Council approves hotel height and parking

City Lawmakers are giving the hotel developers the go ahead to increase the height of the hotel by two metres.  Council approved the changes at Monday night's meeting. They also decided to allow the hotel to have a parking further from the building in Marina Park.

Developers ask for changes to hotel height

You came to us, we didn't come to you.  That was the parting shot from Developer Giselle McDonald to Council at Monday night's meeting.  McDonald was before council to ask for a two metre increase in the height of the hotel.  She told councillors that everything they do is to ensure they fulfill the City's vision of the waterfront hotel.  Council was also asked to designate extra parking for the hotel.

Council hears about condo units

It's a win win situation. That's the feeling of the Condo developer for the Thunder Bay Country Club.  Robert Zanetti says the creation of 80 condo units and a new club house will mean 400 thousand dollars in taxes per year for the City. Council approved changes to the Official Plan to allow the construction on Country Club land.

Researchers at LU get $

It's good news for a group of researchers at Lakehead University as they have received government grants totalling almost 700 thousand dollars.   They represent several programs including business administration and computer science.

Cliffs workers talk blockade

Striking Cliffs Natural Resources employees are threatening a blockade at the company's Ring of Fire site.  About 2 dozen workers walked off the job on Friday.  Spokesperson Jesse Nadon says they were offered a package that would see them get paid less than fast food employees.

Halfway house opens it's doors for more women

Laura Palmer- resident

It's a new era at the John Howard Society's halfway house in Thunder Bay with the addition of a women's wing at it's Syndicate Avenue building.   Executive Director Lisa Leskowski says it's something the board has wanted to address for years.

Police issue hitchhiker warning

OPP are warning drivers not to pick up hitchhikers in the Steel River area near Marathon.    They say that a man is wanted after a vehicle hit a flagman at a Highway 17 road construction site and the driver ran away from the scene abandoning his vehicle.   The condition of the flagman is not known but it's believed he suffered serious injuries.

Research institute eyes global market

Dr. John Rowlands of the Regional Research Institute  is hoping to tap into a market that has sales of about 1 billion dollars annually.   Rowlands hopes to sell his new digital mammography x-ray machine to clinics and hospitals around the world through a new company called X-L-V Diagnostics. 

Explosives are not common in Thunder Bay

Police don't expect to find anymore explosive anytime soon.  Spokesperson Chris Adams says the man appears to be suffering from some sort of mental illness and is being assessed at the hospital.  Adams says its the first time he's ever seen anything like this in Thunder Bay.

RIM is in no big trouble

Canadian technology giant Research in Motion has been getting hammered at the stock market over the last few days but its nothing to worry about according to a former executive.  Anthony Leblanc says a company that posted 700 million dollars in the last quarter is far from going under. Leblanc says the same thing happened to the company in 2002 and look where it has gone since then.  He adds this sort of dip tends to happen in the technology industry.

OPP divers find missing man

OPP divers have recovered the body of a missing boater.  The 80 year old Minnesota man went missing on Lake Superior Thursday near Nipigon.  The body was found by the OPP dive team Saturday.  

Ring of Fire workers Strike

Another week and another strike.  About 2 dozen workers in the Ring of Fire have walked off the job.  The employees of Cliffs Natural Resources say they were offered a package that would see them get less pay than fast food employees and no benefits.

Suspicious fire damages southside house

A suspicious fire has left one person in hospital with smoke inhalation.  Thunder Bay Fire and rescue responded to the fire at 112 Pruden Street at 9:30 last night and found heavy smoke coming from the back of the house.  The fire caused extensive damage to the house and is being investigated.