Ontario drops COVID-19 vaccine age eligibility to Youth 12+

With the continuing expansion of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout,  youth aged 12 and over will be eligible to book their appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as of 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 23.

Youth aged 12 and over across Ontario will be eligible to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment through the provincial booking system and call centre, as well as at select pharmacies administering the Pfizer vaccine. 

To book an appointment online, these individuals must already be 12 years old as of the date of their booking.

For the full story, click here.

OPP continue search for missing person on Agnew Lake

Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) reported that they were continuing the search May 22 for a resident of Chelmsford who went missing on Agnew Lake in the Municipality of Baldwin Township.

On May 21, 2021 shortly after 7:00 p.m. members of the Manitoulin Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a report of an unoccupied boat circling on Agnew Lake. Manitoulin OPP, OPP Emergency Emergency Response Team (ERT) and North Shore Search and Rescue conducted a search of the area and the individual could not be located.

Members of the Manitoulin OPP and the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU) say they are continuing the search.

City issues trespass notice to volunteer-run consumption site

At 4:00 on Friday May 21, as the long weekend began, city officials issued a trespassing notice to the Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention Society (STOPS).

The notice of trespassing issued to STOPS refers specifically to the parking garage of the YMCA at 140 Durham Street (the city letter says it is also known as YMCA/CFL parking lot) where an encampment of homeless people had been set up. 

However, the notice to trespass was extended to all city property. It also states that breaching the notice, police may be notified to enforce the order.

The notice came as a surprise to the volunteers, says Karla Ghartey, one of STOPS founders. Not because it is out of line, she says, but because of the timing.

Ghartey says she believes it is in retaliation for the Poverty and Housing Coalition’s “sit-in protest” that occurred at the YMCA building at Memorial Park, and STOPS continued fundraising, heightened as of late by the groups view of an increasing need. 

You can find the full story here.

Ontario plans to use up soon-to-be expired vaccines as second dose for AstraZeneca recipients

With some 55,000 doses of AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine still sitting on the shelf, the Ontario government announced Friday that it's planning to use up those vaccines as second doses for Ontario residents who got their first AZ shot between March 10 and March 19 as part of Ontario's pharmacy vaccine rollout plan. 

This would not have involved pharmacies in Northern Ontario, which did not become part of the pharmacy plan until the second week of April.

The details of the new initiative were revealed at a technical briefing held Friday morning, and hosted by Dr. David Williams, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. He explained that for a limited time during the week of May 24, people who received their first dose of AstraZeneca during the period of March 10 to March 19 may opt for their second dose. It would happen at an earlier dose interval of 10 weeks with informed consent. 

This will be providing the second dose sooner than expected, and sooner than what is considered the optimum time period.

Read the full story here.

Vale donates honey from slag pile apiary to Sudbury Food Bank

The Sudbury Food Bank got a sweet treat from nickel miner Vale on May 20.

Timed to coincide with World Bee Day, Vale donated 650 jars of honey to the community service group, which was harvested from the apiary kept on the company's Sudbury-area property.

Twenty-five beehives are kept at the nickel miner's regreened slag hills and greenhouse in the community of Copper Cliff, just west of the city proper.

“Our bee colonies have produced an exceptional amount of honey in the past year and we are pleased to donate it to the Sudbury Food Bank,” Quentin Smith, the environmental projects engineer responsible for Vale’s beekeeping in Sudbury, said in a news release.

“At the same time, we’d like to raise awareness about World Bee Day and the importance role bees play in biodiversity as pollinators.”

Read more about the bees and honey here.

Laurentian University seeks court approval to appoint Chief Redevelopment Officer

As part of Phase 2 of the CCAA process undertaken by Laurentian University, President and Vice-Chancellor Robert Haché filed an affidavit on behalf of the institution May 21, requesting the appointment of a Chief Redevelopment Officer (CRO). 

The CRO is an independent party appointed by the Court on a temporary basis for a number of months to assist Laurentian in its restructuring efforts.

The CRO will also oversee a governance review that was a term of the agreement entered into by Laurentian University and the Laurentian University Faculty Association during the CCAA process.

The motion proposes the appointment of Lou Pagnuitti, not only an experienced executive but a graduate of Laurentian University with an honours Bachelor of Commerce degree.

You can read the full story here.

Lori Fiorino walks the track to raise money for a second MRI at Health Sciences North

Sudbury’s Lori Fiorino spent her May 20 birthday moving.

Fiorino walked the Delki Dozzi Track on her birthday for “as long as her body will let her”, raising money to purchase a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine. It’s part of a fundraiser she created with the support of the HSN Foundation’s Do-It-Yourself Fundraising, raising funds for a second MRI machine at Health Sciences North. 

To date, she has tripled her original fundraising goal, so far raising almost $8,000.

Fiorino said a second MRI machine is not only necessary, and wait-time saving, but also potentially life-saving.

To read more about Fiorino’s journey, click here.

Sunny and warm for Victoria Day Monday