Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Tuesday morning.
City staff overtime hours still up from pre-pandemic levels
The city’s annual budgets for overtime hours are routinely exceeded several times over, and remains higher than the pre-pandemic base year of 2019. In 2023, the city budgeted 28,812 hours for unionized staff overtime pay, but by the time they hit Dec. 31, it had reached 183,028 hours. There’s a similar story for each of the five years included in a report tabled this week by city Financial Planning and Budgeting Manager Liisa Lenz, beginning with a low of 140,747 overtime hours recorded in 2019. The report was requested by Ward 4 Paulin Fortin in January, following her unsuccessful bid the previous month to pare down city overtime budgets by 25 per cent. In December 2023, city Corporate Services general manager Kevin Fowke forecast the report tabled this week, clarifying that the amount budgeted for overtime “is less than we require by a significant measure in terms of actuals. Some of those are because people haven't shown up to work or we have vacancies, so that budget is contained somewhere else in salaries and benefits.”
Winning mine rescue teams now prep for provincial competition
Two Mine Rescue teams from the Greater Sudbury area will have a chance to compete in the all-Ontario Mine Rescue competition to be held June 4-7 at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The Sudbury area teams representing the Onaping District and the Sudbury District were among many mine rescue teams that took part in eight district competitions across the province, May 8 to 10. The winning team for Onaping was the Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations Fraser and Nickel Rim South Mines. This included Team Captain Julien Lalande, No.2 Aaron Boutet, No.3 Neil Poulin, No.4 Alyssa Spry, Vice Captain Jesse Legault, No.6 Shawn O’Brien, and briefing officer Bleir Millions. The winning Onaping technician was Dan Rioux of Glencore. The winning team for Sudbury district was the Vale West Mine. That team included Captain Chris Charbonneau, No.2 Roch Berthiaume, No.3 Shawn Barrette, No.4 Madison Tracey, Vice Captain Dustin McKinnon, No.6 Patricia Gagne, briefing officer Lorne Beleskey, and No.7 Brian Reeves. The winning Sudbury technician was Nick Fram of the Vale West Mine.
Let’s eat! We’re making ‘borsch’, Ukraine’s national soup
When I left the house today to cook a pot of borsch with my parents, my eldest said “don’t forget to pack a Mason jar and bring some home for me.” It’s a monthly staple in our house as beets are known for their rich iron content and in the development of healthy red blood cells. Eaten hot or cold, and rich in red colour from the beets, borsch is the national soup of Ukraine. I’ve always been a firm believer that food tastes better when others cook it, and I am not sure there are any other borsch makers that I can find that compare to my parents, Jean and Peter Kozelko. Before I arrive, the consomme or broth is already on the stove simmering for an hour. Borsch always begins with a piece of meat you have in the fridge. Today, it’s turkey leftovers with 12 cups of water. Chicken and ribs have also been used as a base.
Burlington resident dies in ATV crash on Hwy 553
A Burlington resident died in a single-ATV crash on Highway 553 on May 12. Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police were dispatched to the area in Sables-Spanish Rivers Township just after 10 p.m. Sunday evening. “A person, 64-years-old, from Burlington was pronounced deceased at the scene,” police said. “No other injuries were reported.” The investigation is ongoing with the assistance of the OPP Traffic Incident Management Enforcement (T.I.M.E.) team.
Greater Sudbury Cubs down two games at Centennial Cup
The Greater Sudbury Cubs continue to hunt for a win in Centennial Cup play in Oakville. On Sunday, the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champions fell 5-1 to the Navan Grads at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex as the 10-day tournament to determine Canada’s best Junior A team continues. On Day 4 of the tournament, Navan scored first and held Greater Sudbury to just one goal. Despite the Cubs’ efforts to create scoring chances, they just couldn’t find the back of the net. Navan opened the scoring at 3:15 of the first, after Grads’ forward Colin MacDougall powered his way out from the end boards and pushed along the goal line, beating Greater Sudbury goaltender Noah Metivier as he crossed the crease. The Cubs kept the pressure on and created scoring chances for both Marshall McCharles and Chris Innes, but were stymied by Grads’ netminder Jaeden Nelson.
Fifty Mother’s Day celebrations for Lougheed's floral manager
Karen Halverson, manager of Lougheed’s Flowers, is celebrating her 50th Mother’s Day as the flower queen of Sudbury, and the thing she said she loves most about her work is the ability to say so much to another, when perhaps words are failing you. “In a matter of seconds, flowers can express emotions that most of us have a hard time conveying with words,” Halverson told Sudbury.com. “I have witnessed it time and time again.” And whether those emotions are the joy of a new baby, graduation or even expressing love, or on the other side, the grief of losing a loved one, flowers will always know the right thing to say, she said. Halverson began working part time at Lougheed’s Flowers when she was a student at Marymount College. “I didn't know what I was going to do for a living, like most high school students.” Halverson said she knew she wanted to continue her education, but wasn’t sure what to study, and the part time job sparked a life-long interest in flowers. She said she found the best program she could at the time, the Humber College Retail Floriculture Program. A two year program, Halverson doubled up on her classes, completing it in one year, while also working at Lougheed’s on the weekends.
