Hello Sudbury. This is the final Monday in November. Boxing Day is just four weeks away! Here are some news stories to start your day in the Nickel City.
CHANCELLOR EXPLAINS WHY SHE LIKES NOSM UNIVERSITY
The newly appointed chancellor of NOSM University (formerly Northern Ontario School of Medicine) said one the reasons she is pleased to be associated with NOSM is because the school has a growing reputation of working toward culturally appropriate medical care.
Dr. Cindy Blackstock, who was named the inaugural chancellor for the new standalone medical school, was born and raised as a member of the Gitxsan First Nation in Northern British Columbia in the 1960s and 1970s. She said it was a challenge to get health care back then.
"Well, one of the exciting things is that it (NOSM) is actually succeeding at the opportunity of ensuring that people in northern communities have access to culturally appropriate medical care. And this really is something that the nation has struggled with for decades, I myself grew up in rural and remote communities up in northern BC. And it was a challenge getting health care," Blackstock said in an interview with Sudbury.Com.
She said that challenge still exists but NOSM graduates are working to change that.
You can read more about this story here:
LIBERAL LAPOINTE SUPPORTS CONSERVATIVE PENSION BILL
Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe, a Liberal, has pledged her support to a Conservative private member’s bill to protect pensions in the wake of insolvencies and bankruptcy.
Lapointe voted in favour of MP Marilyn Gladu’s Bill C-228, which received its second reading, this past week.
The bill, also called the Pension Protection Act, proposes changes to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act “to ensure pension funds would be paid before secured and unsecured claims.”
With the fallout from Laurentian University’s decision to seek CCAA protection, it resulted in people not only losing their jobs but also their pensions and severance pay.
“In light of the recent CCAA process instigated by Laurentian University, where we saw people not only lose their present livelihood but their future security as well, I offered my full support of MP Gladu’s Bill,” Lapointe said in a news release.
You can read more about this story here:
HOSPITAL DRAW WINNER THOUGHT IT WAS A SCAM
So there's a new winner for popular 50/50 hospital draw in Sudbury, but when they phoned him to tell him he won the jackpot, he didn't believe it.
“I was so sure it was a scam, I darn near hung up. It took 10 minutes of talking before I started to realize that I might have actually won!” said Bruce Lavallee of Alban, the man who gets to take home more than half a million dollars for supporting the Health Sciences North foundations draw.
Lavellee said he was pleased to support the many foundations associated with Health Sciences North (HSN).
“I have a lot of history with the hospital in Sudbury. Going back over 30 years, I had surgery to remove five brain tumours just before the Cancer Centre opened. Thinking back to that, it’s really something that I’m standing here now with a big cheque.”
That's so much better than if he had hung up and blocked the call.
You can read more about this story here:
POLICE MOVING TO A NEW PROCEDURE FOR ANSWERING ALARM CALLS
It appears there are too many false alarms happening in Sudbury. A recommendation aimed at cutting down the number of false security alarm calls responded to by Sudbury police was approved by the Greater Sudbury Police Services Board on Nov. 23.
The new program would phase out the current bylaw on false alarms at homes and businesses, which was established in 2002, and establish a new “verified response program.”
Alarm companies would be required to verify criminal activity rather than use police as a third party to confirm or determine if an alarm is false.
A report to the police services board said the current bylaw was established 20 years ago due to the large number of false alarms “that had been identified as consuming a significant amount of police resources which could be better directed to enhancing the police presence in the community.”
For example, in the year 2000, police responded to more than 6,000 false alarms. The 2002 bylaw provided for an alarm registration system for a fee and the charging of fees for police response to false alarms.
From time to time, the board reviewed the fees, and made adjustments to be more in line with police industry norms. The service also regularly reviewed alarm calls for service.
You can read more about this story here:
RAINBOW SCHOOL BOARD WANTS STUDENTS TO USE LESS PLASTIC
Rainbow District School Board has challenged staff and students to reduce harmful plastics in lunches, classroom activities and lesson plans.
The Environmental Committee issues monthly challenges to schools throughout the year to broaden the scope of education and sustainable action.
“Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time,” said Director of Education Bruce Bourget, in a press release. “To address this, we need to consider the way we produce, use and manage anything made with plastic.
“We encourage school communities to continue to raise awareness to minimize the use of plastics both inside and outside of the classroom.”
You can read more about this story here:
DID YOU ENJOY THAT LOVELY WEATHER ON SATURDAY?
If you thought Saturday was just a perfectly nice, mild day in Sudbury, you might be an astute weather observer. It might have been the nicest weather on November 26 in the past 10 years... or it might have been the nicest November 26th weather in the past 70 years. It all depends on your research.
Environment Canada has confirmed that Saturday afternoon was an unusually warm high temperature for the final week of November in this part of Northern Ontario. Whether it was a record depends on which database you refer to.
The federal weather agency has a webpage for Almanac Averages and Extremes, which shows the record high temperature for the area described as "Sudbury-A" on November 26 happened in 2022 -- which was Saturday. This database showed weather records from 2013 to 2022.
Environment Canada said the temperature reached a high of 9.8 Celsius. The website also showed that this was the highest temperature for November 26 in the past 10 years.
You can read more about this story here:
SUDBURY WEATHER IS DEFINITELY MORE LIKE WINTER TODAY
Sudburians who enjoyed the record-breaking warm weather on Saturday can settle in to this final week of November with some more seasonal temperatures.
The overnight sampling of snow and winds mean that today's weather will certainly be more winterlike than Saturday's unseasonable warm 9.8 Celsius.
Environment Canada is predicting a cloudy day with winds from the northeast at 20 kilometres per hour, gusting up to 40 in the morning. Monday's forecast high temperature will be Minus 2. There's likely to be a wind chill of Minus 13 in the morning, warming up to Minus 4 in the afternoon.
The expected UV Index for Monday will be 1, or low. Moving in to Monday night, expect the temperature to drop to Minus 8.
For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
Sudbury.com is looking for photos of the latest weather conditions in Greater Sudbury.
If something catches your eye with the today's weather, snap a picture and send it over to [email protected] to be featured on our site.
