Safe Community Report Card

Thunder Bay's Safe Communities Committee is being graded by the National Organization.  The group scored around fifty percent on its report card. The city's final score was 27.3 out of 50 which is below the National and Provincial levels.  The local committee had a perfect score under priority settings, and seventy percent under leadership. The group was designated a safe community in 1999.

Fraud strikes not for profit daycare

A fraud scandal at a local daycare.  City police say the former executive director of Footsteps Daycare is facing theft and fraud charges.  An investigation found over 15 thousand dollars was stolen between May 2008 and March of last year.  Police say Sherrel Pucci will be in court December 20th.

Crash closes Trans Canada Highway

A head on collision closed a portion of Highway 11\17 for a few hours overnight.  Two transport trucks collided head on near Raith and then a third transport smashed into the trucks.  There is no word yet on possible injuries.

Dramatic video of Clelia 2 in rough seas

The Clelia ll cruise ship is safe right now, but it had some scary moments when it hit very high waves in the Arctic Ocean north of Great Britian earlier this week. It's all captured on video

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Ready, set....skate

Break out the hockey sticks and figure skates, the city's outdoor rinks are about to open.  Parks Division Manager Paul Fayrick says most will be ready for Sunday. He says this would be one of the earlier starts to the skating season.

Forbes to testify in Ottawa

A Lakehead University sports injury researcher is testifying before the House of Commons.  Susan Forbes will be speaking to the standing committee on Health next Tuesday.  Forbes says she'll be sharing her experience with sports injuries.  Forbes says she's eager to testify on the subject.

Vacancy Rate declines

More people are renting in Thunder Bay.  The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is reporting the City's vacancy rate decreasing. Spokesperson Warren Philp says the rate went from 2.3 to 2.2 percent.  Philp describes the renting situation as good for both renters and landlords.

Habitat's future hangs on success of raffle

There's worry on the faces of the local Habitat for Humanity officials.   They are lacking money and land.  CEO Diane Mitchell says they need to sell out the upcoming Cash Raffle so they can buy land to build homes.  She calls it the key and the cornerstone to everything they do.    Officials say it's a make or break year for the organization.

Cold weather draws more homeless to shelter

Thunder Bay's Shelter House is so far keeping on top of the cold weather. Director Cal Rankin says the cold weather is hard on the city's homeless.  Rankin says they have seen an increase in the number of people seeking shelter but they do have a few beds open.  He says if they run out of space they will make arrangements to make sure everyone has a warm place to sleep.

Westjet does good deeds

Westjet is doing a good deed today.  The airline is delivering toys to kids at the Thunder Bay Health Science Centre.  Each child in the pediatric ward will receive a toy and a stocking stuffer.

Skypower to set up shop in Thunder Bay

A solar energy company is going to build a solar park in Thunder Bay.  The Toronto based company recently secured funds to start an 8.5 megawatt park in the city.  Construction of the park is expected to wrap up in 2011.

Clelia II hit by rogue wave

The cruise ship which has visited Thunder Bay a number of times over the last few years was hit with a near tragedy this week. Reports say that it ran into a rogue wave near the Shetland Islands in the Arctic north of Great Britain. The ship was slammed repeatedly by massive waves, when finally a 30-foot wave knocked out one of the ship's engines, disabled the ship's communication system and shattered her windows. There were 88 tourists on board, plus 77 crew. The ship made it's final stop in Thunder Bay over the summer.

Tuchenhagen banned from running for council

Robert Tuchenhagen has been banned from running for city council for 4 years.  Yesterday a court ruled against the former councillor in a conflict of interest case stemming from the purchase of a building in 2008.   Tuchenhagen chose not to run in the last election and his McKellar ward seat now belongs to Paul Pugh. 

No injuries in a suspicious fire

No one was hurt after a small fire in an abandoned building. Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue responded to the call of smoke from the building on Grenville Avenue just after 7:30 last night. Crews quickly put out the small fire and officials say since the building was abandoned, the cause is suspicious.

Kettle drive on track

On the Christmas charity beat...the Salvation Army is 8 thousand dollars ahead of where they were last year in their annual kettle drive. So far they have collected over 52 thousand dollars towards the 130 thousand dollar objective.

Community Foundation doles out dollars

The Thunder Bay Foundation is making it's generosity known again.   The institution's latest grant recipients are getting a total of 87 thousand dollars.   The organization has been a part of the city for almost 40 years.   It operates from the endowments of various citizens past and present.  

United Way campaign chugs along

The clock is counting down on the United Way Campaign. With just a few more weeks to go there's about another million dollars to raise to reach the 2.4 million dollar goal. Chair Wayne Fletcher says the larger donations are starting to come in as employee campaigns come to a close. Fletcher says he's confident the goal can be reached.

Neebing gets help with economic development

Neebing wants to develop new marketing strategies to attract investment and economic development. The provincial government is providing just over 5-thousand dollars to the community so they can design a marketing strategy. Thunder Bay Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro announced the funds today.

Housing Starts slowed in November

Thunder Bay is having a solid year for housing starts.  There was a slight slowdown in November, but so far this year there have been 191 single family starts.  Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Market Analyst Warren Philp says only ten single detached units broke ground last month.  Philp says tighter resale market conditions have meant higher levels of new home construction.

Pugh, Boshcoff sit on committees

Thunder Bay's two new councillors are keeping busy by sitting on a number of community committees. Paul Pugh will take part in the District Social Services Board, Economic Development Commission,anti-racism and Waterfront and Simpson street business improvement boards. Meanwhile, Ken Boshcoff is taking part in many committees, such as the Audit committee, Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, Parking Authority, and the Hydro Recruitment Committee.

Massaro once again

Long time trustee Deborah Massaro was acclaimed as the Chair for her 4th consecutive term.  Trustee Karen Wilson was appointed as Vice Chair for the second straight term.  Massaro says she honoured to once again lead the board.

Hobbs not meeting with Premier or Ford Wednesday

Members of Thunder Bay City Council won't be travelling to Toronto today to speak with Dalton McGuinty about the Bombardier TTC contract.  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford came out of a meeting with the Premier yesterday saying he still plans to nix the streetcar contract.  Mayor Keith Hobbs says if that's the case they'll have to take more serious action.  Hobbs says they've yet to nail down a meeting with Ford, and notes he would like to invite the Toronto Mayor to tour the Bombardier plant.  Councillor Paul Pugh feels Ford is trying to influence council into thinking it's not a matter that requires their votes.

Meeting delay explained

Citizen and Councillor appointments to community boards delayed Tuesday night's council meeting by almost two hours.  Mayor Keith Hobbs campaigned on the idea of transparent council meetings and says Tuesday night's closed door meeting was warranted.  Hobbs says they needed to approve the citizens and councillors last night because the committees are starting immediately.  Hobbs says he doesn't like to make people wait and wants to see if there's something they can do to improve the flow of the meeting.  3 or more in camera sessions were held during a five hour meeting.

HAGI agreement extended

Thunder Bay City Council continues its relationship with the independent living organization HAGI. HAGI will continue to transport people with disabilities.  The new agreement with the City starts in the New Year and expires at the end of 2013.

EA report approved for Golf Links Road project

Thunder Bay City Council is now up to date on improvements proposed for Golf Links Road. Council approved the environmental assessment for the 18 million dollar project last night.  Councillor Ken Boshcoff notes the route could use less traffic lights since in the past council has said they want to improve traffic travel time. Project Manager Kathy Bemben says during the environmental assessment some area residents expressed concerns about noise levels from traffic on the improved roadway.

Deputation ends in report

The City of Thunder Bay is asking for more information on local improvement projects for Moore Avenue.  A concerned citizen was against the project and told council that the residents are paying for the work so they should get final say.  Council decided to get administration to provide a report on Moore avenue and the surrounding streets.  The rest of the local improvement projects for 2011 were approved.  Marcinyshyn is upset with the quality of previous work done to the avenue's curbs, sidewalks and gutters.

Council meeting off to rough start

Although Mayor Keith Hobbs spoke out against closed door meetings during the election campaign; Thunder Bay city council's first official meeting was delayed because of a closed session.  The meeting started almost two hours late because of  a meeting behind closed doors.  Councillor Brian McKinnon called the meeting to order around 8:15 and said they didn't want to be behind closed doors but the discussions were needed.  McKinnon says it was necessary and had to be done.

Mascot now has a name...name....name

The name of the mascot for the Ontario Special Winter Olympics is Echo.   Grade 4 Gorham and Ware student Kylii Saarinen won the "name the mascot" contest.  Officials say there were hundreds of entries.  As well games organizers say that two new sponsors came on board with donations of 5 thousand dollars each.   One was the Thunder Bay Foundation, the other was the Keg Spirit Foundation.

Ford still talks tough on nixing streetcars

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he's moving ahead with his plan that would eventually see him tear up the streetcar contract with Bombardier.  Ford met Tuesday morning with Premier McGuinty and says he's going ahead with a subway plan for the city, not the streetcars that our Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay would build. The mayor says Toronto city council doesn't have to vote to kill the plan because there was no vote to set it up in the first place.

Operation Red Nose does it's job

Operation Red Nose is proving to be a hit in Thunder Bay in it's sophomore year.   Organizer Karen Wood says so far about 100 rides have been logged by volunteers.   Wood says that's about par with last year. She says in total last year there were almost 290 rides given out.  Eight nights are left  in this years campaign.  Wood says they have over 100 volunteers helping out.

Hupka back as Catholic board chair

The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board is heading into the next year with Bob Hupka as it's chair. Hupka says the major challenge for the board will be dealing with the reality of fewer students through declining enrollment. Hupka would also like to see improved student scores on provincial tests.  Eleanor Ashe has been elected as board vice-chair. 

Special Olympics hurting for cash

Organizers of the Ontario Special Olympics are concerned.  Games Manager Julie Tilbury says some critical funding is needed for an important component of next months games, getting  the 270 thousand dollars needed to fly the athletes and coaches here. She says they're trying to secure funding from the McGuinty government.

South side restaurant robbed at knife point

Another armed robbery on the city's south side.  City Police are looking for one man after he robbed the Arthur Street Subway at Knife point just after 10:30 last night.  No one was hurt in the incident.

New Councillors sworn in

Former Mayor Ken Boshcoff is ready to work with Keith Hobbs. The new city councilor says he liked Hobb's inaugral address. Boshcoff says his goals echo the mayors; job creation and taxation. Meanwhile, Newcomer to City Council Paul Pugh is eager to work with the Mayor. Pugh says his priorities are housing, and substance abuse. Pugh was sworn in as the McKellar ward councillor.

Hobbs makes inaugral speech

Keith Hobbs wants to eliminate poverty and crime during his term as Mayor. The two issues were coupled in his inaugral address Monday night. Hobbs says they need to let criminals know that they are not wanted here. He set himself a goal of lowering crime in the City and notes if it isn't reduced in four years time he'll consider it a failure. The new Mayor also touched on the City's tax rate and says he understands that people feel over taxed. Finally, job creation was also brought up with the mining sector playing a large role in new jobs in Thunder Bay. The swearing in of the 42nd council lasted just one hour, and Hobbs notes he hopes all meetings last that long.

42nd council sworn in

It was a night of pomp and circumstance for the newest members of Thunder Bay City council. Mayor Keith Hobbs was sworn Monday night as was newcomer Paul Pugh and former Mayor Ken Boshcoff. The Ceremony including First Nation smudging, colour party and greetings from former Mayors. This is Thunder Bay's fourty second council.

1 man dead after going through ice

Police and snowmobile groups are urging riders to stay off area lakes. The warning comes after the death of a 55-year-old man last Friday. Kenora OPP say a snowmachine went through the ice on Longpine Lake. The passenger was able to get out of the water, while the driver was recovered by emergency workers. Rick Schween died in Hospital.

Rafferty disses feds over stimulus jobs

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says a report from Canada Parliamentary budget officer suggesting the federal stimulus program didn't create the jobs expected is disappointing.  Rafferty says its shows the need for a national job strategy.  Just 21-percent of municipalities receiving infrastructure funding reported increases in local employment.

Nipigon OPP need help

Nipigon OPP continue to look into the cause of an accident on Highway 11/17 last week.  A tractor trailer unit and a passenger car collided head on just west of Dorion.  Police are asking for your help in locating the driver of a black or dark grey Dodge Charger that was seen driving from the scene of the accident.

Porter happy with stats

Porter Airlines is celebrating an increase in it's Thunder Bay passenger numbers. The yearly and monthly stats for the airline are up and Spokesperson Brad Cicero attributes that to a number of things. The company saw more people on each of their flights during November.

Di Matteo weighs in on Bombardier

Lakehead University's Economics Professor is echoing others thoughts on the Bombardier TTC contract. Livio Di Matteo says it's too soon to say what will happen. Di Matteo adds if Toronto backs out of the contract they will have to pay many fees to Bombardier.  He suspects if the contract is torn up there will be potential for other work at the plant.

Donor dollars to benefit preemies

Dawn, Jaxon and Mike Nitz

The Regional Health Sciences Foundation is tugging at your heart string for their Christmas fundraising campaign. President Glenn Craig says money donated this year will go to the neo-natal intensive care unit to help premature babies with some necessities the hospital budget can't provide. The goal is 90 thousand dollars

V. Kelner boss speaks out

There is no harm done as the result of a premature business announcement last week.  Wasaya Airlines announced it had an agreement with V. Kelner Aviation regarding helicopter service.  It turns out no final contract has been signed.  V. Kelner President Robert Arnone hopes to formally announce the deal early next year.

LU prof says WikiLeaks is all about ego

The release of confidential American diplomatic messages by the website WikiLeaks continues to create a stir. It's founder remains in hiding. Laure Paquette, a professor in Lakehead University's Political Science Department, says while some information is very sensitive, we shouldn't worry about our safety as a result of this. She says to keep in mind that founder Julian Assange has the mentality of a hacker and he gets great delight in releasing information on the Internet that other people don't want him to release. Paquette says theWikiLeaks revelations about Canada's diplomats were more embarrassing than damaging

Get ready for the deep freeze

60 centimetres of snow is expected to fall...in Southern Ontario...and here its going to be cold. Bill Laidlaw of Signal Weather says cold arctic air is settling into the area and will drive the temperatures down towards the minus 20 mark and with the wind chill it'll feel even colder.   Laidlaw says we will get a bit of a break Thursday with some snow in the forecast but after that it'll be right back into the deep freeze.

Thunder Bay Police deal with armed robbery

No one was hurt in another armed robbery at the Mac's Mart on Simpson Street.  Thunder Bay police say a young man entered the stored just after 10:30 armed with a knife and demanded cash.  No arrests were made.  Meanwhile police did manage to arrest 3 people after a cab driver was assaulted and robbed just before midnight.  Officers say the incident happened on McKenzie Street.

Police arrest 5 people over the weekend

Five people are behind bars after two separate weekend robberies.  Thunder Bay Police arrested two boys in connection with a robbery and stabbing in Westfort Saturday, they appeared in court Monday.  Officers also arrested three men in connection to a robbery that happened Wednesday.  The three are accused of robbing and assaulting a man in the Ambrose street area. 

Fort William First Nation members approve claim

Fort William First Nation members voted mostly in favour of approving the Neebing Surrender Specific claim Saturday.
The vote comes after three years of negotiations and 10 years after the claim was originally submitted. The $22 million settlement will still need to be approved by the federal government before it becomes official.
Unlike the historic $154 million Fort William First Nation boundary claim, the settlement doesn't include the transfer of land and is strictly for financial compensation. The Neebing Specific claim addresses the surrender of 6,400 acres of the western part of the Fort William First Nation reserve in 1859.