Hello, members! Editor Mark Gentili here with a quick sneak-peak at what we have planned for Sudbury.com this week.
Education reporter Heidi Ulrichsen is going to continue to dig into the Laurentian University finances story. You can read here about the court filings that detail the school’s financial challenges.
As part of that ongoing coverage this week, Ulrichsen is speaking with the faculty union, the Laurentian University Faculty Association, about the higher-than-average salaries professors at the school receive. Ulrichsen will also be covering the university senate meeting on Feb. 9, which promises to be a hot one, and the board of governors meeting on Friday.
Meanwhile, pinch-hitting Jenny Lamothe is speaking with an economist and an education consultant about the situation.
The LU story is just getting off the ground. We’ll continue to follow the story as it develops over the coming months (and likely years).
Speaking of Jenny Lamothe, our Communities beat reporter (who writes about issues in the Black, immigrant and Francophone communities) continues Black History Month coverage, focusing on the contributions of Black people to Greater Sudbury today and in the past. She teamed up with new media reporter Heather Green-Oliver to produce a video on the 2020 rise of Black Lives Matter Sudbury and the social and political issues that brought to life.
That video is being released this week and we have more Black History Month coverage, including profiles and even a recipe or two, as we move through the month.
City hall reporter Matt Durnan will be reporting on the release of a report into the Kingsway Entertainment District this week.
When he called for the report several weeks ago, Mayor Brian Bigger said the exercise was to dispel misinformation and confusion regarding the details of the project. The goal, he said, was to ensure councillors and citizens were on the same page when it comes to the information, decisions and agreements that are in place.
This week, staff will be asking council to approve more than $100,000 to bring in third-party expertise to compile the report Bigger has requested.
Durnan is also speaking to several parents of children with autism about the new funding scheme for therapy the province rolled out last week and whether it addresses their concerns.
Meanwhile, court reporter Arron Pickard will be following a few cases for updates this week. No trials, this week but updates on several cases are expected.
Among the cases Pickard is following this week is the case against GSPS Const. Thomas Van Drunen who is facing impaired driving charges, as well as the case against Felicity Altiman, who is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Robert Keskinen, 75, who was found deceased from multiple stab wounds on Dec. 26, 2020.
Meanwhile, health reporter Len Gillis is looking into how the situation with Laurentian University’s financial health could impact the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, which operates in part on Laurentian’s Sudbury campus. He is also looking into an update on the city’s ongoing opioid crisis and whether long-term care facilities will begin charging residents for the additional personal protective equipment (PPE) needed during the pandemic.
And last but certainly not least, new media reporter Heather Green-Oliver brings us a story on a Sudbury teen who received an extra special gift from her comedy idol (and one of ours, too) and is producing a video update on the construction of Place des Arts downtown.
