Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day.
Happy Valentine's Day, Greater Sudbury!
Love is in the air. So let us be the first to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. We hope you get flowers, chocolates, and a smooch or two from your honey.
Trudeau tours Maley
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Sudbury went ahead as planned today despite the weather. Trudeau stopped in at a Sudbury fast food institution, the Deluxe restaurant on Regent, for lunch, chatting with staff and patrons and kissing a few babies. Then he toured the Maley Drive extension contruction site alongside Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré and Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre. A third of the $80.1-million project is being funding by the federal government. The Prime Minister took questions from national and local media following the short tour. He was asked about the sudden resignation of Vancouver Granville MP Jody Wilson-Raybold from cabinet and about the federal Liberal promise to end boil water advisories on remote First Nations.
Man suffers burns after his Val Therese garage catches on fire
A man who was working in his garage on Hector Street in Val Therese suffered second degree burns to his hands and forehead after the structure caught on fire Feb. 12. He was sent to hospital and released. Greater Sudbury Fire Services were called out to the blaze at 8:21 p.m. Tuesday night. Fire damage is listed as severe and estimated around $100,000. Two houses close to the garage were also damaged.
Councillors back city's first major overhaul of transit operations
The first major reorganization of Greater Sudbury Transit since amalgamation got the green light from city council Tuesday, with new routes and hubs to hit the streets in August. Michelle Ferrigan, the city's director of transit services, outlined the highlights of the first stage of the reform plan, which is being implemented within the exisiting transit budget. Key among those changes is a reduction of routes to 27 from 38, with some poor performing routes being dropped in favour of more frequent service on the most heavily used ones. New hubs beyond downtown – one in the South End and another in New Sudbury – mean that all buses will no longer loop downtown. Instead, they will will loop into the new hubs, providing more frequent access to different parts of the city, as well as shorter trips. Once the changes are implemented, bus transfers will last longer – 90 minutes – and riders can use them to get back on the same bus. Previously, transfers could only be used for a different destination. The routes will be the same on Sundays and holidays, although hourly service will still be the norm.
Parents to protest autism services changes Friday
Parents opposed to changes to autism services recently announced by the provincial government are planning a rally starting at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 outside of Sudbury MPP Jamie West's office. Last week, the province announced it was revamping autism services to get rid of the waiting list by giving money directly to parents. Families will be given up to $20,000 a year to a limit of $140,000 for children who begin treatment before the age of six. Children aged six to 18 will receive up to $5,000 a year. A press release put out by the organizers of the protest say these funds won't come close to covering the costs of autism therapy. West's office is located at 555 Barrydowne Rd. For more information about the protest, people are asked to contact organizer Sean Staddon at [email protected].
Closing in on a Snow Day record
Today was another Snow Day in Greater Sudbury, which means the city is closing in on a new record for the number of bus cancellations in a single school year. The record of 10 was set during the 2012-2013 year, though only eight of those 10 affected Greater Sudbury schools. With today's Snow Day, we are at at nine bus cancellations and there still a good six weeks or so of winter.
Bigger wants decision on 2022 voting method sooner rather than later
A report on the October 2018 election night fiasco was deferred Tuesday, and will come back to city council in April when it will include options on how residents will vote next time around. Mayor Brian Bigger asked for the deferral, because he wants a decision soon on the voting method in 2020. City council approved an online-only method for the 2018 vote the summer before the election was held, but some councillors felt that left them with little time to explore options. By a 7-6 vote, council approved the online-only option when a staff report concluded there were no suitable bids for a combination paper ballot/online ballot. That decision came back to haunt them when an internet provider used by Dominion Voting mistakenly slowed traffic to a crawl on voting day. That caused delays in the 51 Ontario communities that also went online-only using Dominion, including Greater Sudbury.
OK, so we're getting more snow today, but not that much
Thursday will be mainly cloudy for much of the day, with periods of snow (sorry, folks) beginning in the afternoon. About two centimetres of snow is expected. A wind from the east will kick up around noon and it will bring some wind chill with it, making the high of -6 feel more like -20 in the morning, but a more bearable -12 in the afternoon. More snow is in the forecast for Thursday as well.
