Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Man wielding table leg arrested and charged for mischief:
Just after 3 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, Greater Sudbury Police were called in relation to a mischief in progress on Morin Avenue, where the man believed to be responsible was still on scene. Patrol officers arrived moments later and found the man standing outside of the residential building holding a large wooden table leg. The man appeared to be very agitated and could be heard yelling at someone inside of the building. Upon seeing the officers, the man dropped the table leg and ran inside the building into one of the residential units. Patrol officers made multiple attempts to communicate with the man, however they were unsuccessful. Officers secured the scene in order ensure that the man did not leave the unit. A Feeney Warrant was applied for and granted allowing police to enter the unit. Around 8:40 a.m. members of the Tactical Unit arrived on scene in order gain entry to the building. Once again, officers made multiple attempts to communicate with the man, however he was not cooperative. Minutes later the Tactical Unit made entry into the unit and took the man into custody. The 33-year-old man has been charged with the following offences under the Criminal Code of Canada:Mischief to Property Under $5,000, Criminal Harassment, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Breach of Probation, Fail to Comply with Recognizance.
Pharmacy worker accused of faking fentanyl prescriptions back in court Jan. 22:
The case against a 49-year-old pharmacy worker charged with forging hundreds of prescriptions for fentanyl patches is headed to assignment court on Jan. 22. Greater Sudbury Police claim Lise Blanchette fabricated and forged more than 225 non-existent prescriptions between 2016 and 2018, allowing her to obtain more than 3,400 fentanyl patches of various strengths. City police say they began investigating in May 2018 after receiving a complaint from one of her pharmacy co-workers. Police estimate the value of the patches she obtained between May 2016 and May 2018 at roughly $1.5 million. They say falsified prescriptions for an additional 475 patches did not get processed successfully. She faces charges of fraud over $5,000, making forged documents, using forgged documents, 10 counts of identity theft and possession for the purpose of trafficking a Schedule 1 substance (fentanyl). Blanchette was not there in person for her first appearance. Her matter will be in assignment court on Jan. 22 at 10 a.m.
No lawyer and no pre-trial yet for EcoLife owner:
The court procedings for Sudbury contractor David Murray continued on Jan. 7, with little progress made. Murray was scheduled for a judicial pre-trial on Tuesday, but that did not go ahead. Instead, his court appearance was used to better organize his charges in order to have all of his fraud charges dealt with as one matter. The embattled contractor was charged with fraud over $5,000 and fraud under $5,000 on two separate occasions last year, bringing a total of 45 fraud charges against him (34 fraud over $5,000, 11 fraud under $5,000). A Crown attorney had to be brought up from Toronto to deal with Murray's charges, as one of the complainants against Murray works at the local Crown office, a potential conflict of interest. "The Crown attorney looked at the file and in order to keep all of the matters in the same court he wants to get rid of the fraud unders (fraud under $5,000)," said detective cst. Andy Williams, the lead investigator on Murray's case. "What we did is we date range them; so between this date and this date he committed a count of fraud over, so all of the victims of the various fraud unders become witnesses to the fraud over ($5,000)." These are not new charges laid against Murray, but rather one additional charge of fraud over $5,000, compiled from the 11 fraud under $5,000 charges, meaning he is now facing 35 charges of fraud over $5,000. Full story can be found here.
Garson teen is Canada's official flag-bearer at 2020 Youth Olympic Games:
A young curler from Greater Sudbury was given the honour of carrying the Canadian flag at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. On Monday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) named 17-year-old curler, Lauren Rajala of Garson, as Team Canada’s Opening Ceremony flag bearer. Rajala was accompanied by a Canadian delegation of 78 athletes and 23 coaches in Switzerland. The Games, held from Jan. 9 - 22, will be a completely gender equal event with the same number of male and female athletes competing. Team Canada will feature athletes ranging from 15-18 years of age. Of the 78 athletes, 24 are from Alberta, 18 from Ontario, 14 from British Columbia, 14 from Quebec, three from Manitoba, two from Yukon and one from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. Find the full story here.
The New Pornographers to headline NLFB 2020:
Northern Lights Festival Boréal, which takes place this summer July 9-12 in Bell Park, has released some of its lineup. Headlining Thursday, July 9 will be the hugely influential, indie-rock supergroup The New Pornographers. Among the world’s most enduring and compelling indie rock groups, the band has released eight albums to date, including their highly acclaimed 2019 record In the Morse Code of Brake Lights. They have won and been nominated for numerous awards including the Juno Awards, the Polaris Prize, and more. They have appeared on countless ‘best of’ lists, including Rollling Stone’s ‘100 Best Albums of the Decade’. The band has also served as a springboard for many fruitful and inspiring solo careers: Neko Case, Destroyer, A.C. Newman, etc. More on this story here.
App developed locally to connect Indigenous kids to health services is going national:
A tool developed in the Manitoulin Island community of Wikwemikong to assess the health of Indigenous children is going Canada-wide thanks to a $1.5-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), a federal agency. The Aboriginal Children’s Health and Well-being Measure (ACHWM) — or I aM Well — is a joint project between Naandwechige-Gamig Wikwemikong Health Centre and Laurentian University. The tool takes the form of an easy-to-use app. Kids and teens between eight and 18 years old can fill out the questionnaire themselves in about 15 minutes on a tablet, providing information on their physical and mental well-being. Even if the children have low literacy levels, they can still fill out the questionnaire themselves because the tablet can speak. More on this story can be found here.
Wolves busy in the trade market:
The Sudbury Wolves roster will look a little different as the team heads into the stretch drive towards the playoffs. On Wednesday, the Wolves acquired forward Matej Pekar from the Barrie Colts in exchange for draft picks. Pekar was selected in the fourth round, 94th overall of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. On Thursday, the team made a swap with the North Bay Battalion to bring Sudbury native Brad Chenier back to his hometown. In exchange, the Wolves trade overage forward and co-captain Shane Bulitka, a third round draft pick in 2023 and a conditional eighth round pick in 2022 to the Battalion.
Friday Weather:
Periods of drizzle to start the day, ending near noon then mainly cloudy with 40 per cent chance of drizzle. Temperature will be sitting just above the freezing mark at 1 this afternoon. Cloudy tonight with a 70 per cent chance of snow overnight. There's a risk of freezing drizzle in the evening. Overnight low will dip to -4, feeling like -10 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.
