Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your weekend on this Saturday morning.
Gélinas calls on the province to take action on the critical staff shortage in home care
Nickel Belt MPP and official health-care critic France Gélinas is sounding alarm bells because there is a shortage of qualified health-care workers in the home-care industry in Ontario. She said it is causing hardship for ordinary people who need medical help in their own homes. Gélinas raised her concern this week in the Ontario legislature, where she spoke about the most recent statistics from the Ontario Community Support Association. "The Ontario Community Support Association released the latest stats: 26 per cent of nurse and 14 per cent of PSW positions in home and community care are vacant. In my community that means that a young lady with a severe infection — she lives 40 minutes away from the hospital and does not drive — must find a ride to the hospital three times a day for the next 14 days because they cannot find a nurse to come to her house," Gélinas told the legislature Tuesday. Gélinas was speaking about a woman from Whitefish, who is partially blind and has several amputations. She said the woman was supposed to be getting home care daily. In December the woman was getting home care for two or three days a week, said Gélinas. "Now she goes five days at a time with no help at all," she added. Gélinas asked why the for-profit home care companies can continue to enjoy government contracts "while failing to deliver" on those contracts.
Community advocates support opposition to Notre Dame Avenue widening
A longstanding municipal proposal to widen Notre Dame Avenue from four lanes to six from Kathleen Street to Lasalle Boulevard has been taken off the table. It’s a threat Flour Mill Business Improvement Area chair Terry McMahon said the city has rehashed every few years for decades, and that he’s pleased to see it likely put to rest. “We heard this quote from a city planner years ago, ‘Roads kill neighbourhoods,’ especially the widening of roads,” he said. “It might have been 20 years ago, we’ve been fighting this for so long.” Earlier this month, Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyn Landry-Altmann introduced a successful amendment to the city’s draft Official Plan to strike the proposed street widening from the document. With council’s expressed support, the draft Official Plan up for public consultation within the coming months will now reflect that change. City traffic and asset management supervisor Joe Rocca expressed support for alterations to traffic plans at the time, noting, “The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly altered the way people move about our community and it is something that should be considered.”
Mask mandates will lift in schools, public spaces at the same time: Moore
Mask mandates are staying in place in Ontario for now, but when they are removed for public settings they will simultaneously be lifted in schools, the province's top doctor said Thursday. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said high-risk settings such as public transit, long-term care and hospitals will maintain masking policies even after they are no longer required in most public spaces. But consultations have started for schools. "We will be working with school boards, with parents, with the ministries, and make a decision together, but we do anticipate if we remove it in the public sector, we would do it simultaneously for the schools," Moore said. "That would seem to align - as the risk decreases to do them together." Moore also said he is reviewing isolation requirements, such as those for people with COVID-19 symptoms and their household members.
Sudbury’s Ukrainian community watches in shock, horror as Russia invades
Being half a world away from the devastation, Ukrainians in Sudbury can only look on in horror as their homeland is invaded by Russia. Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling. The photos and videos emerging from Ukraine show just that — a scene or horror. Ukraine's health minister reported that 57 people have been killed and 169 wounded following Russia's declaration of war on Ukraine, reported Reuters earlier today. “Everyone is crying,” said Sonia Peczeniuk, a member of Greater Sudbury’s Ukrainian community. “They are horrified. People have stayed awake all night trying to get ahold of relatives there. You can hear the bombing in the background, they are saying, and people are getting into cars and trying to run to Poland. We know that Poland is probably going to take a few people, but they can't take millions and millions and millions, right? This is horrendous.” Peczeniuk said she has dozens of family members living in Ukraine. She had not been able to reach any of them to verify their safety when she spoke with Sudbury.com Thursday morning, she said.
Sudbury Five suffer loss to Indiana All-Americans
Jason Calliste had another stellar game but it wasn't enough as the Indiana All-Americans of the TBL defeated the Sudbury Five by a score of 103-99 Thursday night. Calliste shot 6-11 from three-point range and put up 28 points on the night, but it was the Indiana bench led by center Evan Maxwell that made the difference. The All-Americans bench scored 47 points to the Five's 24 points while also outsourcing them in the paint 44-26. Starting guard Taishaun Johnson shined as he scored 24 points while assisting six other baskets, snatching three steals along the way. Indiana's paint presence was a decisive factor in the victory with starting center Brandon Hassell scoring nine points and grabbing 10 boards and bench center Evan Maxwell scoring 17 points and grabbing seven boards, both finishing with two blocks as well. It wasn't all bad for Sudbury as Zena Edosomwan put up 14 points and seven rebounds in a bounce-back performance while Josiah Moore did good work off the bench with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. The Five look to rebound as they travel to take on the Toledo Glass City in another exhibition tonight on the road. The team then hits the road for Syracuse to take on the Stallions on Sunday. The Five will be playing on home court on March 5 when they welcome the Lansing Pharoahs.
Place des Arts will officially open its doors on April 29
After more than a few stops and starts, Place des Arts will officially open its doors on April 29. In a press release, Alain Richard, chair of the Place des Arts board, states the COVID-19 pandemic not only caused a shortage of labour on the site, but “then a shortage of certain materials and recent roadblocks at the Canada-U.S. border made it difficult to receive what we needed to complete the work early.” Now that the situation has improved, “we will be able to receive artists and patrons shortly.” The final work is taking place on the ground floor, mainly in the auditorium, a space with highly specialized equipment and facilities. A new schedule has been established with the contractors to complete the work while respecting the relevant safety standards. Place des Arts’ co-founding organizations will move into the building at the end of March, while the training of the technical teams and the running-in of the equipment and facilities will take place in April, before the official opening. The activities surrounding the opening will be announced at a later date.
Not a bad weekend in store weather-wise
Expect a high of -6 for Saturday under mainly cloudy skies. There is a 40-per-cent chance of flurries today. The wind will be out of the southwest at 20 km/h, gusting to 40, then increasing to 40 km/h and gusting to 70. Expect a wind chill of -23 in the morning and -15 in the afternoon. Tonight, the temperature will drop to -11 with a 60-per-cent chance of flurries. For Sunday, the skies will stay cloudy with a 60-per-cent chance of flurries and a high of -10. Sunday night, the mercury will fall to -23 under clear skies.
