Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
New Sudbury cannabis store opening delayed until April 5:
Sorry cannabis users, Highlife, Greater Sudbury's first retail cannabis store, won't open April 1 after all. Spokesperson Eddie Grinberg told Sudbury.com today their tentative opening day is now April 5, assuming the Alcohol and Gaming Commission processes the backlog of licence applications for the first 25-store rollout of marijuana retailers. Clearly the province is behind, Grinberg said. Highlife has hired 40 employees and will carry about 350 lines of cannabis products. Grinberg said he's confident they will have plenty of supply on hand to meet demand. What he's less certain about is whether the province will be able to keep them supplied once stores across the province are in need of weekly stock refilling.
'Lucky to be alive': Lively teen walks away from head-on crash with alleged drunk driver:
A Lively teen says he's lucky to be alive after walking away from a head-on collision on March 23, involving an alleged drunk driver. 18-year-old Noah Pasivirta was involved in a head-on collision on Main Street that night. Besides a sore neck and back, the teen suffered a concussion, a swollen knee, a gash on his head and a broken finger. After surveying the wreckage, both police and paramedics on scene told him he was lucky to be alive, let alone escape such a bad crash relatively unscathed. The crash totalled his prized Infiniti G37S, a car he scrimped and saved to buy. The 33-yr-old driver of the other car, whose name hasn't been released, faces impaired driving related charges. Pasivirta knows, at least to some degree, the effect impaired driving can have. He was in the same group of friends as DJ Hancock, another Sudbury teen who was killed by a convicted drunk driver on Aug. 21, 2014. Full story here.
Sudbury left off the list as province announces more than 1,100 new LTC beds:
The Government of Ontario announced 16 additional long-term care projects that will add 1,157 new LTC beds in facilities across the province. Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, made the announcement on March 22, as the Ford government continues to stay the course on their commitment to adding 15,000 new long term care beds in Ontario over five years. Sudbury's northern neighbours to the west, Sault Ste. Marie, will receive 128 new long-term care beds as part of this latest announcement, while Orillia's Westmount Lodge will receive 160 beds. The Nickel City however, was left out of the latest batch of beds, though Sudbury is still in line for 54 new long-term care beds, which were announced by the Liberal government last spring. Nickel Belt MPP and health critic France Gélinas says that she's pleased to see the Ford government has held the promise of the previous government when it comes to long-term care beds, but the timeline between announcing beds and actually seeing them rolled out is still years apart. Full story can be found here.
Rainbow board chair sounds off on Ontario Autism Program changes:
When it comes to Ontario's new autism strategy, Rainbow District School Board chair Doreen Dewar had some choice words about the impact on schools. Dewar said if the province consulted so many people and groups, she'd like to know who suggested the way to deal with waitlists for autism services is to scrap the waitlist. While aimed at eliminating a large wait list, parents say the changes, which come into effect April 1, will mean children with autism won't receive as much behavioural intervention therapy. That means they'll be sent to school more frequently, even full time. In a written statement to Sudbury.com, Rainbow District School Board director of education Norm Blaseg said at this time, the board doesn't know what the impact of the changes to the autism program will have on its schools.
CAA's Worst Roads campaign returns:
It's that time of year again. Not spring, no. It's time for CAA's annual Worst Roads campaign. In advance of this year's campaign, a CAA survey found 71 per cent of those surveyed say they are concerned about the condition of roads, while 60 per cent of respondents don't believe that roads are being repaired in a timely manner. Sound familiar? In 2017, Sudbury boasted two of the top five worst roads in Ontario, with Lorne Street and Maley Drive ranking third and fourth respectively on CAA's list, but in 2018, the Nickel City was knocked out of the top ten for the first time in years. We didn't make the top 10 but Lorne Street and Maley Drive still hold down the second and third worst roads rankings in Northern Ontario. Cast your vote for the worst road by visiting CAAWorstRoads.com.
Introducing the Pothole Reporter: See a hole, report a hole with Sudbury.com:
Pothole season is upon us and Sudbury.com has partnered with Fuel Media to create an easy and convenient way for you to report potholes to the City of Greater Sudbury, right from your cellphone. You can find the Pothole Reporter by visiting Pothole.Sudbury.com. There you can upload photos and descriptions of the pothole you found, and the app will produce a report that you can send along to Tom Davies Square. Let's help the city not miss any potholes this year. Check with Sudbury.com every week day to find out what our Pothole Crew is up to. Drive safely out there.
Wednesday Weather:
Some milder temperatures on the way for Wednesday. Mix of sun and cloud today with the high getting up to 5. Mainly cloudy this evening with some rain showers this evening and a chance of some flurries. Overnight low will be sitting at 1, rising back up to 5 by morning. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
