Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Tuesday morning.
Sexual assault suspect identified, says police
Greater Sudbury Police said they have identified the man they believe to be the suspect in a sexual assault investigation. Greater Sudbury Police is asking the public for helping in identifying a man who they say is responsible for committing sexual assault in the New Sudbury Centre. Police said on Jan. 29, officers were called about a sexual assault that had taken place at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre. A man entered one of the stores in the mall, walked up to an employee of the store and inappropriately touched her while making a sexually explicit comment. The man then left the store. The man is described as being between 35-40 years old, approximately 5-5 tall and about 200 lbs., with red hair and a beard.
City opens application process to choose designer, builder and operator for KED
The Kingsway Entertainment District is inching forward, with the city issuing design/build requests for proposals for both its design/build and venue operator. “We certainly are moving ahead,” Mayor Brian Bigger told Sudbury.com. “This is moving toward the project completion agreement and is based upon the direction of council way back in July 2021.” The city’s elected officials maintain final say on both tenders, which they are expected to consider this year. The venue operator tender is expected to come forward within the next few weeks and the design/build is expected to be approved early in the year’s third quarter. The design/build request for proposals includes a list of three teams shortlisted when the project was originally slated to move forward in 2017 – that is, until legal challenges delayed progress. These teams include Ball/TESC Construction Inc. (Joint Venture)/Architecture 49 Inc.; EllisDon Corporation/BBB Architects Toronto Inc., in conjunction with J. L. Richards & Associates Limited, and; PCL Constructors Canada Inc./Parkin Architects Ltd. All of these proponents are either based in Ontario or have offices in the province. TESC Construction Inc. is based in Sudbury and J. L. Richards & Associates Limited is headquartered in Ottawa but has an office in Sudbury. PCL Constructors is based in Edmonton but also has offices in Sudbury.
Wolves take a 6-5 bite out of the Barrie Colts
The Sudbury Wolves fended off a late surge by the Barrie Colts to finish January with a 6-5 on home ice. The Pack is now eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 13-22-3-1. Overall, the Pack sits in 17th place. The Wolves are back in action on home ice this Friday, Feb. 4, when they host the Kingston Frontenacs.
North facing a three-pronged crisis of homelessness, addiction and mental health, municipal groups say
Three of Northern Ontario's municipal organizations are speaking out on the need to address the urgent issues of homelessness, opioid addiction and the mental health crisis. Northern Ontario municipal leaders were taking part in the annual ROMA conference (Rural Ontario Municipal Association), which was held online this week. The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), and the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association (NOSDA) all took part in discussing a research paper by the Northern Policy Institute (NPI), which is an independent think tank based in Thunder Bay, and with offices across Northern Ontario. The municipal groups presented the paper to several provincial cabinet ministers and other high-level officials about the need to boost provincial funding on several fronts. The research paper titled “Solving the Homelessness, Mental Health and Addictions Crisis in the North” outlined several recommendations which included the creation of a Northern Ontario service hub under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, that would provide for additional funding. The paper said that homelessness in the North is at a crisis level, especially in Thunder Bay and territorial Cochrane District.
Twenty school bus routes cancelled Monday, reports Sudbury Student Services Consortium
Sudbury Student Services Consortium is reporting 20 bus routes that are cancelled today, either due to a shortage of bus drivers or drivers who are absent (either due to COVID-19 isolation rules, or for another reason). The following cancellations are in effect due to bus driver shortages: L002, L007 and L135. Due to bus driver absences, the following bus routes are cancelled (for at least Monday): L017, L023, L118, L120, L209, LMV246, LW253, LW261, L618, N307, N407, N408, N433, N437, N443, N463 and N508.
What Sudbury can learn from how Finland tackled its homelessness crisis
In Finland in 1967, almost 50 people who were homeless froze to death outside. An overnight shelter was shut down the year previous and no other replaced it, leaving 500 people without a place to stay. The year 1967 was also the 50th anniversary of Finland’s independence, in honour of which, 950 prisoners were released. A symbolic gesture that meant 950 more people on the street. By 1989, there were approximately 17,500 people without homes in Finland. Today, there are 4,600 and a majority of them are living with friends and family, not on the street. This is in a country with a population of 5.531 million (2020). How did they do it? Sudbury.com Communities reporter Jenny Lamothe digs into the Finland model and teases out details that Greater Sudbury could use.
Mild day in store for Tuesday
Expect a pretty mild day for your Tuesday. The forecast calls for a mix of sun and cloud today with a 60-per-cent chances of flurries. The wind will be out of the south 20 km/h, gusting to 50 in the morning, increasing to 40 km/h with gusts to 60. The wind chill will be -17 this morning and -9 this afternoon. Today’s high is 0. Tonight, the temperature will dip to -1 with periods of snow.
