Tamaracks Being Cut

Jason Dampier Arborist

City Council isn't changing its mind and will move forward with the removal of 11 tamarack trees from Mohawk Crescent.  It comes after homeowner Fred Johnson withdrew his request after feeling pressure from the public. Councillor Mark Bentz says Johnson still wants the trees removed he just didn't like the public scrutiny. A local arborist also spoke at Monday night's meeting and told Council removing the trees could hurt the environment.

Golf Course For Sale

City Council is moving forward with the sale of the Municipal Golf Course.  They are going to ask for expression of interests in the coming weeks.  Councillor Ken Boshcoff says there's a wide array of uses for the property including a solar farm.  Boshcoff says there's already been interest shown in the property.

Ground Beef Recalled

Check the label on that beef in your fridge before you eat it...beef from an Ontario-based factory being recalled due to a risk of E. coli contamination.  Belmont Meats Ltd. distributes their products to major retailers nationwide including Superstore and Loblaws. This time they and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warning the public not to eat their uncooked lean ground beef because it could contain the bacteria. For more information about the recall click here.

Wunnumin Shooting

A 17-year-old is facing charges including attempted murder following a shooting in Wunnumin Lake First Nation.  Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Police Sergeant Jackie George says the incident happened on Friday evening, and believe the suspect is involved in more than one shooting.  A 25-year-old was taken to hospital with injuries, and is listed in stable condition.  Their name has not been released.

Webcasting Delays Inquest

The coroner's inquest into the death of 27 year old Bruce Moonias in Thunder Bay is being delayed for several days.  Regional Coroner Michael Wilson says it was supposed to start today, but it's been postponed in order to allow relatives up north to view it on the Internet through a webcast being set up by the government.  Moonias died in December of 2006 at the regional hospital after his involvement with the police.

LU Responds To Letter To The Editor

Lakehead University is responding to a letter to the editor in Saturday's Chronicle Journal.  The letter talks about the experiences of a Lakehead University student who says she was raped by a classmate. President Dr. Brian Stevenson says he's appointing a Task Force to review the issues raised in the letter and the policies, procedures, training, and support Lakehead has in place and how they might be improved.  The Task Force will be chaired by Dr. Lori Chambers, Chair of LU's Department of Women Studies.

Waste Reduction Week Underway

It's waste reduction week and the city is trying to get you to think recycling.   Spokesperson Jason Sherband its also a chance to promote the city's involvement. The city will be going to the local schools to give presentations to the students and provide guided tours of the recycling plant and the landfill site.

Campbell Raises Kenora Man's Plight At QP

A Kenora man's attempt to get treatment for cancer has landed at Queen's Park.  On Monday, Kenora Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell asked the Health Minister why Wes Bland wasn't approved for a PET scan in Winnipeg.  Deb Matthews claims it was a misunderstanding which has since been cleared up.  Campbell is upset that northwestern Ontario residents still have to get prior approval from OHIP before they can get their test done in Winnipeg.

Weapons Incident At The Shoreline

Police have a 32 year old man in custody after a weapons call at the Shoreline Hotel early Sunday morning.  They say that a drunk man brandished a knife as he was harassing two people who were waiting for a taxi.  They say the man  was punched in the face by one of the victims and was subdued until police arrived.

T.Bay Woman Up For Business Award

A Thunder Bay business woman is in the running for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. Barbara Courte-Elinesky is up for the Impact Award for her work as the President of North Star Drilling Limited.  The winners will be announced at a special event in Toronto on November 27th.

Fire Season Winding Down

The forest fire season in Northwestern Ontario continues to be a quiet one. Ministry of Natural Resources Spokesperson Deb MacLean says the last fire was in Red Lake, and was put out on Wednesday.   MacLean says the two prescribed burns in Sioux Lookout are still active, and are being held at 45 and 15 hectares.

Rail Incident Winding Down

A rail car that toppled over Friday on Resolute Forest Products mill property in Fort Frances has now been emptied and hauled away. Some of it's contents, hydrogen peroxide, spilled, but crews had it contained by Saturday. The chemical is used in the bleaching process at the mill, but officials says it posed no risk to the public at any time. Roads that had been closed during the incident have now been reopened.

Flu Shot Clinics Up & Running

Thunder Bay's Health Unit is preparing the masses for the upcoming flu season.  They kicked off their annual flu shot clinics today at the Italian Cultural Centre.  Dr. Janet DeMille is the Health Unit's Associate Medical Officer of Health and says they're not sure how harsh the flu season will be this year but notes last year's was worse than previous years. To check out a list of flu shot clinics click here.  

Hyer Goes National With Rail Concerns

Thunder Bay independant MP Bruce Hyer is grabbing attention with his views on rail safety.   Speaking on the CTV News Channel, Hyer says this weekend's fiery derailment in Alberta is reason enough to take a serious look at how much money is spent on making sure rail transportation is safe.  He says there needs to be regulation that works and a stop to cutting funds and people.  Hyer also believes there should be more money spent on rail infrastructure in the country.

Local Seniors Win Provincial Awards

Two Thunder Bay residents are recipients of the province's latest senior achievement awards.   Maria Bilyk was recognized for her 65 years as a hospital volunteer while Lloyd Michon received his award for being an advocate for urban Aboriginals and founder of the Thunderbird Friendship Centre in 1972.  There are also two regional winners, Elizabeth Macadam of Schreiber and Alexander Broski of Atikokan.

Police Nab Hit and Run Suspect

A 26 year old man is charged in connection with Thursday morning's accident involving a school bus.  Police say that the driver reared ended the bus and abandoned the vehicle in a laneway near Peter and Van Norman.   None of the students on the bus were hurt.

City Council Preview

City council will have a lot to talk about tonight.  One of the topics will be surrounding the removal of Tamarack Trees on Mohawk Crescent.  The original request to have the trees removed has reportedly been pulled.  City Councillor Mark Bentz says he still supports replacing the trees with another species.  Also being discussed, the full ratification of the anti-smoking by-law put in place by the Thunder Bay Hospital.   Meanwhile, City councillor Rebecca Johnson will be paying close attention to see what the next step will be in the city's poverty strategy.  Johnson is looking for an implementation component to the strategy.

Fatal Collision On Highway 17

Thunder Bay OPP continue to investigate the horrific crash on Highway 17 Saturday night that claimed five lives.  Provincial Police have released the name of the driver of the transport truck killed in the collision as 43-year old Sukhwinder S. Thandi of Cambridge. Police have not released the names of the four men killed in the pickup truck that was travelling westbound as they have not been positively identified.  Two other vehicles were involved in the accident, although none of the occupants were injured.  The crash took place approximately 15 kilometres east of English River and closed the highway until just before 8 o'clock Sunday morning.  

Polling on Local Issues

If you haven't already, don't be surprised if you get a call from a well known Canadian survey firm. A woman claiming to be from Ipsos Reid is calling homes in Thunder Bay, Kenora and the Rainy River District looking for feedback on local issues. The Surveyor told our newsroom that she could not identify who she was conducting the survey for due to company policy.

Imported Cheese

The new trade agreement put in place between Canada and the European Union will see a lot more cheese being imported from overseas. Walter Schep is the owner of Thunder Oaks Farms, he believes that his business won't take a direct hit from the deal, but that it will have an indirect impact with his plans to expand.

Early Morning Stabbing

A twenty-nine year old male is in the Intensive Care Unit at the Thunder Bay Hospital. City police responded to a call of someone being stabbed at an apartment building on Fulton Boulevard early this morning. Police are charging the victims girlfriend for assault with a weapon. She is currently being held by police, the investigation continues.

Welch Company Honoured

Parks Canada is celebrating the historical significance of Thunder Bay's railroad contracting firm, Welch Company Limited.  Spokesperson Nancy Saunders says a plaque will be placed outside the Algoma Street Italian Cultural Centre.  The plaque tells the story of the Welch Company founders the Veltri brothers who played a big role in getting Italians to immigrate to Canada.

Call For Action

The Ontario Native Women's Association is echoing a call for action in the treatment of Aboriginal communities in Canada. UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya offered his recommendations to the Canadian Government earlier this week. ONWA spokesperson Mary-Anne Matthews says having a UN representative address these needs carries a lot of weight.

Kitchen Fire

Officials are searching for the cause of a kitchen fire in Current River. The fire broke out Friday afternoon causing damage to the kitchen and smoke damage to the second floor.
No one was hurt.

Connecting to the Provincial Power Grid

A new transmission line will be built to connect Pickle Lake and First Nations communities to the provincial power grid. Margaret Kenequanash is the chair at Wataynikaneyap Power, one of the four companies involved, and says their goal is to connect remote communities, and stop their dependency on diesel. The project will be finished in two phases.

No One Hurt In Kitchen Fire

No one is hurt following a kitchen fire in Current River around 2:30 this afternoon.  Platoon Chief Brad Kiessig says it happened on Gresley Court.  He says the homeowner noticed smoke in his house and called 9-1-1.   Kiessig adds there is considerable fire damage on the first floor of the home and smoke damage on the second floor.  The fire originated in the stove area.

38 Arrested In Kenora Drug Sweep

A total of 38 people have been arrested in a massive drug bust in Kenora. Over 263 thousand dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana and marijuana plants were seized as a result of the year-long undercover investigation. Inspector Chris Harkins from the OPP's Crime Enforcement Bureau hopes this will put a dent in Kenora's illegal drug trade. A total of 174 charges have been laid and the OPP says they also seized over 61 thousand dollars in property, including cash and illegal weapons.  Harkins says they had assistance from the Dryden Police, the Anishinabek Police Service, Treaty Three Police and the RCMP in their investigation.

CUPE Asking For Mediator

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is asking for a Provincial mediator in its discussions with the town of Schreiber.  CUPE is representing 13 municipal workers who are looking to get a new agreement.   The union represents municipal employees from accounting, by-law enforcement to janitors.  Town Council is seeking concessions from the workers.

Minimum Wage Panel Meets In T.Bay

The Provincial Government's Minimum Wage Panel is in Thunder Bay today.  Several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce, Regional Food Distribution Association and Poverty Free Thunder Bay are taking part.  Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle says it's an important issue and one the Minister of Labour will have to decide once recommendations are released.  Members of the group Poverty Free Thunder Bay rallied in front of the Valhalla Inn before they spoke to the panel.  Poverty Free Thunder Bay wants the wage to be raised to 14 dollars an hour.

Inflation Rate Drops In Thunder Bay

No change in the annual inflation rate. Statistics Canada says the rate remained unchanged in September at 1.1 percent, the same as August.   In Thunder Bay the inflation rate for September stands at an even one per cent a drop of point 1 from August.

NOFC Re-brands

The Northern Ontario Heritage Funding is changing.   The provincial government is now focusing on five specific areas of growth for the north in making its funding decisions, which Mayor Keith Hobbs believes is a positive move as does Thunder Bay City Councillor Ken Boshcoff who says the public likes it when governments hit the refresh button.  The fund's so called enhanced programs include one for infrastructure, another for innovation and a third for business opportunities.

Small Business Week Starts Monday

Starting on Monday its small business week. The week long business networking event will run from October 20th to the 26th.  John Guarasci is the manager of the local Business Development office in Thunder Bay and says it's a celebration of entrepreneurship.  For a list of events you can click here.

Tbaytel Talks Pick & Play

Tbaytel officials ears are burning after the Federal Government's Throne Speech mentioned unbundling tv cable packages and reducing cellphone roaming fees within Canada.  Spokesperson Katie Crowe says they're interested in the idea of pick and play channels but they need to find out the finer details.  Crowe adds that they already offer voice and data roaming within Canada and they only charge when users use a foreign cell phone tower.

Luncheon Of Hope On Today

Tbaytel's Luncheon of Hope in support of local breast cancer initiatives is back for its 21st year this afternoon.  Health Sciences Foundation Spokesperson Heather Vita says this year's special guest is Maureen Holloway who is a breast cancer survivor and a national broadcaster.  Since it's inception the luncheon of hope has raised over 260-thousand dollars for the Northern Cancer fund.

Bed Bugs Back At LU

Lakehead University is dealing with another four to five cases of bed bugs in their Pretie residence. Residence Services Spokesperson David Hare says they haven't stopped spraying dorms since bed bugs were reported earlier this fall.  Hare says they've had a total of 12 cases of bed bugs since the start of the school year.

NDP Critic Visits T.Bay

NDP Infrastructure Critic Percy Hatfield is listening to the concerns of Northwestern Ontario and bringing them back to Queen's Park. Hatfield spent the day in Thunder Bay Thursday and talked to City Reps about the region's infrastructure needs.  Hatfield says he was pleased when his leader Andrea Horwath asked him to tour the City and get a feel for its infrastructure shortfalls.

NAPS Investigates Death

Provincial Police and Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Police Are investigating a death in Fort Severn First Nation. A NAPS officer was called regarding a serious assault that happened at a home in the community on Wednesday.  A woman was taken to the nursing station and died from her injuries. She has been identified as 24-year-old Georgina Stoney. Police say 19-year-old Tommy Miles Junior has been charged with second-degree murder.

Driver Flees Scene Of Crash

City Police are investigating an early morning single vehicle accident on the North Side.  Police say a car struck three hydro poles in the area of 350 North Cumberland Street after two o'clock.  The driver of the vehicle then fled on foot and its unknown whether any injuries were sustained in the crash.  Power was knocked out in the area as well as some traffic lights on Cumberland and Water Streets.  

Second-Degree Murder Charge

Provincial Police and Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Police are investigating a death in Fort Severn First Nation. A NAPS officer was called regarding a serious assault that happened at a home in the community on Wednesday. A woman was taken to the nursing station and died from her injuries. She has been identified as 24-year-old Georgina Stoney. Police say 19-year-old Tommy Miles Junior has been charged with second-degree murder.

NOMA Weighs In On Throne Speech

The President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is giving thumbs up to the Speech from the Throne.  Canfield was invited to take in the speech on Parliament Hill yesterday.  He says the real highlight for him was getting to meet with members of the federal cabinet afterwards. Canfield admits the Throne Speech was short in specifics, but says some of the issues raised, like skills training will help both the mining and forestry sectors in this region.

Dryden Police Axe Comm Centre Jobs

The Dryden Police Service is shutting down its Communications Centre in 2014.  The Centre will close on March 31st subject to Ontario Civilian Police Commission approval and will be run by the Owen Sound Police Service.  Chief Rob Davis outlines one of the reasons behind the move.  The decision will result in the loss of 9 full time and 4 part time positions.

Police Looking For Honda Prelude Driver

City Police are looking for the driver of a silver Honda Prelude after it rear ended a stopped school bus Thursday morning.  The man who was driving the vehicle fled the scene, Police found it parked in a laneway a short distance away from the collision site on Peter Street. Police are having a hard time finding the driver of the vehicle as he doesn't live at the address he provided to the Ministry of Transportation.  None of the children were hurt by the collision.

Police Release Crash Victim Name

Thunder Bay OPP are releasing the name of the 64 year old man who died after his vehicle hit a rock cut.   Peter Wright of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta was airlifted to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Police are continuing to investigate the Wednesday afternoon collision on Highway 11/17 near Sistonen's Corner.

NOHFC Gives Out 100-Thousand Dollars

Chelsea Rivalin

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is giving out over 100-thousand dollars in cash to two local businesses. Chelsea Rivalin owns Bindleweed Farm and says she's using her cash to help prepare her Nolalu farm. The funds helped purchase greenhouses, an irrigation system, farming tools and fencing.  Meanwhile, The Blue Door Bistro will use their share of the cash to hire staff and expand their operating hours.

Rafferty Not Impressed

Thunder Bay MP John Rafferty is not pleased with the Throne Speech. Rafferty is concerned with the lack of attention Northern Ontario received. He added that the promise of action once there's a balanced budget is likely not to happen.

Strasser Back As NOSM Dean

Dr. Roger Strasser is going to be the Northern Ontario School of Medicine's Dean until 2019.  He was reappointed at a meeting recently with his new term ending June 30th, 2019.  Strasser was the first Dean of the school and started in 2002.

MP Hyer Responds to Throne Speech

Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer describes the Throne Speech as fluffy, but is happy with the protection of consumers it offers. That includes similar legislation to that of his proposed private members bills. Hyer proposed a passenger's rights bill aimed at airline companies and a cell phone bill requiring companies to unlock phones by request, free of charge.

New Gold Takeover Complete

A friendly takeover of Rainy River Resources is now complete. New Gold says it now controls all of the company's shares, completing a deal announced in June. Executive chair Randall Oliphant says he's pleased the acquisition is now complete and they can focus attention on advancing Rainy River's gold project north of Barwick. New Gold is in the process of completing a detailed review and update of the feasibility study as well as advancing the permitting efforts for the project.

Mayor Hobbs at the Throne Speech

Mayor Keith Hobbs is reacting to the Throne Speech made yesterday. Hobbs had a chance to meet briefly with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Mayor said that in their meeting Harper acknowledged that Northern Ontario was not specifically mentioned. He went on to add that it does not mean issues like The Ring of Fire and forestry will not be addressed.

Swedish Doctors Visiting NOSM

A group of medical professionals from Northern Sweden are visiting the Northern Ontario Medical School. The group is interested in learning what NOSM is doing to retain family doctors in the north.

Speech From The Throne

GG David Johnston

The Federal Government's Throne Speech makes a lot of promises. Governor General David Johnston read the "Seizing Canada's Moment" document Wednesday afternoon and says the Feds will work on improving the skilled trades sector by having workers credentials recognized between the Provinces and Territories. Johnston also mentioned the Federal Government's vow to improve First Nation's education on reserve and developing our resources in an environmentally friendly manner.