Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
GOVA reduces runs, suspending routes as ridership falls due to COVID-19:
Declining ridership and the need for physical distancing means GOVA Transit is reducing the frequency of most bus routes, and suspending others entirely. The changes take effect April 18. The city said there has been a 70-per-cent decrease in ridership on weekdays and a 50-per-cent drop on weekends. “The community’s response to prevent the spread of the virus has resulted in an average of less than 15 passengers per bus during peak times on major routes,” the city said today. GOVA Transit said its goal is to continue to meet the transportation needs of residents at a maximum of 50-per-cent capacity per bus to ensure proper physical distancing. Reduced schedules and suspended routes will free available resources to deploy two buses whenever possible at peak times on heavier travelled routes.
Province expands list of essential workers who can access emergency childcare:
The Ontario government is expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive emergency child care. This will help additional frontline staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. An emergency order was issued which will offer support to those providing a variety of critical services including people who assist vulnerable communities, emergency response and law enforcement sector staff, more health and safety workers, and certain federal employees. The announcement was made Friday by Premier Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. "Our frontline workers have made so many sacrifices and put the needs of the community ahead of themselves," said Premier Ford. "These heroes work day-in and day-out to ensure everyone else can stay home and stay safe and healthy. The least we can do is ensure the safety of their children during these unprecedented times." On March 20, 2020, the government issued an emergency order directing certain child care centres to reopen with fewer children to allow for physical distancing. This decision was made to support health care and other frontline workers responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. The list of essential workers eligible to access emergency childcare has now been expanded. Find the list here.
Family of woman killed on Elgin Street in 2015 receives $350K settlement:
The family of Cecile Paquette, who was killed while crossing the intersection of Elgin Street and Beech Street on Sept. 30, 2015, has received a $350,000 settlement from Interpaving Limited. The company and the family reached the settlement in December of last year. Interpaving was fined $195,000 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after being found guilty on March 28, 2018 of failing to provide a signaller at the construction project in 2015 that resulted in the death of Cecile Paquette, 58, after she was hit by a grader as she tried to cross Elgin Street. Paquette's family filed a $2-million lawsuit against the city of Greater Sudbury, Interpaving, and Benoit St. Jean, who was driving the grader. An Interpaving spokesperson confirmed Friday that Paquette's family was paid $350,000 by the company in the settlement. "Everything related to this matter, all legal issues, have been settled," he said. "We want to turn the page on this."
‘Pay attention to your cooking’: Sudbury firefighters say call volume up with COVID-19:
With “lots of people at home, lots of people cooking” right now in this time of self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Greater Sudbury Fire Services say their call volume has increased. A cooking fire on Christa Street in Hanmer Thursday evening is a case in point. Platoon Chief Mark Gobbo said the call came in for the fire in the row housing unit at 9:45 p.m. April 16. The fire was put out by firefighters, and caused an estimated $80,000 in smoke and fire damage to the unit. One person was displaced as a result. “I can tell you that our fire call volume is up with our COVID situation,” said Gobbo. “Lots of people at home, lots of people cooking. Pay attention to your cooking. People’s minds are elsewhere with all of this going on. It takes just a moment for your unattended cooking to become a problem.” Greater Sudbury Fire Services say careless cooking is a leading cause of residential fires.
OPP looking for trespassers on Killarney Provincial Park property:
The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a mischief incident at Killarney Provincial Park where the lock was cut off the access gate on Chikanishing Creek Road and damage was done to the roadway. The incident happened April 14. Officers received the call at 10:10 a.m. There are signs posted at all access points to Killarney Provincial Park indicating the park is closed. The OPP is reminding the public that, as a result of the declaration of emergency, Ontario's Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves are closed to the public until further notice.
Trucker driver does donuts in Chelmsford parking lot, flees from police, then hits fire hydrant:
Greater Sudbury Police is asking for help to identify the driver of a pick-up truck after they failed to pull over Chelmsford. At about 5:10 a.m. on April 17, an officer saw a light-coloured Chevrolet pick-up truck doing donuts in a parking lot off of Main Street West in Chelmsford. The officer activated the emergency lights of the cruiser in order to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver drove out of the parking lot and onto Main Street West at a high rate of speed. The officer did not pursue the vehicle out of the interest of public safety. Minutes later, a second call was received regarding the same vehicle after it struck a fire hydrant on Cote Avenue at Morin Street before speeding off towards St. Joseph Street. The truck will have extensive damage to the front end. Anyone with information related to the whereabouts of the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle or the driver of the vehicle at the time of the incident is asked to contact Const. Jefkins at 705-675-9171.
Ontario expands guidelines for priority COVID-19 testing:
Ontario expanded its priority COVID-19 testing Thursday to include essential workers, residents and staff of homeless shelters and group homes, and people living with health-care workers. The new guidelines will help Ontario take full advantage of the testing capacity it has built, and will help the province more effectively identify and contain cases among vulnerable populations, said a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott. Premier Doug Ford has expressed frustration that Ontario has been processing a daily number of tests well below its capacity, which is now up to 16,000. On Thursday, the province reported completing 9,001 tests during the previous day, surpassing a target the health minister set last week after the premier said his patience had worn thin.
