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Multiple charges have been laid after a commercial vehicle was spotted failing to stop for a stop sign in Dubreuilville.
Superior East Ontario Provincial Police have tweeted that an officer on patrol stopped the commercial vehicle after observing it go through the stop sign, leading to a charge for that, as well as failing to complete inspection report and daily log.
The local English Catholic school board's starting its holiday break early - because of a cyberattack.
The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board says it's currently recovering from a "cyber-incident" that first came to its attention this morning, prompting them to immediately take steps to secure the board's network and retain expert assistance, with the board now "in the process of investigating and understanding the full impact of this incident".
It is, however, affecting the communication systems in the board's schools - including telephones and PA systems - so the board sent students home for the remainder of the day, cancelling classes for the rest of the week "to ensure the health and safety of everyone" - as the Christmas break was set to start this weekend, that means classes won't be resuming until the new year, on Tuesday, January 3rd.
The board's website is also not operational because of the attack, so it will instead be communicating with employees and families through its school messanger platform and social media, including Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
It also acknowledges the "significant privacy concern", vowing to provide updates and share more information when available.
Wawa's hospital foundation is congratulating the winner of its first ever 50/50 draw.
Lady Dunn Health Centre Foundation Vice Chair Lorraine Pihelgas notes the campaign's concluded for now, with the draw made this morning.
Pihelgas notes tickets for the next 50/50 raffle will be available January 10th, with an early bird draw on January 30th and the proper draw in mid-February.
Noting the raffle supported the ongoing "One for the Dunn" campaign, Foundation Chair Susan Switzer reminds the "Wish" campaign - also supporting "One for the Dunn" - is still underway, and going "really well" so far.
Switzer emphasizes there's still time to donate, as the holiday mailout campaign ends January 7th.
A Calgary man's been confirmed as the deceased in a single-vehicle collision south of Chapleau earlier this month.
Superior East Ontario Provincial Police say 51-year-old Abdul Hashmi was pronounced dead at the scene, after his northbound SUV left Highway 129 near the intersection with Highway 667 - about 40 kilometres south of Chapleau - entering the southbound ditch late on the afternoon of December 4th.
He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
The investigation's ongoing, with assistance from the Northeast Region Traffic Incident Management and Enforcement (TIME) team.
Impaired driving charges have been laid after a domestic dispute in Wawa.
Superior East Ontario Provincial Police say they were called to the incident on Joliet Street late the night of December 6th, with investigation determining one of the involved parties had driven a vehicle while impaired by alcohol.
That led to charges of operation while impaired - alcohol and drugs and operation while impaired - blood alcohol concentration (80 plus) against a 27-year-old from Wawa.
Police will not be releasing their name, due to the domestic nature of the incident.
They're set to appear in Wawa's Ontario Court of Justice next month.
More COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts is reporting 68 since Monday - 56 in Greater Sudbury, eleven in the broader Sudbury District, and another in the Manitoulin District - pushing known "active" cases up to 219, including thirteen in the northern Sudbury District (Chapleau, Cartier, Foleyet, Gogama, and neighbouring First Nations), up from Monday's eleven.
It's holding an "appointment only" COVID-19 vaccination clinic at its Chapleau office today, for those at least twelve or older - book through the provincial system or call the health unit.
North Algoma's moved to appointments rather than clinics - in Wawa, call the local Algoma Public Health office; in Dubreuilville, the Dubreuilville Medical Centre; in White River, the Northern Neighbours Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
The Wawa BIA could be disbanding in the new year.
During last night's Committee of the Whole meeting, Wawa Municipal Council was apprised of a letter from the BIA, informing the municipality that its board had passed a resolution recommending dissolution of the Business Improvement Area due to a shrinking business community and especially volunteer base, which has made it difficult for the organization to form a board and meet quorum for its meetings.
CAO Maury O'Neill explained that the Municipal Act would require the Municipality to give BIA members - businesses along Broadway Avenue and much of Mission Road - 60 days notice if they're planning to disband it, allowing those members time to respond.
O'Neill also noted a review's underway for the BIA's assets - mainly the Christmas lights and BIA banners - but it's believed the organization has sufficient funds to wind up operations, so the current recommendation for next year's budget is not to levy funds for the BIA.
Asked who'd be responsible for the lights, banners, and planters without the BIA, O'Neill explained that would fall to the Municipality, which has already been covering much of that anyway, with contributions from the BIA, though she noted that's something Council would need to decide whether they want to continue.
Council appeared in favour of the dissolution, though no formal vote was taken.
This comes just shy of a decade after then-Mayor Linda Nowicki pushed to dissolve the BIA due to inactivity, though she withdrew that when the organization elected a new executive and pushed to continue operations.
Time's running out for a fundraising effort supporting Wawa's hospital.
Today's the last day to get tickets for the Lady Dunn Health Centre Foundation's 50/50 Draw, which Foundation Chair Susan Switzer says supports the "One for the Dunn" campaign, aimed at helping the local hospital to "go digital" along with 23 hospitals across northeastern Ontario.
In order to make the change, Switzer says there are a number of other pieces of equipment needed, which is what the Foundation's looking to address.
Tickets are available online until 8 tonight, with the draw to be held tomorrow morning.
More COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region.
Algoma Public Health's reporting 31 since Thursday - twenty in the Sault Ste. Marie area, nine in Central and East Algoma, and two in the Elliot Lake area - with known "high risk active" cases up slightly, to 66, with five in hospital, one in an ICU.
Meanwhile, Public Health Sudbury and Districts is holding "appointment only" COVID-19 vaccination clinics at its Chapleau office today and tomorrow, the latter for those at least twelve or older - book through the provincial system or call the health unit.
North Algoma's moved to appointments rather than clinics - in Wawa, call the local Algoma Public Health office; in Dubreuilville, the Dubreuilville Medical Centre; in White River, the Northern Neighbours Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
Wawa's new council will rotate the role of deputy mayor over its term.
In their meetings last night, Council approved a staff recommendation for each councillor to spend one year as deputy mayor, starting with the most experienced member - Councillor Mitch Hatfield - with the next - Councillor Cathy Cannon - to take over next November, then Councillor Joseph Opato in November 2024, and Councillor Jim Hoffmann in November 2025, serving until Council's term ends in November 2026.
Several past councils have rotated the role among members, and even did a shorter-term rotation over the last year, after Councillor Pat Tait - who was serving as deputy mayor - was appointed mayor.
The future of the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre's canteen is up in the air.
During their Committee of the Whole meeting last night, Wawa Municipal Council received a staff report outlining the last decade of canteen operations, including that the canteen was closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and remains closed with efforts to compensate with additional snack offerings at the bar or by opening the kitchen for certain large events.
Noting the canteen's long operated at a loss, the report outlines a few options: fully shuttering it; continuing with the current compensation efforts; putting out a request for proposals for an outside operator; or returning to the municipality operating it - the report recommends seeking an outside operator.
The prospect drew spirited debate, with Councillor Mitch Hatfield asking how much the canteen's costing - as its costs aren't separated from the rest of the MMCC, it's not quite clear, though it was estimated to be $20- to $25-thousand, which Mayor Melanie Pilon hit upon being equivalent to taxes collected from about eight houses, while CAO Maury O'Neill stated the community's subsidizing the MMCC substantially more than other communities do, with user fees only covering about ten percent of the costs for the facility.
Councillor Hatfield emphasized she disagreed with the staff recommendation - saying she'd received several calls wanting the canteen open - while Mayor Pilon spoke in favour of the "creative options" that have been offered so far - claiming if there was a large demand for the canteen, then it'd be making money - while Councillor Cathy Cannon said she was in favour of a canteen but acknowledged the Municipality may need to make cuts in some places, so she favoured the outside operator and suggested reconsidering the canteen if no-one came forward, though Councillor Jim Hoffmann - who said he was in favour of a canteen - said he'd spoken with someone with experience who was willing to run it - Councillor Hatfield asked if the Municipality would help with some of the costs, with O'Neill suggesting that could be discussed, depending on the RFP - Councillor Joseph Opato emphasized he wanted a canteen, whether it was run by the Municipality or someone else.
Concluding discussion, Mayor Pilon reminded Council that the Municipality has a vision of a sustainable community, warning "decisions like this" won't help with that, though Councillor Cannon disagreed, saying they're looking toward the future.
In the end, O'Neill noted staff could put out the RFP and report back to Council on the response in their next meeting - scheduled for January 10th - letting Council decide plans for the canteen at that time.
A pair of local First Nations are rejecting Ontario's plan to manage a threatened caribou herd.
Michipicoten First Nation and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg have issued a joint release calling on the provincial government to withdraw a controversial effort to contract-out development of a plan for the management of the last caribou in the Lake Superior Caribou Range, the southernmost extent of woodland caribou in Canada.
They say "at a time when recognition of First Nations' importance in ecological stewardship is being increasingly recognized around the world...Ontario is going in the opposite direction", snubbing the First Nations' expertise and conservation ethics in the effort to contract out development of the management plan - even though the First Nations already have a strategy to restore caribou to their traditional lands around Lake Superior, as the population's dwindled over the last several decades so that roughly 60 now inhabit only two offshore islands in the lake, a problem they blame on "the province's indifference to their fate, which enabled significant habitat disruptions leading to an ecological cascade of detrimental impacts", pointing to "forestry, access development, and other intrusions that clear the forest" destroying the caribou's preferred habitat or replacing it with that the preferred habitat for moose, noting caribou are also "caught in the cross-fire" as wolves and other predators prey on growing numbers of moose.
The First Nations are calling on the provincial government to withdraw the request for bids for consultants, and instead work with the First Nations to save the caribou herd.
More COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts is reporting 62 since Friday - 52 in Greater Sudbury, seven in the broader Sudbury District, and three in the Manitoulin District - pushing known "active" cases up to 170 - 25 in hospital, one in an ICU - with eleven in the northern Sudbury District (which includes Chapleau, Cartier, Foleyet, Gogama, and neighbouring First Nations), up from Friday's eight.
The health unit's holding "appointment only" COVID-19 vaccination clinics at its Chapleau office tomorrow and Thursday, the latter for those at least twelve or older - book through the provincial system or call the health unit.
North Algoma's moved to appointments rather than clinics - in Wawa, call the local Algoma Public Health office; in Dubreuilville, the Dubreuilville Medical Centre; in White River, the Northern Neighbours Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
The new Wawa Municipal Council's set to hold their first proper meetings.
Tonight will start with the newly rebranded Committee of the Whole - the former Corporate Planning Committee - which will include delegations about the Wawa Tourism Study (from Bannakin Travel and Tourism) and the Water and Wastewater Rate Study and Wawa Long-Term Financial Plan (both from Watson & Associates Economists), as well as discussion on next year's meeting schedule, the schedule for the deputy mayor role over the term, a review of committees of Council and Council member appointments, a memo on the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre's canteen, and dissolution of the Wawa Business Improvement Area.
That isn't on the agenda for tonight's regular meeting, which includes resolutions affirming next year's meeting schedule, addressing predator control, and appointing board and committee members and a deputy mayor, along with yearly by-laws, and four "in-camera" items, all legal issues: two about offers to purchase property; one regarding a property standards complaint; and another about staffing.
The meetings will be held back-to-back, starting at 6:30 pm tonight, in Council Chambers - they'll also be livestreamed through the Municipality's YouTube channel.
A couple COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held in Chapleau this week.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts says it's holding "appointment only" clinics at its Chapleau office Wednesday and Thursday, the latter for those at least twelve or older - book through the provincial system or call the health unit.
North Algoma's moved to appointments rather than clinics - in Wawa, call the local Algoma Public Health office; in Dubreuilville, the Dubreuilville Medical Centre; in White River, the Northern Neighbours Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
Algoma-Manitoulin's NDP MPP is meeting with local constituents over the next couple days.
Michael Mantha's holding constituency clinics in the region, stopping at the Chapleau Town Office from 9 am to 10 am Tuesday, the Wawa Municipal Office from 1 pm to 2 pm Tyesday, and the White River Township Office from 3 pm to 4 pm.
Mantha will also visit Dubreuilville's Town Office from 4 pm to 5 pm Wednesday, after stops in Manitouwadge and Hornepayne.
The meetings are by appointment only - anyone who wishes to meet with Mantha's should call 1-800-831-1899.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that a Wawa woman named Michelle Albert won the draw, but the winner was Wawa man Michel Albert. Apologies for the confusion, a corrected version is below.
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Wawa's firefighters are congratulating a Wawa man for claiming the first draw in an annual fundraising campaign.
Michel Albert won Saturday night's $1000 "Early Bird" draw in the Michipicoten Volunteer Firefighters Association annual cash draw, though Past President Kyle Ouellet notes it's not the only prize the ticket could win.
Noting ticket sales have raised about $13,000 so far, Ouellet reminds they support the firefighters.
Tickets are available throughout the community, including through firefighters.
The next $1000 draw will be held on Valentine's Day, with the final draws on March 5th, at the Wawa Ice Fishing Derby.
Time is running out for those hoping to participate in Wawa's fourth annual Ice Candle Celebration Day.
As today is the deadline to order ice candles, Heather Rainville reminds the event's meant to honour loved ones.
Rainville notes volunteers are also welcome, and can contact the Municipality.
Participants can place an ice candle for $8, or a volunteer will do so for $10 - order forms were mailed out, but can also be found on the municipal website or at the Municipal Office, though they must be submitted by the end of the day.
The event will be held at Woodland Cemetery on Monday, December 26th.
Chapleau Town Council's set to hold its sole meeting of the month.
While Councillor Paul Bernier has an excused absence, tonight's agenda is packed, including by-laws appointing a deputy mayor and setting the 2023 refuse collection, water, and sewage service rates, as well as resolutions appointing two councillors to Chapleau Hydro's board, setting the 2023 schedule of fees, and delaying the municipality's ban of single-use bags from the start of 2023 to the end of the year.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 pm tonight, in Civic Centre Council Chambers.
More COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts is reporting 57 since Wednesday - 44 in Greater Sudbury, nine in the broader Sudbury District, and four in the Manitoulin District - pushing known "active" cases up to 152 - 20 in hospital, one in an ICU - with eight in the northern Sudbury District, double Wednesday's four - the communities aren't specified, but the region includes Chapleau, Cartier, Foleyet, Gogama, and neighbouring First Nations.
