Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your weekend on this Saturday morning.
Fact Check: Will the KED be a standalone arena costing taxpayers $222M?
The Kingsway Entertainment District will be a “small-town, single-pad hockey arena” that will cost area taxpayers at least $222 million. This, according to Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier and Our Towns Our City Institute member Tom Price, who both spoke during a public meeting at the Northbury Hotel on Thursday night. A couple dozen people attended the meeting and more than 750 people have viewed a livestream of the event, which Montpellier billed in a paid Facebook advertisement as a means of clarifying “years of BS, smoke and mirrors, internet false identities and misinformation.” The main thrust of Montpellier’s argument was that the KED – which he refuses to call the KED because he doesn’t believe it will be a “district” – will be “a standalone, small-town hockey arena destined to be the most expensive ever built on the frickin’ planet.” The ring road around the site will cost $12 million and will also serve as access to area property owner Dario Zulich’s land, Montpellier said. Zulich is also the developer partner for the KED. “I object to the taxpayers paying to develop that,” Montpellier said, reiterating his point that there are no partners in this project and that the city will be on the hook for the entire cost to develop the land. Fact Check Friday has been created as part of an ongoing effort by Sudbury.com to clarify information being shared with the public. Topics for future Fact Check Fridays can be emailed to reporter Tyler Clarke at [email protected] with “Fact Check Friday” as the subject.
Strange incident: Woman pulled over by man apparently impersonating a cop
Greater Sudbury Police are investigating after a woman reported a strange incident on March 9 involving a man who seemed to be impersonating a police officer. GSPS said they were contacted about the incident on March 10. The caller said she had been driving on MR 35 at around 8:15 p.m. on March 9. The woman said she was northbound near Clarabelle Road when she passed a black Dodge Charger driving in the slow lane. As she passed the vehicle, it activated red and blue lights that were located under or in the grill of the vehicle. Possibly thinking it was an unmarked police cruiser, the woman pulled over and a man dressed in black approached her window and asked for her driver’s licence, ownership and insurance. “The man also asked her if she was single, where she was going that evening and what she was doing,” police said in a news release. “The woman asked if she was getting a ticket, to which the man said no.” As the woman drove away, she saw the charger pull a U-turn and head southbound on MR 35 while she continued north. The investigation into this incident is ongoing, police said, and anyone with information related to this incident, the vehicle described, the driver of the vehicle or a similar incident is asked to contact police at 705-675-9171, or Crime Stoppers by phone at 705-222-TIPS or online at SudburyCrimeStoppers.com.
'The pandemic is not over,' says statement from Sudbury's medical officer of health
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the medical officer of health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD), said she continues to strongly recommend the use of masks in indoor public settings to protect against COVID-19 infection. Sutcliffe's statement in a late afternoon news release Thursday comes despite Wednesday’s announcement by the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health that mask requirements will end on Monday, March 21, 2022. “Despite recent promising trends in local COVID-19 metrics, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is still circulating widely and the risk of infection and risk to our health-care system has not passed. This is why I am strongly recommending that people continue to wear masks when in indoor crowded spaces, and especially if they have higher personal health risks or if their close circle includes those who are vulnerable to severe infection,” said. Dr. Sutcliffe. “The pandemic is not over, and our area continues to have higher COVID rates compared with the province. With the provincial direction for the March 21 removal of masking mandates for most settings, along with the removal of screening and safety plan requirements for businesses and organizations, I am reminding people in our area that masking remains a simple and effective tool to protect yourself and those around you," her statement continued. The full text of the PHSD statement is located here.
‘Alarming’: Laurentian union leaders react to financials showing $79M in restructuring costs
Alarming. That’s how Laurentian University union leader Tom Fenske describes the situation after finally receiving the financial statements for the university’s 2020-2021 fiscal year, which showed a $65.9 million deficit. Even though its 2020-2021 financial year is long since over, Laurentian University’s board of governors voted earlier this week to approve the financial statements from that year. That financial year represents the first three months of Laurentian’s insolvency restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA). During that period of time, LU announced massive cuts to its programs and employees. This deficit is attributable to restructuring expenses of $79.1 million related to the university’s insolvency. Without the restructuring expenses, there would have been a surplus of $13.2 million. Laurentian is more than 10 months into the current fiscal year, 2021-2022, which ends April 30. The next financial year, 2022-2023, begins May 1. “Working at an institution that has such a deep deficit one year is very alarming,” said Fenske, president of the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU).
New $27M innovation and learning centre opens at Health Sciences North
The new $27 million medical innovation centre has been opened at Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury. The Labelle Innovation and Learning Centre is a world-class facility where existing and future health care professionals will be able to train and learn new and innovative medical procedures. The 28,000 square foot facility is built onto the existing HSN complex. The facility is named after Marcel and Frances Labelle, of Cochrane, Ontario, who donated $5 million toward the project three years ago. The Labelle family are pioneers of Canadian industry and owners of M. J. Labelle Co. Ltd, speciality trade contractors who have contributed to building up Northern Ontario communities from Thunder Bay to Moosonee to New Liskeard. Dominic Giroux, HSN President and CEO, said the facility will provide training for up to 2,000 learners from 70 post-secondary institutions each year. “This will have immediate and long-term benefits for patients of Northeastern Ontario,” said Giroux.
Python 5000 to become more visible as temperatures warm up
The much talked-about Python 5000 pothole-filling machine is expected to be visible on city streets a lot more now that the weather has warmed up. The $555,000 machine arrived in Greater Sudbury on Nov. 21 only two months after city council approved the purchase, and staff members were quickly trained on it. The machine is operated by a lone staff member within its cab who drives up to a pothole, air-blasts debris, drops asphalt into the hole, spreads it out and compresses it down using controls within the machine. A video of the Python 5000 in operation can be found here. It began being put to work in late January, but staff soon saw its limitations in temperatures of approximately -10 C and colder. As such, it hasn’t been deployed very often. Last month, city Linear Infrastructure Services director Brittany Hallam told Sudbury.com that the machine appears slower to fill potholes in a single area than a crew, but that this shortcoming is more than accounted for by the fact it requires one operator whereas a traditional pothole crew is made up of four to five members.
Cloudy, snowy weekend in the forecast
Expect a high of -10 today under mainly cloudy skies. There is a 40-per-cent chance of flurries in the morning. The wind will be out of the northwest at 30 km/h, gusting to 50 in the morning. The wind chill will be -26 in the morning and -18 in the afternoon. Tonight, the temperature will drop to -19 under partly cloudy skies. The wind will be out of the northwest at 20 km/h gusting to 40 before becoming light in the evening, bringing a wind chill of -20 in the evening and -26 overnight. Tomorrow, expect periods of snow and a high of -4. For Sunday night, the skies will be cloudy and the mercury will fall to -10.
