Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Happy Canada Day, Sudbury!
We’re missing you this day more than ever, so in the hopes of bringing the community together at a distance, Sudbury.com will be hanging out with you all day, sharing Canada Day-themed recipes, entertainment and more. Join in on the fun by taking part in our first-ever live-streamed Canada Day trivia game beginning at 12 p.m. and by sending a photo of your Canada Day celebration to [email protected] to be included in our gallery. Happy Canada Day!
City's lawyer says no evidence of bad faith and asks for application to be dismissed:
The city of Greater Sudbury had its opportunity to respond to Sudbury businessman Tom Fortin's application to have four bylaws related to the Kingsway Entertainment District quashed by the Superior Court. Day two of Tom Fortin v. The City of Greater Sudbury got underway Tuesday morning with the city's counsel, Tom Halinski responding to a number of submissions made by Fortin's lawyer Gordon Petch. The pillars of Petch's submissions from Monday were that the city acted in bad faith when passing the bylaws and approving the Kingsway Enterainment District, and that the decision was all but a foregone conclusion and that council had their mind made up to choose the Kingsway site without allowing for proper public consultation. Halinski went through meeting transcripts, pointing to instances of a number of councillors, including ward 1 coun. Mark Signoretti and ward 6 coun. Rene Lapierre speaking in favour of the downtown as the best location for an arena and events centre. In response to Petch's comments that the city never conducted any study as to what the impacts to the downtown would be if the Kingsway site was chosen, Halinski conceded this fact, adding, "but downtown has always been on the mind of council." "My point is to indicate the breadth of debate that took place, there was a division on council on this matter," said Halinski. "Their job is to weigh all of the options and there is not a shred of evidence that they did anything improper." Get the full story here.
Suspect in Beatty Street standoff faces weapons and assault charges:
A 29-year-old man faces four charges following a standoff with Greater Sudbury Police officers on Beatty Street on June 30. Police were called at 8:25 a.m. about a disturbance at a Beatty Street home. When officers arrived, they determined there was a man with a weapon. The man, in crisis, barricaded himself inside the residence. Beatty Street and the surrounding area were contained by officers. Tactical officers negotiated with the man throughout the morning, resulting in his arrest just before 11 a.m. "Officers were able to de-escalate the situation to a peaceful resolution," said Greater Sudbury Police Service in a news release. The man was arrested, and no one was injured. The man is charged with uttering threats to cause bodily harm, weapons dangerous, assault with a weapon and break and enter. Police aren't releasing his name as the information has not yet been sworn through the court process.
St. Charles man, 20, caught driving while under suspension three days in a row:
A 20-year-old man from St. Charles had his vehicle seized after he was caught by the OPP driving while under suspension on three consecutive days. Officers with the Nipissing West OPP first encountered the man June 15 at 10:20 a.m. at the intersection of King Street and Casimir Road in the Municipality of St. Charles. The officers knew the man’s driver’s licence had been suspended, and stopped his vehicle. Police say the vehicle was not insured and the plates were not attached and were seized. As a result, the 20-year-old driver, from St. Charles, was charged with: Drive While Under Suspension (four counts), Use Plate not Authorized for Vehicle, Drive Motor Vehicle - No Permit, Owner Operate Motor Vehicle on a Highway - No Insurance. On June 16 at 11:15 a.m., as a result of a suspicious vehicle complaint, another officer from the Nipissing West OPP stopped a vehicle on Highway 17, near Kukagami Lake Road, in Markstay-Warren. Investigation revealed the driver was the same person as in the incident described above, but driving a different vehicle this time. Then, on June 17 at 12:15 p.m.,members of the Nipissing West Detachment of the OPP stopped a vehicle on Marsim Court in Markstay-Warren after investigation revealed the plates were not attached. Again, the driver was the same person described in the two incidents above. In order to prevent the continuation of the offence, the vehicle was seized under the authority of section 217(4) of the Highway Traffic Act. The accused was released on an Appearance Notice, and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury both Aug. 17 and 19.
The nitty-gritty of HSN’s budget: Local hospital spent $218M on salaries in last financial year:
While Sudbury's Health Sciences North reported excess revenue of $338,000 for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, it is a proverbial drop in the bucket for the total spending of Northern Ontario's largest hospital, which has an annual budget of more than $517 million. The surplus revenue figure comes to less than one-tenth of one per cent. Regardless, the hospital still represents the second largest public budget in the city after the City of Greater Sudbury's municipal budget for 2020 which is $619-million. The HSN financial statement, audited by KPMG, was tabled at last week's annual general meeting. It revealed the largest expense item of that budget is $218 million for salaries and wages. Employee benefits added another $62.7 million. Another expense item "Medical staff remuneration" accounted for an additional $29.4 million. Full story here.
Thanks to you, Sudbury, food bank distributed a record $379K to its member agencies:
The Sudbury Food Bank has announced a record distribution of funds to its member agencies over the past six months. “Because of the incredible effort put forward by our citizens, the BDSFB Board of Directors is proud to announce the largest six-month single distribution of funds to our members since our inception,” said a press release from the food bank. “BDSFB has distributed $379,438.69 to the agencies that we support to feed our regions hungry. The funds were supplied in two parts, the regular give and a one-time COVID assistance allotment.” The food bank’s board of directors said it wished to give its “sincerest thanks” to the community “for their incredible assistance during this challenging pandemic.” The agency also thanked its 44 member agencies and their volunteers for their efforts to feed the region’s hungry.
WATCH: 100 Sudbury choristers and front-line workers serenade Canada:
When COVID-19 arrived in our community, the choirs of Greater Sudbury fell silent. Young Sudbury Singers (YSS) general manager Ralph McIntosh started speaking with local choir directors about the future of choir and what next year may look like. “Several choirs were discussing organizing online rehearsals and making videos, and one had already participated in a virtual recording project with singers in southern Ontario,” McIntosh said. “When my wife, Councillor Deb McIntosh, overheard one of these conversations, she said we can’t have fireworks on Canada Day this year, so we need something to help the community celebrate.” With that, Sudbury’s O Canada Project was hatched. Watch the video here.
Wednesday Weather:
Canada Day is looking like it's going to be a hot one. Mainly sunny throuhout the day today with the high reaching 31. A few clouds are expected to roll in this evening but it's going to be great patio weather. Overnight low will be sitting at around 19. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
