Two Mac's stores held up

Thunder Bay Police are investigating two late night Mac's robberies. In the first robbery, Police say a masked man entered the North May Street Mac's just after 9 o'clock last night armed with a needle and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect fled the scene on foot and a K-9 unit was called to help with the search. The Mac's on Simpson Street was also robbed early this morning.

RMG comes out swinging

The Responsive Marketing Group is lashing out. The company says any suggestions in the media and in the House of Commons that its Thunder Bay call centre is responsible for misleading robocalls during the last federal election, are "without basis" in fact.  RMG saves its sharpest barbs for the Liberals and the NDP who they say "use Parliamentary Privilege to level false and defamatory claims about RMG" that damage its reputation. The company says it approached Elections Canada and asked for an investigation into the false allegations that have been made against it.

Local Hockey Legend could hit the big screen

A full length feature film could soon be in the works for a Thunder Bay hockey legend. A group headed by another local man Dave Ferguson has finished shooting a 15 minute short film in Saskatchewan and hopes to turn it into a major motion picture.  Ferguson says the movie is about Bill "Goldie" Goldthorpe, who was the inspiration for the infamous character Ogie Oglethorpe from the 1977 hit movie Slap Shot. Ferguson says he met with Goldie last year after hearing his story thinks a movie about Goldthorpe is long overdue.

Drug Strategy on three year course

Thunder Bay's Drug Strategy is moving to the next level.   Members  will work on about 20 priorities over the next three years in an effort to help curb the city's drug problem.  Coordinator Patty Hajdu the actions chosen will help to focus on the most critical areas that require immediate attention.  While Hajdu says financing will be required for some of the ideas, she can't put a dollar figure on it.

Thunderwolves lose at CIS Championships

The Lakehead University Men's Basketball team's quest for a national title ended abruptly this afternoon.  The Wolves dropped their first game against Fraser Valley 83-71 to fall out of the Championship side of the tournament.  The Wolves move to the consolation side and will play again tomorrow at noon. 

Kony 2012 sets the Internet on fire

A video calling for awareness about an African Warlord is setting the Internet on fire this week.  The video called Kony 2012 focuses on Ugandan Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army.  Lakehead University Political Science Professor Laure Paquette says Kony is notorious for turning children into  soldiers or prostitutes and has been terrorizing Central Africa for over 20 years.  She says he's wanted by the International Criminal Court and has so far eluded capture.  Paquette says currently the U.S. has about 200 advisers in Uganda that are helping the African Country in trying to locate Kony and bring him to justice.

Daylight Savings Time Sunday

Don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke alarm when you set your clocks forward one hour Sunday.  Thunder Bay Fire Prevention Officer Brian Berringer if you don't have a working smoke alarm you could pay a fine up to 250 dollars.  Berringer says it's good to test your smoke alarms.

Heney talks shipping season

The Shipping season on Lake Superior gets underway on March 25th.  But before that happens ice breakers need to be sent in to break up the thin ice.  C.E.O. Tim Heney says they're looking forward to the shipping season.

T.Bay teens honoured

Two Thunder Bay students are being honoured for their essays.  The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation is awarding Hammarskjold's Jessica Serson for her essay called "Butterflies and Salt."  Lakehead Alternative School student Lilyanna McKay won for 3rd World Canada: Voices of First Nations need to be heard.

LU Prof pays to build school

A Lakehead University Professor is giving back to his community. Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin has helped to build a new school in Bangladesh and LU President Dr. Brian Stevenson says they're more than proud. Uddin's father was a primary school teacher in that community. The school is named after him.

Mark Wright appointed to PA board

There's a new face on the board of the Thunder Bay Port Authority. Mark Wright has been appointed by the federal government to a three year term on the board which takes effect immediatly. Wright is currently employed at Confederation College and is also a trustee of the Thunder Bay Community Foundation, where he chairs the Grants and Scholarships Committee.

CP Rail pays big fine

CP Rail is being fined 100-thousand dollars after they plead guilty to a federal labour charge relating to safety.  It stems from an incident 2 years ago when a man working on an excavator fell down a cliff near Schreiber and later died.  Spokesperson Kevin Hrysak says they've been working on their safety initiatives since the incident occurred.

Mauro on wind farm motion

MPP Bill Mauro says a Progressive Conservative motion calling for a moratorium on wind farms will not impact Horizon Wind's Norwester project. Mauro says the motion calls for the suspension of all wind projects until an independent health study can be done. The debate wrapped up Thursday without a vote being held.

Thunder Bay's Unemployment Rate

Thunder Bay's jobless rate is declining.  We went from 6.2 percent in January to 5.6% in February.  According to Statistics Canada our national unemployment rate dropped to 7.4 percent last month.

City sunshine list is leaked

The List of city employees who made more than 100 thousand dollars have been released.  224 people made the sunshine list this year with City Manager Tim Commisso topping the list with a 2011 salary of just under 219 thousand dollars.  There was over 100 more people on the list in 2011 compared to 2010 because of the new contract for Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue.  The contract awarded a number of long time firefighters with back pay.  Firefighters made up almost 150 of the people on the list.

Oxycodone bust in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay Police have 3 people in custody after a drug bust this morning.  Officers made the arrest at southside motel just before 1 o'clock this morning.  Almost 35 thousand dollars worth of Oxycodone was seized. 

Rotary Lottery house tickets are on sale

You can get your tickets for the Rotary Lottery house in Thunder Bay.  This year's house up for grabs was the scene of the annual media launch and Chair Bob Hookham says the Rotary Club hasn't decided where all the money raised this year will go, but all the money will stay in Thunder Bay.  There will be 8000 tickets sold for the house that is located in the Sherwood Estates.

Potter out as COO @ ORNGE Aviation

Thunder Bay's Rick Potter is no longer the Chief Operating Officer at ORNGE Aviation.  Staff at the province's scandal plagued air ambulance service were informed of the move via e-mail this week saying Potter was to work exclusively on another project.  The move comes after it was reported that Potter admitted to fibbing about his university credentials.   The opposition Progressive Conservatives have been calling for his firing ever since.

Toy gun causes a scare at a local high school

Thunder Bay police arrested a 15 year old boy at Superior Collegiate at noon today.  Police were called with reports about a boy showing some other students what was believed to be a gun.  It turned out to be a soft air rifle and the boy was charged. 

Outdoor rinks to close

It's that time of year again, time for the city to close the outdoors skating rinks. Spokesperson Paul Fayrick says because of the spring like temperatures, the rinks aren't even fit for skating. Fayrick says as of this weekend the buildings will be closed and the lights turned off