Charge Laid In Valente Death

A 24 year old inmate of Stony Mountain jail in Manitoba is charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of Thunder Bay's Cosmo Valente last month.  RCMP says Valente died June 25 from a single stab wound he received while he was an inmate.  Charged is Bryon Jacob.  He made a brief court appearance in Winnipeg Thursday.

Funding Concerns Heard

A Harper government cabinet minister is going back to Ottawa with funding suggestions from northwestern Ontario municipal leaders. Minister of State Steven Fletcher says his round table meeting in Kenora showed roads for the Ring of Fire, Airports and the Trans Canada Highway were area funding concerns. The government wants to set up a new infrastructure funding program by 2014.

Good Samaritans Now Need Help

One Thunder Bay family is looking for help in the aftermath of the city flood. Jessica Sharpe and her family opened her home up to East End residents in the immediate aftermath of the flood, offering a hot shower, blankets and even hot food.  Now Sharpe says they don't have the $21,000 needed for repairs and is in need of help herself.  As is her nature, she is asking residents to keep in mind all of the people affected by the devastating flood and not just her family.

Goal Set For Disaster Relief

The City's Disaster Relief Committee is setting its fundraising goal at 5 million dollars. Committee chair Wayne Fletcher says they hope to get that amount raised for the May 28th flood victims by November 30th. He says committee members believe it's a necessary goal .  Fletcher is also reminding you that any donation to disaster relief can be claimed on your taxes.

Highway 61 Revisited

There's a move on to get more publicity for the Canadian portion of Highway 61. City Tourism Manager Paul Pepe is in Duluth this week to make the case for our city becoming a part of the tourism promotions south of the border for the iconic highway's route along Lake Superior.  Pepe says as it is now,  American promotions for the highway do not include Thunder Bay. 

Police Chief Celebrates Anniversary

Thunder Bay's Police Force is celebrating a year with a new Chief. J.P. Levesque was sworn into the position on July 13th last year. Levesque says he has a number of goals for the year to come. Levesque says he spent much of last year dealing with contract negotiations and disciplinary actions.

3 Kilograms Of Cocaine Seized

Two Toronto area men are currently in custody pending an investigation into a cocaine bust. Nipigon O.P.P. say a traffic stop yesterday afternoon resulted in the seizure of 3 kilograms of cocaine. The street value of the drugs seized is approximately $300,000.

16 Year Old Charged With First Degree Murder

A 16 year old is in custody and charged with first-degree murder. Treaty Three and O.P.P. made the arrest Tuesday in connection with the death of 61 year old Charles Minshall of Whitefish Bay First nation. The 16 year old, who can't be named because of age, is also from Whitefish Bay First Nation. Police are not releasing the cause of death, but earlier reports had police responding to gun fire being heard at a local store, where the deceased was found. The 16 year old is to appear in a Kenora court today.

O.P.P. Search For A Third Suspect In Attempted Robbery

O.P.P. are still looking for a third suspect in connection with an attempted store robbery in Schreiber. Provincial Police were alerted just before 4:00 o'clock yesterday morning.  They then spotted the suspect's vehicle west of Nipigon but an attempted stop had to be abandoned because of public safety reasons as the vehicle took off. Later police spotted the same vehicle and used a spike belt to halt the vehicle and three men went running into the bush. Two of them were caught. The third remains at-large with O.P.P. K-9 units being used in the pursuit. O.P.P. are warning travellers not to pick up any hitchhikers in the Schreiber area.

7 New Forest Fires Reported

The rain yesterday did relatively nothing to help new forest fires from starting. 7 new fires were reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Fire crews are now battling 80 forest fires in the Northwest region. The fire hazard remains high across most of our area.

Border Cats Begin Longest Homestand Of The Season

The Thunder Bay Border Cats are back in action tonight following the All-Star break. They begin a 7 game homestand against the St. Cloud Rox tonight at 7:05 at Subway Field. The first-half champion, Mankato Moondogs, are here for a 5 game series starting Saturday. The Border Cats remain 4 1/2 games back in the North Division with 18 games left in the season.

Thunder Bay Selects In First Place

The two Thunder Bay teams at the Ontario Senior Little League Championships are holding their own against the competition. The Thunder Bay Selects are alone in first place with a 2-0 record after dumping Windsor East 11-1 yesterday. The Thunder Bay All-Stars improved to 2-1 with a 13-3 win over East Nepean. Action continues today starting at 2:00 p.m. at Baseball Central. The Selects are in action at 6:00 o'clock against East Nepean.