Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Triple murder trial begins in Sudbury Superior court
Jury selection began in Sudbury Superior court March 18 for the trial of the last of five men charged in connection with a 2021 fatal fire on Bruce Avenue. Liam Stinson is facing three counts of being party to first-degree murder, and one count each of party to the offence of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and party to an offence of arson - disregard for human life. The charges stem from a fire that broke out in a residence on Bruce Avenue in the early morning hours of April 11, 2021. Four individuals were inside the Bruce Avenue housing unit where the fire originated, which was determined to be deliberately set. On Monday, Stinson pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Sudbury man found guilty of trafficking a person under 18
A Sudbury man has been found guilty on the eight charges he faced, including trafficking a person under 18. The decision in the case was delivered March 18. Paul Castonguay was also charged with receiving a financial or other material benefits – derived directly or indirectly from the trafficking of a person; procuring; material benefit from sexual services; assault causing bodily harm: chokes, suffocates or strangles; two counts of assault; indecent acts; possession of property obtained by crime (under $5,000) and breach of undertaking. Castonguay, through his defence attorney Dennis Michel, told Justice Pierre Bradley that he wished to concede guilt on the charge of indecent acts. A video showing Castonguay exposing himself to the public was offered as evidence at his last appearance on Jan. 3. Bradley found Castonguay guilty of all the other charges.
Southern Ontario woman arrested for Brebeuf Ave shooting
An arrest has been made for the March 10 shooting on Brebeuf Avenue that left a man in critical condition. With the assistance of Toronto Police Service, a 24-year-old woman was arrested in Southern Ontario on March 14 and transported back to Sudbury. She is facing numerous firearms and drug offences. It was just after 6 p.m. on March 10 that officers were dispatched to a weapons complaint in the area of Brebeuf Avenue. When police arrived, they found an injured man with what they believed to be a gunshot wound. On March 11, GSPS released additional information on the incident. Police said officers had been dispatched to a residence on Davidson Street in the Uptown neighbourhood at around 5:15 p.m. that Sunday for a weapons complaint, as well as a report that a person had been shot and needed medical attention.
Sudbury home prices up 15.5% year-over-year
Ontario home prices stabilized in February, ending a five-month fall that began last summer, figures released by the Canadian Real Estate Association Monday show. On a year-over-year basis, the average single-family home in the province sold for $947,000 in February, up 2.5 per cent from the average of $923,800 they sold for in February of 2023. Within Ontario, sales in the North continued to show much stronger growth than those elsewhere in the province. Single-family homes in the Sault were up 8.8 per cent year-over-year, and those in Sudbury were up 15.5 per cent. The numbers are seasonally adjusted and do not take inflation into account. Inflation, depending on what measure you choose, is running at between 3.4 and 3.7 per cent.
Pets & Animals: Ontario still hasn't banned cosmetic surgery for pets
Last month in the news, you may have read that Quebec had become the latest province to ban cosmetic surgeries on animals. This is not new to the veterinary world. In fact, most provinces have implemented these bans years ago. Ontario, however, is the only province yet to implement any such regulations. Cosmetic surgeries are defined as surgical alteration of any animal for purely cosmetic reasons. Examples of these surgeries include: declawing, dewclaw removal, tail docking and ear cropping. Tail-docking and ear-cropping practices date back to the Roman Empire where tail docking was initiated to help decrease the spread of rabies, and ear cropping was started to prevent injury during fighting and hunting. The practice continued as a means of preventing injury in working breeds, particularly those used for hunting and herding, preventing ear infections and breed conformity.
Committee near unanimous, OKs revised New Sudbury subdivision
The revised next phase of a New Sudbury subdivision consisting of 172 semi-detached units was greenlit by a near-unanimous planning committee on Monday. Several area residents pre-empted the vote by speaking out against Dalron Construction Ltd.’s revised Royal Oaks/Nickeldale subdivision phase during the meeting’s public hearing. Among their chief concerns were the loss of informal greenspace on Dalron-owned property and added traffic to area streets — namely, Forestdale Drive and Montrose Avenue. Despite these concerns, Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann was alone in voting against the revised subdivision plan.
