Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
HSN moving ahead with plan to ease bed crisis:
While administrators at Health Sciences North determine how the hospital can best serve patients in 20 years in a capital master plan, they are moving ahead with a short-term proposal to ease the bed crisis at Ramsey Lake Health Centre right now. Last calendar year, there were only 18 days when the acute care site wasn’t operating at more than 100-per-cent occupancy. One record day, 539 patients were admitted to the hospital, which officially has 446 conventional beds. The North East Local Health Integration Network looked at the capacity of hospitals in the Northeast last year. It was no surprise the highest pressure on and demand for acute care beds was in Sudbury. Health Sciences North serves the entire population of the Northeast. Full story here.
NDP pushing Ford to finish four-laning Highway 69:
During question period Monday, Sudbury MPP Jamie West said the Ford government must stop delaying and take action on completing the twinning of Highway 69 from Toronto to Sudbury. “Highway 69 is the connective artery between Northern and Southern Ontario. It is essential for business, trade, and tourism in the North,” said West. “It’s a busy highway, but with only two lanes, there have been many fatalities on Highway 69 and it has become a two-lane death-trap. “It has been 14 years since the Liberals promised they would complete the four-laning of Highway 69, but Sudbury is still waiting.” West said that while the Liberals badly let Sudbury down, the Ford Conservatives have also been delaying the project, just like the Liberals. West reminded Doug Ford that the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce has urged the government to fund the four-laning of the last 68 kilometres of Highway 69.
'Miracle cat!' Copper Cliff feline is back home, 21 months after she went missing:
When their cat Nigella went missing in July 2017, Sean Barrette, Lara Newell-Barrette and their kids Evan, 14, and Marley, 11, made an extraordinary effort to find her. They kept trying, even when many families may have given up hope. Perhaps through a combination of that persistence and a bit of luck, Nigella is back home, 21 months after the family last saw her. The family plastered Copper Cliff with fliers about the missing cat, and posted her information on animal-related social media sites locally and even Ontario-wide. They checked out numerous tips of cats people thought may have been Nigella as close as a nearby laneway in Copper Cliff to as far away as Espanola and Manitoulin Island. But none were Nigella. Sean said he walked up and down Municipal Road 55 in between Copper Cliff and Lorne Street for months after receiving a tip about a cat resembling Nigella — that now makes sense given where Nigella was found. A woman named Debbie Willmott had trapped a cat on Tuddenham Street in Gatchell — several kilometres down Municipal Road 55/Lorne Street from Copper Cliff — and keen-eyed Facebook users identified the feline as possibly being Nigella. Check out the full story here.
Whiz-kids shine at the 50th annual Sudbury Regional Science Fair:
Bristol board, wiring and bowties in hand, 76 students from 18 schools across the region gathered at Laurentian University’s Cliff Fielding, Research and Engineering Building last weekend for the 50th annual Sudbury Regional Science Fair. The anniversary event hosted 52 unique projects created by students from grades 7 to 11, hoping to earn a spot at the Canada-Wide Science Fair taking place in Fredricton from May 15-17. The event was held in the lower portion of the building, where students lined the hall, ready to answer questions from the public as well as the fair’s 62 judges and chief judge, Dr. Helene Joly. Check out the full story and photos from the event here.
Impaired driving suspect refuses to comply with breath test:
A 39-year-old Sudbury man is facing multiple charges after being stopped by the Ontario Provincial Police on Highway 69 in Greater Sudbury April 2. At around 7:57 p.m. that evening, officers conducted a traffic stop for speeding. While conversing with the driver regarding his speed, police determined that the driver was operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. As a result of the investigation, a 39-year-old Sudbury man was arrested and charged with: Failure or Refusal to Comply with Demand, Driving Motor Vehicle with Open Container of Liquor, Speeding 1- 49km/h over Posted Limit, Drive Motor Vehicle - No Validation on Plate. The accused was issued a 90-day Automatic Drivers Licence Suspension (ADLS), and the vehicle was impounded for seven days. He was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury, Ontario on May 1.
The Pothole Reporter: See a hole, report a hole with Sudbury.com:
Pothole season is here 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.
Tuesday Weather:
More beautiful spring weather on the way. Periods of snow to start the day, then cloudy with 60 per cent chance of rain showers. There's a risk of freezing rain early in the morning. Tuesday's high will only get up to 3. Mainly cloudy this evening with a 30 per cent chance of rain showers early in the evening then 30 per cent chance of flurries late in the evening and after midnight. Overnight low will be -5, feeling like -8 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.
