Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Thursday morning.
Passed out at the wheel leads to $44K drug bust
An alleged drug trafficker was discovered by police passed out at the wheel of a vehicle packed with illegal drugs and weapons on March 11. At around 9:50 p.m. yesterday evening, officers were dispatched to a business on Algonquin Road after receiving a report of an impaired driver. According to the information provided to police, a vehicle was running in the parking lot with a man at the wheel and the sobriety of the man was being called into question. “Officers arrived on scene and located the vehicle with its interior lights on and the engine running,” GSPS said in a news release. “The driver appeared to be asleep at the wheel. Upon speaking with the driver, officers detected signs of impairment.” GSPS said a Standard Field Sobriety Test was performed and the driver “performed poorly” and the man was arrested.
New online map promotes Sudbury mining production, innovation
The annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention held in Toronto last week might be over for another year, but the City of Greater Sudbury unveiled a map at the convention that it hopes will link the words “Sudbury” and “mining” in the minds of investors and mining companies for years to come.The map showcases what the city has to offer and contribute in terms of actual mining opera tions as well as mining infrastructure that is part of the Sudbury basin. "This map showcases some of the key mining projects happening in the Sudbury Basin and gives a visual overview of the Basin that many have not seen before," said the social media notice. "We will be updating it regularly as things change, open and evolve.” The document outlines locations and operations for Vale Base Metals, Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations and Magna Mining among others. It also shows railway, highway and air transportation links.
Sudbury lawyer facing another Law Society investigation
A Sudbury lawyer found not guilty of sexual assault will face a Law Society tribunal to determine if his actions resulted in professional misconduct. Adam Castonguay was charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual assault - chokes, suffocates or strangles, from an incident that took place in December 2020. Though initially the name of the complainant in the case, Julie Lamothe, was protected by a publication ban, Lamothe fought to have the ban lifted and can now be named in relation to the case. Lamothe alleged that Castonguay sexually and physically abused her at a Christmas party in December 2020. She testified he assaulted her, choked her, and threw her so hard against a couch she lost consciousness and suffered a concussion. Castonguay denied the accusations and testified that while he shared a consensual kiss or two and made out with Lamothe, he did not sexually assault her. Castonguay was acquitted of the charges.
Speed cameras resulted in 12,796 tickets issued last year
Operational since March 22, 2024, the city’s six automated speed-enforcement cameras resulted in the issuance of 12,796 tickets last year.These tickets resulted in a total set fine sum of $1,344,237. Factoring in an allowance of $298,847 for uncollected fines and $322,387 in operating costs, the city’s net revenue is $753,003. These funds are being used on traffic safety efforts throughout the city, including an expanded flexible bollard traffic-calming program and gateway speed limits. (Bollards are yellow posts placed at the sides and centre of roads to narrow them with the intention of slowing traffic. Gateway speed limits slow traffic to 40 km/h and 30km/h in school zones within a fixed area indicated by signs indicating where the gateway area “begins” and “ends.”) The city has also pulled $500,000 for the Roads and Transportation Asset Management Plan, which is expected to map condition targets and funding requirements to maintain city roads.
Sudbury Outpatient Centre to remain closed all week
The Sudbury Outpatient Centre on Regent Street will remain closed for the rest of the week due to a flood in the building earlier this morning. In a statement to local media this morning, the hospital said all patient appointments planned for today at the outpatient centre would be rescheduled. However, in an update at noon today, Health Sciences North said the flooding will force the closure of the outpatient centre for the rest of the week. "As of March 12, all programs and patient appointments at the Sudbury Outpatient Centre (SOC) on Regent Street are being rescheduled due to a flood that occurred early this morning. SOC is closed for the rest of this week," a statement from HSN reads. "Several hundred appointments have been impacted and those patients are being contacted directly to be rebooked as soon as possible." Patients are asked not to call about their appointment to "make the process as seamless as possible." The outpatient centre provides a variety of programs and services, including the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP), genetic counselling services, nutrition counselling, the HAVEN Program, hemophilia and the Regional Bariatric Assessment and Treatment Centre.
Welcome, Kaitlyn! Meet Sudbury.com’s journalism intern
Finding my footing in the Sudbury.com newsroom has opened my eyes to what a future in journalism could look like. All it took to get here was figuring out what I didn't want in a career. I was the type of kid who always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, even if that changed every year. Throughout my childhood, I never said I wanted to be a journalist, yet here I am interning at Sudbury.com, working through my last requirement to graduate and I can finally see a career path opening ahead of me. My road to journalism has not always been a clear one. I always thought I knew what I wanted for myself. When I went to the University of Ottawa for communications and suddenly couldn't see a future for myself anymore, I felt defeated. In my fourth year, I did a remote co-op with the Government of Canada. Because it was 2022 and the pandemic was still going strong, I sat trapped in my room for eight hours a day, bored and unfulfilled. My position in media relations made me play messenger between scientists and reporters. Interesting discoveries would hit my desk, I'd write up a small brief and email blast journalists to set up interviews. Jealousy crept in while I passively watched the story leave my inbox and land in someone else's.
