Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Council votes to close three helipads as a cost-saving measure:
Three of the city's helipads could be closed soon as the city's finance and administration committee voted in favour of closing the pads at Vermilion Lake, Capreol and Dowling. The resolution to close the helipads was tabled by Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer on March 4 in a move to reduce the tax levy by $73,266. The finance and administration committee met for a third straight evening on Thursday as they continue to work towards finalizing the 2021 budget that aims to produce a tax increase of no more than 3.9 per cent. Committee members have pored over numerous items in the more than 600-page budget binder, working section-by-section and asking questions of staff while searching for savings wherever possible. Sizer noted on Thursday that helipad utilization has been very low, with the Vermilion Lake helipad not being used since 2016, while still being maintained. "I'm asking that we eliminate the three helipads that are under-utilized, as a matter of fact one of the helipads had not been used at since 2016," said Sizer. "The other two in Capreol and Dowling have only been used once from 2016 to 2020." Full story here.
Public Health Sudbury reports 16 new COVID-19 cases for March 4:
The Sudbury health unit reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 in the area on March 4. Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) said there are now 124 cases being actively monitored. Again, this is the highest number of active cases since PHSD began tracking a year ago. Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, there have been 714 total COVID-19 cases reported to the Sudbury health unit. PHSD said 590 of those cases have been resolved locally. In terms of where the new cases occurred, the PHSD daily update page reported that 15 cases were found to have occurred within the Greater Sudbury Area. One new case was assigned to the wider rural area of Sudbury district. With respect to possible causes of the new cases, PHSD reported nine new cases listed as outbreak-related, two cases of close contact of a confirmed case and five cases of information pending or missing. On the provincial COVID-19 roster Thursday, the Ontario government daily website reported there were 994 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province. The province also reported 10 new deaths had occurred in the previous 24 hours.
Lo-Ellen school community officially dismissed; Public health says COVID could be widespread:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts is officially dismissing the entire school community at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, the health unit announced late Wednesday night. All students, staff, and essential visitors who attend the school are being advised by Public Health Sudbury & Districts of the isolation and testing requirements appropriate to their circumstances. The dismissal of the school is in addition to specific classroom dismissals last week and follows a COVID-19 outbreak declaration at the school on March 2. Lo-Ellen has already been closed by the Rainbow District School Board all week due to the situation. With additional cases reported this week, Public Health has determined there is potential widespread COVID-19 infection among the school community, said a press release. Broader testing of the school community will assist with additional case finding. This, combined with self-isolation of all school attendees, is intended to limit further spread. More on this story here.
Ontario spending more money on mental health solutions in Northern Ontario:
Ontario announced Thursday it is investing more than $12 million to immediately expand and enhance culturally-appropriate mental health and addictions services for Indigenous peoples, families and communities across the province, especially in the North. The announcement came Thursday from Health Minister Christine Elliott and Michael Tibollo, the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions at Queen's Park. This funding is part of the $176 million being invested in the government's longer term mental health and addictions plan, Roadmap to Wellness. The plan is delivering high-quality care and building a modern, connected and comprehensive mental health and addictions system, said the ministry. Tibolo told the news teleconference that it was exactly a year ago this week that the Roadmap to Wellness was first launched to offer better access to a higher level of care for all Ontarians. Since that time he has heard from several Indigenous leaders about the problems in their isolated communities. You can watch Thursday's announcement here.
Le Ledo group hopeful public funds can help make $50M downtown proposal a reality:
The group behind a proposed $50-million overhaul of the Ledo Hotel in the city's downtown is anxiously hoping city council approves on Community Improvement Plan (CIP) funding in order to take the next steps. A total of 12 applicants across five city wards have applied for Downtown, Brownfield and Town Centre CIP funding, with the Le Ledo proposal standing as the largest project of the bunch. The Le Ledo plans have been in the works for roughly a year now and will reimagine the entire property with a 150,000-square-foot commercial development in Sudbury’s south section of the Junction district with a combination of existing uses and others allowable within the C-6 commercial zoning. Le Ledo Inc., city planning staff and the economic development department have worked together during the application period that started in June and completed in September. "We anticipate Le Ledo to be completed concurrent to the opening of the new Library and Art Gallery," said Chris Tammi, president of Le Ledo Inc. “These two projects will bring a big spotlight to Sudbury for the opening at that time. The combined investment represents at least $100M in public and private funds into ‘The Junction’ of our downtown." A purchase and sale agreement option has been put in place for Le Ledo Inc. to buy the building from current owner 502 Holdings, though the sale has not been completed at this time. Read more here.
Hospital increases staff, operating hours to meet COVID-19 testing demand:
Sudbury's Health Sciences North reports that it has increased staffing and expanded hours of operation in response to an increased demand for COVID-19 testing in Sudbury. "Demand for testing at HSN’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre has increased greatly in the last week with recent outbreaks declared at local schools in Sudbury," said a news release from the hospital Thursday afternoon. "Usually HSN expects to receive roughly 280 requests per day for testing. This week there were almost 900 requests for Monday, alone. With this increase in demand, HSN is asking everyone to please be kind and patient with Assessment Centre staff when booking your appointment. “They are doing everything they can to book people in as fast as possible, but wait times may be longer than usual," the release continued. The statement added that HSN has stepped up its staffing and the hours of operation at the assessment centre to continue to book a majority of people for same and next day testing so that people can be booked in for testing as quickly as possible. In order to speed up the process, HSN is asking city residents to use the online booking tool to book their appointment. HSN said the online link is quick, convenient, easy to use, and also means you don’t have to sit on hold waiting to speak to someone on the telephone. More on this story can be found here.
Friday Weather:
Sunshine to start the day with increasing cloudiness later this morning. There's a 60 per cent chance of light snow in the afternoon. Friday's high will be -6, feeling like -13 with the wind. Mostly cloudy into the evening with a 40 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low will drop to -13, feeling like -21. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
