Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to get you started on this Wednesday morning.
PricewaterhouseCoopers report says Kingsway event centre could be built cheaper, with less risk and more reward
A new, updated report analyzing locations for Greater Sudbury’s new event centre has backed the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED) as the location that offers the biggest bang for the lowest buck. While city council will be discussing the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report at a June 16 council meeting, the report was released on the city’s website this week. The bottom-line from the new report is that PwC’s analysis indicates the KED would offer the most benefits for the least cost and the least amount of risk. “Overall direct benefits associated with the Kingsway site are estimated to be greater,” PwC stated, clarifying that any ancillary benefits from building downtown are possible, while the KED, if the project proceeds as planned, would have ancillary benefits built in.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Sudbury's opioid crisis to be discussed Wednesday on town hall Facebook meeting
A public town hall forum is taking place on Wednesday for people concerned with the continuing opioid crisis in Sudbury. The forum, called Two Years Too Many, is being hosted on Facebook by Sudbury MPP Jamie West. It takes place June 9 at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of the event is to discuss solutions that might resolve the issue of too many opioid overdoses happening in Sudbury and across Northern Ontario. "Immediate action to prevent opioid addiction and overdoses must happen. We need a collaborative and compassionate solution TODAY! We need to make our voices heard. This Town Hall will have an information session followed by an open discussion with the audience. I want to hear from you on the best all-encompassing approach we can use as northern communities to address this crisis and help save lives," said a statement posted on West's Facebook page.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Queerantine 2.0 celebrates Pride Month with virtual events
The name chosen for the 24th annual Sudbury Pride week, hosted by Fierté Sudbury Pride (FSP), does an excellent job summarizing the general feeling around 2021 events. It’s called Queerantine 2.0: Seriously? Not this s**t again! (Sérieux? Esti, pas ça encore!) And while they are yet to announce the events that will occur during Sudbury Pride week, July 12-18, (you never know what the world will look like then), there are some plans to help you get excited for what is to come, but also, to help those who need Pride celebrations more than ever. More than anything, it’s gathering together that most of the community has missed during the pandemic, so FSP has worked to put together a Spotify playlist. A release from the group reads, “While we can’t all be together in the park or at Zig’s, rocking out to some music and just feeling our oats, we’ve come up with the next best thing! Fierté Sudbury Pride has carefully curated a series of Spotify playlists.” If you would like to find out more about the Spotify list, care packages and events this year, or find support for yourself, visit sudburypride.com.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Ontario reports 469 new cases, Public Health Sudbury reports one new case of COVID-19 for June 8
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) reported one new case of COVID-19 for today, Tuesday June 8. PHSD also reports 26 active cases being watched locally. Also, since the PHSD began tracking COVID-19 cases just over 15 months ago, there have been 2,109 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 2,083 of those cases have now been resolved. Also, for the first time in several weeks, there are no current COVID-19 outbreaks in the Sudbury District. The details were reported on the PHSD website. With respect to where the new case might have occurred, PHSD reported that one case occurred in Greater Sudbury. Public Health Ontario has reported 469 new COVID-19 cases in its latest report (June 8). Today's update also includes 1,010 new recoveries and 18 deaths.
Read the full stories on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Memories ‘stolen from us’: Local Grade 12 student urges schools to hold in-person grads
While the province has said it would like to see all schools in the province hold in-person, outdoor graduation ceremonies this month, most local school boards haven’t updated their plans yet as they await Ministry of Education direction. In a release to media, the province said the government would allow school boards to invite graduating elementary and secondary students to return to school in June for a short, outdoor celebration, where physical distancing is possible. Shannon Royster, a Grade 12 student at Confederation Secondary School, has been campaigning along with some of her friends to have an in-person graduation ceremony. She said she was disappointed back in February when the Rainbow District School Board announced it was already asking schools to plan virtual June graduations due to the pandemic. “I looked at that and I thought there’s no way they could know what the cases would be like in June at the end of February,” Royster said. She said that she feels like over the past two school years, “there were a lot of memories that were stolen from us,” including dating, hanging out with friends, getting jobs and getting driver’s licences.
Azilda school’s ‘Garden of Hearts’ commemorates 215 kids who died at B.C. residential school
In light of the renewed calls for education surrounding the history of residential schools in Canada, École publique Franco-Nord in Azilda created a garden of hearts on Friday, June 4, to commemorate the 215 children who died in Kamloops, British Columbia. A release from the school’s board, Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario (CSPGNO), said the ceremony was a chance for the school community to show their “solidarity and empathy towards the communities that have been victimized by the past.” In their memory, the École Franco-Nord team hung 215 hearts on tree branches on the school grounds.
Fatal fire in Sturgeon Falls claims life of Lavigne woman
A June 5 fire in Sturgeon Falls claimed the life of a 33-year-old Lavigne woman. A approximately 4 a.m. that morning, Nipissing West OPP responded to a call from the West Nipissing Fire Service to assist in reaching out to Victim Crisis Assistance and Referral Services (VCARS) for tenants who had just been displaced by a fire at a four-plex on Fourth Street in the Sturgeon Falls. The fire had taken place in the early morning hours and police were not contacted until later, OPP said. The tenants of the building were all taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation, although one tenant could not be accounted for, necessitating a search of the building. At around 7 p.m. that evening, OPP said police and firefighters located a body in the building. OPP Forensic Investigation Services is investigation along with the Fire Marshal’s office, the Sudbury OPP Crime Unit and the Forensic Pathology Service of the chief coroner’s office. The deceased has been identified as Melissa Larocque, 33, from Lavigne. The investigation is ongoing.
Wednesday is forecasted to be another spicy day in the Nickel City
The forecast is for a high of 27 today under sunny skies, with winds from the northeast at 20 km/h but gusting up to 40. Today’s UV index is eight or very high. Tonight, the mercury will dip to 14, making it more comfortable for sleeping than it’s been the past few days. The skies are expected to remain clear overnight.
