Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Chamber hosts all-candidates debate tonight:
With the June 7 provincial election getting closer by the day, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is holding all-candidates debates in Sudbury and Nickel Belt. The Sudbury riding debate takes place May 23 at 7 p.m. at Collège Boréal on Lasalle Boulevard. Liberal MPP and Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault is the incumbent, who's running against New Democratic candidate Jamie West, the PCs' Troy Crowder and Green candidate David Robinson. The Nickel Belt debate take place May 29 at 7 p.m. at Cousin Vinny’s, located at 5085 Old Hwy 69 in Hanmer. NDP MPP France Gélinas is the incumbent, running against Liberal hopeful Tay Butt and PC hopeful Jo-Ann Cardinal. The Greens have yet to select a Nickel Belt candidate. Both debates go until 9:30 p.m.
Wynne to make Sudbury stop Wednesday:
With her party lagging in the polls, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne will be in Sudbury on Wednesday to make an announcement. Wynne will be at Crosscut Distillery Wednesday at 1:15 p.m., before flying to Thunder Bay for another campaign event at 6 p.m. Sudbury.com plans to stream Wynne's Sudbury visit live, with coverage beginning around 1 p.m. Wynne's Liberals have fallen to third place in recent polls. In Toronto on Tuesday, she appeared to concede it is not going as well as she might have hoped for her party, which has been in power for 15 years. "I'm not under any illusion that this is not a challenging election for us," she said. "I absolutely get that...It's a really, really important election for this province because it is an election about what our province is going to look like going forward." Two recent polls suggest that the NDP now has the most support in the election, along with the Progressive Conservatives. In the months before the campaign, polls had shown the Tories with a hefty lead, followed by the Liberals and the NDP.
$145K and counting: Desjardins provides a $40,000 injection to Azilda therapeutic pool project:
May 22 marked a very important step in the realization of a therapeutic and leisure pool being built at the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre in Azilda, said Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac. Three branches of Desjardins Credit Union in Greater Sudbury joined forces to present a $40,000 cheque to the project's $300,000 fundraising target. That's what fundraising committee has to raise to make the project a reality. The total price tag of the pool is pegged at $4.7 million, with all three levels of government committing to one-third each of that total. Development of the pool was identified as a priority by city council, she said. To date, the committee has raised $145,000.
Food Bank doles out nearly $250K to member agencies:
The Sudbury Food Bank hosted their Spring Give on May 22, and handed out nearly $250,000 to their 46 member agencies. Since its inception, the food bank has distributed close to $9.2 million to various agencies and organizations around Greater Sudbury that help those who are less fortunate. "These cheques represent the hard work that all of our member agencies put in throughout the year," said food bank board president, Mellaney Dahl. "This is a thank you to everyone who is part of the big picture in helping to feed the hungry in our community." All of the money dispersed must be used for food purchases by all of the agencies that received funding. Organizations that received money on May 22 included, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Maison McCulloch Hospice, Salvation Army, and many more. Find the full story here.
Sudbury teen's self-driving go-cart is Canada's best science fair project:
Grade 10 Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School student Brendon Matusch said he was “completely blown away” when he took home top honours at the Canada-Wide Science Fair last week. “I was not expecting this at all,” Matusch said. “I was thinking maybe I would be able to do better than last year (when he received a silver medal for placing in the top 30 in his age category), but this was completely out the blue.” Matusch not only won the Platinum Award for Best Intermediate (Grade 9/10) Project, he also won Best Project Award, meaning his project was judged to be the best in the entire fair. He won $3,500 in cash, a fully funded trip to compete in the 2018 European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Dublin, Ireland, which takes place in September, as well as entrance scholarships to several universities. Matusch's project is entitled "Development of an Autonomous Vehicle Using Machine Learning." He investigated techniques for the use of convolutional neural networks for autonomous driving. For this, Matusch developed an autonomous vehicle using components for vision, path planning, speed control and stop sign detection. As part of his project, these variables were tested in a custom 3D simulation, as well as on a physical vehicle based on a modified electric go-cart. Check out the full story and video of Matusch's vehicle right here.
Start planning your Northern Lights weekend: The schedule's up on the website:
In case you'd like to start planning your Northern Lights Festival Boréal weekend, the festival just put its full lineup and schedule online on its website, nlfb.ca. The festival is scheduled for July 5-8 in Sudbury's beautiful Bell Park. Iconic Canadian roots and rock names fill the headline slots: Canadian rock sensation Arkells; international indie stars Alvvays; father-son duo Bill & Joel Plaskett; and Acadian folk-rocker Lisa LeBlanc. The lineup also includes 45+ other musical gems, including: Afro-beat pioneer Orlando Julius, instrumental guitar-rock veterans Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Prairie Oyster frontman Russell deCarle, and locals like Sudbury roots-rock outfit JoPo & The Rize.
Scrap Cancer: Drop off your scrap metal to benefit cancer foundation:
Scrap Cancer is a very “Sudbury” way to donate to cancer care and awareness right here in Northeastern Ontario. Every cent raised by scrap metal and electronic waste during the months of May and June will be donated to the Northern Cancer Foundation to change cancer experiences and outcomes in the north. In just seven years, BM Metals, the Northern Cancer Foundation and all of its community partners have raised more than $267,000. One hundred per cent of the proceeds have been donated to the Northern Cancer Foundation. For more details, phone the Northern Cancer Foundation office at 705-523-4673 (HOPE) or visit www.ncfsudbury.com.
Wednesday Weather:
Another beautiful day on the way for Wednesday. Mainly sunny out there today with a high of 24. Skies will remain clear into the evening with the low sitting at around 15 overnight. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
