Tourism Minister calls child's death devastating

This weeks tragedy at Fort William Historical Park has the attention of Ontario's Tourism Minister. In an exclusive interview with The Giant News, Michael Chan calls the death of 4 year old Willow Scott-Hannam devastating. She was struck by a horse drawn wagon Monday on a school field trip and later died of her injuries.  Chan is calling on the city to pull together and grieve together and come out of the situation stronger. He says he's being kept up to date on the investigations and his staff are in touch with Fort officials almost on an hourly basis. Chan expects lessons will be learned from the tragedy.

Irwin kicks off the Border Cats season

Olympic women's hockey gold medalist Haley Irwin throws out the first pitch to start the Northwoods League season for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. The Cats went on to win the game 1-0 on the shoulders of starting pitcher Garret Yount who went 6 and a third innings giving up just a pair of hits.  Drew Irwin got the save for the Cats.

Northern Ontario Heritage Party soon a reality

The Northern Ontario Heritage Party is one step closer to gaining official party status. Party spokesperson Ed Deibel says they're waiting for a letter from the Ontario Elections Commission. More than 1 thousand one hundred and fifty signatures in favour of the party were sent to the commission. The NOHP is hoping to put 11 candidates in place for the next provincial election.

Innova developer backs out

A southern Ontario company isn't building a new shopping centre at Innova Business Park after all. The city's Mark Smith says the developer is claiming global market conditons are making it impossible to find anchor tenants. Smith says the company wasn't under any legal obligation to develop the property. He says First Gulf Developments had the ability to back out of the agreement in a certain period of time and exercised that right before that time expired. First Gulf planned to develop a 600 thousand square foot plaza. Smith says all is not lost for Innova though. He says interest in the area has prompted the city to build two entrance roads into the property over the summer

Facebook page set up for Willow

The death of 4 year old Willow Scott-Hannam is being felt by everyone in the city. There is a Facebook site that is dedicated to the kindergarten student who died following an incident at Fort William Historical Park on Monday. Mayor Lynn Peterson is also expressing condolences.   She says the entire community is saddened by the tragedy and our hearts and prayers are with the family.  Funeral arrangements are still being worked out.

Coroner's probe begins into 4 year old's death

The Regional Coroner's office is investigating the death of a four year old Hyde Park kindergarten student. Willow Scott-Hannam was on a field trip to Fort William Historical Park on Monday when the accident involving horses and a wagon occurred. Dr. Michael Wilson says the investigation has begun and could take several months to complete. Wilson says after the investigation concludes they will decide whether or not to launch an inquiry into the death.

City gets a C minus for transparency

The Canadian Newspaper Association has given the City of Thunder Bay a C minus when it comes to being transparent. President John Hinds says they asked several simple questions to City representatives ranging from the Mayor's travel expenses to pieces of property the City purchased. He says as an example they asked for the amount of money that the municipality spends on cell phones for city employees. For information he says should be readily available Hinds says they requested over 2 thousand 500 dollars for that information. For the Mayor's travel expenses the cost would have been 62 dollars. Hinds says out of 35 municipalities Thunder Bay comes in at 31.

Local Tim Horton's outlets present Camp Day

Tim Horton's coffee shops in Canada are collecting money for underprivleged kids today.  It's Camp Day, where money from coffee sold at each outlet goes towards sending children to camp. All the company outlets in Thunder Bay participated with local celebrities helping to promote the cause.   Pictured:  Tim Horton's employee Darcia Harasym serves up doughnuts at the Memorial and John location.

Holy Cross students get active

Holy Cross School students are celebrating Clean Air Day. The Mayor, school administration and parents led students in some morning activities. The school is taking the Earth Week to Clean Air Day Challenge by taking part in a province wide movement to increase physical activity. In Thunder Bay, schools in both the Public and Catholic Boards are registered to participate.

Another person pulled out of the Kam River

Another intoxicated person had to be rescued from the Kam River. A 20 year old woman was pulled from the River at Kam View Park yesterday morning just before 5 AM. When officers arrived they found a 60 year old man assisting the woman up the ladder. They were both taken to the Health Sciences Centre as a precaution.

Border Cats kick off season today

Its time to play ball at Port Arthur Stadium. The Border Cats open the Northwoods League season against the Duluth Huskies. Currently there's construction work taking place around the stadium to prepare for the Junior championships. Owner Brad Jordgenson admits it will be be an inconvenience to fans. The first pitch will be thrown at 6:35 by Thunder Bay's Golden Girl Haley Irwin.