Prospectors meeting in Thunder Bay

Prospectors from across the Province are in Thunder Bay today for the final day of their annual conference.  Today delegates will hear updates on several Ring of Fire projects.  The Northwestern Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium is taking place at the Valhalla Inn.

Transport mishap on Oliver Road

No one is hurt after a transport truck somehow landed in the ditch on Oliver Road just metres from the Thunder Bay Expressway Tuesday evening.   Oliver Road wasn't closed but police were directing traffic around the mishap. 

New industry for our waterfront

A mining executive, who has a company in Thunder Bay, is going to build a multi million dollar plant to process iron ore on property at the end of Maureen Street. Pierre Gagne of Rockex Mining, hopes to use the facility to process what his company mines in the northwest and to ship it to eastern and western Canada as well as south to the United States. Gagne says clean up work on the property is underway and he hopes to be shipping ore in a couple of years.

Syrian situation still tense

The bloodshed in Syria could be tailing off but it's still unclear if a UN proposed ceasefire will stop fighting.  Lakehead University Political Science Professor Laure Paquette says the Bashar Assad regime is still keeping forces near troubled areas but has sent troops in calm areas back to base.  She says that could be a move to rotate fresh resupplied forces into the troubles areas like Homs.  Paquette says Assad is running out of time and at best will have to accept Democratic reforms or become a wealthy ex-pat in exile.

Agency's demise, "no surprise"

The federal government is scrapping an agency called Rights and Democracy. MP Bruce Hyer's advisor Andy Blair has followed the organization for years and says he's not surprised by the move,  saying the Harper government has "had it in" for the agency for years.  He says that included appointing board members that weren't supported by the rest of the board or the staff,  creating a lot of "bad blood" in the institution.   The agency was created by Parliament in 1988 to promote human rights and support  democracy in other countries

MPP tries to save tourist centres

The campaign to keep three tourist information centres in Northwestern Ontario open has been brought to Queen's Park.   Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell appealed to Premier Dalton McGuinty to have a change of heart and reverse what she calls an "erroneous and misguided decision."

Changes for Chippewa

Some changes are coming to Chippewa Park this year. City Parks Manager Paul Fayrick says for starters, the roller coaster ride will be removed for safety reasons. He says it stems from an incident they had with one of the cars which needed to be repaired last season. As well, Fayrick says they plan to demolish some of the older cabins in the tourist camp and increase the size of the RV park.

Northern Cancer Fund Golf Tournament

30 hockey players will be taking part in the annual Freedom 55 Hockey Celebrity Golf Classic at the Whitewater Golf Course this summer.  Northern Cancer Care Fund Spokesperson Glenn Craig says it's one of their biggest fundraisers.  The Staal brothers, Alex Auld, Tyler Pyatt and Mike Richards have all been invited to attend.

Lock it or lose it

If you are leaving your vehicle or house don't forget to lock it up.  That's the message from Thunder Bay Police.  Chief JP Levesque says it's no longer safe to leave your personal property unlocked.  The reminder is a joint project from the Crime Prevention Council, Northwestern Ontario Insurance Brokers and local police.

Neebing doesn't like wind farm project

Neebing Council has issues with the proposed Horizon Wind Farm project.  Mayor Ziggy Polkowski says they recently passed a resolution saying on the record that they're not in favour of the project.  Polkowski notes they're concerned about the Neebing watershed.

Police deal with man on railway tracks

Thunder Bay Police say an intoxicated man is safe after he laid down in between the CP Train Tracks on Simpson Street.  The man passed out this morning and when he woke up realized a train had driven over him.  Police say he crawled away after the train passed by and noted the man had 10 inches of clearance from the front of the train.  The man was sent to the hospital as a precaution.

Council is fighting for Plasma Centre

Thunder Bay's Plasma Centre is getting the support of city council.  Our elected officials voted to send a letter to the Canadian Blood Services asking to keep the facility open.  Councillor Ken Boshcoff says the Regional Director for Canadian Blood Services doesn't seem have a legitimate reason for closing our facility.  He says the director state a declining need for Plasma as one of the biggest reasons for the closure but people inside the health care Field say there is still a big need.  The facility is scheduled to close its doors next Thursday.

Council hands out works contracts

Council is handing out around 6 and a half million dollars in contracts.  Nadin Contracting will be given almost 3.2 million dollars for sewer and watermain replacement in the city.  The work will be done mainly in the south side of town.  Council also handed out a 2.7 million dollar contract to Bruno's Contracting for road resurfacing and Bur-Met Contracting is getting over 600 thousand dollars to replace the roof on the Victoria Parkade.  Council accepted the lowest bid in each of the tenders.

Local couple win the big one

The 50 million dollar lottery winners are looking for professional advise now that they are millionaires.  Louis and Jo-Anne Chikoski are the winners and say so many things can be done with this much money and they want to spend it properly.  Jo-Anne says she couldn't believe it when Louis showed her they had won, she says she kept wondering if she was dreaming.  Jo-Anne says they plan on staying in Thunder Bay because it is their home, but travelling is definitely in their near future.  Louis, a mill worker for the past 40 years was planning on retiring this fall and now says there are no more worries for him or his wife.

Scherban gets new contract

Lakehead University has locked up men's hockey Coach Joel Scherban for 3 more years. Scherban was given the extension today (Mon) and says he's thrilled to stay part of this team and would be happy to stay even longer. Scherban says he thinks his team is ready to move into the elite level in the OUA this year.

Dew Drop Inn gearing up for Easter feast

The Dew Drop Inn will be feeding the needy this weekend. They will be serving Easter dinner Sunday for about 300 people. Board President Paul Deighton says they are looking for volunteers and anyone can come to help at around 2pm. They will start serving at 2:30 Sunday.

Herman joins NAPS

Bob Herman is back. The former Thunder Bay Police Chief is the new interim Deputy Chief with the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service. NAPS Sgt. Jackie George says he will be helping the force for the next year to navigate through expected funding cuts. Herman begins his new duties on April 16th.

Tourist info centres closing

The full impact of the Provincial budget is just starting to be felt. The Government has announced that its closing the Tourist Bureau on Highway 17 west at the Ontario-Manitoba boundary. That's one of three tourism centres being closed across the region. The Tourist Information Centre in Fort Frances at the Canada-U.S. border is being shut down along with the one in Rainy River. The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership is blaming low visitor numbers for the decision to close the centres.

March weather amazes

No surprise here as March is being touted as one of the warmest months on record in northwestern Ontario. Our meteorologist Bill Laidlaw says it's something we may not see for some time. He says a similar weather pattern happened about 60 years ago.  Laidlaw says in all his years of weather forecasting he hasn't seen anything like it.

Donor dollars needed more than ever

Last week's Ontario budget could mean the Health Science's Foundation may need to become more relevant than ever. Board chair Brian McKinnon says the austerity measures in the budget indicate donor dollars will be more important to raise for expensive hospital equipment.  The Foundation recently honoured its donors.