Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to get you started on this Wednesday morning.
Roof collapses near Lively due to heavy snow
With heavy snowfall in Greater Sudbury this winter, a local business owner is stressing the importance of roof snow removal. Home Inspect Solutions Inc. owner Greg Rheaume says the roof of a home located west of Lively collapsed due to heavy snow load on Feb. 17. "The weight was so immense, it pushed the exterior wall outwards causing the roof to self-destruct," Rheaume said. The property owners were on the roof removing the snow when it caved in. Luckily, no one was injured.
Read the full story and see the photos here.
Building the budget
Final city budget decisions are expected this week, as city council has scheduled meetings tonight, Wednesday and Thursday in hopes of approving the final 2019 budget. Total spending is about $588 million, with three property tax options on the table: a 2.5 per cent increase, which would mean some spending cuts; a three per cent increase, which would fund the same services as we had last year; and a 3.5 per cent increase, which would also fund new spending proposals, known as business cases. You can read the full budget document here, or a higher-level overview here. Sudbury.com carred budget deliberations live last night.
You can watch the meeting here.
Bye-bye Payless Shoes
The parent company of Payless shoes filed for bankruptcy Monday, announcing plans to closed its stores across the U.S. and Canada. Payless has two stores in Sudbury – one in the Southridge Mall, the other in the New Sudbury Centre. The company said it plans to launch liquidation sales immediately in the U.S., and in the next few weeks in Canada. The outlets will begin closing in March as stock is sold off, with the process expected to be complete by the end of May. Payless is the latest casualty of the online retail shopping revolution that has hit malls hard. As shoppers flock to buy more and more goods online, the need for physical stores has taken a hit.
Bail hearing for accused Sweeney killer this week
The Crown presented its evidence on Day 1 of the bail hearing for Robert Steven Wright, who is charged with first-degree murder in the grisly murder of Renée Sweeney 21 years ago. Wright, who attended the hearing in person, sat quietly throughout the duration of the process. At one point, his defence attorneys asked for a recess, as Wright started to feel ill. Presenting evidence in Wright's arrest — evidence that cannot be made public due to a publication ban — was Det. Sgt. Robert Weston, who is the primary investigator on the case and a 19-year veteran of Greater Sudbury Police Service. He called the case the largest criminal investigation the history of the police service. Day 2 begins at 9:30 a.m. with cross-examination from defence lawyers Berk Keaney and Michael Venturi. Justice Edward Gareau is presiding over the bail hearing.
Traffic monitoring cameras could arrive in late 2019, early 2020
If approved by city council during this year's municipal budget process, automatic speed enforcement (ASE) cameras could arrive in Greater Sudbury by the end of the year. The ASE program is separate from red light cameras, which council has show interest in installing. A story last week on sudbury.com that has been deleted mistakenly confused the two programs. We apologize for the error. The ASE program is a little further advanced than the red light cameras, which are about two years away. Council requested a separate report on the ASE program as another option in this year's budget deliberations. The planning is expected to be compete in the coming months, with the cameras ready in either late 2019 or early 2020, the report concluded.
Read the full story, including a link to the complete report, here.
Northern Life nominated for several newspaper awards
Northern Life and its online counterpart Sudbury.com are up for five awards in the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s annual Better Newspaper Competition. We’ve been nominated for a General Excellence award for the print edition, Northern Life, as well as for Best Front Page. An editorial we wrote last spring on the Kingsway Entertainment District project is nominated in the Best Editorial category. Sudbury.com is nominated in the Best Website category and in the Best Online Breaking News Coverage category for our coverage of the downburst storm that wreaked havoc in New Sudbury in July.
United We Roll makes a local stop
The United We Roll convoy arrived in Greater Sudbury on Monday afternoon to a crowd more than 50 strong. The convoy — 80 to 90 vehicles and more than five kilometres long — was led by co-founder Glen Carritt and his autographed OP Fire and Safety Company fire truck. He spoke with reporters and supporters from the roof of the fire truck Monday, saying there is a growing divide in Canada between east and west, and it's time for Canada to get its energy sector back in order. The convoy has nearly reached Ottawa where it plans to stage a mass protest against federal environmental and energy policies. Critics of the convoy, who say it has become a magnet for right-wing anti-immigration politics, are planning counter protests.