100 days of Council

Mayor Keith Hobbs has now completed 100 days on the job.  He calls the experience so far challenging and exciting. He says there have been no real surprises to this point.  Hobbs says though he has heard the message loud and clear from fellow councillors that he is only one voice.

Wilson weighs in on cuts

The Chamber of Commerce isn't surprised the Province decided to eliminate the Northern Development Corporation.  President Harold Wilson says he saw the axe dropping for some time now.  Wilson says the corporation hasn't been active for over ten years.  Wilson adds he isn't surprised the northern grow bond program didn't catch on; since the government refused to run it the way the Chamber suggested.

Health Unit may use Facebook to recruit MOH

The District Health Unit is going beyond newspaper ads in it's search for a new Medical Officer of Health. CEO Doug Heath says who knows, they might even try Facebook.  He says they are still at the intitial stages and Facebook is something they may need to look at as a tool.  Heath says they will also be looking a wide variety of Internet options for the recruitment campaign

NAN weighs in on jury rolls

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation feels the provincial government stonewalled them when it came to their concerns about aboriginal representation on jury rolls.  NAN Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says the government gave them the run around.  The Attorney General is vowing to work on including more aboriginals on jury rolls after the murder trial of Andre Wareham was postponed until November.

Screening program aims at First Nations

A new cancer screening program from the Cancer Centre is now a reality. It's aim is to reach First Nations adults in the northwest and others who don't have access to such services according to Regional Cancer Care CEO Michael Power. The northwest is getting 100 thousand dollars from Cancer Care Ontario for the new program

Texas teen saved by local police

Thunder Bay Police helped save the life of a Texas teen.  A 14 year old teen was playing XBOX online when he read comments from another player saying he was going to hurt himself.  Spokesperson Chris Adams says an officer was sent to the teens house to talk over the XBOX system.  After 2 hours of negotiation the teen agreed to speak with his parents about his intentions.  The American teen's parents were in disbelief and grateful for the intervention.

Bust results in drug seizure

Drug and trafficking charges are facing a man and a woman after a police raid on their home this week.  Police say the bust took place on the 900 block of Athabasca Street and involved the use of a police dog.  Drugs seized included magic mushrooms, pot and prescription pills.

Power back on in Grandview

Power should be back on for about 200 Thunder Bay hydro customers in the Grandview area.   A tree falling on two power lines at around 7 this morning caused the outage.  It forced the closure of the 55 Plus Centre and also affected the Grandview Arena

Thunder Bay woman finally hears from parents

After five harrowing days of anxiously waiting a Thunder Bay woman has finally heard from her parents who live in tsunami stricken Northeastern Japan. Hiroko Bekki Moller finally spoke to her mother just after 2 o'clock this morning. It was the first time they had spoken since the earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan Friday. Moller says she waiting patiently and tried to keep a positive outlook but the wait was very hard. Moller thanks everyone that supported her, throughout the ordeal.

SIU investigating sudden death in Sioux Lookout

A sudden death in Sioux Lookout is being investigated by the province's Special Investigations Unit.  The OPP says a man was arrested for being drunk in public and went into medical distress yesterday afternoon.  He was taken to the Health Centre where he was pronounced dead.

Outbreak closes facility

An outbreak at the Thunder Bay Interim Long Term Care centre has shut down the building.  The Health Unit says all admissions, transfers, visitations and discharges have been cancelled.

Relief for sick animals

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it's been in contact with the owner of some distressed farm animals. Alison Cross says they are working with the Thunder Bay area resident to give the animals the care they require.   She says their agents have been on the property and a compliance order has been issued as part of the probe but no charges have been laid.

AG says it's working on First Nations jury rolls

The Ministry of the Attorney General says it is currently working with First Nations in the north to get better representation on jury rolls. It says to date 15 forums have been held with Grand Council Treaty # 3 and the Anishinabek First Nations. The ministry says the forums have been well received and says efforts in this area are ongoing. The issue became a hot button topic this week when a judge dismissed a jury pool in a local murder trial after she deemed there wasn't enough Aboriginal representation from the district.

Judge sets new trial date for Wareham

The second degree murder trial of 33 year old Andre Wareham will now take place November 21st  and is expected to last 2 weeks.   The new date was necessary after Justice Helen Pierce dismissed the jury pool on Monday saying it didn't represent the Aboriginal community in the Thunder Bay District.   Meantime his Toronto lawyer Steven Hinkson is planning to apply for bail.   Wareham is charged in the 2009 death of 29 year old William Atkins.

AbitibiBowater gets taxpayer funding

AbitibiBowater has signed an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority that will see them provide clean energy. The company is increasing its electricity generation capacity by 40 megawatts. Company General Manager Doug Murray says 9.6 million dollars comes from the province and it's Forest Prosperity Fund.

The move will create 56 jobs and is expected to be done by 2013.

Northern agencies being scrapped

The Provincial government is doing away with 11 of its agencies as away of saving cash.  NDP Critic Howard Hampton says it's strange that the Liberals heralded these programs just a couple of years ago.  The Northern Ontario Development Corporation is being scrapped.  The Northern Grow bonds committee and program is also getting the axe.

Hampton reacts to AbtibiBowater announcement

The NDP's Natural Resources Critic is happy to hear the province has helped AbitibiBowater with its biomass project.  However, Howard Hampton says it's good news for the Thunder Bay employees but the announcement probably offends others whose mills are out of business.  Hampton says no new announcements can change the fact that the Liberals have ignored Northern Ontario and the jobs crisis for the last eight years.

Airport sees increase in passengers

Thunder Bay's Airport continues to set new records for annual passenger traffic.  President Scott McFadden says they saw a 2.4 percent increase in passenger volumes.  McFadded attributes the increase in passengers to the companies offering trips to warm destinations.

Japanese disaster will impact our economy

For the second straight day the Japanese stock market saw a big drop and, according to an Economics Professor at Lakehead University, the instability could spread. Livio Di Matteo says the unfortunate devastation could impact insurance companies depending on how exposed they are in Japan, but gas prices could drop with oil demand in Japan dropping.  In the Long term Di Matteo says a Japanese rebuild could lead to an increase in demand for Canadian natural resources and exports.

Northern Poll unfavourable towards Liberals

The McGuinty Government has few fans in Northern Ontario when it comes to post-secondary education.  That's according to a new poll put on by the province's student federation.  Spokesperson Nora Loreto says the results were not Liberal friendly.  The poll suggests the Liberals have dealt with post secondary education worse than the Harris government.  73 per cent of Northerners want the post-secondary education system to be a priority in the upcoming election.