy to promote the institution to more students from other countries and connecting to the community.   As for wireless internet access at the university, Stevenson says he will consult with the community starting next month and make a decision from there.

NAN gets money for youth program

Thunder Bay area youth will learn life skills thanks to 120 thousand dollars in provincial funding. Nishinawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy says they'll be using the money to offer lifeskills to the Girl Power Wolf Spirit Warrior Program. Beardy adds the program helps increase self-esteem, foster healthy relationships, and promotes healthier lifestyle choices.

Best brings money for health promotion

Six Thunder Bay area community groups will be sharing over 474 thousand dollars in provincial funding.  Ontario's Minister of Health Promotion Margarett Best was in Thunder Bay for the last three days and announced the funding this morning.  The Nishinawbe Aski Nation will be utilizing 120 thousand dollars for its "Girl Power Wolf Spirit" program.

HMS Bounty set to arrive Tuesday

 

Keep a close eye on the harbour Tuesday because you'll get a chance to see the HMS Bounty's arrival. Coordinator Kerry Berlinquette says it should arrive Tuesday afternoon and you can get up to the hour updates on when it will arrive at http://www.bountyarrival.webs.com/. The public will be able to tour the ship Wednesday from noon to 8pm for three dollars per person.

Festa makes its mark

There's nothing like a spaghetti eating contest at an event that celebrates Italian culture.   In this case it's the Festa Italia which was held at the Italian Cultural Centre on Algoma Street over the weekend.    Hundreds showed up to have some food along with enjoying music and  entertainment.

Early morning robbery

Thunder Bay police say a robbery took place in the area of Dease and Mackienze this morning.


A 50 year old man—who suffered a bloody nose from the incident— told police he was approached by two young males. They starting punching him and then took his wallet.

Police searched the area but no suspects were found

World Junior Baseball Championships are a complete success

The Medals were handed out and the final speeches were said and as the dust settled, Thunder Bay can stand proud after a very successful tournament. Organizer Warren Philp says ticket sales went well beyond what was expected and all the teams and International officials had nothing but good things to say about the tournament and Thunder Bay. Philp says the volunteers did a tremendous job and all the fans should give themselves a pat on the back for showing the world how great Thunder Bay is. Jeff Halverson says he was hoping to sell between 20 to 25 thousand tickets and ended up selling over 45 thousand which was a very pleasant surprise.

Chinese Taipei takes the Gold

It was a story book ending for Chinese Taipei at the World Junior Baseball Championships. They managed to literally weather the storm in rain delayed 8-4 win over Australia to take their country's second Gold medal. Rain forced the start of the game to be pushed back by an hour and a half and Australia came out of the gates scoring 4 runs, including a 3 run homer after 4 innings to take a 4-2 lead but then mother nature stopped the game again for over an hour. When play resumed Taipei regrouped and scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th and never looked back capturing the gold.

Australia takes the Silver, which is their country's best ever showing at this event. Prior to this year, they had won 5 Bronze medals. Team Manager Tony Harris says they wanted the Gold but he's very proud of his team.

Canada falls to Cuba for the Bronze

It was a disappointing end for team Canada at the World Junior Baseball Championships.  Canada fell 8-2 to Cuba in the Bronze medal game at Port Arthur stadium this afternoon.  Canadian starting pitcher Rob Thomas kept Cuba off the board for the first 4 innings before giving up a three run homer in the 5th inning which proved to be the winning runs.  Canadian designated hitter Philip Diedrick had another strong day at the plate going 3 for 4 and scored one of the Canadian runs.  Diedrick says Cuba is a great team and he's proud how his teammates performed.  Diedrick hit over 500 for the tournament. 

Canadian Manager Greg Hamilton says they had a chance to play for Gold but just couldn't come up with timely hitting.  Hamilton says they finished ahead of some very good teams so you can't be too disappointed with finishing 4th.  

Elsewhere today Korea beat Italy in the 7th place game 3-1 and the US crushed the Netherlands 18-2 for 5th place.  Australia takes on Chinese Taipei for the Gold.

Man assaulted last night

Thunder Bay Police say a man was assaulted by three men asking for money around 3:30 Sunday morning on West Arthur street.
According to police the man says he was pushed to the ground and beaten after telling the three men that he didn't have any money.
He says he got to his feet and ran to a phone after one of the men pulled out a knife and demanded money again. The three men then fled the scene.The man who was assaulted was treated at Thunder Bay Regional Hospital and released. He says his attackers had their face covered by bandanas and were all around 5'8 and 180 pounds.

No Gold for Canada

Team Canada's quest for Gold at the World Junior Baseball Championship has ended. They fell 3-1 at the hands of Chinese Taipei infront of a packed house at Port Arthur Stadium. The story of the game was the Chinese Pitcher, Lo Kuo Hua, who pitched a complete game three hitter and struck out ten. Canada's designated hitter Philip Diedrick says they had a chance in the 8th inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out but couldn't capitalize. Canada's Manager says its disappointing not to be playing for gold but bronze is still worth playing for.

Chinese Taipei will now take on Australia in tomorrow's gold medal game at 4:30 at Port Arthur Stadium while Canada takes on Cuba in the Bronze Medal game. Game time for Canada is noon at Port Arthur Stadium. Australia punched their ticket to the final by beating Cuba 2-1.

Elsewhere France beat the Czech Republic 8-5 in the 11th place game, Venezuela got past Panama 7-5 in the 9th place game, The Netherlands advanced to the 5th place game with a 8-5 win over Italy and the US is also in the 5th place game after doubling up South Korea 4-2.

Long weekend safety blitz underway

The long weekend has begun, and so has the holiday safety blitz by the Ontario Provincial Police. Officers are on the lookout for impaired and aggressive drivers, unfastened seat belts and drivers talking on cell phones that aren't hands-free.

According to the OPP 16 people died on Ontario highways, trails and waterways over Canada day weekend.

Canada is off to the semi finals

Canada bucked the trend of losing to the underdog in the quarter finals. They beat team Italy 11-1 in 7 innings to advance to the semi finals on the shoulders of a homer night from right fielder Rowan Wick. Canada also got a solid outing from starting pitcher Jonathan Paquet who allowed one run in 6 innings of work and struck out 9. Canada will now take on Chinese Taipei in tomorrow's second semi final. The opening pitch will go at 7:00 at Port Arthur Stadium. Team Canada Manager Greg Hamilton says they got solid pitching and a strong night at the plate and says the added confidence is important moving forward.

In other action today, Cuba knocked off the US 3-2, Australia managed to upend Korea 5-4, Chinese Taipei advanced to the semi finals with a 4-2 win over The Netherlands, France lost to Panama 5-3 and Venezuela topped the Czech Republic 9-6.

Cuba shocks the US

One of the heavy favourites at the World Junior Baseball Championships will be going home without a medal. Cuba downed the US 3-2 on the shoulders of a complete game 9 hitter from their starting pitcher Luis Omar. The US managed to come back and tie the game twice but an RBI single by Cuban third baseman Lazaro Hernandez brought home the winning run. The States managed to get runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning but to no avail. Cuba will now move on to face the winner of tonight's game between Korea and Australia, while the US will take on the loser. Both of those games will go tomorrow.

Comuzzi-Stehmann to seek Tory nomination

There's a Comuzzi getting back into politics. This time it's Maureen Comuzzi-Stehmann, the niece of former Conservative MP Joe Comuzzi. Comuzzi-Stehmann is seeking the federal Tory nomination for the Thunder Bay-Rainy River Riding. No date has been set for the nomination.