Area First Nations now in the helicopter charter business

The Matawa First Nations and Great Slave Helicopters are now partners. The company from the Northwest Territories has signed an agreement with the six First Nations communities to provide charter services. Chief Roy Moonias of the Neskantaga First Nation says its a good business venture. As part of the agreement Matawa will own 51 per cent of the Charter service

Beer Store smashed

Yet another Beer Store is damaged as the result of a break in. Police say that a stolen van was used to smash through the window of the Beer Store on West Gore street early Friday morning. No one was hurt and there are no suspects. Police are still investigating.

Fire Service urges families to review fire plan

The Thunder Bay Fire Service wants families to review their household fire plans.  They say that Family Day is an ideal time to go over what to do in case of a fire.   Tips include:
-Installing a smoke alarm on every floor of the home and outside bedrooms.
-Discuss the home fire escape plan with the family
-Choose a meeting place outside where everyone can gather.

Officials still looking for Neebing firehall solution

There is still no indication where crews from the Neebing fire station might set up shop until their firehall can reopen.  It's been closed due to a mould problem. Right now the crews have been relocated to the James Street fire station until a temporary hall can be opened so the response times for Neebing residents can be kept reasonable.

Final suspect caught

Thunder Bay Police have now have the final suspect they were looking for in connection with an abduction and assualt. Emilio John Bisignano was taken into custody on Wednesday night at a city residence. The indicident took place last month at a north side motel. Five others have already been taken into custody in connection with the same incident.

Local man awaits government approval for a huge mining project

A Thunder Bay man is one step closer to a setting up a huge iron ore processing plant in Atikokan. Henry Wetelainens' company, Bending Lake Iron, has received 335 million dollars in loan guarantees from New York investments banks for the project. All that is left is for the provincial government to give him approval to lease some land in Atikokan. During construction it could provide 700 jobs, with about 200 permanent jobs when the plant is up and running.

Website designed to attract worldwide investors

A new website is up and running designed to attract businesses to Northern Ontario. It's supposed to spread the message that the north is open for business to investors from all over the world. Councillor Rebecca Johnson helped to kick off the launch of the site.  She says it's important to be a part of this very important initiative.  The website can be viewed at investnorthernontario.com

Red Cross officials thanks city for our generosity

There's praise for Thunder Bay residents and their support for Haitian earthquake relief. Ron Kelusky the Director General of the Ontario zone of the Canadian Red Cross, says residents have raised at least a quarter of a million dollars.  Its estimated that with online donations the local donations could be as high as half a million dollars

Students produce anti-racism video

In the wake of the My Home Town video success students at McKellar Park School have their own video to brag about. They have entered a video for a national anti racism competition. The submission is called Underneath it All and is one of 53 finalists in the competition and the only local entry.

Organizers fundraising for the special olympics

There’s a call going out to the community to help with the Ontario Special Olympics Winter games. Those games are being held in Thunder Bay next year. Organizers have launched an adopt an athlete program. A 500 dollar donation will enable the sponsor to track an athlete through the games. Once the games are done the sponsor will be given a picture, a thank you card and a plaque. The fundraising goal is 300 thousand dollars or half the event budget.

Teachers vote too close to call

Teachers at Confederation College in Thunder Bay have longer to wait. They completed voting yesterday on the province's latest contract offer, but the results are too close to call. Teachers voted yesterday 51-per-cent in favour of the deal. However, the union says there are 300 mail-in ballots still to be counted.
Results may not be known for 10 days or more. The teachers had set a strike date of next Wednesday.

Warkentin fills spot on LHIN board

There is a new member on the board of directors of the North West Local Health Integration Network. Joy Warkentin will be serving for a three year term. It means there are no more vacancies on the board. The North West LHIN is responsible for the allocation taxpayer dollars from the provincial government to health care institutions in the north west region.

Mould problem closes fire station

Thunder Bay firefighters are dealing with a different type of emergency. The Neebing Fire station has been closed because of a mould problem. Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue says that the building has been closed because of health and safety reasons. Until the problem is resolved crews and equipment from the station have been moved to the James Street Station.

LU has a new president

The new president of Lakehead University is Brian Stevenson. He comes from the University of Winnipeg and officially takes over from Fred Gilbert on August the first. Stevenson has no illusions about what his biggest challenge will be, getting a handle on the budget.The 52 year old Stevenson becomes the sixth president in LU's history.

City tax increase a certainty

If the city budget stays the way it is, taxes for the average homeowner in Thunder Bay will go up about 45 dollars a year. The budget increase for this year is pegged at 2.7 per cent. Tuesday night several groups presented their funding requests to councillors. The Children's Aid Society is hoping for 65 thousand taxpayers dollars to help with its operations.

Huge parking worries for south core

Concerns about parking are still on the minds of south side merchants. The head of the Victoria Avenue Business Improvement Area, Bob Hupka, says that the new courthouse and social services buildings will eliminate a substational number of sparking spots. Hupka believes the parking issue could prove to be the death knell for some south downtown businesses.

A very short escape

It was a short lived escape for a prisoner along the north shore of Lake Superior this week. OPP say a prisoner in leg irons managed to escape custody from the detachment in Schrieber. It turns out he went to a nearby house and went into the garage where he was spotted by the homes owner. A short time later he was back in police custody.

Med school boost for the economy

A study commissioned by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, not surprisingly, says the Med school has been a bonus for the north. The study shows the impact of the school makes on the northern economy to be in the range of 62 to 87 million dollars a year. It adds the benefits are spread to other communities, not just where the school campuses are located in Thunder Bay and Sudbury

Thunder Bay...one romantic city

Thunder Bay has made it as one of the top 20 romantic cities in the country number 13 to be exact right behind Ottawa at number 12. The number 1 romantic city in Canada is...Saskatoon. How did we make the on the top 20 list?Amazon.ca looked at sales of romance novels, books on sex and relationships -- and sales of Michael Buble albums.

Thunder Bay now on Google Street View

Talk about putting Thunder Bay on the map. Our city is now one of the 150 new Canadian communities that have now made it to Google Earth's Street View. It allows you to actually get a 360 degree ground level look at the street you live on as if you were walking along it. Up until now it was only the major Canadian cities that were a part of the service.