Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
She claims to be a local toddler who vanished 50 years ago — that toddler's sister says that's nonsense:
You might have seen a YouTube video circulating on social media over the past week in which a woman, oddly petting a cat as she speaks, claims to be a local toddler who went missing from the shores of Grundy Lake more than 50 years ago. In the video, which appears to have been purchased as an ad on YouTube, the woman narrates over images of newspaper clippings, explaining that she believes she had been suffering amnesia for many years and only recently started having memories of her abduction. She claims to be Diane Prevost (in fact, the description of the video reads "I am Diane Prevost"), the two-year-old daughter of a Valley family, who disappeared from the shore of Grundy Lake during a family vacation to the provincial park in 1966. As wonderful as it would be to have found her sister alive and well, Lise Nastuk told Sudbury.com on Thursday the woman in the video, whose name is Mary Belanger, isn't who she claims to be, and the family has a DNA test to prove it. Read more on this story here.
Sudbury delegation heads to Finland to tour ferrochrome smelter:
With a Feb. 2 deadline looming for submissions, Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger is leading a delegation to Tornio, Finland, on Saturday to get a first-hand look at Outokumpu, an operating ferrochrome smelter. Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay are all in the running to be home to a similar smelter to process chromite when production begins in the Ring of Fire in Northwestern Ontario. Noront Resources, which owns a significant stake in the Ring of Fire, set the deadline as it makes long-term plans to begin processing chromite from the discovery. Cliffs Resources announced a former mine site near Capreol as its preferred location for the smelter in 2012, but later sold its stake because of frustrations with the slow pace of development of the discovery. Bigger said the Outokumpu ferrachrome smelter in Finland is the gold standard worldwide for processing chromite in an environmentally responsible way. Full story here.
Vagnini will co-operate with harassment investigation – in writing
After his efforts to force the investigation into the public realm failed this week, Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini has announced he will co-operate with a workplace harassment investigation, but on his on terms. Vagnini, along with Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier, are the subject of a complaint by the city's full-time firefighters union. The complaint alleges the pair harassed former fire chief Trevor Bain last year during the fire optimization process. At city council Tuesday, Vagnini and Montpellier tried to convince the rest of council to reconsider the closed-door investigation mandated by provincial legislation in favour of a public inquiry. They required a two-thirds majority to undo a Nov. 22, 2017, decision – made behind closed doors – to hire an outside investigator to conduct the probe. The vote failed by a 7-6 vote, well short of what was required. Full story can be found here.
Flash freeze could hit Sudbury as temperatures plummet:
Environment Canada has issued a flash freeze warning for Greater Sudbury and vicinity as temperatures are expected to fall rapidly from Thursday into Friday. Ponding water, slush, and any falling precipitation will freeze as the temperature drops. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous. Flash freeze warnings are issued when a rapid drop in temperature is expected, that can cause water from rain or melted snow on streets and sidewalks to quickly freeze. Check out Sudbury.com reporter Allana McDougall's update on Thursday's rapidly changing weather conditions here.
Theatre Cambrian thinking of selling its Eyre St. building:
In the wake of financial problems that have dogged Theatre Cambrian of late, the organization's leadership said it's looking at possibly selling the Eyre Street building it calls home.The community theatre company purchased and renovated the former St. Eugene Parish Church about a decade ago. But between the mortgage and operational costs such as utilities, the building costs Theatre Cambrian about $11,000 a month — and that's before it actually pays to put on any theatre. Repair costs on the more than 60-year-old building are also substantial. Last weekend, during the extreme cold, several watermain breaks in the building caused headaches for the theatre company. Full story here.
Harvey's/Swiss Chalet coming to Rainbow Centre:
Anil Verma loves the Harvey's restaurant chain. He likes the fact he can choose exactly what goes on his burger, and that those toppings are right in front of him when he chooses them. It's one of the reasons he's bringing a Harvey's/Swiss Chalet combo store to the Rainbow Centre. It's set to open Feb. 5, and will complement the Mr. Sub and Gino's Pizza he already owns and operates there. “It's a very good brand,” Verma said. “It's difficult to get a Harvey's/Swiss Chalet combo, and there aren't that many across Canada.” He said when the previous restaurant in that location closed down last year, he seized the opportunity to bring in another choice to Rainbow Centre visitors and employees. It took about four or five months to figure it all out, but he got the green light in the fall to set up a franchise location, he said. Verma is in the process of hiring staff right now. He's already hired a manager and assistant manager, and they are going through three weeks of training. Training for the rest of the staff, once they are all hired, begins on Jan. 31 for three days. On Feb. 3, staff will conduct a dry run for family and friends. Then, on Feb. 5, it's full steam ahead.
Liard: Sure the Wolves traded their three top scorers, but it’s actually a good thing — no, really:
Only time will tell if the Sudbury Wolves had a successful 2018 trade deadline, but early signs point to them being winners. The Wolves need a full rebuild, a sell-the-farm-for-seeds-type of tear down and that’s exactly what they did. Sudbury Wolves reporter Nick Liard dives into the busy trade deadline that was for the Sudbury Wolves and says that the team is making the right steps looking towards the future. Read Liard's column here.
Friday weather:
Mainly cloudy with periods of snow ending in the morning then a mix of sun and cloud. Temperature falling to -17 in the afternoon, wind chill will feel like -27. A few clouds this evening with the low sitting at -27, feeling like -35 with the wind. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
