Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Laurentian's exit from insolvency
Terminated by Laurentian University in 2021 as part of the university’s insolvency restructuring, professor emeritus of physics Eduardo Galiano-Riveros is calling on LU for a formal apology for what happened. A year ago, on Nov. 28, 2022, Laurentian University exited insolvency under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA) after 22 months. While the university’s leadership has changed since LU entered creditor protection in early 2021, Galiano-Riveros wants an apology on Laurentian’s behalf from the current team, given the “destruction” of fellow professors’ careers and the disruption to students’ studies. He asks that this happen “sooner rather than later — in other words, when it makes the most sense — come out with a formal apology for what you did to our colleagues.” Sudbury.com reached out to Laurentian University this week on the topic of a possible apology, but had not received a response to our query as of this article’s publication.
Greater Sudbury pools en route for slip to ‘poor’ status by 2030
Similar to other areas of municipal infrastructure, Greater Sudbury’s pools are being underfunded. In order to maintain municipal pools in their current “fair” condition, the city would need to spend approximately $601,518 per year on maintenance/asset renewal efforts for the next 10 years, according to a report by a team of consultants the city enlisted. Their report has been tabled for the Dec. 5 city council meeting. The city’s draft budget allocates approximately one-tenth of this funding requirement, with only $62,000 set aside per year for pool projects between 2024-27. Various larger-scale capital projects are also recommended, including such things as roof replacements, foundation repair, change room renewal and other building/equipment replacement/upgrades, totalling $17.7 million across all five pools in the next 10 years.
Inner City Home recovering after weekend break-in
Joe Drago, president of the Inner-City Home of Sudbury said the staff at the emergency food bank have had a range of emotions this past weekend. On the night of Nov. 24, Inner-City Home was celebrating a successful food drive at the Sudbury Wolves game. Then Nov. 26, they suffered a break-in that left their building in need of repairs, equipment needing replacements, a new security system, but also, left the staff very concerned this holiday season. “They just went into the office, they kicked in the door and the glass and went through the back door,” said Drago, calling the act “a malicious ploy” because the alleged thieves didn’t steal food. “I thought if they were hungry, they would break in and want something to eat. But it was destruction they wanted.” Drago said the break-in cost them their phones, both landline and mobile, as well as all the computers and cash in the office. The laptop taken contained confidential client information, as well as donor information.
Pursuit: Holly Heikkila is finding her way in the stirrups
No pain, no gain. This four-word axiom is as overused as any in the landscape of sport and athletics, though it seems unlikely that the first image that would spring to mind for most is that of a horse and rider in an equestrian ring. But after smashing her face off the neck of her horse, bouncing some two feet out of saddle and crashing directly through a jump (though not all at the same time), 13-year-old Holly Heikkila had the bumps and bruises to prove there was a price to be paid as she introduced CET (Canadian Equestrian Team) Medal shows into her competitive regimen. CET is a style of horse jumping competition. While the hunter class (horses judged on style and movement throughout a course) and jumper class (horse/rider judged on speed of completion of a course with as few faults as possible) are the most common equestrian events, sub-categories that include equitation (the judging of the form of the rider) and the medal class (equitation with a few additional tests of the rider/horse built in) are also available as options for fans of equestrianism. The payoff, however, when she came out the other side a few months later was a trip to the prestigious Royal Horse Show in Toronto, during the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair earlier this month (Ella Palladino – Pursuit feature for July 22, 2022 – also represented Foothills Farm at the event, albeit in a different class).
Verma leaving as NOSM U president
Dr. Sarita Verma will not continue as the head of NOSM University after her first term as president expires next year. The medical school quietly announced Verma’s upcoming departure in a statement posted to its website on Monday, acknowledging her "five years of dedicated leadership." The statement indicated Verma had "declined the offer of reappointment" with NOSM. She will continue to serve as the university's president, vice-chancellor, dean and CEO through the end of her first term in June 2024. NOSM’s board of governors will launch a search committee to identify a replacement, the school said.
Annual festive RIDE campaign is officially launched
It's that time of year again when police and other civil authorities send out the message that impaired driving is just not acceptable any more. In fact, police are encouraging members of the public to grab a phone and call in when they suspect a driver is impaired. That was part of the message Nov. 28 during the launch of the annual campaign to Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE), especially for the upcoming festive season in Sudbury and other parts of Northeastern Ontario. The launch event was held on Walford Road at the DJ Hancock Memorial Park, a place created in honour of a Sudbury teen who died in 2014 in a crash caused by an impaired driver. Ontario Provincial Police Const. Rob Lewis of the Sudbury detachment told the gathering that impaired driving in any form is not acceptable yet every year police and other groups speak out against impaired driving.
