Councillor Clarifies Remarks

City Councillor Aldo Ruberto is clarifying his stance towards a plebiscite on the proposed Events Centre location.  Ruberto says comments he made to our newsroom are being taken out of context implying he doesn't trust voters to make an informed decision, he says that couldn't be further from the truth.  The At Large Councillor admits its a very complex issue and welcomes input from residents.

E. coli watch

The District Health Unit is keeping its eye on the ground beef products recall that's in effect across the country. It's due to possible E. coli contamination. Spokesperson Chris Beveridge says they are simply getting the word out for now by contacting stores and higher risk institutions like day cares, hospitals and long term care facilities. Most of the products are frozen beef burgers in a variety of names.  Here is a list of affected products.

Pennies for change

Thunder Bay's United Way is kicking off it's 2012 Pennies for Change campaign.  In 2011, 19 thousand dollars was brought in in loose change. A variety of local organizations will be taking loose change for the campaign up until April 30th.

Thunder Bay in top 50 best places in Canada to live

Another comparison survey is painting Thunder Bay in a pretty nice light.   Our city is rated 46 out of 190 for the best places to live in Canada by money sense dot c-a.  Mayor Keith Hobbs says despite the relatively high ranking he thinks Thunder Bay deserves to be higher.  We ranked 22 for affordable housing, 39th weather wise with our lowest ranking coming in population growth where we finished 164th out of 190.

Winter road network in bad shape

The winter roads to area First Nations are no longer safe to drive on. The roads are quickly deteriorating and Nishnawbe-Aski Police have had to respond to several incidents on the road. Most communities have closed their sections of the road network.

Bike lanes under microscope

The city's bike lane system on Victoria Avenue is coming under scrutiny. It comes after some safety concerns by motorists. The city's Active Transportation Coordinator Adam Krupper says they are looking at one specific section of Victoria, where it intersects with Waterloo Street.  Krupper says a consultant has also been hired to review the bike lane system and how it might be improved.

Police Board ratifies contract

Civilian servants with Thunder Bay Police are getting a raise. The Police Services Board recently approved their ratified contract and Chair Joe Virdiramo says it's a four year contract. The next contract up for ratification coming to the Police Service Board is the Police Force's Senior Officers.

Saving over a quarter million dollars...priceless

Lakehead University is changing the way it accepts payment for tuition and student resident services. As of May first, L-U's finance boss Michael Pawlowski says they will no longer be accepting credit cards.  He says it will amount to a savings of over a quarter million dollars in fees they would normally pay to the credit card companies.  Pawlowski says they feel the savings could be better spent in other areas of the institution.  

Warm weather records broken

Thunder Bay keeps breaking weather records. We saw a high of 18.9 yesterday which broke a warm record of 12.2 set back in 1946. Fort Frances was the warmest yesterday reaching 26 degrees.