Golf courses may go bye-bye

The future of City owned golf courses is up in the air.  Administration is conducting a study looking into the outcome of selling the city's golf courses.  Councillor Rebecca Johnson introduced the idea and says it's been a long time coming.  The golf courses ran a 400 thousand dollar deficit in 2010.

Pepe talks tourism in 2010

Thunder Bay's tourism economy grew modestly last year.  That's according to Tourism Manager Paul Pepe.  Pepe says they saw a decline in American visitors, with most of the visits coming in late summer and early fall. Pepe says they plan to work on getting the people who visit Thunder Bay to stay longer.

Convention Centre sites pricey

The public is going to have their say on the proposed sites for the Thunder Bay Convention Centre.  A series of public consultation sessions will be held in June.  The six locations range in price from 79-million dollars to 128-million dollars. A report was made Monday night to council detailing the proposed locations.  City administration is suggesting the project will be funded by the provincial, federal and municipal governments as well as some funding from the private sector.

BMX club wants municipal property

Thunder Bay's BMX club wants Council to help them build a new five acre BMX park.  President Maurice Poulin says their current site is plagued with vandalism and violence from teenagers who like to jump their bikes in the dirt.  Poulin wants administration to conduct a feasibility study looking into possible municipal properties that could house a BMX park. 

Hampton questions Liberal inaction on missing teens

The NDP are attacking the Liberal Government"s inaction over the disappearance of seven First Nation high school students.  Kenora Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton brought the issue up in Monday's question period.  Hampton feels that if seven students from Hamilton disappeared, there would be a different reaction by the government.  Hampton is pushing for increased attention to the conditions of First Nations youth living off of reserves.

NAN calls for increased funding

Nishnawbe Aski Nation is calling on the government to provide funding to support First Nation teens attending high school in Thunder Bay.  Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says since 2000, seven native teens died or are missing while attending high school in the City.  Teens from remote First Nation communities are forced to travel to larger centres to attend secondary school.

OHL Draft sees Thunder Bay players picked

5 Thunder Bay hockey players were selected in this weekend's OHL priority selection.  Dylan Mascarin went highest in the draft, 93rd overall to the Plymouth Whalers. The Thunder Bay Kings also saw Riley Corbin go in the 5th round to Sudbury.  Also in the draft Thunder Bay saw Connor Sills go to Plymouth in the 9th round, Billy Exell in the 11th round to Sarnia and Jordan Larson in the 12th round to Sault Ste. Marie.

Highschool rankings released

Four of Thunder Bay's eight high schools are scoring above or at the provincial average in EQAO tests.  St. Ignatius scored 7.5 out of 10.  Hammarskjold, St. Pat's, and Westgate Collegiate all scored 6.4 out of 10. Sir Winston Churchill scored 5.6, Superior Collegiate got 5.3 and Ecole secondaire Catholique de La Verendrye came in with 4.3 out of 10.  Private school Dennis Franklin Cromarty scored zero out of 10.

No one injured in attempted robbery

No one was injured in an attempted robbery of the Polish Legion on South Court Street. Police say a woman entered the building and was involved in an altercation with one of the workers. The woman is described as a 20 year old Native Canadian with black shoulder length hair and a thin build.

New Mary JL Black Library opens

The new Mary J L Black Library has opened its doors.  Acting Chief Librarian says the new building is a huge upgrade for accessibility.  Philp says some shelving work still needs to be finished but they will be done by the June 11th Grand Opening.

Housing starts in Thunder Bay rise

Housing starts could soon be on the rise in Thunder Bay.  According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation year to date numbers are slightly behind last year's numbers but Analyst Warren Philp says there has been a sharp jump in permit sales, which should lead to an increase in starts. April saw one more start compared to the same month last year.