Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Council Oks online, paper ballots for 2022 election:
To the surprise of no one, city council voted Tuesday to offer voters a mix of online and paper ballots for the 2022 election, following the meltdown of Internet voting in 2018. City Clerk Eric Labelle said adding the paper option on voting day will cost about $600,000 more than the online only option, although that amount could come down when the city issues the actual RFP closing to the vote. That would bring the cost of voting equipment and services to about $900,000. The move comes after the well-publicized problems with the October 2018 election, when the Internet provider used by Dominion Voting limited bandwidth, slowing voting to a crawl in dozens of municipalities. Some, like Sudbury, extended voting for another day. More on this story here.
Snow, ice pellets, and freezing rain could hit Sudbury on Thursday:
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Greater Sudbury and vicinity. Snow and ice pellets could hit the city beginning Thursday afternoon changing to freezing rain Thursday evening. Precipitation will move into Northeastern Ontario beginning Thursday afternoon. The precipitation is likely to begin as snow before changing to ice pellets and then to freezing rain late Thursday evening. Snow and ice pellet amounts of a trace to 2 cm are likely. The freezing rain, however, may last for several hours before changing to rain early Friday morning. Freezing rain warnings may be in place by Friday.
Firefighters rescue unconscious man from smoke-filled apartment:
A warning this morning from Greater Sudbury Fire Services never to leave a pot unattended on a hot stove. Just after 8 p.m. Tuesday night, firefighters were called out to an apartment building on Jeanne D'Arc Avenue in Sudbury. Five fire vehicles from three stations and 13 firefighters responded. When they arrived at the bungalow and entered one of the two apartments, firefighters found a pot on the stove belching smoke and an unconscious man lying on the couch in the living room. Roused by firefighters, the man was pulled from the smokey building and treated on the scene by paramedics. He was not taken to hospital. Fire damage was minimal and smoke damage was listed as minor. No one else needed to be evacuated from the building.
Fire Marshal's Office investigating source of Val Caron house fire:
Flames were shooting out the front window when firefighters from Greater Sudbury Fire Services arrived on the scene of a house fire in Val Caron Tuesday night just after 8 p.m. Fortunately, the family who lives in the home on Romeo Street was not home at the time of the fire, so none of the five people who live in the bungalow were injured, nor were any firefighters hurt. The single-storey home suffered an estimated $200,000 in smoke and flame damage. The damange is listed as severe. However, the cause of the blaze was not immediately apparent. The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the source of the fire. Greater Sudbury Police are assisting. It took 17 firefighters from four stations to get the fire under control.
City tries to establish rules for where dog parks can be built:
After the success of establishing dog parks in Minnow Lake and Azilda – and the failure to find a site in the South End – Greater Sudbury is looking to set guidelines for future parks to avoid neighbourhood conflicts. A report headed to the community services committee April 15 details the history of the failed South End park, which was nearly ready to open before residents in the area complained. In 2017, the York K9 Club applied for $47,000 for to establish a dog park at Riverdale Playground, drawing on the Healthy Community Initiative fund, which is money set aside for each ward in the city for neighbourhood projects. Get the full story here.
Police received numerous calls about man acting erratically in New Sudbury:
Greater Sudbury Police Service has an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Michel ‘Mike’ Laquerre. It is alleged that on April 2, Laquerre was acting erratically in the New Sudbury area. Police received many calls in result of these actions. Laquerre was believed to be intoxicated. He does have numerous court-ordered conditions that were breached at the time of this incident. Laquerre does have numerous other outstanding charges. He is known to be in the Greater Sudbury area. He is wanted for Breach of recognizance (two counts), Breach of probation (two counts), Breach of probation under the Provincial Offences Act, Allegation of breach of Conditional Sentence Order. If you know this person and where he is presently located, you are urged to call the Crime Stoppers tip line toll-free at 1-800-222-TIPS or locally at 705-222-TIPS (8477).
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.
Thursday Weather:
Sunny start to the day with increasing cloudiness in the afternoon then periods of snow. Thursday's high is only expected to hit zero, feeling like -15 with the wind chill this morning. Periods of snow mixed with ice pellets ending early in the evening then cloudy. Freezing rain or rain beginning after midnight. Overnight low will be zero. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
