Wednesday, March 10, 2010

NWO agencies get upgrade cash

The McGuinty government has provided some northwestern Ontario social service agencies with money for repairs and upgrades. About 110 thousand dollars will be used to fund 29 projects including a new furnace and air conditioning system at the Thunder Bay branch of the Ontario March of Dimes.

Drug bust at the Thunder Bay Airport

A 22 year old Thunder Bay man is facing a trafficking charge after being arrested at the Thunder Bay Airport. He was apprehended after he recently arrived on a flight from Toronto. Police say he had a quantity of Oxycodone and Percocet pills with a street value of about 10 thousand dollars.

Thunder Bay arrest in kiddie porn probe

A Thunder Bay man is one of 35 people across the province charged in connection with a child pornography investigation. City police Detective Inspector Phil Levesque says the man was arrested Tuesday at his home and a personal computer was seized.   Charged with accessing child pornography is 61 year old Michael Daniel Bewcyk. He appears in court March 22nd.

Youth Action Council wants to make a difference

Young people in Thunder Bay now have a new organization to represent them. The Youth Action Council aims to bring together a vast range of groups to form one unit. Spokesperson Matthew DeGagne says they want to be a youth voice for the community. He says they'd like to work with city council and other adult organizations in the city. DeGagne says it would be nice to have input on decisions made that affect youth.

Youthscape kids shine

The kids from Youthscape Thunder Bay are pretty proud these days. Over the last two years the program been responsible for some 30 projects at a cost of 180 thousand dollars.  Sandra Albertson is with the United Way, which helped with the funding, and calls the final results amazing. In some cases the projects were organized by, or designed to help, disadvantaged youth within the community. They were put on display at the Prince Arthur Hotel on Wednesday.

Rotary Club back with it's house lottery

The Fort William Rotary Club is back with its' annual house lottery. Tickets are 100 dollars each and chair Bob Hookham says proceeds go towards several local charity organizations.   He says those charities include the Regional Food Distribution Association, the George Jeffery Children's Treatment Centre and the Dew Drop Inn.   The draw is taking place July first.   Photo:  Bob Hookham, Jill Zachary, Mayor Lynn Peterson, Ajoy Chatterjee

Rugby Olympics come to LU Hanger

Teams from a number of Lakehead Public Schools celebrated Rugby's inclusion into the 2012 Sumer Olympics with a tournament. Teams dressed up and took part in an Olympic style parade and played flag Rugby matches at the Lakehead University Hanger. This is the third year the tournament has been held.

Thuner Bay hosts zone 1 meeting of the OAPSB and OACP

Issues facing policing in Northern Ontario is taking centre stage in Thunder Bay at the Zone one of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police meetings. Chief Bob Herman and his Northern Counter Parts along with Police Services board members met yesterday and today for an joint meeting.  Herman says some of the big issues discussed include the need for a provincial crime prevention strategy and an update to the police services act.  Herman says having all the Chiefs and Board members on the same page is vital when working with the Government.

School board says eight is enough

There will be no change to the number of trustees on the Lakehead Public School Board. Trustees have voted to keep their number at 8 even though public schools in Armstrong and Collins were added to the boards' jurisdication. Chair Deborah Massaro says the decision had to do with student numbers, adding there wasn't enough of an increase to justify another trustee to represent their interests. The board had until March 15th to decide on adding the extra trustee