Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
No regrets, Thibeault says, as voters punish Liberals at the polls:
The roller-coaster ride that has been Glenn Thibeault's political career for the last 3 ½ years came to an end Thursday. The man who was once the most popular politician in Sudbury finished third, behind winner Jamie West and Tory challenger Troy Crowder. Thibeault was a popular New Democrat MP for the federal party when he decided to run for the Liberals in the February 2015 byelection. The ensuing scandal involving spurned candidate Andrew Olivier led to a bribery scandal that ended in acquittals, but left a bad taste in the mouth of many local voters. But Thursday, Thibeault said he regretted nothing and was grateful for all he was able to accomplish as MPP and energy minister under Kathleen Wynne's Liberals. Find the full story here and check out Sudbury.com for all of your election night recaps.
An 18% jump in passengers at Sudbury Airport is good news but growth making it tougher to get a cab:
While it's mostly a good news story, officials at the Greater Sudbury Airport say that growth in the number of passengers is making it harder for people to get a cab. Jean Mathieu Chenier, director of marketing and airport development at Fly Sudbury, said an 18-per-cent growth in passenger numbers in 2017 — and about a 15-per-cent increase so far in 2018 — has prompted a review of the way cab companies do business at the airport. "That's a challenge common to airports our size ... It's not like Pearson (in Toronto) or Calgary or Vancouver — we don't have 100 cabs lined up waiting to pick people up." In 2012, the airport issued an RFP for taxi service, awarding the winning bidder exclusive “queueing rights” — the right to line up outside and serve passengers as they come off their flights. One of the goals of that contract was to eliminate disputes between cab drivers over who gets the next customer coming out the door. “Much larger (airports) can dedicate a security person whose job it is to ensure no one is butting in line,” Chenier said. “We just don't have those resources." More on this story can be found here.
Meet Lively's skating sensation Meagan Duhamel today:
Three-time Olympic medallist Meagan Duhamel is in her hometown of Lively today for a meet and greet, and the community is invited to come out and celebrate her achievements. Duhamel is a two-time world champion figure skater and a record seven-time Canadian champion in pairs figure skating with her partner Eric Radford. The pair won gold in the team event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, along with a bronze medal in the pairs event. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the duo won silver in the team event. Residents of Lively and Greater Sudbury are invited to celebrate Meagan's fantastic career, today at Lively District Secondary School. The event is being put on by Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini and the Walden Skating Club and gets underway at 1:30 p.m. Sudbury.com will bring you more on this story later today so be sure to check back with us.
Fire at industrial building on Maley Drive caused $200K in damage:
A fire at an industrial building on Maley Drive Wednesday night caused moderate fire damage but severe smoke damage, Greater Sudbury Fire Services (GSFS) has said. Firefighters were called to the scene at around 3:30 a.m. It took 17 firefighters from three stations and five fire vehicles to contain the blaze. Rating the fire damage as moderate and the smoke damage as severe, GSFS estimates the dollar amount of the damages at $200,000. No firefighters or civilians were injured.
Slam dunk: LU's Kadre Gray is Canada's top male university athlete this year:
Kadre Gray has cemented himself into the Laurentian Voyageurs history books as he was named the U SPORTS BLG Award winner on Monday night in Vancouver. The award is presented to the top female and male student-athletes from universities affiliated with U SPORTS. Formerly known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union, U SPORTS is the governing body of university sports in Canada. Gray’s honour is the first for a Voyageur student-athlete. In his second year as guard for the Voyageurs, the 6-1, 190-pound Toronto native has racked up an impressive record in the 20 games he's played. Averaging 24.4 points a game, his field goal percentage is 51.2 per cent, while his stat from the three-point line is a solid 43.1 per cent. His free-throw percentage is up over 80 per cent. Gray averaged eight rebounds a game. Gray studies health promotion at Laurentian.
Killarney chefs square off on June 13:
On Wednesday, June 13, Killarney Mountain Lodge will host a Destination Killarney Chefs Challenge between six chefs from both the Sportsman’s Inn and Killarney Mountain lodge. The event starts with signature cocktails at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Each property will have three representatives and will be challenged to create their best dish, which will be “blind” to the guests. Diners will vote for their favourite creation on score sheets placed at each table. Killarney General Manager, Kelly McAree will introduce each dish, and the winning chef will present themselves after the scoring for the trophy for Destination Killarney’s Top Chef. A portion of the proceeds from all event dinners go to the Killarney Airport Runway Resurfacing Project. For reservations call 705-287-2242 or 1-800-461-1117 or email [email protected].
Friday Weather:
A beautiful June day ahead to wrap up the work week. Mainly sunny today with high of 23. Mix of sun and cloud this afternoon and into the evening. Overnight low will be 13. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
