Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Charges laid against suspect police say aided culprit of fatal April 11 fire on Bruce Avenue:
A 25-year-old man has been arrested in connection to an April 11 house fire that killed three people, said Greater Sudbury Police. Liam Stinson was arrested April 20 and charged with three counts of Party to the Offence of First Degree Murder, and one count each of Party to the Offence of Attempt Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Party to an Offence of Arson - Disregard for Human Life. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, a charge of being “party to” an offence can be laid against those who aids or abets “any person in committing an offence” and are considered to be “a party to that offence.” Under the code, “abetting could mean encouraging, instigating, promoting or procuring a crime to be committed, and must be done during the actual commission of the offence.” Two people died in the fire on April 11, while a third person died days later after being airlifted to Toronto. Stinson attended bail court today to answer to the charges and has been remanded into custody. He is scheduled for video remand on April 22. The 37-year-old man who was able to escape the fire by jumping from a second-storey window is in stable condition as he continues to recover from the incident, said police. Full story here.
Six people escape safely from overnight fire at Hanmer townhouses:
Six people were able to escape safely from a "potentially suspicious" overnight fire affecting two townhouses on Christa Street in Hanmer. Greater Sudbury Fire Services Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Oshell said the cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal’s office and Greater Sudbury Police Service. Oshell said the fire is believed to be "potentially suspicious." Oshell said calls to emergency services came in at around 12:45 a.m. “When our crews arrived on scene, two of the townhomes had fire occurring,” he said. “The fire from the deck had spread to the roof and basement of one townhome. That led to the adjacent connecting townhome catching on fire as well.” Fortunately, the family of four occupying one unit and the family of two occupying the other were able to escape safely. There were no injuries. “Our indication at this time is they had working smoke alarms and CO detectors,” said Oshell, adding that both families were displaced by the fire, and the fire department put them in touch with the Red Cross for temporary accommodation. Firefighters were on scene “very heavily” until about 5 a.m., and as of around 8 a.m., there was still one crew on scene just to ensure all of the hotspots were dealt with. Oshell estimates the damage at around $250,000.
Accused murderer Steffin Rees headed to jury trial in February 2022:
Accused murderer Steffin Rees is headed to a two-week trial by jury in 2022, court heard April 20. Rees had been expected to plead guilty earlier this month, however, the defence and Crown have come to an “impasse,” said assistant Crown attorney Kevin Ludgate. “We had quite fruitful resolution discussions, but we are now at an impasse,” said Ludgate. Rees is represented by defence lawyer Robert Beckett. Rees will stand trial for 10 days starting Feb. 21, 2022. Jury selection will take place that day. A one-day Scopelitti pretrial motion will take place Nov. 15. A Scopaletti motion is available to an accused person claiming self defence when charged with murder. Rees is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Preston Pellerin in November 2019. Pellerin was stabbed near the provincial building on Cedar Street at about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2019. He was 17.
City of Greater Sudbury working to support terminated Laurentian employees:
Greater Sudbury city council has directed staff to explore opportunities to support displaced Laurentian University employees. Meeting on April 13, city councillors received an update from the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, outlining its path to economic recovery in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the conclusion of the GSDC presentation, councillors weighed in, and Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland brought up the situation the Laurentian employees have been facing, relating it to a story out of Peterborough when the GE Plant closed down. "They had about 350 people out of work, and understanding that people had families established in the area; these were skilled labourers and they offered re-training," said McCausland. "The city worked with the company and other places to try to find other roles for these people in the community. Are we considering something like that for Laurentian for the people whose jobs will be lost or have been lost?" Brett Williamson, Greater Sudbury director of economic development, said that he was in support of making connections with the board members of the GSDC, along with Laurentian University employees in order to find other opportunities for the displaced workers. "I think it's something we absolutely should do," said Williamson. "I lived in Peterborough for a few years and I'm familiar with what (Coun. McCausland) is talking about, which was very successful so I think there would be an opportunity to do that very thing." Get the full story here.
Thirteen new cases of COVID-19 reported by Public Health Sudbury for April 21:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) reports 13 new cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday, April 21. Public Health also said there are now 149 active cases being monitored. Also, since the PHSD began tracking COVID-19 cases just over 13 months ago, there have been 1,868 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 1,719 of those cases have been resolved. With respect to where the newest COVID-19 cases might have occurred, the PHSD daily update page reported that nine cases were found to have occurred within the Greater Sudbury Area and four cases occurred in the wider rural Sudbury district. In terms of possible causes of the new cases, PHSD reported two cases associated with outbreak, 16 new cases linked to close contact of a confirmed case, six cases as being under investigation and one case of no known epidemiological link. On the provincial COVID-19 register Wednesday, the Ontario government daily website reported 4,212 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province.
Sudbury COVID-19 numbers match the Ontario trends for virus infection:
As the Public Health Sudbury & Districts region approaches nearly 2,000 positive tests for COVID-19 in the past 13 months, a new picture is emerging with respect to how the disease is being transmitted and what groups in our population are becoming infected more than others. This is all based on the limited numbers published by the Public Health Sudbury and Districts in the daily summaries released by the agency. Based on the information released at 4 p.m. on Tuesday April 20, there were 1,855 cases of COVID-19 that tested positive since March of 2020. Of that number, PHSD reported that 1,747 cases occurred in the Greater Sudbury area. Another 70 cases occurred in the wider rural Sudbury district, and 37 cases attributed to the Manitoulin district. Those numbers total up to 1,844, but no reason is given for the one extra case provided for in the daily total. The next category that PHSD presented is "probable exposure status of cases", the category which describes how each case was likely contracted. Find more on this story here.
What new provincial restrictions mean for Greater Sudbury city services:
The province implemented additional restrictions on April 16 in an effort to slow the spread and relieve mounting pressures on the province’s health care system. The state of emergency and province-wide stay-at-home order that were put in place on April 8 have been extended an additional two weeks, for a total of six weeks. “Our fight against COVID-19 has been a long and difficult one. I know we are all longing for a return to normal, especially as the weather once again warms up. We all want to get back to spending quality in-person time with our loved ones. But the situation in our province is dire and we need to pay attention," said Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger. "As a result, we're closing certain municipal facilities to be consistent with provincial requirements and to keep you safe. I implore you – please stay home. Please keep up the fight. Please don’t give up now. Every single one of us has such an important role to play in protecting our neighbours, friends and families." The city said it has and will continue to review provincial guidelines regarding the enhanced provincial restrictions. Further information may be released in the coming days, the city said, as staff assess the regulations. Find what municipal services are impacted here.
Thursday Weather:
Mix of sun and cloud today with chances of rain showers or flurries. There's a 40 per cent chance of rain or flurries this afternoon. Thursday's high will be sitting at 4. Clear skies into the evening with temperatures dipping to -4. Overnight low will feel like -7 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.
