Anishinabek Nation Comments On Education Act

Chiefs with the Anishinabek Nation believe proposed education legislation from the Federal Government will render 18-years of negotiations useless.  Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee says that the legislation does not translate to first nation control over their own education.

Chamber Makes Scholarships Available

The Chamber of Commerce is giving out two 500 dollar scholarships to local high school students. Applications are being accepted from students planning to attend a business related program at a Thunder Bay post-secondary institution for the 2014-15 school year.  The application deadline is April 16th.

Municipal League Meeting In Schreiber

Municipal League President Larry Hebert

Municipal leaders from across the district are meeting in Schreiber this week.  The conference starts Friday morning and runs through the weekend with a variety of issues being discussed. Policing, Crown land policies, poverty, and nuclear waste are up for debate.

New Courthouse Opening Soon

We are getting closer to seeing the new consolidated courthouse open.  A spokesperson from the Attorney General's office says the Superior Court of Justice will be operational at the new building starting April 7th. The Ontario Court of Justice will be operating out of that building as well a week later on April 14th.

Stroke Forum On This Week

Health care providers from across the Northwest are in Thunder Bay this week for the Regional Stroke Forum.  Regional Stroke Educator Elaine Edwards says the region sees a number of stroke cases. Area doctors will learn from the leading stroke neurologists over the next two days. 

Trudeau Skypes With Dryden Kids

An experience that Dryden's New Prospect's Grade 5 class will never forget.  Yesterday the class skyped with Justin Trudeau and asked him 24 questions.  Teacher Mary Trist says the students may not have known who the Liberal Leader was at first but after a mock parliament they clued in. The skype session went on for a half hour.

Tbaytel Fixes Problems

Tbaytel is announcing that technical issues with their voicemail service have been sorted out and service is back to normal.  Users were unable to access their voicemail this morning but spokesperson Katie Crowe says if you were expecting an important message you will still get it. A change in software was required to fix the issue.

Bluesfest Lineup Announced

The 2014 Bluesfest lineup is out.   Among the headliners coming to Thunder Bay this summer, Melissa Etheridge, Jimmy Vaughn and the Wallflowers.   Community Auditorium General Manager Bob Halverson says there's several bands people should be excited to see.  Bluesfest takes place at Marina Park July 4th to the 6th.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow at the Community Auditorium.  

Swing Bridge Work Continues

CN Rail officials say work continues at the James Street Swing bridge. Scaffolding is in place at the site to assist the consultants in their extensive review of the bridge. The final report is still expected to be complete at the end of the month.

Diversity Breakfast

Diversity Thunder Bay welcomed a prominent figure to their 'Celebration Breakfast' this morning.  Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and spoke at their event in support of ending racial discrimination. Chair Tina Tucker says their guest speaker brings with him first hand experiences living near the Gaza strip. Abuelaish is now an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.

Mercury Removal Planned

Cole Engineering is pitching several ideas on how to clean up the mercury contamination in the Thunder Bay Harbour.  Around 40 people representing a variety of environmental agencies took part in a meeting Wednesday night. Cole spokesperson Mark Bassingthwaite says one of the ideas is to pour clean material on top of the spoiled sediment.  Another idea is to physically remove the sludge and dispose of it at either the Mission Bay facility, a new confined facility or at the landfill.  The price tag of the ideas range from 30 million dollars to over 90 million. It's not known yet exactly who will pay for the remediation.

Mercury Sludge