Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are nine stories to start your week.
ICYMI: Dave Kilgour, former councillor and Capreol mayor, passes away
Former Greater Sudbury city councillor and Mayor of the Town of Capreol, Dave Kilgour, has died, according to reports on social media. Details surrounding Kilgour's death were not immediately available however at least three city councillors posted messages of condolences on Facebook yesterday afternoon. Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier told Sudbury.com that council was notified of Kilgour's passing in an email from Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo, but no details on his death were provided.
Funeral for John Rodriguez set for July 11
Family members, friends and likely a significant number of dignitaries will be on hand next week at the funeral for John Rodriguez. The former Nickel Belt MP and mayor, who famously described himself as the "bus driver" of city hall, passed away at his home on July 5 after a long bout with a respiratory illness. Sudbury.com has learned that a funeral mass for Rodriguez will be held on July 11 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Walford Road. Visitation is scheduled for July 10 at the Lougheed Funeral Home on Regent Street. Visitations times are 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. that day. Donations can be made to the John Rodriguez Bursary at St. David School, where Rodriguez was principal during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Pride Week celebrations start today
Greater Sudbury's annual Pride Week, a celebration of the city's queer community, takes place July 10-16. This will be the 20th anniversary of Pride Week in Sudbury — with LGBTQ2SIAAP events having been organized in the city since 1997. The organization behind Pride celebrations, Fierté Sudbury Pride, has a full slate of events planned to mark the milestone anniversary. Festivities get underway today with the official Pride flag raising ceremony at the James Jerome Sports Complex at 11 a.m.
Read the full story and list of events here.
Police and Pride: Organizers reach compromise with chief on officers marching
Since a group of Black Lives Matter protestors staged a sit-in during the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade, a lot of attention has been focused on the historic relationship between police and the queer community. And, in many such communities — including Toronto — that history has not been pretty. While Fierté Sudbury Pride organizers acknowledge they have a "wonderful" relationship with the Greater Sudbury Police Service and say the force is ahead of the curve on LGBTQ+ issues, there are still marginalized members of the local community who are uncomfortable at the presence of police officers at Pride events. Organizers say they have found a compromise at the suggestion of Chief Paul Pedersen: at this year's Pride Week celebrations, police will be welcome to participate in events but not in full uniform.
Sudbury.com spoke at length with the acting chair of Fierté Sudbury Pride on balancing the needs of community members and maintaining the relationship with police. Look for that story later today.
Person of Interest: a special Pride Week edition
To celebrate Pride Week in Greater Sudbury, reporter Callam Rodya visited one of the most important safe spaces for the queer community that's been around as long as Pride celebrations in the community itself. It's the only gay bar you'll find in Ontario north of Toronto and, like Sudbury's Pride Week, it's also celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Check out a special Pride Week episode of Sudbury.com's Person of Interest coming this week.
Despite arena vote, Downtown Sudbury looks to capitalize on momentum
Nearly two weeks after a marathon city council meeting sealed the deal for a new arena on The Kingsway, Downtown Sudbury chair Jeff McIntyre is still raw about it. But he and other downtown stakeholders are looking to capitalize on the momentum of a lobbying and publicity campaign that, while it fell short in swinging the arena vote in favour of the downtown, brought supporters together in an organized way that hasn't been seen before. That campaign will now broaden into a larger advocacy role — focusing on big projects like the Synergy Centre, art gallery and library, and smaller projects like improved parking infrastructure, the Elgin Greenway and urban renewal in the area.
Sudbury.com spoke to McIntyre and the two downtown business owners who were behind the "I Support the Downtown" campaign. Look for that story today.
Convicted sex offender Paul McColeman back in court July 14
Saying he ran a “grooming and luring” operation, Ontario Superior Court Justice Patricia Hennessey found Paul McColeman guilty of all charges June 29 in the conclusion of a sensational sex crimes case. McColeman, 45, is guilty of 34 charges, including luring children, sexual exploitation and indecent exposure involving 15 male minors from 2006 to late June 2014 in Espanola. His trial began in March and lasted 23 days. He'll be back in court July 14, when the Crown may move to have him declared a dangerous offender and when a date for sentencing will be set.
Read the full story here.
ICYMI: Thousands flock to Bell Park for Northern Lights Festival Boréal
The otherwise wet summer Sudbury has endured so far seemed to take the weekend off — just in time for the 2017 edition of the Northern Lights Festival Boréal. Canada's longest continuously running outdoor music festival invaded Bell Park and several downtown venues for four days of music, arts, crafts, food, beer and (mercifully) sun July 6-8. Thousands flocked to the festival, an annual tradition spanning generations of Sudburians. Headliners included Buffy Sainte-Marie, Whitehorse, A Tribe Called Red, Yukon Blonde and beloved children's entertainer Fred Penner.
Tell us: Where is the best golf course in Greater Sudbury?
This summer, Sudbury.com wants you to help us track the best our fair city has to offer. The best beach, the best chip stand, the best downtown mural ... we've got eight different topics to carry us through the entire summer. Every week, a new topic, every Friday we unveil the winner in a new video. Last week we asked you, the readers, to vote for the best chip stand in Greater Sudbury. This week, we want to know: Where is the best golf course in Greater Sudbury?
