Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
City not spending nearly enough repairing roads, audit concludes:
Greater Sudbury's roads have deteriorated badly over the last decade, and the city hasn't been spending nearly enough to maintain them, says a new audit report from Auditor General Ron Foster. In particular, Foster's audit found the condition of all roads has gotten substantially worse since 2007, especially local and collector roads. He used what's known as the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), which evaluates the condition of the road based on roughness, rutting and structural condition on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being a brand-new street with no problems. On that index, Foster said local roads — the city's less busy roads — had a score of 46.3 out of 100 in 2016, compared to 63 in 2007, a drop of 27 per cent. Collector roads — which are busier than local roads — dropped from a score of 68.1 in 2007 to 48.7 in 2016, a 28 per cent drop. And the even busier arterial roads dropped from a score of 72.8 to 59.6 in the same time, or down 18 per cent. Full story can be found here.
Open for canna-business: Committee OKs plan for cannabis producers to operate in Sudbury:
In addition to allowing people to consume marijuana, legalization of cannabis presents communities with economic development opportunities, the city's planning committee heard Monday. The committee approved a motion directing staff to prepare bylaw amendments to include rules for businesses interested in producing or processing marijuana. Such businesses would be limited to land zoned for agriculture or zoned industrial and would be based partly on existing rules the city passed a few years ago for medicinal marijuana production. Get the full story here.
Police concerned about who will enforce animal cruelty laws:
With a deadline looming and no details yet from the province, police forces in Ontario are worried enforcement of animal cruelty laws will fall on them once the OSCPA stops its investigations June 29. Joe Couto, a spokesperson for the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said they are in contact with the government on the issue, but are expecting police will be impacted at least in the short term. The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced in March it would no longer investigate complaints after a January ruling by an Ontario Superior Court judge that some of the OSPCA's enforcement powers are unconstitutional. Ontario Superior Court Justice Timothy Minnema ruled Jan. 2 the provincial government was wrong to grant police powers to the OSPCA without also imposing reasonable standards of transparency and accountability. The society had been enforcing the laws since 1919, but now will transition to an animal-expertise resource for the government. More on this story here.
Hop to it! Blood donations needed over Easter weekend:
While many Canadians are on the hunt for the Easter Bunny, this coming holiday season the Greater Sudbury Kinettes, in partnership with Canadian Blood Services, is on the hunt for more blood donors. “More than half of all Canadians will either need blood themselves or will know someone that does,” said Jeanine De Gagne of the Greater Sudbury Kinettes. “Leading up to the Easter holidays is especially a difficult time for blood collections, so we are inviting Sudbury and area residents to join us in supporting Canada’s lifeline by making a commitment to donate”. The Kinettes have adopted the Sudbury Donor Centre the week of April 15 and are also hosting a special in-honour donation on Thursday, April 18 from 3–7 p.m. for the Johns family. In 2018, Olivia Johns was diagnosed with Rhesus Alloimmunization. Since birth, Olivia has had bloodwork done twice a week, and has needed one blood transfusion as she turned a month old. Currently, there are 351 appointments to fill in Sudbury the week of April 15-22. New and returning donors are encouraged to book an appointment to give life before or during the Easter long weekend to ensure patients receive the blood they need.
Lady Wolves are best in the province:
The Sudbury Lady Wolves Midget AA team continued their dominance ahead of hosting the 2019 Esso Cup by winning the OWHA Provincial Championships on the weekend. Boasting a 19-1-2 record to top the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League, the Lady Wolves made a statement that they're determined to become the first Esso Cup host to win gold in the 11-year history of Canada’s National Female Midget Championship. The Lady Wolves rolled through the preliminary round at the OWHA championships, winning all three of their group games while outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 11-1. Sudbury met the Kingston Ice Wolves in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semis with a 3-0 win. A pair of unbeaten teams met in the semi-finals as the Lady Wolves took on the Chatham Outlaws, who had surrendered just one goal in their first four games. The Lady Wolves managed to find some cracks in the Outlaws' armour, earning a 3-2 win and a berth in the finals. In the finals, the ladies took on the Stoney Creek Sabres and managed to complete their clean sweep of the competition, earning another 3-2 win to take the championship banner.
Sudbury's massive mining supply sector wants to be the voice of the North:
Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) is undergoing some major changes to broaden their reach. Among those changes will be a complete name change and new outreach strategy. The mining service sector in Northern Ontario isn't just about Sudbury, anymore, so it is making major changes to position itself as the unified voice for the whole of Northern Ontario. “We want to be a pan-Northern Ontario association,” said Paul Bradette, director of business development. “The board had discussed this with members last September and approved a growth strategy.” He added the acronym has diminished, adding most people wouldn't know what it stood for. The aim is to have at least one member from all five cities in the north, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Sudbury and Thunder Bay and a director for each city. They have increased membership overall in all those communities, Bradette said. More on this story here.
The Pothole Reporter: See a hole, report a hole with Sudbury.com:
Pothole season is here and Sudbury.com has partnered with Fuel Media to create an easy and convenient way for you to report potholes to the City of Greater Sudbury, right from your cellphone. You can find the Pothole Reporter by visiting Pothole.Sudbury.com. There you can upload photos and descriptions of the pothole you found, and the app will produce a report that you can send along to Tom Davies Square. Let's help the city not miss any potholes this year. Check with Sudbury.com every week day to find out what our Pothole Crew is up to. Drive safely out there.
Wednesday Weather:
Clear skies for most of the day. Sunny into the afternoon with a daytime high of 4. Clear into the evening with temperatures dropping rapidly overnight. Low expected to dip to -10 tonight, feeling like -14 with the wind chill. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
