Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Friday morning.
Sudbury-made online food delivery service aims to help restaurants keep more of their profits
What started off as a coding project has turned into a new online food delivery service in Greater Sudbury. Flash the Sloth was created by Yu Peng Lu when he said he recognized flaws with the current food delivery services available in Sudbury, which usually charge restaurants a fee on each order while charging customers delivery fees. With Flash the Sloth, those fees are cut for both the customer and the restaurant. Restaurants will be able to see a higher profit margin when customers order through Flash the Sloth and customers can also pay a smaller delivery fee, Lu said. He also wanted to make the customer experience easier for ordering food at restaurants – so the new food delivery company doesn’t have an app. Flash the Sloth uses a web server that restaurants can use to punch in a food order and the coding with the domain will alert the delivery service’s drivers to pick up and deliver the food. All the customers need to do is place their order through a call and pay for the food at their door when the food is delivered. Without the middle-man of an app, it streamlines the order for food – from phone call, to the web server, to the driver and then to you.
Northern communities share $11M to boost film and TV industry
The growing film and television industry in northern Ontario got a boost today with the announcement of over $11.4 million through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). A total of 27 projects are receiving NOHFC funding, including $1 million for Spinner Productions Inc. to produce the six-episode television series Shoresy in Sudbury; $500,000 for Sienna Films Productions XVIII Inc. to produce the feature film Happy Place in Parry Sound; $500,000 for 2821899 Ontario Inc. to produce the feature film Better Days in Sault Ste. Marie; $200,000 for Aki the Film Inc. to produce the non-verbal documentary Aki in Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation, and; $61,850 for Film Riel Inc. to produce the docu-drama film Le tireur d’elite/The Sniper in Thunder Bay. “Today’s funding is helping solidify the north’s reputation as a first-rate production centre in Canada and the world.”said Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development.
Inspection reports show all city long-term care homes ordered to take corrective actions in the past six months
The seven city long-term care facilities listed on the new Ontario Long-Term Care homefinder webpage, all have had incidents in the past six months where written notifications were filed and corrective actions required, recent inspection reports show. Also, in every case locally, there is a waiting list for Sudbury area citizens seeking residency in the care homes. All seven homes — Extendicare Falconbridge, Extendicare York, St. Joseph's Villa, Pioneer Manor, Finlandia Hoivakoti Nursing Home, the Elizabeth Centre, and St Gabriel's Villa — have been subjected to inspections by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care in recent months. In every case, inspectors have found situations where the homes have been required to take corrective action. An inspection carried out at Extendicare York, filed in October, resulted in a formal report that had two Written Notifications (WNs) and a follow up plan of action. In one case a WN was issued because a registered practical nurse failed to properly document giving medication to a patient with respect to the time and place.
More COVID outbreaks in low-income areas, says CMAJ study
A study outlined in the latest edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal said a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases have occurred in Canadian communities that have higher levels of low-income earners, lower education levels, and also in areas with more recent immigrants and more visible minorities. The study was done in 16 cities in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Sudbury was not part of the study. It was based on COVID-19 data from January 2020 through to the end of February 2021. The report said cases were disproportionately concentrated in areas with lower income and educational attainment, and in areas with a higher proportion of visible minorities, recent immigrants, high-density housing and essential workers. Although a consistent feature across cities was concentration by the proportion of visible minorities, the magnitude of concentration by social determinant varied across Canadian cities, said the report. One statistic that stood out, said the study, is that 50 per cent of COVID cases came from 21 to 35 per cent of the populations identified as living in those designated areas with social inequities.
Wolves outpace Greyhounds in OT win
The Wolves are eager to welcome all fans back in the stands under the province's current 50-per-cent capacity limit as they get set to host the Barrie Colts on Friday and North Bay Battalion Sunday in double-header action. The Pack is heading into the weekend after battling their way to the finish in a 3-2 shootout win over Mississauga on Monday and a 6-5 overtime win over Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday. In a mid-week road game last night, Sudbury took on the Greyhounds at GFL Memorial Gardens. The back-and-forth game saw both teams taking the lead and tying it up, until the four minutes into the overtime frame when Nolan Collins took a pass from Nick DeGrazia and found the back of the net to give the Wolves a 6-5 win. The win improves the Pack’s record to 17-26-3-2. The team is currently eighth place in the Eastern Conference and 17th overall. The Wolves host the Barrie Colts tomorrow (Friday) night. Game time is set for 7 p.m. puck, On Sunday, the Battalion will march up the highway from North Bay to take on the Wolves at home. The puck drops at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Trudeau condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine, says Russia will suffer consequences
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine and calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw all military forces from the country. "Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s egregious attack on Ukraine," Trudeau said in a statement late Wednesday. "These unprovoked actions are a clear further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They are also in violation of Russia’s obligations under international law and the Charter of the United Nations." Trudeau said Russia’s actions will be met with severe consequences. Trudeau said he would be meeting Thursday with G7 partners and would work quickly with NATO and Canada's allies "to collectively respond to these reckless and dangerous acts, including by imposing significant sanctions in addition to those already announced."
Mix of sun and cloud today, high of -8
Expect a mix of sun and cloud for Friday, with a high of -8. There is a 40-per-cent chance of flurries this morning before becoming sunny in the afternoon. The wind will be blowing at 15 km/h, bringing a wind chill of -25 in the morning and -13 in the afternoon. Tonight, expect cloudy periods and a low of -18.
