Lawyer tells councillors, rethink wind farm deal

Opponents of the proposed Nor'Wester wind farm can't say they haven't been heard.   Over 20 individuals made their case against the location of the 18 wind turbines to City Councillors at a special meeting Tuesday night.   Included in that group was lawyer Sam Bachinski who lives near the affected area.  He urged councillors to consider finding a way out of the legal agreement with the wind farm developer.   City councillors did not make any decisions Tuesday.   They will be revisiting the issue at their May 17th meeting

Opponents of wind farm come out in force

Opponents of the proposed Nor'Wester wind farm believe there is power in numbers.  They showed up in force for Tuesday nights' special meeting at City Hall on the wind power development.  There were so many, the overflow crowd were seated in the foyer of the building and allowed to watch proceedings from the third floor chambers on a wide screen TV set up especially for them.

Horizon presents its case for wind farm location

Officials with Horizon Wind say they have done their best to meet concerns of residents about the location of the proposed wind farm on the Nor'Wester Mountains.   In a presentation to city councillors, project coordinator Nhung Nguyen outlined some of the myths and rumours that have been associated with the project.  She also repeated the major concession, to move back the turbines over 1 kilometre from the original location.  She added that in the future they "may or may not" see more than the original 18 turbines but that has yet to be determined.   President Anthony Zwig also stressed the jobs and economic benefits that the wind farm would bring to the community.

Hyer tours Chalk River nuke plant

Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer is back from a first hand look at the disabled Chalk River Nuclear plant. He was there as part of a parliamentary committee tour. Hyer says after his visit he is more determined than ever for hospitals to move away from using nuclear isotopes for medical proceedures. Instead he would prefer to see cyclotrons and linear accelerators used to produce safer isotopes noting our own Cancer Centre in Thunder Bay has applied for funding for that purpose. Hyer says he'd like to see the Chalk River facility sold to the private sector

Wareham murder trial in October

A 31 year old Thunder Bay man will be facing a jury trial in the fall on a charge of second degree murder. Andre Wareham was charged in January of last year in connection with the death of 29 year old William Atkins. They say he died following a fight in the common area of the Finlayson Street apartment building they both lived in. Assistant crown attorney Elaine Burton says the trial is expected to begin on October 18th and last two weeks.

OPP are investigating a Fatal collision near Manitouwadge

One man is dead after a head on collision near Manitouwadge. Two pick up trucks hit each other yesterday afternoon. 56 year old Eusebio Esarte of Manitouwadge was killed in the collision, while another occupant was taken to the Thunder Bay Regional for further treatment. The third victim was treated and released.

Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue deal with small morning fire

Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue are investigating after a garage fire this morning. Crews responded to a call just after 4 o'clock when a fire started inside a garage at 135 Finlayson Street. Officers say no damage to the garage itself was done but some contents were destroyed. The cause of the fire isn't known at this point.

OPP make drug bust in Pickle Lake

Pickle Lake OPP have arrested two people after recovering a large amount of prescription pills. Officers arrested 42 year old Ida Crane and 25 year old Cheryl Bottle after seizing 24 thousand dollars worth of drugs. Both will appear in court in June.

Councillors nix recycling program for the poor

There will be no special recycling program for low income residents of the city. Councillors have voted down the idea, but not before Councillor Rebecca Johnston aggressively made her point that people on fixed incomes can't afford blue bags.  Administration says there would just be too many hurdles to overcome to put such a program in place