Kidnapping Suspect Arrested In Dryden

A Toronto man who police say kidnapped his 3 year old and 4 year old sons from Alberta has been arrested in Dryden.   The Edmonton Police Service alerted OPP and the man was spotted driving through Dryden around 4 o'clock Tuesday afternoon.   Police arrested 29 year old Ilhami Butin.  He faces 2 counts of child abduction, 2 counts of kidnapping and 1 count of uttering threats.  He remains in custody and is due in court Wednesday.  The two young boys were unharmed.

Resort Responds To Accusations

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The Dominican Republic resort that is the centre of some local accusations denies news reports that its employees tried to sexually assault and shot at two Thunder Bay women.  The unnamed women, who have not spoken to our newsroom, claim in other news reports, that the incidents happened a couple of weeks ago at the Bahia Principe San Juan hotel.   According to a news release from the company an investigation by police shows the allegations are totally false and unsubstantiated and that there is no evidence that the events actually occurred.

Officials Zero In On Fire Cause

The fireplace and chimney assembly are being looked at as the likely cause of Monday's house fire on the 11 hundred block of Mountain Road.   City fire inspector Eric Nordlund says preliminary indications are the blaze was accidental, but because of the extent of the damage they want to talk with the owner before confirming a causeS.  The house was under construction at the time.

Shipping Season OVER

Thunder Bay's shipping season is in the books.  CEO Tim Heney says the season officially wrapped up on Monday night with the MV Saginaw departing with 13-thousand tonnes of canola.  Meanwhile, two vessels are staying in the Port for the winter, the MV Capt. Henry Jackman and the MV CSL Tadoussac.

NWO's Radford Olympic Bound

A dream come true for Northwestern Ontario's Eric Radford. The figure skater from Balmertown and partner Meagan Duhamel have been named to the Canadian Olympic skating team.  Radford and Duhamel defended their title and won the pairs competition at the Canadian nationals over the weekend in Ottawa. The pairs short program is set for February 11th, with the free skate taking place the next day.

Funeral Services For Deputy Chief Today

Funeral services are being held this afternoon for Deputy Chief Norman Brown, the former Chief of Wapekeka First Nation. Brown passed away unexpectedly at the Thunder Bay Health Sciences Centre on January 9th. The 63-year-old served 21-years in non-consecutive terms as Chief of Wapekeka, about 450-kilometres northeast of Sioux Lookout. Brown is described as a true advocate for the protection of his community and their environment.

NAPS Seizes Weapons

Nishnawbe-Aski Police continue their crackdown on illegal weapons. Officers searched a Mattagami First Nations home last Friday and seized two sawed-off rifles, one sawed-off shotgun and several types of ammunition.  Police are still investigating and more information will be released once charges have been laid.

Civic Election Action On FB

A Thunder Bay man is taking this year's civic election to Facebook.   James Murray, who operates the website Netnewsledger, says he has set up a page on the popular social media site to allow candidates to discuss the issues and be in control of the commentary.   Murray said he hopes the page will help change the dynamic of the election race.  You can access the Facebook page HERE

Snowarama Goes Into 11th Year

Easter Seals is hoping to raise more money for their programs with it's upcoming Snowarama fundraiser. Spokesperson Rhonda Harrison says to date they've brought in 250-thousand dollars for kids with physical disabilities across Ontario. The snowmobile event is taking place on February 8th at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino.

City Day Care Sees Decline

City run child care centres are losing money because of a decline in enrollment.  Council heard that there has been a 20 percent decline since full day kindergarten was introduced at local elementary schools.  By 2015 the centres could lose up to 900 thousand dollars.  Council will discuss what they should do at their February 10th meeting.

Youth Plan Approved

The City's Youth Services Plan is getting Council's seal of approval. Lawmakers approved it at Monday night's meeting. The plan calls for 50 thousand dollars in funding for the Boys and Girls Club, and money to set up youth centre satellite sites across Thunder Bay.

Youth Centre Gets OK

Opponents

The Indian Friendship Centre's new youth centre is a go!  City Council approved the centre at their meeting Monday night after people both for and against the project spoke out. Councillor Ken Boshcoff questioned opponent Michael Lemesani's concerns over teens using the Youth Centre late at night noting the former High Street Prosvita used to hold parties.  Lemesani says there's a huge difference. The City is helping fund part of the 8 million dollar project.

Transit Renos Going Ahead

City lawmakers are approving just over 2 million dollars to renovate Transit's administration building. Councillors Linda Rydholm and Joe Virdiramo had concerns over the public art component of the project with both taking a shot at the morose code poles located on the waterfront. Virdiramo called them to bent sticks.  The construction contract was awarded last night to Man-Shield Construction.

City Requests Made

City Council is sending several requests to the Provincial Government. They're asking for permission to take over control of EMS dispatch services. Meanwhile, Council is also sending a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources saying they would like to take part in the proposed Spring Bear Hunt Pilot Project.

Contract Ratified For Home For The Aged Workers

A 3 year collective agreement between the City and Unifor is now ratified.  The deal represents more than 655 employees in the City's three Homes for the Aged.  The agreement includes pay increases from July of 2013 to June 30th of 2015.

House Fire On Mountain Road

A two-alarm fire is responsible for significant damages to a home that was under construction on the eleven-hundred block of Mountain Road. Platoon Chief David Long says the building was fully involved when they arrived and that the fire spread quickly, destroying the second floor. No one was injured.

Online Learning Receiving A Boost

The province is looking at making online learning more flexible by the 2015-2016 school year through the creation of the Centre of Excellence for Online Learning. Ontario Online will give college and university students the chance to take more of the same online courses making it easier to transfer credits, it will also encourage schools to share their research. The province is investing 42-million dollars over three years into the program.

Emergency Room Changes Defended

A top official at the Regional Health Science's Centre denies that patient care will suffer as the result of changes to the Emergency Department.  Rhonda Crocker-Ellacott says 5 positions in the department are being eliminated, but there are no job losses.   She says the number of staff in the will not change.   Crocker-Ellacott says the move is being made to put the nurses where they are more effective.

Over 72-Thousand Dollars In Hunting Fines

Eleven people are facing a combined sixty-eight charges for offences that happened at an Eagle Lake hunting and fishing lodge west of Dryden. The offences include unlawfully hunting wolf and using a hunting licence belonging to another person. Those pleading guilty include Steve Herbeck, fined a total of $7 500 while his business was fined $27 000 for 22 offences. Herbeck can't hunt in Ontario for ten years. Both Danny Herbeck and Chris Federman face $7 000 fines and are unable to hunt in the province for four and eight years. Andy Bouchard was fined $4 000, Scott Munford faces $7 000 in fines, Calum Ritchie has been fined $2 000, Tammy Pelletier will pay $2 500 for two charges, George Lindsay of New Zealand must pay $3 000, Travis Runde will pay $1 000, Don Rabideau of New York was fined $3 000 and Ron Jaeger was fined $500. The fines total $72 500.

Virdiramo Wants One Last Term

Joe Virdiramo is giving it one last shot.   The Westfort Councillor says he is seeking re-election in his ward one last time in this fall's municipal election.    He says he wants to go one more term and then someone new can take over.  Virdiramo says he wants to see certain projects to their competition, including the courthouse and the proposed events centre.  There is no indication whether anyone plans to challenge him.