T.Bay Woman Gets Provincial Award

A Thunder Bay woman is being honoured in the provincial government's Ontario Newcomer Champion awards.  Madeline Porter is being honoured for her work with Volunteer Thunder Bay, the Regional Multicultural Youth Council and Thunder Bay's Shelter House.  Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Michael Chan will present the awards Monday to outstanding community leaders who have made a difference in their communities.

Fatal Fire In New Osnaburgh First Nation

The Ontario Fire Marshall's Office is investigating a fatal house fire on New Osnaburgh First Nation.  Human remains were found on the scene of the fire on Friday.  A post-mortem examination will be conducted at the Kenora hospital.  The investigation is ongoing and further details will be released as they become available.

3 Vehicle Accident On Arthur & Brown Street

Thunder Bay Police are investigating a 3 vehicle accident Saturday night that occurred at 10:40 in the evening in the area of Arthur Street and Brown Street.  Two men were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.  Police traffic unit continues to investigate and highway traffic act charges are pending.

Local Sports Round Up

The Lakehead Thunderwolves lost 7-4 to the Windsor Lancers at the Fort William Gardens last night. LU is now off until after Christmas when they take on the McGill Redmen at home.   In other LU action, The men's basketball team were defeated 82-67 by the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The women's basketball team didn't fair any better and fell to the Gee Gees 84-72.  LU's women's volleyball team came away with a 3-0 win yesterday over the Western Mustangs.  Meanwhile, The Confederation College Thunderhawks beat the Nip-Rock Midget Girls 6-1 Saturday night at the Nipigon Arena.

Highways Open

Highways around Thunder Bay are all open this morning.  After the first real snowfall of the season yesterday some highways east of Thunder Bay were closed due to poor driving conditions.  The OPP are reporting that all major roadways are open.

Local Sports Round Up

In local hockey action last night, the Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the first-place Windsor Lancers 4-2. They'll play again tonight at the Fort William Gardens at at 7:30.  In the SIJHL, Thunder Bay's Northstars defeated the Fort Frances Lakers 5 to 2.  In University men's basketball, the LU team fell to the Carleton Ravens 94-53.  The women's LU basketball team were defeated by the Carleton Ravens as well 70-46.

Board Official Says It's Not Over Yet

The tentative settlement in the public high school teachers dispute doesn't mean the end of labour troubles at the Lakehead District School Board. Director of Education Cathi Siemieiuk says there still has to be deals signed with other factions of the Secondary School Teachers Federation. She says there continues to be job action being taken by educational assistants, early childhood educators and occasional teachers. Meantime Siemieiuk says they are pleased with the tentative deal reached with the teachers because it brings an end to their job action which forced the board to hire a private security firm to patrol the high school halls.

Mattress Fire At Royal Edward Arms

No injuries to report following a small fire at the Royal Edward Arms on May Street this afternoon. The apartment building is run by Thunder Bay District Housing. Spokesperson Terry Flaherty says it appears the blaze wasn't an accident. Officials tell him that a mattress that was in the lobby was lit on fire creating a lot of smoke which was put out quickly by fire crews. Flaherty says the building was evacuated and no one was injured.

Teachers Reach Tentative Deal With Board

Good news on the Thunder Bay labour front.   Public high school teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement with the Lakehead District School Board.  The agreement will be officially submitted to the Minister of Education for review.   Their union, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, says that any job action taken by the teachers during this dispute has been suspended.  The details of the agreement will not be released until the teachers vote on the deal.

Calendar Parking Starts Monday

While calendar parking regulations officially won't go into effect until Monday, city officials are asking you to adhere to them now.  They say it would help with snow clearing operations.   The by-law takes effect when enough snow falls to warrant plowing.  Depending on your area, you can't park on certain sides of the street on odd and even calendar days.  Specific instructions are on the street signs. 

Inflation Up Nationally And Locally

Thunder Bay went from deflation to inflation as the monthly Statistics Canada report was released this morning.   The city's inflation rate now stands at 0.4 percent which is a half of a percentage point increase from last month. The national inflation rate remained unchanged for a third straight month at 1.2 percent.  The rate was slightly higher than experts had predicted, especially since  gasoline prices went down during the month.

Resolute To Build Pellet Plant

Resolute Forest Products is sinking 10 million dollars into its Thunder Bay operations.   The company says it is going to build a new  plant which will be used to convert the material at the mill site that is not used,  into wood pellets.  In turn Ontario Power Generation will be supplied with with 45 thousand metric tons of those pellets every year.   Construction will begin shortly and be finished by 2014 and will be located next to the company's sawmill.  It will create 24 new jobs when fully operation.

Let The Clean-Up Begin

The first big snowstorm of the year is in the books and now the clean up begins.   City Roads Manager Brad Adams says crews have been out since 2 this morning plowing the main streets and as of 9 a.m. they moved to plow the side streets.  Adams says they will even work into the weekend

Weekend Accident Claims Life

Thunder Bay OPP are still looking into a single motor vehicle roll-over collision that occurred last weekend on Highway 588 and Blakie Road in O’Connor Township. The 28 year old man died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.  OPP are confirming Clinton Peacock, of Neebing Township, died in hospital.

School Bus Transportation Cancelled

Transportation of all school buses in Thunder Bay are cancelled this morning. For Lakehead Public schools, the rural schools are closed but urban schools are open. Thunder Bay Christian School is also closed this morning. For the Thunder Bay Catholic Board and the french catholic board, schools are open. School buses are cancelled for Nipigon, Red Rock and Dorion. For Terrace Bay for Schreiber, school buses are cancelled this morning.

Thunderwolves Weekend

The Lakehead University Thunderwolves men's hockey team plays host to the O.U.A.'s best team tonight at home. The Windsor Lancers are riding a 7-game winning streak into tonight's game against the Thunderwolves. L.U. has a record of 8-4--2 heading into tonight's game against the 10-2 Lancers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Gardens. Meanwhile the men's and women's basketball teams are on the road this weekend in Ottawa as they take on Carleton and Ottawa. The men's team will be in tough as they tip-off against the defending national champions and the #1 ranked team in the country tonight. The women's volleyball team is also on the road this weekend. They'll be in London to take on the Western Mustangs tomorrow and Sunday.

New Look For Business District.

It's a big day for the merchants in the Bay and Algoma Street Business Association. They get to officially open the newly renovated Algoma Street. Association President Brian Hamilton says the business owners had a rough go of it during construction , but thinks the new look will bring back the customers. Activities are scheduled to get underway at 11:30.

3.7 Million Dollars In Health Care Funding

The local health agency is delivering 3.7 million dollars to a variety of programs aimed at helping seniors, addicts and people living with chronic conditions.  St. Joseph's Care Group will be using 500 thousand dollars to provide a drug outreach program for pregnant and parenting moms in Thunder Bay, Kenora and Sioux Lookout.  Spokesperson Nancy Black says it's a unique program for Northern women age 16 to 24.  The Region's Brain Injury Service will be using money to bring two people living with physical disabilities out of the hospital and into the community.

Underground Gym Fundraises

The Underground Gym is asking you for your help and is launching a new fundraising effort. The Gym has offered a variety of services throughout the years for disadvantaged youth in the community. Founder Peter Panetta hopes for it to stay that way. He says it seems that this has been a bad year for the gym adding they have only taken in half of the money they did last year. The sixth month goal is to raise 20 thousand dollars.

OPP On Festive Ride & Snow Plow Safety

The OPP's Festive R.I.D.E. program starts on Saturday. Sgt. Ann McCoy says it's during the holiday period that drinking and driving seems to spike with police statistics showing it's worse this time of year. The RIDE program wraps up on January 2nd. The OPP is launching a snow plow safety campaign. Police want to remind the public to slow down when they see a snow plow's flashing blue light and let the plow lead the way. Sgt. Ann McCoy says if you pass the plow and end up in an accident you could end up being charged. McCoy says driving too fast and passing snow plows are major causes of winter collisions.