Head On Collision

City Police, emergency officials and Fire are on the scene of a two vehicle head on collision in the area of Balmoral Street and Harold Crescent. Police say one person was trapped inside their vehicle. A woman has been taken to hospital with injuries not considered serious.

New Contract For Bombardier

The Provincial Government is putting in a 481 million dollar work order at the local Bombardier plant. The cash is going towards building 65 new bi-level GO Train cars and will support 250 jobs at the facility.  The order will increase GO Transit's fleet of train cars to 743. The cars will be delivered between June 2016 and July 2017.

Soldiers Monument Proposed

A Military Tribute Committee wants the City to support their plan to erect a permanent monument for those Thunder Bay soldiers who died in military conflicts around the world. They're looking for a location for the monument. The group also has a variety of legion and military officials on board with creating the monument.

FWFN To Reveal "The Mission"

The Fort William First Nation is going to City Council Monday night to ask for some funding for a historical development project.  It's called "The Mission" and organizers believe it's of interest to the City because it will expand business activity, tourism, cultural heritage and historical awareness about the First Nation.

Pedestrian Market Vision For South Core

A Thunder Bay architect has a vision for the city's south  downtown area that he will be sharing with city councillors on Monday.  Ahsanul Habib says he wants to close off a portion of Victoria Avenue and turn it into a pedestrian market. Habib is looking to get city support for his proposal which he hopes will revitalize the area.

Conference Focuses On Culinary Tourism

Thunder Bay Tourism, Confederation College and a variety of other organizations are working together to improve the region's culinary tourism.  A tourism training session is being held all day today at the College. Tourism Manager Paul Pepe says it's going to help improve what Thunder Bay has to offer.  In 2011, visitors to the Northwest spent over 83 million dollars in local restaurants.

OPP Busy With Collisions

OPP are being kept busy today with several collisions being reported. On Highway 61 this morning a vehicle lost its wheel while driving. The accident happened just before Chippewa Road.  Meanwhile, Hwy 17 from Wawa to Batchawana is closed due to White out conditions.  Note to travellers heading west.  Traffic is moving again, albeit slowly, in the Dryden area this morning. The Trans-Canada was shut down in the Twin Towers area for over six hours last night due to what the OPP are calling a serious motor vehicle accident. The road was finally re-opened to one lane around 2:30 this morning, but police says only passenger vehicles are being allowed through at this time.

DSSAB Money Going To Two Projects

No change to the Chair of the Social Services Board. Bob Katajamaki was acclaimed as Chair and Aldo Roberto was acclaimed as Vice-Chair. Joe Virdiramo will act as the Secretary Treasurer.  Meanwhile, The Social Services Board is giving some money to two local homeless project. 35-thousand dollars will go towards the Shelter House's cold weather pilot program. CAO Bill Bradica says the money is coming from their provincial homelessness funding allocations. 105-thousand dollars will go towards the Lakehead Social Planning Council's Poverty Reduction Strategy.

To Borrow More Or To Borrow Less

City Council is going to decide whether they want to borrow 8.2 million dollars to pay for the next phase of the four-laning of the Golf Links-Junot Avenue corridor.  Staff are recommending the City pay for Phase 2 by borrowing just over 8 million dollars. Another option is to borrow 5.2 million dollars and use 3 million dollars from the Renew Thunder Bay reserve fund.  Whatever method councillors decide on Monday, the spending will be up for final approval during the budget process.

McLeod Honoured

A former city politician is now a member of an elite club.  One time Thunder Bay MPP and former Ontario Liberal Leader Lyn McLeod was one of 25 people given the Order of Ontario, the province's highest civilian honour.  The 71 year old McLeod was presented with the award by  Lt.-Gov. David Onley at Queens Park this afternoon.

Education Fair Tomorrow

Lakehead University is hosting it's education fair tomorrow for students.  This time around it will feature teacher recruitment agencies from the UK, China and Korea.  The annual Education Fair pairs students with school boards and other organizations looking for eligible candidates.

Bombardier Announcement Tomorrow

It looks like there could be some economic news coming tomorrow. Minister Michael Gravelle and MPP Bill Mauro are holding a joint news conference at the Bombardier plant tomorrow morning for what officials are calling a big announcement. There is no indication what it may be about, but according to the media invite, it will support jobs in the city.

Park Proposal For McKellar Island

The Friends of the Islands group is making a push to have an urban park developed on McKellar Island. Group Spokesperson Jack Remus says the park would involve public participation and be a gradual development taking place over several years. Remus says he will be meeting with the City of Thunder Bay and the Ministry of Natural Resources in the near future.

Animal Cruelty Charges

Two people facing charges after Thunder Bay Police were called to investigate a complaint of animal cruelty.  Police went to a residence on May Street shortly after 9 o'clock last night and found a dog and cat in an apartment.  The pets were turned over to Animal Services and both a man and woman face charges of cruelty to animals and obstruction of police.  The Rottweiler mix breed male dog is currently in stable condition at a local veterinarian hospital. The dog is very thin, emaciated and had significant trauma related injuries when located by the officers last night.  A second man was also arrested during the incident and faces weapons charges after he was seen carrying what was believed to be a buck knife.

Watkins Law Class Action

Watkins Law is launching a class action lawsuit against the Ontario Government.  The local firm is joining others claiming the Province has failed to take all necessary steps to protect the legal rights of children in their care.  The class action includes all children who were Crown wards at any time from January 1st 1966 to the time that the Province voluntarily accepted legal responsibility of Crown wards.  None of the accusations have been proven in court.

Save A Heart Car Raffle

The Fourth Annual Thunder Bay Save A Heart Car Raffle is contributing over 41-thousand dollars to the Northern Cardiac Fund. Spokesperson Kelly Rooney says that this years raffle raised more money then last years. In its four years of existence the Save A Heart Car Raffle has raised just under 170-thousand dollars.

CLE Meeting Heated

Danny Mosa is the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition's new President.  Around 70 members attended Wednesday night's annual general meeting with some voicing their anger over a variety of issues including the group's bar.  Mosa says that's why they invited the media to attend their meeting to show they have nothing to hide. Ex-board member Linda Gambee was reinstated as a member but can not run for a board election until 2015.  Meanwhile, The CLE finished 2013 in the black. The audited financial records from the previous year were approved at the AGM meeting. They show that the organization finished off the year with just over 4.4 million dollars.

Brief Weather Reprieve On The Way

Expect a brief reprieve from the deep freeze.   While Thursday will still see below normal temperatures,  Environment Canada's Marie-Eve Giguere says we will get much warmer weather Friday with a high of minus 7,  and you should enjoy it while it lasts.  She says starting this weekend we will be back to much colder temperatures that will last into next week.   Giguere says to expect more frigid mornings with extreme wind chill values.

Pre-Apprentice Program Announced

Hydro One is giving Confederation College 750-thousand dollars to create a pre-apprentice program.  Utility President Carmine Marcello says it's an investment in possible future employees.  College President Jim Madder says the inaugural class should be in the spring.  The money is for a four year program that will focus on skilled trades.

No Date For RoF Meeting

There is still no formal meeting announced between Greg Rickford and Michael Gravelle on the Ring of Fire.   Both are their federal and provincial government reps  for the giant mining development.   Rickford says the two are still only exchanging information periodically and that Gravelle recently said he will be providing more materials on a number of policy options that the feds will consider in conjunction with all stakeholders including the provincial government.  Rickford says he and Gravelle continue to have conversations about the opportunities available for the project.