Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
'Welcome home, Marc' Watch as hundreds of people from T.O. to Manitoulin salute fallen officer:
Ontarians by the hundreds paid their respects as Const. Marc Hovingh was brought home to rest on Nov. 23. In community after community, Ontarians paid their respects as the escort travelled from Toronto to the officer's home on Manitoulin Island. They lined city streets and highway overpasses from Toronto to Manitoulin Island on Nov. 23, saluting, holding Canadian flags, standing solemnly with heads bowed. Police and paramedics, lights flashing on their vehicles stood at attention. Firefighters in full gear stood with heads bowed and ladders extended. Public utility workers along the route extended their buckets and hung Canadian flags high in the air. When the escort passed through Whitefish River First Nation on Birch Island and through Little Current, community members lined the route, drumming and singing to show their respect for Hovingh's sacrifice. The 28-year OPP member was fatally shot on Nov. 19 while responding to a property dispute near Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island. The civilian involved in the dispute, 60-year-old Gary Brohman, was also fatally shot in the incident. Video can be found here.
Health unit confirms five new cases of COVID-19; outbreaks at two Extendicare sites:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts has confirmed five new cases of COVID-19 in the area, four in Greater Sudbury and one in the Sudbury District. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 224 since March. There are currently 14 active cases in the region. Of the five new cases, all are listed on the PHSD website as “information pending or missing”. The health unit has also declared COVID-19 outbreaks in two Greater Sudbury long-term care homes. Outbreaks were declared at Extendicare Falconbridge and Extendicare York following reports of two cases of COVID-19 among staff members, one in each facility. To date, no residents have tested positive in relation to these outbreaks. Public Health is actively working with both long-term care homes to investigate the outbreaks and to protect residents and staff. More on this story here.
City moving to designate former Saint-Louis de Gonzague School as a heritage site:
Greater Sudbury city council has taken steps to designate the former Saint-Louis de Gonzague School under the Ontario Heritage Act. The building located at 162 Mackenzie St. was subject to a cultural heritage evaluation report conducted by a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals. The property is owned by Red Oak Villa and is occupied by the former Saint-Louis de Gonzague School. It is the subject of an approved site plan for a retirement living development. This property is also the subject of a recent rezoning application. Members of the Uptown Sudbury Community Action Network (CAN) met virtually with city council on Nov. 10 to make their case for giving the building's exterior facade a heritage designation. "The building is the physical symbol of our community's resistance and defiant action against the discriminatory regulation that did not allow French education in our province when it was opened in 1915," said Cortney St-Jean, chair of the Uptown Sudbury CAN. "It is culturally and historically significant in our city's history. The building itself is highly decorative and ornamental, this is quite rare for our city and for Northern Ontario. The building has been a key fixture of Uptown for more than 105 years and the importance of this building to the history of our city goes beyond the current owner and any developments that will take place, this is something that needs to be preserved and kept for future generations." City council voted unanimously in favour of directing staff to issue a Notice of Intent to Designate the building under the Ontario Heritage Act. Get the full story here.
Manitoulin resident who fled police on ATV facing spousal assault, firearms charges:
A 35-year-old from Burpee Township on Manitoulin Island faces assault and careless use of a firearm charges after a Nov. 22 incident, said provincial police. Ontario Police officers responded to a domestic dispute at a home on Highway 540 in Evansville, where the caller feared for their safety after a verbal and physical altercation had taken place. By the time officers arrived, the accused had fled on an All-Terrain Vehicle. It was alleged the accused had assaulted the complainant multiple times and used a firearm in a threatening manner. The OPP's Canine Unit, Emergency Response Team Members (ERT), crisis negotiators and the Critical Incident Command (CIC), Tactics and Rescue Units (TRU), and helicopter assisted with the investigation. The accused is charged with spousal assault with a weapon spousal, spousal assault causing bodily harm, spousal assault, careless use of a firearm, weapon, prohibited device or ammunition, and three counts of failure to comply with an undertaking. The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice Bail Court in Gore Bay on Nov. 23. The OPP will not be releasing the name in order to protect the identity of the victim.
Study finds the more often you visit an ER for an alcohol issue, the higher your chance of dying:
A study published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ) shows there is a five-per-cent mortality rate for Ontario people who often visit hospital Emergency Rooms for alcohol-related reasons in a one-year period. The study also said more intervention would be helpful in offsetting the mortality rate of those people, who are often from disadvantaged backgrounds. The authors of the study were Jennifer Hulme, MD MPH; Hasan Sheikh, MD; Edward Xie, MD MSc; Evgenia Gatov, MPH; Chenthila Nagamuthu, MPH; Paul Kurdyak, MD PhD; from the University of Toronto, the Institute for Mental Health Policy and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. The study was carried out between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2016 in Ontario for persons who made two or more ER visits in one year for alcohol-related mental or behavioural disorders. More than 25,000 Ontario residents were narrowed down to the cohort of those who had two or more hospital ER visits in a one year. Of that number, the study found a mortality rate of 5.4 per cent. This ranged from 4.7 per cent for those with two visits up to 8.8 per cent for those with five or more visits. Find more on this story here.
Before and after: Railroad museum’s Little Red Caboose gets big restoration:
The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre in Capreol (NORMHC) is looking forward to the spring of 2021, as it will be the organization’s first opportunity to show off its latest restoration project. Over the course of the past few months, caboose No. 79231 has undergone a full cosmetic restoration thanks to a donation from Epiroc Canada and a grant from the provincial Rural Economic Development program. The restoration was completed by Lakeshore Construction. The unit will be badged as Inco No. 79231, indicative of its time with the local mining company. Full story here.
Wednesday Weather:
Periods of light snow or freezing drizzle this morning ending near noon. Mainly cloudy with 40 per cent chance of drizzle later today. Afternoon high will get up to around 3. Cloudy tonight with a 40 per cent chance of drizzle. Overnight low will be steady near plus-1. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
