Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Councillors clash over proposed closure of arena, pool and Lively Ski Hill:
City councillors bumped heads Tuesday night as a motion to close a number of city facilities, including Lively Ski Hill was brought to the table during budget discussions. The finance and administration committee is nearing the finish line in their 2021 budget process and have been working through a number of business cases for the past two meetings. During the March 30 meeting, many of the business cases brought to the table looked at additions and improvements, including a $59 million project at Pioneer Manor that will see the construction of a new 88,000 square foot, five-storey wing. When it came time to discuss subtraction however, the conversation took a turn with some members of council getting their backs up over a motion that was tabled by Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer and Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland. The motion was tied to a facilities rationalization business case, and proposed closing Lively Ski Hill, Onaping Pool, IJ Coady Arena and Falconbridge Fitness Centre. The facilities that were potentially on the chopping block are located in wards 2 and 3, with the IJ Coady Arena and Onaping Pool in Gerry Montpellier's ward 3, while the Lively Ski Hill is located in Michael Vagnini's ward 2. Falconbridge Fitness Centre is in the boundaries of ward 7, which is represented by finance committee chair Mike Jakubo. Get the full story here.
Sudbury COVID patient frustrated with protesters, pleads with residents to follow public health advice:
While the rest of Greater Sudbury is enjoying a long Easter weekend, one resident will spend it with needles in his stomach and staying away from his family as he continues to recover from the effects of COVID-19. Mike Landry is now out of the intensive care unit at Health Sciences North. He was admitted on March 13 after complications with his recently diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “They have finished with the antiviral and steroid treatment,” he told Sudbury.com this week. “Did it work? I guess I can say I thank God I didn’t need to be intubated and put on a mechanical ventilator.” Landry said his blood gas analysis results are low, and he has become very discouraged as the numbers are not going up enough to keep him stable when they lower his oxygen. “The doctors and nurses are doing their very best, and I'm fighting as much as I can, but I'm getting overwhelmed with my thoughts,” said Landry. “If I didn’t have so many people praying and supporting me and my family, this would be even darker than what it is now.” Landry’s wife and daughter also had COVID-19 and self-isolated at home. His daughter has fully recovered from her symptoms, but his wife continues to have low blood pressure. Landry said he was disappointed about the group of Sudburians who are taking part in protests against pandemic restrictions. “It hurt me when I found out,” he said. “I'm here, very sick, alone, scared, and wishing I can be with my family, and here are people who still believe this is a hoax, a conspiracy or a government trying to seize control. I can assure you it is not.” Full story here.
GSPS will again be ‘following up’ with organizers of latest Freedom Rally:
Much as it did after the March 20 event, Greater Sudbury Police told Sudbury.com officers will be “following up” with the organizers of the anti-pandemic restrictions “Freedom Rally” that was held downtown on March 27. That event was again organized by the group MADSudbury (for Mothers Against Distancing). The demonstration was peaceful and featured a celebratory, congenial atmosphere. Protesters carried signs, waved Canadian flags, blew bubbles and sang the national anthem during the time Sudbury.com was on the scene.An event organized by the same group last weekend drew as many as 200 people. JR Demellweek, who posted a notice about the rally to the MADSudbury Facebook page, told Sudbury.com at the event that MADSudbury “is about freedom of choice” when it comes to mask-wearing, business opening restrictions and other pandemic responses. The March 27 event was much smaller than the previous week’s, attracting some 50 or 60 people compared to the upwards of 200 who attended the March 20 event. Find more on this story here.
Sudbury man accused of making and distributing child sexual abuse material:
Greater Sudbury Police have charged a 24-year-old Sudbury man with multiple counts of child pornography after police found evidence of child sexual abuse material at a Greater Sudbury home. Jessie Bernard is charged with two count of making child pornography, two counts of accessing child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography, five counts of distributing child pornography and two counts of luring a child under 18 to committ the offence of making child pornography. Search warrants were executed on March 24. Bernard was scheduled to attend bail court Wednesday morning.
Sudbury Health Unit reports only 10 new cases of COVID-19 for March 31:
Sudbury's health unit is reporting 10 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death for March 31. Public Health also said there are now 316 active cases being monitored, a big drop from the 344 active cases reported on Tuesday. Also, since the health unit began tracking COVID-19 cases just over one year ago, there have been 1,439 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 1,123 of those cases have been resolved. With respect to where the new cases might have occurred, the Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) daily update page reported that seven of the new cases were found to have occurred within the Greater Sudbury Area. Three new cases were reported from the wider Sudbury district. With respect to possible causes of the new cases, PHSD reported eight cases associated with outbreak, 25 new cases linked to close contact of a confirmed case, three cases of no known epidemiological link, and 26 cases listed as "under investigation". On the provincial COVID-19 register Wednesday, the Ontario government daily website reported 2,333 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province.
Rainbow board trustees express ‘grave concern’ about permanent remote learning in Ontario:
Meeting Tuesday, trustees with the Rainbow District School Board made a stand against Ontario government plans leaked to the media that would see remote learning become a permanent part of the province’s school system. The trustees unanimously passed the following motion: “That the Rainbow District School Board write a letter expressing its grave concerns about the provincial government’s proposed plan for online and remote learning.” A March 22 Ministry of Education presentation obtained by the Globe and Mail lays out three forms of online school that could be offered. That includes remote learning offered by school boards (including full-day synchronous learning for students of all ages, and individual high school courses). But the aspect of this plan that has especially raised hackles among stakeholders is a proposal that would see agencies such as TVO and TFO offering asynchronous online learning to secondary students located both in Ontario and out-of-province. At the March 30 special Rainbow board meeting on the topic, trustees heard presentations from not only Rainbow board staff about the potential impacts, but also teachers’ union officials, who were invited to speak. All of the speakers presented a united front in their opposition to the idea. More on this story can be found here.
Thursday Weather:
Mix of sun and cloud today with temperatures hovering near the freezing mark. There's a 30 per cent chance of flurries early in the morning. Daytime high will be steady at -1, feeling like -8 with the wind. Clear skies into the evening with temperatures dropping to -12. Overnight low will feel like -16 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.
