11/17 near Kakabeka to see improvements

The province is planning on improving a stretch of highway 11/17 east from Kakabeka Falls. The 13 kilometres of work will include various intersection improvements, two new passing lanes and pavement resurfacing of the Kam River Bridge on Highway 130. A tender call is out for the project and work is scheduled to be completed later this year.

Longtime friends share in lottery win

Two city residents will be getting a lot of new friends. Alan Laine and Rudolph Cvornjek are sharing the 250 thousand dollars they won playing Lottario. The two have been playing the same lottery numbers for 35 years and finally hit it big in the March 6th draw.

Easy way to dump your e-waste

Officials at the OLG Casino and Pack Pros Plus don't want you to gamble with the environment. They are teaming up this Saturday to provide a waste disposal site for your outdated electronics. Organizer Allan Forbes says it's a 5 hour event that starts at 10 in the morning in the casino parking lot. Forbes says it can be anything from old computers, tv's or other home electronics.

Library offers language learning

The Thunder Bay Public Library is making it possible to learn a new language through your computer. It's providing a program called Powerspeak Languages. The Librarys' Joanna Aegard says it's being tested for a year thanks to the Ontario taxpayer. She says if it's popular officials will make it available for longer.  Right now four languages are available: French, Spanish, German and Chinese.  A library card is required to access the service.  Simply go to the library website, choose Virtual Collection click on the sleeping giant logo and then log in.

City approves new clinic and apartments

The vacant land at John and Secord will soon be vacant no more. City councillors have approved the rezoning of the area for a community clinic. Developer Jason Logozzo says it will be a multi use building. He says market studies will determine client interest and then he'll develop a plan after that. Logozzo envisions a variety of health care services. Those might include dental, chiropratic and even medical offices along with apartment units.

NOMA convention underway this week

The annual Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association convention is on in Marathon starting Thursday. The organization acts as a voice for area municipalities at Queens Park. Mayor Lynn Peterson says this year local lawmakers will be dealing with about 20 issues. She says the resolutions include the number of federal seats in northern Ontario and moving the Northern Growth Plan forward. She says it's also an opportunity for municipal leaders to discuss regional issues with the provincial cabinet ministers who'll be attending on Friday. The conference runs until Saturday.

TBayTel gravy train unloads 15 million

TBayTel executives are boasting of a 15 and a half million dollar dividend to the city. Board chair Michael Power says this is over and above the current 17 million dollar bonus the city gets annually. Power says it will be spread over 3 years, 10 million dollars for this year and 2 and half million dollars for 2011 and 2012. The money will be going into a city fund which could be used to pay for projects like the new area.

Zwig promises no delays on study release

The environmental study on the Nor'Wester wind farm will be released next month. City council says it will not approve the location of the turbines until that study is made public. Horizon Wind president Anthony Zwig says he has no intention of delaying the release, adding the company is working to finish up the provincial process and will release the study as soon as they can.   Zwig stopped short of saying he was surprised by councils decision

Local mill appears destined for scrap heap

A local union boss is disappointed with the latest developments involving the former Abitibi Mission Mill. The company has found a scrap dealer in the States to buy the mill. Marvin Pupeza of the Canadian Paperworkers Union says its a sad day.  He says it wasn't long ago they were working with a potential buyer, but it fell apart.  Pupeza adds that a new collective agreement was even worked out with the members, but now it appears the mill will be bulldozed.  When it closed there were 430 employees.

OLG announces latest slots cash

The latest payment to the city of Thunder Bay from the provincial government gambling casino is 572 thousand dollars. The money represents 5 per cent of the slot machine revenue from the facility. It was the cash collected during January, February and March.

Backhoe accident sends man to hospital

One man is injured following an accident involving a backhoe. City police spokesperson Chris Adams says it took place at a private residence on Koivu Road Tuesday around noon and sent a 30 year old man to hospital after the machine rolled on him.   Police, fire and paramedics responded.  While the mans injury is reported as serious it isn't considered life threatening.

Five local nominees in film awards

Thunder Bay is fairing well for the 2010 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards. Organizer Dennis Landry says 5 of the 24 nominees are from Thunder Bay. He says its no surprise to him because we have an interesting diverse film community. The local nominees are: Dave Clement is up for two awards for his work on the film “The Healing Lens” in the Best Film Editor and Best Cinematography categories. Heather K. Dahlstrom is nominee in the Best Film category for “The Healing Lens”. Two local finalists are nominated in the Best Screenwriter category. Kris Ketonen who collaborated with Lee Chambers on the script “The Sum of Random Chance” and Ryan La Via for his script titled “Psyche”.
Thunder Bay also has a local finalist in a music category. Chris Dorota is nominated in the Best Engineer category for his work on Jean-Paul De Roover’s album “Windows and Doors”. The awards will be handed out May first in Sudbury.

Westgate students form living green ribbon

High school students in the city are promoting organ and tissue donations. At Westgate Collegiate students formed a human green ribbon. Lisa Cashin of the local Kidney Foundation says the campaign in Thunder Bay appears to be working.  She says 38 per cent of the population here has consented to donate their organs at the time of death.    Cashin says while that rate is high for the province, she believes it could be better.

O'Conner woman hurt in ATV accident

One woman is in hospital with undetermined injuries after flipping her ATV. The accident happened yesterday night when the 37 year old was towing a log up a hill. The ATV rolled on top of her and the woman was taken to the Health Sciences Centre by Air Ambulance with non life threatening injuries.

Wind farm location decision now in limbo

Horizon Wind is now in the drivers seat. City councillors have voted to postpone a final decision on a location for the proposed Nor'Western wind farm. It will not come until Horizon releases an environmental assessment report. City Planning Manager Mark Smith doesn't expect the process to drag on. He believes the company will release the report "sooner rather than later". Horizons' Anthony Zwig has said he will make it public in his own time.

Subdivision expansion gets preliminary approval

The River Terrace subdivision extension is one step away from being a done deal. After over 4 and a half hours of discussions councillors approved the plans by Art Lannon to add the 71 lots. It came in spite of the pleas of environmentalists like Christy Radbourne who were concerned about the trees that were to be cut down to make way for the new lots. Radbourne believes councillors had their minds made up prior to the vote.

Council hears River Terrace plans from Art Lannon

The developer of the River Terrace area says he is willing to address residents concerns.   Art Lannon laid out his plan for a proposed expansion of the subdivision.   He says he wants to add 71 lots to what he has right now.   Lannon has an agreement to purchase the 13 and a half hectare property from Lakehead University.  He says that in order to ease the concerns residents have about the loss of trees, he would plant a six metre buffer of trees to make up for what will be lost.

River Terrace residents state their case

The residents of the River Terrace area of the city don't want an expansion of their subdivision .  One by one opponents pleaded with city councillors not to approve the proposal.   As part of the plan, the developer will be removing the trees that separate the area from the Health Sciences Centre.  They think the trees that are removed will do away with the buffer they have against the hospital noise.  In addition Lakehead University students and faculty voiced disapproval since the land in question is in the process of being purchased from the institution.

OPP constable resigns, avoids hearing

There will be no police act hearing for a Nipigon OPP officer. Constable Lynn MacKay was to have had the disciplinary hearing this week in connection with a marijuana seizure in 2007. Sgt. Shelley Garr says MacKay faced a charge of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act. Garr says the hearing was cancelled on April 16th when MacKay officially resigned from the OPP. MacKay was a 17 year veteran of the force.

Locals take part in the Boston Marathon

Michael Wood of Dryden is the top northwestern Ontario finisher in this years Boston Marathon. Wood is one of at least 18 runners from the northwest who ran in the famous event. Wood ended with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes and 23 seconds. Wood says it was his best time ever.  Jim Keyes is the top Thunder Bay finisher. He clocked in with a time of 2 hours 57 minutes and 33 seconds. Drydens' Christine Smith was the top female finisher from the northwest with a time of  3 hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds.  Sixteen people from Thunder Bay were entered this year.  Here are the results for the regional competitors:
Men: Michael Wood-2:45:23, Jim Keyes-2:57:33, Scott Douglas-3:07:11, Michael Tassotto-3:05:37, Peter Lovis-3:13:57, Rory Cava-3:25:19, Dan Tipple-3:32:35, Claudio Pietrobelli-3:34:06.  Women:  Christine Smith-3:25:03,  Isabel Pacheco-3:25:30, Betty Annela-3:34:00, Christine Bociurko-3:40:33, Donna Ostrom-3:43:59, Monique Welbourne-3:51:38.