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Good Morning, Sudbury! Here are six stories to start your day

210119_AP_LTC_report
The chair of the Sudbury Health Coalition said the most dangerous place to be in Canada is a resident of a long-term care home.

Good morning, Greater Sudbury.

Here are some stories to start your day.

Health coalition chair: Long-term-care homes becoming dangerous places to live

The chair of the Sudbury Health Coalition said the most dangerous place to be in Canada is a resident of a long-term care home. Dot Klein said the Ontario Health Coalition's report titled “Situation Critical” reveals there were 27 known homicides in a five-year period in long-term care homes across the province — and those are resident-on-resident killings and does't include incidents of staff killing residents. The report is being released in communities across the province, and takes an in-depth look at the increased need and inadequate levels of care in the province's long-term care homes, in which nearly 80,000 people live. The report points to a lack of staffing required to monitor aggressive long-term care residents is one the central factors that has led to such a high level of resident-on-resident violence in Ontario's long-term care homes. The report also says the number of resident-on-resident assaults increased 129 per cent between 2011 and 2016.  Staff at long-term care homes saw a similar increase in the number of assaults by residents, with more than 95 per cent reporting they have experienced physical, verbal or sexual violence. Full story can be found here.

'Women’s rights are human rights': Rally in downtown over the weekend:

Amidst the frigid temperatures of Saturday afternoon, roughly 70 women and their allies marched the Paris Street bridge to participate in the city's second annual Women's March. Women's March is a global, female-led movement, introduced to harness the political power of women and their communities. The Women's March strives to inspire social change through training, outreach programs and events such as their yearly rally.  While the primary march is held in Washington D.C, cities across the world are encouraged to host their own affiliate rallies to voice the unique concerns of their community. Last year, when it seemed as though Greater Sudbury would not be participating in the global movement, PoliticsNOW founder Amanada Kingsley Malo stepped up. By partnering with dedicated female entrepreneurs from the area, Malo was able to organize a march of 250 people in the span of two weeks. Full story can be found here.

Bothered by loud snowmobiles? They could be illegal:

Snowmobiling is one of the joys of a Canadian winter, but the OPP says that excessive noise may be problematic for some communities and private property landowners. Municipal, Regional and Provincial Police partners across Ontario are working on how to respond to the use and current expansion of modified snowmobile exhaust systems. The issues being, some snowmobilers replace the original exhaust component, in exchange for an aftermarket product commonly referred to as a "pipe" or a "can". Much of Ontario's trail system encompasses private property. The property landowners allow snowmobilers to use their land via OFSC trails. But, landowners and municipalities are being disturbed by the increase in snowmobile exhaust noise, which is resulting in trail closures. There are applicable charges under the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act for modifying, altering, or changing the exhaust or muffler on your snowmobile.

Unsafe ice the cause of half of snowmobiler deaths this season:

Snowmobile Safety Week runs from Jan. 19-27. The Onario Provincial Police have expressed their concern with the recurring factors in snowmobiler deaths, most notably, those that stem from snowmobilers travelling on unsafe ice. Three of this season's six snowmobilers who died were travelling on unsafe ice. Two of the snowmobilers went through the ice. In the third ice-related incident, the snowmobiler drove into open water. Speed, driving too fast for the conditions and alcohol/drugs were factors in the other three fatal incidents. During the 2017-18 season, three of the 14 snowmobilers who died were also travelling on unsafe ice when they drove into open water. Alcohol/drugs were linked to six of last season's fatalities and speed played a role in five of the deaths.

Medical records revived – HSN Virus:

Health Sciences North announced through Twitter Sunday afternoon, that they have regained full access to their electronic medical records and medical imaging systems. This welcome development comes after a four-day struggle to eliminate the computer virus disrupting programs and causing longer wait times in the emergency department at HSN, and affecting 24 other hospitals in northeastern Ontario. HSN informed the public that 19 of the 21 affected hospitals that use Meditech as their primary electronic medical records system have been gradually reconnected throughout the weekend. Eight of the 10 hospitals, including HSN that had medical imaging systems on downtime to quarantine the virus have regained full use of their systems. 

Chapleau man banned from owning animals for 10 years:

A 36-year-old Chapleau man has been sentenced to a 10-year prohibition on owning or caring for animals after being convicted of two counts of breach of probation related to a previous conviction under provincial animal welfare legislation.  On Jan. 9 Raynald Gervais was found guilty on two counts of breach of probation in a Chapleau Provincial Offences Court. Gervais was charged for having more dogs than he was legally permitted, as well as failing to have the dogs examined on an annual basis by a veterinarian. The Justice of the Peace sentenced Gervais to a 10-year prohibition on owning, living with or caring for any animals. The Ontario SPCA was granted annual inspection rights for the same period of time. In 2016, Gervais pled guilty to permitting a dog to be in distress, as well as failure to provide medical care after being charged by the Ontario SPCA following an investigation relating to the treatment of animals in his care. The Justice of the Peace sentenced him at that time to five years probation, during which time he could not have more than four dogs in his care. He was also required to have the dogs examined annually by a veterinarian. In April 2018, Ontario SPCA officers discovered Gervais had acquired four new dogs, despite the probation order in place, bringing the total number of dogs in his care to seven. Gervais voluntarily surrendered the four dogs to the Timmins & District Humane Society, where they were re-homed. 

Tuesday Weather: 

The deep freeze will finally break today as some warmer weather settles in. Cloudy today with snow beginning in the morning. Tuesday's high will get up to -9, feeling like -13 with the wind chill. Snow expected to continue into the evening with up to 4 cm falling. Low will be around -6 overnight, rising to zero by the morning. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.

Current conditions are not available.