Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day.
Unions consider taking Laurentian leadership to court
Unions representing Laurentian University employees say they’re considering launching legal action against the university’s leadership once LU finally exits insolvency, something that’s expected to happen this fall. Tom Fenske, president of the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU), said the legal action would be filed regarding what he said was the misuse of Retirees’ Health and Benefit Plan (RHBP), which was worth millions, with the hope of recovering damages. Because Laurentian did not establish a separate trust account for RHBP contributions, money paid into the fund by LU was “recorded as a liability” when the university declared insolvency. The RHBP was terminated April 30, 2021 as part of Laurentian’s restructuring. Read more here.
Council votes to dock Vagnini 40 days’ pay
In a vote of 9-3 following a heated exchange Tuesday, Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini again faces disciplinary action at the hands of his colleagues around Greater Sudbury council chambers. This time around, he has been saddled with a 40-day pay suspension for what city integrity commissioner Robert Swayze described in his report to city council as “vulgar and disrespectful behaviour” in contravention of the city’s Code of Conduct. Vagnini has since apologized to deputy chief Jesse Oshell for his actions, though Swayze’s report notes he only did so after his lawyer, Michael Lacy, told him it would be best for him to do so. The beleaguered councillor refuted this claim during tonight’s meeting by saying he enlisted the legal help of Lacy after the apology took place. Vagnini also claimed he swore at Oshell twice, not the three times Swayze’s report outlines. The city councillor was “frustrated and used language and shouldn’t have,” Lacy told city council during his remarks at this afternoon’s city council meeting at which sanctions against Vagnini were voted on. At issue was Vagnini’s request for fire department equipment to be deployed for use at a longtime volunteer firefighter’s funeral, which Swayze’s report notes Oshell denied “because of the extreme cold and the risk of damage to the equipment.” Read more here.
Greater Sudbury crime severity index drops by 4.3%
Last year marked the first time since 2015 Greater Sudbury’s overall crime severity index has decreased year over year. Although a 4.3 per cent drop in overall crime severity index compared to 2020 and as reported by Statistics Canada appears promising, the context behind it paints a more worrisome picture. At 84.39, Greater Sudbury’s overall crime severity index is still much higher than it was in 2015, when 59.37 was recorded. The index assigns crimes weight based on their seriousness, which factors in sentences handed down by the courts. The violent crime severity index, meanwhile, increased from 112.47 in 2020 to last year’s 127.15. This is a 13.05 per cent increase year over year, which is much greater than the five per cent recorded nationally. It’s also more than double Greater Sudbury’s 2015 violent crime severity index of 64.49. Greater Sudbury’s non-violent crime severity index hit a six-year low of 68.81 last year, decreasing by 13.15 compared to the 79.23 recorded in 2020. Learn more here.
Masking to remain optional in Ontario schools in the fall
Ontario students will not be required to wear masks when they return to classrooms in the fall, the province confirms.The Ministry of Education says mask usage will be optional and most COVID-19 protocols will remain unchanged from when the 2021-22 school year ended in the spring.Masks will be provided to students and staff who want to keep wearing them and rapid antigen tests will also be made available to school boards. “Our government’s Plan to Catch Up is designed to keep students in safe classrooms without disruption, which is why we followed the expert advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, as kids return to class this September,” reads a statement from Education Minister Stephen Lecce. “Our government remains focused on providing students with a positive, safe, and normal school experience.” The Ministry says the health protocols for the 2022-23 school year were developed after consulting medical experts, including the Children’s Health Coalition. The province dropped the mask mandate for schools last March. Learn more here.
Weekend fire downtown now turned over to fire marshal
A fire that broke out the morning of Aug. 7 in downtown Sudbury has been turned over to the Fire Marshal’s office, Greater Sudbury Fire Services told Sudbury.com. The call about a fire on Maple Street in downtown Sudbury came in at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, said Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Nathan Melin. “There was no nobody in the structure when suppression crews arrived,” said Melin. “They did find the origin of the fire was located in the kitchen area, so they were able to quickly extinguish the fire in the kitchen area, but there was smoke migration throughout the entire home, which made it inhabitable for that evening, at least.” Melin said the single family dwelling was occupied but that no one was inside at the time crews arrived. But as fire services were not able to determine the cause of the fire, Melin said the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office was brought in as part of standard procedure. Learn more here.
Pursuit: Impact centreback has post-sec soccer in his sights
It wasn’t as though Carter Grenier was dragged kicking and screaming through his positional change in competitive soccer. Well, come to think of it, there may have been a fair bit of kicking involved for the talented centreback with the GSSC Impact U17 boys’ team. Screaming? - Hopefully not quite so much. “It was a difficult process for myself,” reflected the grade 12 student at Collège Notre-Dame. “I was always playing up top, playing winger, striker, midfield – somewhere where I could score goals. That’s what I loved doing.” “When I hit the competitive ages, I was the tallest kid on my team, so the coaches suggested putting me back on defense for my height and strength. I wasn’t a big fan of it – but I stuck with it.” That’s likely a good thing as the young man who first took the pitch at the age of four as part of the Nickel Centre Minor Soccer program in Falconbridge is now eyeing the possibility of playing at the post-secondary level, most certainly on the back-line, where he is now pretty much completely at home. Read the full story.
Dragon’s Den alum to speak at Sudbury conference this fall
A special economic development conference to bring together entrepreneurs and investors is to be held in Sudbury in September and will feature well-known Canadian entrepreneur and Dragon's Den television personality Manjit Minhas as a keynote speaker. The conference, called #Venture North 2022 is to take place at the Vale Cavern at Science North on Sept. 22. The event is being hosted jointly by the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation and Northern Ontario Angels, which is a pan-Northern non-profit group dedicated to creating partnerships between entrepreneurs and investors. Organizers said the event is something that should not be missed by anyone interested in creating investment and growing their business. Read the story on the Sudbury.com home page.
Wednesday weather:
Wednesday there will be a mix of sun and cloud. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 in the morning then light late in the afternoon. High 26. Humidex 32. UV index 8 or very high. Wednesday night there will be cloudy periods with a 60 per cent chance of showers. Low of 11 C.
