Pugh calls Ford a bully

Thunder Bay City Councillor Paul Pugh is calling Rob Ford a bully.  Pugh feels Toronto's Mayor is trying to influence his council claiming a vote was never held on the original streetcar contract.  Ford believes he has the authority to make the decision to tear up the contract without council's approval.

Kettle drive on track

On the Christmas charity beat...the Salvation Army is 8 thousand dollars ahead of where they were last year in their annual kettle drive. So far they have collected over 52 thousand dollars towards the 130 thousand dollar objective.

Community Foundation doles out dollars

The Thunder Bay Foundation is making it's generosity known again.   The institution's latest grant recipients are getting a total of 87 thousand dollars.   The organization has been a part of the city for almost 40 years.   It operates from the endowments of various citizens past and present.  

Neebing gets help with economic development

Neebing wants to develop new marketing strategies to attract investment and economic development.  The provincial government is providing just over 5-thousand dollars to the community so they can design a marketing strategy.  Thunder Bay Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro announced the funds today.

United Way campaign chugs along

The clock is counting down on the United Way Campaign. With just a few more weeks to go there's about another million dollars to raise to reach the 2.4 million dollar goal. Chair Wayne Fletcher says the larger donations are starting to come in as employee campaigns come to a close. Fletcher says he's confident the goal can be reached.

Housing starts slowed in November

Thunder Bay is having a solid year for housing starts.  There was a slight slowdown in November, but so far this year there have been 191 single family starts.  Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Market Analyst Warren Philp says only ten single detached units broke ground last month.  Philp says tighter resale market conditions have meant higher levels of new home construction.

Pugh, Boshcoff sit on committees

Thunder Bay's two new councillors are keeping busy by sitting on a number of community committees. Paul Pugh will take part in the District Social Services Board, Economic Development Commission,anti-racism and Waterfront and Simpson street business improvement boards. Meanwhile, Ken Boshcoff is taking part in many committees, such as the Audit committee, Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, Parking Authority, and the Hydro Recruitment Committee.

Massaro chosen as Public School Board Chair

Long time trustee Deborah Massaro was acclaimed as the Chair for her 4th consecutive term.  Trustee Karen Wilson was appointed as Vice Chair for the second straight term.  Massaro says she honoured to once again lead the board.

Hobbs not meeting with Premier on Wednesday

Members of Thunder Bay City Council won't be travelling to Toronto today to speak with Dalton McGuinty about the Bombardier TTC contract.  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford came out of a meeting with the Premier yesterday saying he still plans to nix the streetcar contract.  Mayor Keith Hobbs says if that's the case they'll have to take more serious action.  Hobbs says they've yet to nail down a meeting with Ford, and notes he would like to invite the Toronto Mayor to tour the Bombardier plant.  Councillor Paul Pugh feels Ford is trying to influence council into thinking it's not a matter that requires their votes.

Meeting delay explained

Citizen and Councillor appointments to community boards delayed Tuesday night's council meeting by almost two hours.  Mayor Keith Hobbs campaigned on the idea of transparent council meetings and says Tuesday night's closed door meeting was warranted.  Hobbs says they needed to approve the citizens and councillors last night because the committees are starting immediately.  Hobbs says he doesn't like to make people wait and wants to see if there's something they can do to improve the flow of the meeting.  3 or more in camera sessions were held during a five hour meeting.