Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Bigger backs out of mayoral race
In a public statement issued this afternoon, Mayor Brian Bigger has announced he is stepping away from this year’s mayoral race. Bigger cited family reasons as his key reason to back away, and that his mother’s health is now failing. With Bigger out of the race, it’s down to eight candidates: Evelyn Dutrisac, Don Gravelle, Bob Johnston, Devin Labranche, Paul Lefebvre, Miranda Rocca-Circelli, Mila Wong.
Rocca-Circelli attempts to shake ‘convoy’ reputation
Past support for the so-called “Freedom Convoy” of people opposed to vaccine mandates has come back to dog mayoral candidate Miranda Rocca-Circelli on the campaign trail. During Monday’s mayoral town hall at the Indie Cinema, she was asked where she now stands several months after the convoy movement started, having expressed support for it in the past. “I do have views that mean I support all people in our community and we consider everyone’s needs and that we start to come together collaboratively, and I think stop adding to the divisiveness,” she said during the event, also clarifying a public statement would come soon. The written statement was released today, in which Rocca-Circelli claims, “I did not support a ‘Truck Convoy.’” This contradicts her past social media activity, including both overt support and posts supporting various anti-mandate messages the convoy movement promoted.
Greater Sudbury Santa Claus Parade returns Nov. 19
The Greater Sudbury Santa Claus Parade committee has announced that this year’s parade is happening starting at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19. The local Santa Claus parade was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the parade is returning this year after last running in 2019. The parade organizers said the parade will close the downtown core to vehicular traffic from approximately 5-8 p.m. Nov. 19. Parking will not be allowed along the parade route. The southbound lanes of Notre Dame Avenue will also be closed between Kathleen and Ste. Anne road starting at 1 p.m. that day. A press conference will be held at a later date with more details.
Blezard Valley ‘scream park’ returns for another year
Brace yourselves! Northern Screams Attractions, the creepily creative terror team that brought you last year’s "Blezard Valley: Fields of Fear" scream park has expanded and created some new attractions for this year. The haunt is scheduled to open on Friday, October 7 over Thanksgiving weekend and will then run nightly from Thursday to Saturday for the month of October at the Carrefour Sen. Rheal Belisle Cultural Centre, 2777 Main Street in Blezard Valley. A day of backpacking to the hostel for the annual carnival has a deadly end. You can check into the hostel, but you might not check out. "Last year our scream park concept was well received by patrons and based on their feedback we have created some new experiences and added some major enhancements to our scares," said Robby Lavoie, owner of Northern Screams Attractions, in a press release.
Laurentian creditors owed $116M sat out debt plan vote
A small number of creditors representing a large chunk of Laurentian University’s debt declined to vote at the recent meeting on the university’s plan of arrangement. Regardless, as reported last month, the plan of arrangement was approved by the university’s creditors. The detailed results of the plan of arrangement vote are included in the most recent report on Laurentian’s insolvency put out by Ernst & Young, the firm acting as the court-apponted monitor of the university’s restructuring. (If you’re interested in this section of the report, check out pages 18 and 19, as well as the minutes of the meeting, beginning at page 82). A plan of arrangement is essentially a plan put forward by an insolvent organization to pay out its creditors, and it must be approved by these creditors. The Ernst & Young report said 606 affected creditors holding proven claims with an aggregate value of nearly $179 million (specifically $178,893,641) attended the Sept. 14 plan of arrangement vote either in person or by proxy.
Planning committee approves 179-unit housing development
A 179-unit housing development in the Minnow Lake neighbourhood has been approved following a more than four-hour discussion dominating Monday’s planning committee meeting. A few-dozen community members came out to oppose the project during the marathon meeting at council chambers, which chair and Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan said aided in their decision. “We have to start listening to the people,” he said, adding that the development as proposed made sense from a technical perspective, but that it would have affected the “character” of the neighbourhood. In the end, the committee opted to increase the parking requirement from one spot per unit to 1.25 and restrict building heights to being within 11 metres – approximately three storeys. The plan presented to Monday’s committee was proposed to include three five-storey builds.
Pretty nice day in the forecast
Expect a high of 20 today under mostly sunny skies. Clouds should clear over the morning with fog patches dissipating as well. The wind will be southwesterly at 20 km/h in the morning. The UV index today is four, or moderate. Tonight, expect increasing cloudiness and a low of 11.
