Deputations Ask For Plebiscite

City Council continues to get a piece of the public's mind when it comes to holding a public vote on the proposed event centre.  Several organizations came out to ask the City to make the event centre a question on the municipal election ballot.  Andy Wolff thinks having a question on the upcoming ballot would result in a higher voter turnout.  Another group of residents who are in favour of the Event Centre also came out to show their support to Council.

Planning Meeting At City Council

The City is giving the go-ahead to a proposed six storey building on a piece of land that currently houses the Cumberland Cineplex.  City lawmakers approved the rezoning application at their meeting last night that will allow property developers to knock down the former cinema and build the new mixed use building.  Some neighbours shared their concerns with the City over the loss of the view of the Sleeping Giant.  Meanwhile,  City Council is going to take some time before officially green lighting Nadin Contracting's request to change the allowed uses of two pieces of Arthur Street West property.  The company says there's a high demand for large lots serviced by the City in the rural parts of town. Norm Nadin says there subdivision is a good project and one the City should get behind. Council is expected to approve a new resolution supporting the development at another council meeting.

Weldon Is Back In T.Bay

Thunder Bay's Para Olympian Robbi Weldon is back from Sochi, Russia. Her flight arrived Monday night at the Thunder Bay Airport.  She says she's happy with her performances noting she's still suffering from injuries she sustained last year. Weldon was welcomed by her friends and family. She says it was fantastic to visit Russia and the Russian people were very gracious.

Hospital Gets 2 Million For Research Projects

Local orthopedic surgeons are giving 2 million dollars to the local hospital for a orthopedic research program. The money will go towards a variety of research projects including one that will look at diabetes patients and how many in the Northwest need to have limbs amputated. Officials say this is one of the largest donations in the hospital's history.

Rags Spontaneously Combust

The City's Fire Service is deeming the cause of a house fire on Park Row Friday night as spontaneous combustion.  They say improperly discarded oily rags just caught fire on their own.  Damage to the home is estimated at over 50-thousand dollars.  No one was home at the time of the fire.

Sears Robbed Of Jewelry

City Police are releasing a picture of a man they say is responsible for a break, enter and theft to the Sears store on the weekend.  Officers arrived at the east entrance to the store on Sunday just before 4:30 a.m. to find that two exterior glass doors had been smashed.  Someone had robbed the store of jewelry. The suspect is described as a man with a medium build, wearing a two tone greenish brown jacket and a beige baseball hat. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

OPP Cruiser In Weekend Mishap

A 31 year old Thunder Bay man is charged with impaired driving after police say his vehicle slammed into an OPP cruiser on the weekend.   They say it happened on Highway 61 and Arthur Street just before 3 in the morning Saturday as the cruiser went through a green light when it collided with a  truck making a left turn. There are no injuries to report.

Beardy Helps People Get Screened

Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy is doing his part to help get more people screened for cancer.  His cancer story is in a new cancer awareness video for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Centre.  The moral of the video is that a commitment to cancer screening saved Beardy's life because his cancer was caught early.

Early Detection - The Path to a Good Life from Apple Wagon Films on Vimeo.

War Amps Campaign Underway

War Amps key tags are being mailed out to people in Ontario.    Spokesperson Jamie Lunn says that 3.7 million of them are being distributed throughout the province.  As for northwestern Ontario, we won't receive them until next month.   She says they will begin distribution in the "P" postal code at the end of April.
Money from donations is used to help war amputees in Canada.

Winter Opening Hailed As Success

The experimental winter opening of the Chippewa Park Wildlife Exhibit is being hailed as a success.  City spokesperson Lorraine Lortie-Krawczuk says attendance was more than expected and she hopes it means the exhibit will be open again next winter.  Lortie-Krawczuk says response to the winter opening was fantastic.

Harbour Clean-Up On The Agenda

The Lake Superior Remedial Action Plan group is holding a public meeting this Wednesday to talk about how they plan to get the Mercury contamination out of the Thunder Bay Harbour.  Cole Engineering will present several options for getting the mercury out of the 55 acres of harbour.  RAP Spokesperson Jim Bailey says they'll also discuss who is going to pay for the clean up.

Ice Breaking To Start This Week

The United States Coast Guard Ice breaker "Alder" is expected in the Thunder Bay harbour today.  Ice breaking operations are to start sometime this week but that could change with little or no notice.
The "Alder" will be plowing through the ice to get the port ready for the new shipping season.

Greenstone Expo Is On

Greenstone is looking to expand its mining workforce.  The community is back with its second "Grow Greenstone" Expo at the Victoria Inn today and tomorrow.  Mayor Renald Beaulieu says the expo will provide businesses from across Canada a chance to network with community and mining industry officials.
This year's event will focus heavily on the Ring of Fire project and other mining activities across the Northwest.

Council To Decide Building's Fate

Council will look at a proposal tonight that would see the development of a 6-storey building at the site of the former Cumberland Cineplex.  The site is currently zoned to prevent buildings from being over 3-storeys. Councillor Andrew Foulds thinks amending the by-law would do the area some good and will be supporting it.  A two storey building currently at the location would be demolished.