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Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are 7 stories to start you weekend

alcoholic beverage glass
(File)

Good morning, Greater Sudbury, you beautiful city, you! Welcome to the weekend. Here are a few stories to get you started.

Should city councillors be allowed to claim booze as an expense?

Should city councillors be banned from claiming expenses related to the purchase of alcohol and marijuana products? After 2017 external audit found some members of city council were claiming alcohol purchases as an expense, city council directed staff to come back with recommendations on whether a new policy is needed.

And with the legalization of recreational marijuana, the March 2019 motion also called for recommendations on how to deal with cannabis, as well.

That report goes to council June 25, and details current rules and options for reform. As it stands now, councillors can claim alcohol expenses during business meals and reception events when they attend in their capacity as elected officials. 

Councillors have the option to leave the alcohol policy as is, to retain it but impose new restrictions, or eliminate it entirely. And, the report said, buying cannabis for someone is illegal, so that's a non-starter and should be explicitly banned.

Read the full story here.

Gogama forest fire still not under control

The Timmins 2 forest fire in the Gogama area is still listed as not under control, and is still holding steady at 4,645 hectares, according to the latest update late Thursday afternoon from Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services.

At this time, there are two wildland fires in the region, Timmins 2 and Cochrane 8 (a 3.5-hectare fire located northwest of Fort Severn in the Far North).

Timmins 2 remains around four kilometres west of the community of Gogama. Infrared scanning continues to identify heat sources for ground crews to action. 

Read the full story here.

What's the city's answer to making downtown parking easier? There's an app for that

Greater Sudbury is hoping a new initiative will help deal with a common complaint from people shopping downtown who come back to their vehicles to find a parking ticket waiting for them.

On Thursday, staff unveiled the first stage of offering visitors a different way of paying for parking, an app that allows you to pay for parking right from your phone, whether you're at the parking meter or not.

People can now download the HotSpot parking app to their phones and use it to buy a maximum of three hours of parking at any meter.

If your shopping or medical appointment runs long and you're running out of time on your meter, the app will send you a notification and you can add more time. The change, however, also means you can no longer park at a meter for longer than 3 hours. 

Read the full story here.

Check out Onaping Falls Summer Fest today

Enjoy some early-summer family fun during Onaping Falls Summer Fest June 22.

The festival, organized by the Onaping Falls Recreation Committee, takes place at the Dowling Leisure centre 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 


The event includes vendors, classic car show, face painting, a dunk tank, animals from Northern Exotics, henna tattoos, carnival games, a bike rodeo (with the chance to win a new bike) and a barbecue.

Read the full story here.

Fun en français: La grande St-Jean festival on Elgin Street today

La Slague du Carrefour francophone and La St-Jean Sudbury are pleased to unveil the programming of la grande St-Jean, a full-day family festival to be held on Elgin Street in downtown Sudbury 12:30 to 10 p.m. June 22.

Headliners include the internationally renowned singer Corneille, as well as seven Franco-Ontarian female singers under the banner Les Divas du Nord (Divas of the North). 

The St-Jean Family Festival will feature a wide variety of activities, including a traditional call-and-response folk song contest. 

Comedians Nadia Campbell and Olivier Nadon of the improv group Improtéine will serve as emcees. 

All performances and events are free of charge. 

Get all the details here.

For the first time, Confed senior football Coach's Award goes to a female player

For the first time in the school's history, the Coach's Award for senior boys football was presented to a female player this week.

Annie Duncan was presented with the award on Tuesday evening during the Confederation Secondary awards banquet. You might remember Duncan as Sudbury.com's own Intern Annie, a co-op student in the newsroom on Elgin Street for the past six months or so.

In fact, Duncan wrote a powerful story this past February on how she came to join the senior boys football team, and what it was like to be the only girl on a team of big burly gridiron warriors. 

Now, some might think that giving the senior boys football Coach's Award to the only female member of the squad is just a token, a reflection of her gender rather than her ability.

That's nonsense, says Brandon Dougan, head coach of the Confederation Chargers. Absolute hogwash.

Read the full story here.

'City's future' rests on council, mayor says, in justifying move to dismiss development board

The turbulent times at Tom Davies Square show no signs of slowing down, with the June 25 meeting shaping up to be as fiery and controversial as any in recent memory.

In addition to motions on a policy to force Greater Sudbury Utilities to pay the city annual dividends, which the utility argues against, and a motion to restrict the actions of the downtown BIA, council will also tackle a sweeping economic development reform plan from Mayor Brian Bigger.

Bigger's motion would replace the board of directors at Greater Sudbury Development Corp., giving city council control and responsibility for economic development. The board itself would be replaced with a new group, dubbed the Sudbury Select Cabinet for Economic Development.

In an interview Tuesday, the mayor said the plan is part of his 2018 campaign promises to have council put more focus on economic development.

“In the last election, I talked about how important it was for us to grow and so it's been a definite priority for me, and I believe for council,” he said. “So that's really the impetus for this — the growth of our city is the top priority right now for us. We need to attract investment into our community.”

Read the full story here.

Current Weather

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly Cloudy

-3.6°C

Pressure
101.5 falling
Visibility
32.2 km
Dewpoint
-6.9 °C
Humidity
78%
Wind
WSW 8 km/h

Radar Satellite


Hourly Forecast

Today
8 AM
-7°C
Chance of flurries
Today
9 AM
-6°C
Chance of flurries
Today
10 AM
-4°C
Chance of flurries
Today
11 AM
-3°C
Chance of flurries
Today
12 PM
-2°C
Cloudy
Today
1 PM
-1°C
Cloudy
Today
2 PM
0°C
Cloudy
Today
3 PM
0°C
Cloudy
Today
4 PM
1°C
Cloudy
Today
5 PM
1°C
Cloudy
Today
6 PM
1°C
Cloudy
Today
7 PM
0°C
Cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Chance of flurries

Today

1 °C

Cloudy. 30 percent chance of flurries this morning. Wind becoming west 20 km/h late this morning. High plus 1. Wind chill minus 12 this morning. UV index 3 or moderate.


Mainly cloudy

Tonight

-9 °C

Cloudy. Becoming partly cloudy after midnight. Wind up to 15 km/h. Low minus 9. Wind chill minus 13 overnight.


Periods of snow

Saturday

4 °C

Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness in the afternoon then 40 percent chance of snow late in the afternoon. Wind up to 15 km/h. High plus 4. Wind chill minus 14 in the morning. UV index 4 or moderate.


Chance of flurries

Saturday night

-6 °C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 6.


Sunny

Sunday

6 °C

Sunny. High 6.


Clear

Sunday night

-4 °C

Clear. Low minus 4.


Sunny

Monday

9 °C

Sunny. High 9.


Cloudy

Monday night

-3 °C

Cloudy. Low minus 3.


A mix of sun and cloud

Tuesday

4 °C

A mix of sun and cloud. High plus 4.


Chance of flurries or rain showers

Tuesday night

-3 °C

Cloudy periods with 30 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. Low minus 3.


Chance of flurries or rain showers

Wednesday

5 °C

A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. High plus 5.


Cloudy periods

Wednesday night

-5 °C

Cloudy periods. Low minus 5.


A mix of sun and cloud

Thursday

7 °C

A mix of sun and cloud. High 7.


Yesterday

Low
-4.4 °C
High
1.6 °C
Precipitation
1.2 mm

Normals

Low
-7.1 °C
High
3.2 °C
Average
-2.0 °C

Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
7:08 AM
Sunset
7:50 PM

Record Values

Type Year Value
Max 1977 14.7 C
Min 1970 -22.2 C
Rainfall 2009 26.6 mm
Snowfall 1975 8.1 cm
Precipitation 2009 27.2 mm
Snow On Ground 1959 94.0 cm

Based on Environment Canada data