Tall Ship Attracts Hundreds

The Norwegian tall ship  Sorlandet is still in port at the Pool 6 dock next to the marina.   It will be open for public tours again today from 10 until 4.  Yesterday hundreds turned out to get a tour of the ship which arrived here on the weekend to help celebrate Lake Superior Day.

Dryden Clean Up Continues

Clean up efforts continue in Dryden following last weeks major storm. A city official says  trees in the cemetery and around city hall were ripped right out of the ground Thursday night. Crews hope to have everything looking back to normal sometime this week.

Survey Shows Happy Citizens

It appears Thunder Bay citizens are more than satisfied with how city services are provided.   The latest citizen survey shows that almost 90 per cent of us are happy with the way we are served by the city.  That's up slightly from the survey in 2011.   The number one issue facing citizens is roads followed by the economy and crime.   Ninety two per cent say quality of life is good or very good.   Some of the top reasons are the size of the city, safety and cost of living.

Councillors To Hear Request For Youth Centre

 The Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre is looking for a new home.    Officials are coming to City Hall tonight to plead their case for a new building to house a proposed youth centre.  Also tonight, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery's bid to move to a new waterfront location is expected to take another step forward tonight. The next phase of a process will likely be given approval by city lawmakers.  As well, councillors are being asked how they would like to see the Katherine Dugmore remembered.   She managed the waterfront development until she died from cancer.

Con College Enrollments

Confederation College is forecasting strong enrollment figures this fall at its Lake of the Woods Campus. Jim Madder is president of the college and says they still have space in a number of the programs they offer.

Victoria Avenue Macs Held Up

Police have a 20  year old man in custody following another Mac's store robbery. They say that at around 1 am this morning a man entered the store on East Victoria Avenue and put a knife to the throat of the clerk. The man took cigarettes and ran off.  Police say he was located in a yard a short distance away.

Sorlandet Docks At The Marina

The Norwegian tall ship the Sorlandet is in port. It is at the Pool six dock  next to the marina and will be there today and tomorrow for public tours. The tours begin at 10 am both days.  The ship is here to help celebrate Lake Superior Day today.  Activities take place all day on the waterfront.

Fire Hits City Duplex

No one is injured following a fire on the city's north side early Saturday afternoon.   It happened in a duplex at 178 Shipley.  Chen Chekki lives in the unit adjacent to it and called the fire service after he heard the smoke alarm go off.  No one was home at the time of the fire.    The cause isn't known and fire damage is heaviest in a back bedroom.

Woman Dead After House Fire

A 66 year old woman is dead in Lyon Township, west of Nipigon. The death was the result of a house fire which  was reported to the OPP at 9:04 p.m. The victim is not being identified until her family is notified.  The coroners office is investigating the cause.

Dryden Finances Update

An update on City of Dryden finances has been provided. The City is posting a 99-thousand dollar deficit in Municipal operations for the 6 months ending June 30th. Waterworks operations are reporting a 361-thousand dollar surplus.

New Dryden Sewage Plant

Construction of the new Dryden Sewage Treatment Plant is nearing completion. Manager of Public Works Blake Poole says they expect to start testing in late August. Poole stresses that the project is on budget this year. He adds that some minor work continues and the next step is getting power to the plant.

Charity Rider Leaves Town

A University of Victoria cyclist on a charity ride is back on the road after spending a couple of days in the city.  Anas Cheema  was here to help draw attention to SOS Children's Villages  an international child charity, providing long- term care for orphans and children.

Striking Workers Get Support

The blame games continues in the Dilico Anishnabek Family Care workers strike. Today members of CUPE joined the striking workers on the picket line in Thunder Bay to sound an alarm bell about what they say are the impacts of provincial underfunding of child welfare. No talks are scheduled in the dispute which began June 8th.

Dryden Hit By Storm

The clean up begins in some areas in the Dryden area following a wicked early morning storm. Hydro One is reporting 7-different power outages in the area with snapped power lines. Nearly 14-hundred customers were impacted.  The area was hit with lightning , heavy rain and severe wind with  several reports of trees snapped in half and tossed around property and roads. There have been reports of twisters but Environment Canada hasn't confirmed any of the reports as of yet.

Inflation Up In Thunder Bay

The inflation rate in Thunder Bay is now above one per cent.  Statistics Canada says the rate in the city for the month of June was 1.2 per cent.  That's almost a full per cent over May's rate.    Nationally the rate  was also at 1.2 per cent mainly due to higher gas and car prices.

Minor Injuries In Cyclist Mishap

Only minor injuries to report in connection with a morning traffic mishap involving a cyclist.  Police say a  boy on the bike came in collision with a car at the intersection of Pearl and Algoma just before 9 o'clock this morning.   They say he was taken to hospital as a precaution.

OPP Detachment To Open

The community of Armstrong is getting a visit today from the OPP's top cop. Commissioner Chris Lewis is going to help open the new OPP Detachment there.

Fort Bust Nets Drugs/Guns

A  39 year old Fort Frances man faces several charges following an investigation by several agencies including OPP, Health Canada, Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services and the Town of Fort Frances.  A police search of a home on the 11-hundred block of Kings Highway last Friday led to the discovery of by several types of drugs include morphine, oxycocet, fentanyl, methadone, cannabis resin and several marihuana plants.  Police also seized 12 firearms.

Celebration Voting Starts Today

The  northwestern Ontario communities of Dryden and Fort Frances are about to enter a friendly rivalry which has some financial benefits in the end.   Both are asking for your votes in the Kraft Celebration Tour starting at noon today.   Whichever city wins they will get money from Kraft for a local project. You can vote for your favourite community here kraftcelebrationtour.ca

No New Cases Of C-Diff

Officials at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre appear to have some control over the c-difficile bacteria outbreak.  They say the superbug has now been reduced to only one section of the hospital, 3A and no new cases have developed.