Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Costco gas pumps could open as soon as Friday
The 24-pump gas station at Sudbury’s Costco location on The Kingsway is expected to open soon. A local representative affirmed their goal is to open the pumps by Dec. 9, but that the date is not set in stone – a point a construction worker on site also shared, noting they would open “soon”. Sudbury.com connected with GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan last year for insight on the Costco pumps’ impact on local gas prices. “I have not seen a case where a new Costco comes in and does not dramatically undercut nearby stations,” he said at the time. “Over time, in many areas and many instances, Costco remains very aggressive compared to its competition.” Although Costco typically undercuts competitors’ prices, De Haan said it shouldn’t be aggressive enough to drive anyone out of business, in part because of the requirement that customers carry a Costco membership. Also, he said, they’re known for having long lines due to their low prices.
Bull moose shot, carcass abandoned near Westree
Conservation officers are investigating as they try to determine who shot and killed a bull moose and then abandoned the animal’s body near Westree last month. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said they were alerted to the dead animal on Nov. 11. “The bull moose had been shot and abandoned a few days earlier and left on Lampman Road in Lampman Township, off the Amyot Road south of Highway 560,” MNRF said in a news release. The ministry is looking to identify those responsible for the killing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the ministry tip-line toll free at 1-877-847-766, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Fired Laurentian faculty ask for public inquiry
In light of Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s findings in her value-for-money audit on Laurentian University, a group of faculty terminated during LU’s insolvency restructuring have a few demands. After 22 months, Laurentian University finally exited creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA) on Nov. 28. The Terminated Faculty Committee has three demands addressed to the provincial government and Laurentian’s administration and board. First, the professors are asking that they be fully reinstated to their former jobs. “As the Auditor General has painstakingly catalogued, we were terminated wholly unjustly and unnecessarily, and we ask that the new Board and Administration of Laurentian, and the Government of Ontario recognize the injustice done to us, to the programs we provided, and to the students we taught,” said the press release.
Man stabbed last week in Notre Dame Boys parking lot
Greater Sudbury Police are asking for the public’s assistance to locate two men allegedly involved in a stabbing on Notre Dame Avenue last week. Around 12:45 a.m. on Nov. 30, officers responded to a convenience store on Notre Dame Avenue in relation to a weapons complaint, as a man required immediate medical attention after an altercation with two men. When officers arrived on scene, they located a 51-year-old man who had sustained a stab wound as a result of the altercation. He was transported to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. Through the investigation, it was determined that the altercation took place around 12:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Notre Dame Boys on Notre Dame Avenue. The two men then fled on foot and the injured man headed to the convenience store in order to call for help.
Pursuit: Nickel City U13 squad headed to Int’l Silver Stick
A grand total of 23 teams representing the Nickel City Hockey Association, the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association and the Copper Cliff Minor Hockey Association participated in the Sudbury Regional Silver Stick playdowns over the last two weekends. Only one advanced, earning the right to battle it out in International Silver Stick play come early 2023. A shutout performance from netminder Braeden Thibault and a third period tally from Mason Hampel, on a penalty kill, no less, was just enough to allow the Nickel City U13 AA Jr Sons to slip past the Toronto East Enders 1-0 in their final in Copper Cliff on Sunday afternoon. Given the numbers outlined above, this is a very big deal for a group of kids who are assembled from a couple of different 2021-2022 sources, given the decision locally to combine the NCHA and SMHA efforts into a singular AAA team at the U12 and U13 levels this winter. “It’s probably one of the only tournaments that I know of that if you win, you basically get rewarded with another one (tournament),” noted 12-year-old right-winger Alex Proulx.
NDP try again to make Medical Officer of Health independent
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) should have no perceived ties to the governing party in the Ontario Legislature, said Official Opposition health critic France Gélinas. Gélinas has partnered with New Democrat MPP Bhutila Karpoche (Parkdale-High Park) to table a private member’s bill that would make the chief medical officer an independent officer of the Ontario Legislature. Currently in Ontario, the CMOH is accountable to both the governing Minister of Health and to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Ontario is the only province in Canada where this is the case, said a new release from the New Democrats on Monday. If their bill is passed, the Public Health Accountability Act (In Honour of Dr. Sheela Basrur) would also strike a select committee in the event of a public health emergency. The committee would provide a forum for elected officials to ask questions of and hear directly from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, said the release.
Flurries, risk of freezing drizzle today
Expect a cloudy day with a 40-per-cent chance of flurries and a risk of freezing drizzle this morning. Today’s high will be around 0, though it is expected to cool off to -4 in the morning before rising again. A wind of 15 km/h is also expected, with a wind chill of -8 in the morning. Tonight, periods of snow will end after midnight, then mainly cloudy. The wind will be northerly at 20 km/h then lightening after midnight. The overnight low is -11 with a -5 wind chill in the evening and a -17 wind chill overnight.