Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Flip the switch! Watch the Festival of Lights go bright on Nov. 25:
Once again, the Sudbury Charities Foundation will add festive sparkle to the season with the launch of the 2018 Festival of Lights at Science North on Nov. 25. Volunteers (including from Greater Sudbury Hydro, the Cambrian Power-Line Technician Program and the Francophone Boy Scouts) have spent the past few weeks getting the festive lights display set up on the grounds of Science North. Now, they’re inviting you to come on down and watch the lights go on this coming Sunday. Things get going at 4 p.m. on Nov. 25 inside Science North with face-painting, some holiday science and a visit from Santa Claus. The lights will be turned on for the first time this season shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday.
OPSEU members urging Ontarians to help keep LCBO public:
A small group of OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) members were joined by Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas for an educational picket at the LCBO on Long Lake Road on Friday. The group was promoting the website keepitpublic.ca, a site that does the majority of the legwork in sending an email to your local MPP to keep the LCBO public. "We're here to let people know that we expect Premier Ford to push to put liquor and wine and beer in stores and privatize the sale of alcohol," said Gélinas. "With more access to alcohol there is an increased risk to young people, and the LCBO brings in $1.8 billion per year for the province, which helps to fund important services." Shoppers passing through the LCBO stopped to chat with Gélinas and OPSEU members and were given cards with the message "The LCBO belongs to us - the people of Ontario. We trust it to keep our kids and communities safe." Emails sent through keepitpublic.ca will go to Premier Ford and Finance Minister Vic Fedelli. Full story here.
Someone made off with two fuel buggies from a highway construction site:
The Sudbury OPP is hoping the public has some information that will lead them to the culprit or culprits who made off with two fuel buggies from a construction site on Highway 17 in Markstay-Warren. Officers were called out to the site — located between Markstay and Hagar — at approximately 9:43 a.m. on Nov. 19, meaning the theft likely occurred sometime on the weekend, between Nov. 16 and Nov. 19. The fuel buggies are basically 10- to 12-foot trailers with a square metal container on top, the fuel cell. The cells hold approximately 1,000 litres of fuel. Both were red in color. The estimated value of both buggies combined is $18,000 plus approximately $1,500 in fuel. Any person with information regarding this incident should immediately contact the Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122 or their nearest police authority.
Fatal transport incidents spike: Be glad you weren't on the highway with this truck:
Ever wonder why northern roads are so dangerous? OPP are investigating a transport truck that lost two tires on Nov. 17 between Hearst and North Bay. The driver is charged with "Operate Unsafe Vehicle." The Northeast has seen fatal transport incidents go from one in the first six months of 2017 to nine in from January to early July 2018. Vince Hawkes, the OPP commissioner, says the OPP has never been more committed to its Commercial Motor Vehicle Collision Mitigation Strategy. “We continue to work diligently with our road safety and trucking industry partners toward our goal of reducing the number of transport truck collisions on our roads,” said Hawkes in a release. Among the 1,342 fatal motor vehicle collisions on OPP-patrolled roads between 2012 and 2016, 266 involved transport trucks say the OPP. During the same five-year period, 330 people died. The majority of victims were occupants of other involved vehicles. According to OPP data, 44 of the crash victims were drivers of the transport trucks, compared to 286 victims who were in cars and other smaller vehicles.
Why did he run? SIU clears GSPS officers after odd slow pursuit ends in broken bone:
Greater Sudbury Police did nothing wrong in November 2017 when a man broke his collarbone during an arrest outside a New Sudbury Mall. The province's police watchdog released their investigation into the incident Friday. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) automatically investigates cases when there's a significant injury or death when the public has an interaction with police. In this case, police found the 44-year-old man fast asleep inside a car outside of Lowe's on Marcus Drive at 2:39 a.m. on Nov. 16, 2017. “The police officers shone a light into the car and were able to rouse the sleeping male, the complainant, who awoke and appeared disoriented,” the incident narrative from the SIU reads. “The complainant panicked at the sight of the officers, put his vehicle into reverse, and backed away from the police vehicle at slow speed.” Police pursued, also at slow speed, with their lights flashing. The man continued to back up slowly, but snow covered his rear window and was unable to see where he was going. “He backed into a storage shed in the Lowe’s parking lot,” the report said. “The complainant then exited his vehicle and ran.” Now that he had damaged Lowe's property in the parking lot, police pursued him and a foot chase ensued. “The complainant ignored the SO's (subject officer's) direction to stop running and, on varying accounts in the evidence, was either tackled from behind by the SO or had his jacket grabbed by the SO, resulting in both falling to the ground with the SO landing on top of the complainant,” the report said. “As both men fell, the complainant’s torso made contact with the ground, fracturing his collarbone.” An ambulance was called, and the man was diagnosed at HSN with the fractured bone, and had a cut above his eyebrow.
Meet the Five this Saturday at Science North
Science North is hosting the Sudbury Five Basketball Club on Nov. 24 for a meet and greet with the players and coaches. The team will be on hand to interact with the public, sign autographs, and take photos with guests. The Sudbury Five are coming off the team’s opening road weekend, where they won games in Windsor and Kitchener, with Five guard Jaylen Bland being named the league's player of the week. The team followed up their fast start on the road by knocking off the London Lightning on home court on Thursday. Head Coach and General Manager Logan Stutz and Associate Head Coach Kyle Beers will be present, as well as the team’s full roster, including Jaylen Bland, Braylon Rayson, Adam Blazek, Antoine Chandler, Cory Dixon, Devin Gilligan, Grandy Glaze, Alex Henry, Dexter Williams Jr., Walter Pitchford, Travis Releford, Georges Serresse, and Tyrrel Tate. Players and coaches will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Liberals have spent $8M on Sudbury housing since 2016:
In a news release Thursday, Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre said the governing Liberals have spent almost $8 million on local housing projects since 2016. The spending includes $4.7 million to extend non-profit and co-operative housing agreements in Sudbury; $2.8 million directly to social housing in Sudbury through the Reno and Retrofit Social Infrastructure Fund; $195,000 directly to seniors in 2017-2018 through the Affordable Housing for Seniors Social Infrastructure Fund; and, $318,000 for on-reserve housing through the First Nations Reno & Retrofit Social Infrastructure Fund. As well, more than $11 million has been invested in First Nation’s in Non-Profit On-Reserve housing in the riding of Timmins-James Bay since 2016, the release said. Full story can be found here.
Introducing Fast Break With The Five: This week's MVP Jaylen Bland kicks off new video series:
The Sudbury Five are off to a flying start in their inaugural season in the National Basketball League of Canada. The team has jumped out to a 3-0 start and sit atop the standings thanks to wins over the Windsor Express, Kitchener-Waterloo Titans and London Lightning. While the players have been lighting it up on the court, Sudbury.com is taking you behind the scenes to get to know the players off the court. In our debut episode, reporter Matt Durnan chats with Five guard and leading scorer Jaylen Bland. Jaylen has been on fire to start the season and earned NBL Canada Player of the Week honours in week one of the season. Find out who Jaylen thinks is the biggest trash talker on the team, who's the worst dressed, and how much he knows about his hometown Michigan Wolverines. Check out the video here.
