Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Saturday morning.
Respected business owner Conrad Houle has died
Conrad Houle, a well-respected Sudbury businessman and humanitarian, has died. Houle, founder of Tracks & Wheels, died July 18 at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. He was 85. “Success isn’t how far you go, but the distance you travelled from where you started,” was the motto Houle lived by, as written in his 2008 induction into the Sudbury Area Mining Service and Supply Association Hall of Fame (now MineConnect) in 2008. The son of a hard rock miner, Houle went into the parts business in the 1950s, eventually venturing into heavy equipment sales in working for a number of companies. With $350 in his pocket, Houle and his wife, Sheila, started what is now Tracks and Wheels Equipment Brokers in Sudbury in February 1980. Operating out of their home in the beginning, they bought and sold equipment, building a good client base in the process. The company has since expanded with branches in Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay.
Sudbury Ribfest making a comeback Labour Day weekend
After last running in 2019, a popular Sudbury summer festival is making a comeback over the Labour Day weekend (Sept. 2-4), although the location has been changed to Bell Park’s Grace Hartman Amphitheatre. Ribfest, which often had an attendance of more than 50,000 people, previously took place in Greater Sudbury’s downtown core, and was put on by the Downtown Sudbury BIA. But like so many other events, Ribfest was scuttled during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizer of Ribfest 2022, Kelsey Cutinello of KC Events and Promotions, said Downtown Sudbury also decided that even if COVID restrictions were lifted, the group would no longer pursue large events due to the demands on its small staff complement. Cutinello said some of the ribbers who previously participated in the event contacted the City of Greater Sudbury’s tourism department, asking if anyone else could put on Ribfest in the Nickel City, and the city contacted her. “It's a wonderful event for the community,” she said. “They actually say it's one of the largest events in Northern Ontario, and I was sad to see that it wasn't going to happen. So I thought it was a great opportunity for my company as well, and, having met the rib teams, and seeing what was involved in it, I figured I can handle the workload of it.”
Over 75? Old Age Security hiked by 10%
With Canadians living longer, the federal government has announced an increase to the Old Age Security of 10 per cent for the 3.3 million Canadians aged 75 and over. This means that full pensioners will get more than $800 extra over the first year, Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe said in a news release. “Canadians are living longer, and we want to help make life more affordable for them as they age,” Lapointe said. “Last year, we gave eligible older Canadians a one-time payment of $500. And now, we’ve moved forward with a permanent 10-per-cent increase to the Old Age Security pension to help with the higher costs later in life.” This will be the first permanent increase to the OAS pension since 1973, the news release states, other than adjustments due to inflation. Eligible seniors will not have to take any action to receive this increase as payments will be increased automatically.
Public health does not share enough COVID info, says think tank
Getting up-to-date data on COVID-19 is becoming more difficult, and the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) has decided to pause its tracking program into the impact of COVID on long-term care (LTC) homes. In a news release issued Thursday, NIA said this is happening at a time when Canada is moving into the seventh wave of the pandemic. "We are pausing this project not because the threat to LTC and retirement homes has abated — in fact, case numbers are surging at LTC homes in several provinces. It’s because many of Canada’s provincial and territorial governments and public health authorities are no longer providing enough consistent, accurate and timely data on COVID-19 in LTC and retirement homes," said the NIA news release. "Without this, we can no longer ensure our tracker remains a reliable source of information." The National Institute on Ageing is a think tank at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) focused on the realities of Canada’s ageing population. It began producing the tracking page back in April of 2020 by compiling the best available, verifiable data from multiple sources, including public health units, government reports, news media, and sometimes communications issued by the homes themselves, said NIA.
Monkeypox vaccine available in Sudbury for qualified individuals
A public health advisory alert issued this week revealed that a vaccine for monkeypox is now available from Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD). The alert was sent out to "Local Health System Partners" in the Sudbury jurisdiction by PHSD Medical Officer of Health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe. PHSD said Imvamune is a live, attenuated (weakened), non-replicating vaccine that is used as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against monkeypox. Health Canada first approved the use of this vaccine in 2013 for active immunization against smallpox in a public health emergency, said the health unit. Sutcliffe's advisory said the Imvamune vaccine is available to individuals aged 18 or older who are considered at high risk of exposure. In general, this would include transgender or cis-gender individuals who self-identify as gay or bisexual, or men who otherwise have sex with men, are eligible to receive Imvamune, said the alert. Full details of the qualifying criteria are available on the public health website.
Winston the greyhound’s Happy Tail makes Sudbury pup famous
When Mariah Pequegnat’s 11-year-old greyhound, Winston, needed to have a medical procedure, she was very nervous. She decided it might help to film the journey that she and Winston were about to take, the amputation of his tail due to a syndrome called “Happy Tail.” As she was practicing with the social media site for work, she thought she might upload it to TikTok. More than four million hits later, Winston has become a celebrity. Not only is he being sent treats from companies hoping he’ll review them, but he is a local celebrity now, too. “I put #Sudbury in my description so I knew that it was going to be shown to at least some people here,” said Pequegnat. “But then I took him to the farmer’s market, and a couple of people asked ‘is that the dog from TikTok? Is that Winston?’ Somebody even asked for a picture with him, and I was like, no way, this is so bizarre.” She said he is certainly recognizable for his distinctive breed, she said there are not many greyhounds in Sudbury that she knows of, but also that he is, well, “funny looking.” “He's a very unique looking dog, especially up here.”
Warm weekend in store
Expect a mainly cloudy day for your Saturday with a high of 26. The wind will be westerly at 20 km/h, gusting to 40 in the morning. The humidex value today is 30 so brace for some humidity. The UV index today is seven, or high. Tonight, the skies will clear and the temperature will dip to 15. For Sunday, expect more heat and clear skies. The high is expected to be 28 with no humidex value. The UV index will also be high for the day. For Sunday night, expect clear skies and a low of 16.
