Demand For Mine Safety Inquiry

The province's labour minister is turning aside a demand by the NDP to hold an inquiry into mine safety in the province. This comes following a weekend mining death in Sudbury. Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi says the government is relying on its review of mining health and safety to provide answers. The review will stop in Marathon May 1st. Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says an inquiry would dig deeper into possible issues in mining safety then a review.

OPA Mining Awards

A couple of junior mining companies doing work in the Thunder Bay area have been handed the Discovery of the Year award by the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association. Transition Metals and Impala Platinum Holdings are recognized for identifying a significant platinum find near Sunday Lake, about 25 kilometre north of the city. They received the award during Association's annual awards dinner last night.

Health Coalition Hold Referendum

A provincial health lobby group says there's strong support to keeping health services in Ontario hospitals. The Ontario Health Coalition says it attracted more than 56-thousand people to a voluntary province-wide referendum on the weekend.  The referendum was in support of local hospitals and stopping private clinics from being set up to take over their services.  The group received 2-thousand votes from Thunder Bay.

Trailer Fire

No one is hurt after a tractor trailer loaded with automobiles caught fire on the Trans Canada highway west of Upsala yesterday afternoon.  Highway 17 had to be closed for at least an hour so emergency personnel could deal with the blaze.

Drugs Seized

A Thunder Bay woman is being charged following a drug seizure on Highway 17 Tuesday. Upsala OPP Detachment say 42 year old Sherri Lynn Mcqueen was arrested during a traffic stop at 9:10 pm.  The arrest led to a vehicle search, where police found small amounts of prescription opiates and ritalin pills.  The woman faces multiple charges and was held in custody for a video court appearance.

New PC Candidate In T.Bay

Derek Parks is the PC candidate for Thunder Bay-Superior North. Although Parks was born and raised in the City he hasn't lived in Thunder Bay for sometime and brushes off the suggestion he was specifically brought in to replace ex candidate Tamara Johnson.  Parks was acclaimed at the party's nomination meeting last night. 

Union Still Has High Hopes

 A union official is confident Bearskin Airlines will come out stronger after restructuring regional operations. Michael Corrado of the Machinist and Aerospace Workers Association says the company's re-shuffling of services means all aircraft maintenance work is now taking place in Thunder Bay until further notice. Corrado hopes the Sioux Lookout operations and the 11 temporarily laid off workers will be brought back online by the end of the year.

12 Year Old Charged With Arson

City police say that a 12-year old boy is charged with arson in connection with a recent house fire in rural Thunder Bay. The home in the 500 block of Onion Lake Road sustained serious damage on April 1st. No one was injured.  Police say the boy was in foster care at the time.

Pink Day

Lakehead Public Schools are taking a stand against bullying and discrimination today.  It's part of Pink Day where students make a statement by wearing pink clothing to their schools. Pink Day is meant to confront stereotypes and support diversity.

Whiteside Suing City

The city is confirming that local hydro developer Robert Whiteside is taking the city to court over his concerns about the fish ladder at the Boulevard Lake Dam.    Whiteside is claming over 7 million dollars for what he calls a breach of contract by the city. He operates a power dam at the site and claims that since the fish ladder was built it has cost  him money in potential revenue  and is looking for a court order to stop operations.   The city will look for direction from council on its next move. None of the allegations have been proven in court.