Rafferty thinks Pension call could be a ploy

John Rafferty thinks there could be more to a call from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for MP's to scrap their pension plans.  The Federation says MP's should drop their lucrative plans and switch to the same plan the government is suggesting Canadians to adopt.  Rafferty says he thinks this could be a ploy to hand Conservative MP's huge payouts.

Plan Nord opens eyes

Iain Angus calls it a worthwhile exercise. The city councillor helped to organize a presentation on how well advanced Northern Quebec's economic planning is thanks to a program called Plan Nord. He says it shows they are farther ahead in the planning process than we are in Northern Ontario.   Angus says the lessons learned at the presentation will be discussed by local leaders to see what can be implemented here.

Police want drivers to slow down

Thunder Bay Police had to deal with a couple of collisions today and it led to a call for drivers to slow down.  Traffic Sergeant Glenn Porter says its disappointing how many people fail to take conditions into account, considering winter conditions happen from November to April every year.  Porter says there is no such thing as an accident, only collisions and almost always human error is to blame.

Murder trial moves along

A city murder trial continues to hear witnesses for the prosecution. On Tuesday court heard from Michael Kelly's former employer, Harold Kamphern.  He told the jury that he hired Kelly in 2000 to catch leeches in the Anders Lake area about 20 kilometres from where Judie Thibault's body was eventually found.  Also on the stand was an OPP officer who was investigating the murder.  Detective Sergeant. Jane Conway testified that when she told Kelly that Thibault's body was found, he showed little or no reaction and that during the exchange he appeared to be distracted by a TV program. 

National curling spotlight in T.Bay

Canada will be watching Thunder Bay when the Fort William Curling Club hosts the National Wheelchair Curling Championships in March.  Ten teams from across Canada will compete for nine days.  Chair Dave Kawahara says they've come a long way since they first started to make the rink accessible in 2006.  The sporting event is expected to bring in revenue and tourism to the community.

Fibre experts testify at trial

More forensic evidence at the Michael Kelly murder trial.  Morning testimony on Tuesday focused on the carpet that Judie Thibault's body was found wrapped in in 2004.   The prosecution presented two forensic experts to try to draw a link between that carpet and other similar carpet samples taken from a home Thibault rented and a government building on May St.   The only conclusion by the experts was that it could have been from the same sources, but it wasn't a certainty.  Kelly is charged with First Degree Murder in Thibault's death.

SIU investigating shooting

A man is in hospital with self inflicted injuries after he barricaded himself in his truck with a gun. Tuesday, OPP were called to the Dorion cutoff to help talk him out of the vehicle when the man shot himself.  Police administered first aid and called for an ambulance.  Sergeant Shelley Garr says the Special Investigations Unit has taken over the investigation.