Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tribe enjoys games experience

Thunder Bay's Erin Tribe is one of several local competitors at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax. She took time out for an interview.

Goodyear rolls into town

For the third time in 4 days, a federal cabinet minister is visiting the city.  This time it's Minister of State Gary Goodyear who will announce some funding for research at Lakehead University at an event Friday morning.  Along with him will be Chad Gaffield, the President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Library more than halfway to goal

Library officials are pumped about their fundraising efforts. They're trying to raise a quarter million dollars to furnish and stock the new Mary J-L Black Library. Spokesperson Tina Tucker says there are no problems to report.  She says so far 150 thousand dollars has been raised with another 100 thousand to go. Officials released the information as they gave city dignitaries a tour of the library construction site.

Gas prices up again

Gas prices in Thunder Bay have shot up. The website gasbuddy.com
is showing that many gas stations in the city have jacked up their price for regular to an average of about a dollar 26 a litre. That's up 6 cents a litre from Wednesday. Oil traders say the increase is the result of the crisis in Libya which has increased the price for a barrel of oil.

Police seize pills in raid

Police conducted a drug bust at a Queen Street home on Wednesday. They say about 450 suspected prescription pills were seized in the raid. Two people were taken into custody, but only one 42 year old man was charged.

Police live with forensic's delay

As volunteers continue to search for 15 year old Jordan Wabasse a different waiting game is taking place.  Police have sent a hat, similar to the one Wabasse was wearing, for DNA testing in Southern Ontario. The wait for results will be about six weeks. Inspector Andy Hay admits it's frustrating.  He says while they have asked forensic experts to speed up the process,  they've learned to live with the delay.

Outfitters get no sympathy from minister

If angry tourist outfitters were expecting help from the Natural Resources Minister they're out of luck. Linda Jeffery doesn't give any indication she's willing to budge on the issue of increased land permit fees. Some outfitters say their fees have shot up 700 per cent, but Jeffery indicates it's a done deal with the Outfitters Association.   Jeffery doesn't believe the fee increase will cause some fishing lodges to close as the outfitters claim.

Jeffery says selling act is a work in progress

Ontario's Natural Resources Minister knows her work is cut out for her. Speaking in Thunder Bay, Linda Jeffery says selling the Far North Act to First Nations in the region isn't easy. She is hoping that more and more of them will eventually buy into the governments way of land use planning and calls the discussions, a work in progress.  Jeffery says over time it's been easier to talk about the act with First Nation's chiefs.

Another Federal Minister comes to town

The National Revenue Minister is encouraging students to stay away from the underground economy. Keith Ashfield spoke to students at confederation college about how working under the table hurts the economy and says its part of an awareness program across Canada. Ashfield says underground work removes millions of tax dollars from the economy, that could go towards improving the lives of Canadians.

Building owner hit with hefty fine

The owner of an apartment building on South Brodie Street has been zinged with a big fine.   The Fire Service says it was for breaking fire code laws.  They relate  to improper maintenance of fire extinguishers and not providing working smoke detectors.   He's facing a fine of 11 thousand 700 dollars.