Council will listen to a proposal tonight that would see the currently closed Roxy's Bar on Memorial Avenue turned into a Bingo and Night Club. The building is currently vacant and is adjacent to the Super 8 Motel. There has been some initial negative feedback towards the proposal from neighbours who are concerned with parking accessibility.
Council is also going to learn more about what their by-law officers are in charge of. A report coming to Council tonight shows that each by-law officer carried a case load of 334 complaint files in 2013. Last year, over a thousand complaints came in including noise infractions, fence issues, business licensing and yard maintenance. 90 percent of those infractions were resolved.
City By-law officers are asking the City to give them the power to write tickets for a number of offences including smoking on hospital grounds. Manager Ron Bourret thinks fines will help stop bad behaviour. The hospital is asking for a 150 dollar fine for smoking on their grounds, by-law officers are also looking for a set fine of 250 dollars for smoking in a workplace or 10 meters from the edge of a beach.
A PC source in Toronto is confirming that Provincial Conservative Tamara Johnson is out as candidate for Thunder Bay Superior North. The announcement comes following statements Johnson made on Facebook, regarding businesses in the Fort William First Nation. A nomination meeting will be held at a later date.
OPP have closed Highway 11 near Reflection Lake, just prior to the community of Macdiarmid. Crews are working on removing a tractor-trailer unit. The closure is expected to last another hour.
The city's cultural sector is recognizing several individuals who have made contributions to its development. An awards evening was held Thursday at the Prince Arthur Hotel and included awards for performing and media arts, visual arts and cultural heritage. Awards include cash prizes of either 5-hundred or 1-thousand dollars.
Highway 17 is now open at Upsala. It was closed after a transport pulling out of the gas station got stuck in the ditch.
It is a full snow day for all students across the Thunder Bay area. All Lakehead Public, and Thunder Bay Catholic Schools are closed as well as the Education Centres. Thunder Bay Christian School is also closed. City Transit buses are running this morning. All City of Thunder Bay run day care centres are also closed today.
Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy may be reducing the effectiveness of their treatments by smoking. This comes from Cancer Care Consultant Dr. Bill Evans who spoke in Thunder Bay yesterday. Evans adds that even some doctors need to be updated on the latest studies. Evans was invited to the city by the regional hospital to speak to doctors and staff in the local cancer program.
The United Ways 2013 fundraising campaign fell just short of their goal set at 2.7-million dollars. Chair Walter Flasza says they are not disappointed with this years total of 2.5-million dollars. Flasza adds that they will analyse this years campaign to see where they can improve and why they couldn't raise the extra money.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is out with a report that suggests the Ring of Fire mining project will generate benefits far beyond mining and the north. Charla Robinson of the Thunder Bay Chamber says the study will help sell the project to the provinces broader business community. The study shows that the Ring of Fire will create up to 9.4-billion dollars in economic activity in its first 10-years.
Tbaytel is presenting the upcoming PGA Thunder Bay Classic golf tournament. The company is providing 150 thousand dollars over the next three years. Organizer Scott Smith says it's win-win for both parties involved. The tournament will be held for the first time this summer.
The provincial Government has alerted local leaders of a plan to implement 26-recommendations to improve the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. The move will change the way MPAC does business and will allow for more transparency, Dryden Mayor Craig Nuttall says recent mill assessments have handcuffed several communities including Thunder Bay. A letter released by the government states they are confident that implementing the recommendations and working with area communities will result in a fair, accurate and predictable system.
OPP are cautioning motorists to drive with extra care in preparation for a winter storm that is expected to hit our city. Police are asking people to postpone all non-essential travel until conditions improve, and asks for motorists to slow down.
Hospital CEO Andree Robichaud admits they violated the fire code by treating patients in alcoves. Staff had to treat patients in the alcoves during times when the facility was overcrowded. At a news conference Thursday, Robichaud says while they were looking for alternatives to the alcoves they were fined. Robichaud says they did the best they could with the decisions they had to make.
The Provincial Government and FedNor are giving the City 1.1 million dollars for the proposed Event and Convention Centre. Thunder Bay Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro says the funding will help take the heat off the City. Both levels will pony up their share of the funding which will allow Thunder Bay to complete a detailed design of the centre.
Confederation College President Jim Madder says its a chance to recognize top students and local donors. Over 250 students were given a total of 120 thousand dollars yesterday to help them continue learning at the college. Madder says the donors are made up of former students and others in the community who believe in what the college is doing
Old man winter just won't go away as a winter storm warning is in effect. Environment Canada Meteorologist Marie-Eve Giguere says two systems one from Alberta and one coming up from the Southern U.S. will hook up and dump 25-30 centimetres of snow on us. The heavy snow will likely start tonight and last well into Friday night.
Another night of vandalism at Silver City. Two more vehicles were spray painted in the parking lot between 7:00 and 9:30 last night. The vandals are also going through vehicles, stealing valuables and then spray painting them. Police have adjusted the total and are now saying that is seven incidents in the past two nights. Anyone with any information is asked to call Thunder Bay Police or Crimestoppers at 623-TIPS.
The Thunder Bay Regional Hospital is facing a fire code violation. Chief John Hay says it's because patients are being placed in alcoves not designated for their care. The hospital is currently facing an overcrowding problem, but Hay says that doesn't matter, and that officials should maintain safety standards at all times.
A report from BuildForce Canada is predicting big times ahead for northern Ontario. The report states that a number of large resource and infrastructure projects will boost the construction sector in the north. It sites projects such as the Ring of Fire, the Energy East pipeline and ongoing transmission work. BuildForce Canada says that will bring new workers to the region over the next five years and will force the area to concentrate on recruitment efforts.
.JPG)
At Queens Park the NDP are accusing the province of dragging its feet on the Ring of Fire mining project pointing to a lack of progress with establishing the development corporation. However Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle fired back by saying there is plenty going on behind the scenes to come up with a transportation route.Gravelle says the hiring of the consulting firm Deloitte is an important part of the equation
The community of Conmee is in mourning today following the death of councillor Robert Rydholm after a brief illness...he was 93. Mayor Kevin Holland says Rydholm has a long history in township politics having served as councillor and reeve for over 3 decades. No arrangements have been made for his funeral.
The hammer is coming down on more illegal hunting in the region. This time it's a southern Ontario man who has been fined a total of 37 hundred dollars for illegally hunting two cow moose and for shooting across a road. He has also been banned from hunting for a year. The Ministry of Natural Resources says that the incidents happened at a resort in the Lac des Mille Lacs area, west of Thunder Bay last fall.
City Police are spending over 60 thousand dollars to upgrade their computers in preparation for next generation 911 service. The upgrade will include the leasing of four Dell PowerEdge servers that will replace old IT equipment. The new tech is scheduled to be delivered and installed by March 3rd.
City Police are currently in charge of looking after almost 23-thousand items of evidence. The results of an evidence audit were presented this morning at a Police Services Board meeting. The police station is currently running out of space to hold the items but in the coming budget years money will be set aside to create more room.
