Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Police arrest three, seize 80 doses of Fentanyl in early morning bust Thursday:
An early morning raid by Greater Sudbury Police and the OPP yielded 80 doses of Fentanyl and thousands of dollars in cash. It also led to two people being charged with drug trafficking offences, and another man getting picked up an outstanding warrant. In a release to media, Greater Sudbury said its Integrated Crime Team (ICT) in conjunction with the OPP's Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) launched multiple investigations into drug-trafficking operations in the city. Thursday morning (Feb. 20) just after 6 a.m., ICT officers, the Tactical Unit and officers with the OPP's OCEB executed a search warrant at an address on the Kingsway. In the raid, police report seizing both Fentanyl and cocaine worth a total of around $13,860. In addition, $8,605 in Canadian currency, $153 in American currency and 10 Euros were also seized. GSPS said the amount of Fentanyl seized is the equivalent of 80 "lethal" doses. Several people were arrested in the home. As a result, a 38-year-old man faces two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and one count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. A 33-year-old woman is also charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. As well, a 27-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were released without charges, while a 40-year-old man was held on an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to attend court.
Greater Sudbury Police officers file 121 reports of use of force in 2019:
It would be a 'wonderful world' if police officers got 100-per-cent compliance from people they are arresting, said the city's top cop. That's not the case, though, said Greater Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen, speaking at the Feb. 19 police services board meeting. Sometimes, officers are required to use force to effect an arrest or to deal with other types of situations, like dispatching an injured animal. In 2019, Greater Sudbury Police officers filed 121 use of force reports from 85 different incidents. The number of incidents is down slightly from 2018, when 88 incidents were reported. Conversely, the number of reports is up slightly, from 113 in 2018 to 121 in 2019. That's because more officers responded to the same calls, said Pedersen. That's generally an indication of higher risk calls, said Pedersen. The higher the risk, the more officers are involved. What's encouraging, he said, is officers had to use force so infrequently — reports of force being used in a little over 100 arrests is a small fraction of the thousands of arrests made each year. Full story can be found here.
By the numbers: The many hidden ways public health impacts the community:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts presented their 2019 year in review to board members on Feb. 19, highlighting the multitude of services they provide to the community. Highlighted in the report were more than 12,000 publicly and non-publicly funded vaccines administered by public health nurses, excluding influenza and school-based vaccines, more than 40,000 doses of seasonal influenza vaccine distributed and more than 5,400 client visits to the Rainbow Centre PHSD office. The four pillars that were focused on in the year in review were clinical services, corporate services, environmental health and health promotion. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health and CEO at PHSD spoke highly of the health unit's diversity and ability to touch so many members of the community in the past year. "We impact so many lives in so many ways at so many stages of life," said Sutcliffe. "What always strikes me is we're a backbone in our community and we reach out to other organizations and agencies and help build their capacity as well." Find the full story here.
'Humbling': New LU scholarships, lecture series named for Leo Gerard:
Leo Gerard was just a few credits short of earning an economics degree at Laurentian University when he quit his studies in 1977 to work for the Steelworkers Union. He had been working at Inco during the day so he could attend Laurentian at night. Giving up his studies turned out to be a good decision, as Gerard eventually rose in the union's ranks to its top job. He was the Steelworkers International president from 2001 until his retirement last summer. You can read our interview with Gerard about his career from last June here. Laurentian honoured him with an honourary doctorate in 1994. Now, in honour of his retirement, the Leo Gerard Legacy Fund has been created at Laurentian thanks to a generous financial contribution from United Steelworkers Canada and the Sudbury and District Labour Council. Various bodies of United Steelworkers Canada helped make the fund a reality, including the National Office, District 6, and Locals 6500 and 2020. The $33,500 pledge will go in part toward the biennial Leo Gerard Lecture on Workplace and Labour Studies, a series of presentations that will be free and open to the public. More on this story here.
Strike day for Sudbury Catholic board students Tuesday, Feb. 25:
Rotating strikes by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) hit the Sudbury Catholic District School Board Tuesday, Feb. 25. The Sudbury Catholic board has announced all of its classes are cancelled that day in response to the rotating strike, although daycare centres and before and after school child care programs remain open. A provincewide strike by OECTA members and three other Ontario unions representing teachers and education workers also takes place Friday, Feb. 21. All four local school boards have announced classes are cancelled Friday in response to the provincewide strike. OECTA announced Tuesday it is heading heading back to the bargaining table, but is also planning rotating strikes starting next week if a deal with the province can't be reached.
Record $211K in donations to Sudbury Infant Food Bank campaign:
The 11th annual “All We Need for Christmas” campaign in support of the Sudbury Infant Food Bank raised a record-breaking $211,550 worth of donations, made up of baby supplies, food and monetary contributions. The December campaign was held to support infants in our community whose parents are struggling to provide the basic needs for their children. “This was a record-breaking year for our campaign,” said Infant Food Bank executive director Dedee Flietstra, in a press release. “We are in complete shock with the outpouring of support from the community, from our local businesses to community groups, everyone came together to help support families in need all around Greater Sudbury." The campaign, spearheaded by Petryna Advertising for the past decade, raised more than $126,100 in cash in 2019, which is up from $40,000 in 2018. The donations from the 2019 campaign will be used to ensure that the Infant Food Bank shelves are stocked with baby essentials such as diapers, food and clothing.
Zalan: COVID-19 is the perfect illustration of why we need public health:
In the wake of a new virus outbreak, the former head of the medical staff at Health Sciences North, Peter Zalan weighs in on the role public health plays in keeping people safe. In his latest column published on Sudbury.com, Zalan touches on the SARS outbreak of 2003, the outbreak of gastroenteritis in Walkerton in 2000 and an outbreak of Ebola in 2018 in the Congo. "The Ontario government cut the funding for public health in 2019," writes Zalan. "This may be a very fitting time, in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic in China and the expected return of Canadians to Ontario from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, to re-assess this decision." Read the full column here.
Friday Weather:
Milder weather on the way as we head into the weekend. Mainly sunny Friday with a high of -2, feeling like -9 with the wind chill. Clouds rolling in this evening with 40 per cent chance of flurries late in the evening and overnight. The low will drop to -4 this evening, 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.
