Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Body found near Tilton Lake Rd. that of missing Val Caron woman Amanda Oake:
The Nipissing West OPP have confirmed the body found near Tilton Lake Road in Greater Sudbury last week is that of 40-year-old missing woman Amanda Oake of Val Caron. The OPP did not provide any information about the cause of Oake’s death, but said the investigation is continuing under the direction of the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch. Oake’s body was found Dec. 8, and a post-mortem was conducted by the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Sudbury Dec. 14. A missing person’s report about Oake put out by Greater Sudbury Police Dec. 7 said she had last been seen Nov. 28. Greater Sudbury Police also put out a press release about Oake’s death Wednesday afternoon with much the same information as the OPP, although GSPS said the woman’s body was found in a wooded area off of Wavy Lake Road. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Amanda,” the Greater Sudbury Police press release said. More on this story here.
Woman charged with attempted murder after early morning stabbing at Pine Street residence:
A 40-year-old woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder Wednesday morning, after police responded to a weapons complaint at a residential building on Pine Street. Greater Sudbury Police Services received a call regarding a weapons complaint at around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 15. Police were provided with information that a man had been stabbed and that the person responsible was still in the building. Officers arrived on scene and found a man who had suffered a serious stab wound. The 30-year-old man was immediately transported to hospital by paramedic services and he remains in hospital in stable condition. Through the investigation it was determined that the individual responsible was inside one of the units in the building. Officers made entry into the building and took a 40-year-old woman into custody for attempted murder. Police believe that this was an isolated incident as the two individuals are known to each other. The woman attended bail court Wednesday to answer to the charge.
HSN offers first-in-the-North virtual emergency room service:
Greater Sudbury area residents who have a non-life threatening medical emergency are being invited to take part in a new "virtual emergency department" being offered at Health Sciences North. Residents can log in to the new service here to be connected to the hospital online, in French or English. HSN said access can be done through a computer, tablet or smartphone. Patients will be asked to fill out a form requesting a same-day appointment. The hospital said patients will be contacted by a nurse within one hour to have their situation assessed. That's when a video appointment can be set up with a physician, or if necessary, the patient will be asked to visit the hospital emergency department in person. Part of the reason for the new service is that some people were reluctant to visit the hospital for fear of coming into contact with COVID-19, said the hospital. Get the full story here.
Devoted Sudbury volunteer Bev Brisco receives prestigious June Callwood Award:
Sudbury volunteer Bev Brisco cried for two days when she learned she would be presented with the June Callwood Award for her work with Maison McCulloch Hospice. “I’m very honoured that the hospice did this for me,” Brisco said, adding that she did not expect anything like this at all. A former manager at Sears and Sears Home, Brisco is receiving the award as she deals with a serious illness. She is a member of the Sudbury Hospice Foundation board, and was the chair of the hospice’s annual fundraising gala for five years. "The essence of our hospice is caring and sharing,” said Gerry Lougheed Jr., chair of the Sudbury Hospice Foundation board, which nominated Brisco for the award. “Bev Brisco embodies these qualities as a leader and committed volunteer in helping others. Bev brings the light of love to the darkness of this weary world." Beyond her work with the hospice, Brisco is also a well-known volunteer with the Northern Cancer Foundation, and was part of Angels in Pink, and team of Sudburians who raised money for breast cancer equipment and a van that takes women to and from breast screening appointments. Sudbury.com surprised Brisco with an Act of Kindness back in 2018 for her work on behalf of those battling cancer. You can watch that video and read more on this story here.
Three more cases of COVID-19 reported by Public Health:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts reported three more positive cases of COVID-19 in their Dec. 16 update. The three cases are all from Greater Sudbury and currently have missing information or information pending as to how the person came into contact with the virus. There have been a total of 250 positive cases of COVID-19 in Greater Sudbury, Sudury District and Manitoulin District since March. With the three latest cases and no resolved cases on Dec. 16, Greater Sudbury has 11 active cases of COVID-19. Since its last report, PHSD performed 79 tests, for a total of 118,855 since March.
Public Health: HSN identified as potential hub for COVID-19 vaccine:
While there is no official word yet on how the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be distributed in Northern Ontario, there is the possibility that Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury will become one of the distribution hubs as described by the Ontario government. There is also the possibility that Northerners might have to wait for the Moderna Vaccine. Initially two pilot vaccine sites, the University Health Network in Toronto and the Ottawa Hospital are to be set up, followed by several hospital locations, said the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force in a document released last week. Also last week Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) was discussing the vaccine distribution plan for this area and indicated that HSN is a likely choice. "Vaccine storage is also co-ordinated locally with Health Sciences North as it has been identified by the province as a potential site for the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine," said part of the PHSD news release. Find the full story here.
Study of more than 70K people identifies serious medical conditions linked to COVID-19:
A newly published medical study has identified several life-threatening medical conditions that are "significantly associated" with COVID-19. The study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal was done to identify and confirm potential complications, and previously unknown complications, associated with patients who had the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness. The results of the study indicated that viral pneumonia, respiratory failure, acute kidney failure and sepsis as being among the conditions that showed strong association with COVID-19 with high absolute risk. The study said the results can be used to guide future prognosis (forecasting the likely course or outcome of a disease), treatment decisions and patient counselling. The study said the results used data from United States health claims sourced from the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). The study looked at more than 70,000 COVID-19 patients. More on this story here.
Monolith appears, then disappears, on Kalmo Rd. in Val Caron:
One of the weirder series of occurrences in 2020 have been the “monoliths” appearing around the world after the discovery of the so-called Utah monolith, a metal structure placed in a remote canyon in Utah. The monoliths have been compared to the monolith that appeared in the 1968 science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, giving rise to speculation about extraterrestrials. Thanks to Val Caron residents Randy and Julie Legault, Greater Sudbury now has its own monolith. Randy explains that his wife was fascinated by the reports of monoliths appearing around the world. So on a whim, he decided earlier this week he was going to build her a monolith out of wood and some leftover roofing metal. It only took him about 45 minutes to build the monolith. Get the full story here.
Thursday Weather:
Sunny skies today with more chilly temperatures. Thursday's high will be -11, feeling like -27 with the wind chill this morning. Clear skies overhead tonight with the temperature dipping below -20. Overnight low will hit -22, feeling like -26 with the wind. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
