Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Far-reaching impact: Computer virus at HSN affects 24 hospitals across North:
Health Sciences North's CEO said there is no evidence to suggest that privacy of patient information has been breached as a result of the virus that has impacted hospital operations. As a preventive measure, systems at HSN were put on downtime, successfully avoiding dissemination of the virus, said HSN, said Dominic Giroux in a series of tweets. "We have no evidence to suggest that privacy of patient information has been breached," Giroux tweeted. The impact has been far reaching, too, as 24 Northeastern Ontario hospitals have been impacted by the virus. Earlier Thursday, hospital spokesperson Jason Turnbull said the virus is not a ransomware attack on the hospital. Giroux called it a "zero-day virus", which basically means the virus is previously unknown and antivirus software is not available to catch it. Full story can be found here.
Generosity continues: Lily Fielding donates Group of Seven painting to Laurentian:
Laurentian University received a generous donation from long-time supporter and friend Lily Fielding on Jan. 17. University executives, local politicians, and Lily herself all gathered in the Brenda Wallace Reading Room inside the J.N. Desmarais Library Thursday afternoon for the unveiling of a painting that was donated by Fielding. The piece, entitled "La Cloche", was painted by Group of Seven artist Franklin Carmichael and is now part of a growing collection of works by Group of Seven artists that adorn the walls of the Brenda Wallace Reading Room. More on this story can be found here.
Accused in Sweeney killing returns to court Feb. 14:
The man accused in the 1998 murder of Renee Sweeney made his fourth appearance Thursday in Greater Sudbury court. Robert Steven Wright, 39, appeared by video from Sudbury Jail, wearing a prison orange jumpsuit and sporting an increasingly bushy beard. Wright briefly conferred by phone with his lawyer, Berk Keaney. Lawyers have private chats with their clients in video remand court by stepping into a sound-proof booth located to the left side of the courtroom. The client allows the phone to ring three times before they pick it up. At that point, the jail guard leaves the room and the live video feed stops until the conversation is complete. While there is a publication ban in place on the details of what was discussed Thursday, Wright will be back in court Feb. 14 for an update on his bail hearing, which begins Feb. 19.
Doug Ford's Tories eliminate free tuition for low-income students:
Ontario's Progressive Conservative government is eliminating free tuition for students from low-income families while also cutting tuition fees. The Ontario Student Assistance Plan grants had become unsustainable and it was time to refocus it to provide help to students in the most financial need, said Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Merrliee Fullerton. "The previous government believed in handing out OSAP money to some of Ontario's highest income earners with virtually no meaningful criteria for success," she said. The previous Liberal government increased the number of grants and made it possible for low-income students to attend college or university free of cost. But the auditor general found last month that costs for that program jumped by 25 per cent and warned it could grow to $2 billion annually by 2020-21. Under the Liberal plan, families earning up to $175,000 could qualify for some funding and that threshold is now reduced to $140,000. Low-income students could qualify for grants large enough to cover the full cost of tuition under the previous plan, but now a portion of the funding they receive will be a loan. Most of the grants will go to students whose families have an income of less than $50,000. At the same time, tuition fees are being cut, the government announced. The current tuition fee framework, which has capped increases for most programs at three per cent, expires at the end of this academic year. Under a new framework, tuition would decrease by 10 per cent for the 2019-2020 year, then be frozen for the following year.
Gentili: Doug Ford’s Bill 66 attacks the exact wrong kind of red tape:
Sudbury.com managing editor Mark Gentili takes a closer look at Doug Ford's Bill 66 in his column this week. "Premier Doug Ford, like many a populist before him, hates red tape. There’s nothing new in the premier’s reasoning for his hatred. Red tape is making Ontario uncompetitive. Onerous government legislation is making Ontario closed for business," writes Gentili. "But it seems that for the premier and his Tories, the simplest solution to red tape isn’t to repeal legislation (which would take years), but to build some big scissors and let municipalities cut the red tape themselves. The proposed set of scissors is Bill 66, also known by the so-on-the-nose moniker Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act. The bill would hand municipalities an awfully big, awfully sharp set of scissors. The bill has not been passed by the Ontario legislature." Read the full column here.
Faculty union: Special treatment for Dominic Giroux breaks collective agreement:
Laurentian University Faculty Association President Fabrice Colin says the union is keeping up its fight to learn details of the deal Dominic Giroux signed with LU when he left to become CEO of Health Sciences North in 2017. Colin said Wednesday the agreement raises all sorts of long-term questions and violates the collective agreement between LUFA and the university. As reported by Sudbury.com on Wednesday, when Giroux resigned as LU president in 2017, the Laurentian University Board of Governors agreed to make him a full professor, made him a member of the faculty union and put him on unpaid leave for an undetermined period of time. In addition, should Giroux decide to return to Laurentian, he would be immediately entitled to a full year's paid leave. In a statement Thursday, Laurentian University said it could not comment on any specifcs on Giroux's exit agreement. But Josée Campeau-Rousselle, a communications office with Laurentian, said in an email that there was nothing unusual about such agreements. More on this story can be found here.
Second annual Women's March takes place Saturday:
Sudbury's second annual Women's March happens Saturday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. For the second year, Sudburians will march in solidarity with women and human rights groups from across the world. This event is accessible, open, and inclusive. The march happens snow or shine. Participants are gathering in the York Street parking lot across from Bell Park at 10:45 a.m. for remarks from Tammy Gaber and Emily Caruso Parnell. The march will follow at 11 a.m., where participants will begin the walk down the sidewalk along Paris Street over the Bridge of Nations and back. Additional details are available on the group's Facebook event page, and will continue to be updated there as the date approaches. Free hot chocolate will be available to all marchers through the generous donation of Tim Hortons (Kingsway, Algonquin and Martindale locations). Anybody looking for more information should visit their Facebook event or send an email to Amanda Kingsley Malo at [email protected].
Friday Weather:
Mainly sunny Friday with some chilly temperatures. Temperature will be steady near -13 today, feeling like -23 with the wind chill. Clear skies tonight, becoming partly cloudy near midnight. Overnight low will dip to -26, feeling like -36 with the wind chill. There is a risk of frostbite. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
