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Chapleau will try out extended hours for local transit.
Mayor Ryan Bignucolo says Chapleau Town Council approved plans for a pilot project extending transit hours to 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
Bignucolo notes the move is in response to requests for more service.
Mayor Bignucolo suggests - if the pilot goes well - the change could be made permanent.
A local mine technician placed second at Ontario Mine Rescue's recent provincial championship.
The Alamos Gold Island Gold Mine team had earned a berth in the Thunder Bay event after winning the Algoma competition last month, with fellow Alamos Island Gold worker Kyle Ouellette the winning technician in that competition, and - while the team itself did not come in first, topped by a team from Agnico Eagle's Macassa Mine, with Lake Shore Gold Timmins West Bell Creek Mines the runner-up - Ouellette did come in second in the individual technician competition, after Dan Rioux of Glencore Sudbury INO Fraser and Nickel Rim South Mines.
Wawa was recently the subject of Cambrian College contest.
The Sudbury college recently hosted more than 60 students from nine high schools across Greater Sudbury in its 2nd annual High School Business Case Study Competition, with students in the grades 11 and 12 category challenged in the "dragon's den"-style competition to "produce a plan to attract more people to move to the community...to be part of the town's future path to prosperity".
Municipal CAO/Clerk Maury O'Neill acknowledged the "great work" of the students, saying they "provided great ideas and insight on how to attract new residents to Wawa", adding "the community needs to see through the eyes of the youth, those we hope to attract to our beautiful town", and "we understand now what it takes to become a more desirable community", assuring "the Municipality fully intends to use the ideas suggested".
A Chapleau student's being honoured.
Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon says Ecole secondaire catholique Trillium Grade 12 student Emmanuel Boucher "is a polite, kind, and helpful student who stands out for his unwavering commitment to his school community...involved in a number of school initiatives, including the volleyball, badminton, soccer, and curling teams, as well as several school committees, such as the chess club", and even serving as co-President of the school's Student Parliament this year, earning Boucher the title of student with the most badges in recognition of involvement in school and extra-curricular activities.
Boucher's set to pursue studies in the Architectural Technician Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa next school year.
Chapleau Town Council's set to discuss transit, asset management, and more this evening.
Included on the agenda for tonight's regular meeting are items about: an asset management plan and policy updates; an asset retirement obligations audit; a handi-transit bus three-month pilot project; and a single "in-camera" item, relating to human resources.
The meeting will be held at 6:30 pm tonight in Civic Centre Council Chambers - details on accessing it electronically can be found on the Township's website.
Time's running out in a couple contests encouraging literacy.
Wawa Public Library CEO and Head Librarian Sue Jarrell explains the pair of contests launched as part of last month's 70th anniversary celebrations
The deadline for the the short story and poetry competitions is 4 pm Friday, June 7th.
Wawa's marking Pride Month by taking to the streets tonight.
Sue Jarrell explains the community's encouraged to join in or watch a local Pride Parade.
Jarrell expands on the family social after the parade.
The Pride Parade will leave from the Wawa Public Library at 5:15 pm, arriving at the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre by 6 pm.
A number of local students were big winners at a local chess tournament.
Wawa's École Saint-Joseph hosted its eighth annual Franco-Nord-Ouest Chess Tournament on May 23rd, involving over 300 Grade 3 to 12 students from 20 French-language schools from across the North: Wawa, Dubreuilville, Chapleau, as far southeast as the Sudbury area and northwest as Thunder Bay.
Teams from the host school performed well: coming in first, second, and tying for third in the Grades 3 and 4 category; topping the Grades 5 and 6 category, ahead of Chapleau's École Sacré-Cœur; coming second in the Grades 7 and 8 category behind a team from Sudbury's École St-Denis; and - while Chapleau's ÉSC Trillium won the Secondary category - a team from Wawa's École Saint-Joseph came second while two others from the school tied for third.
Individually: Ecole Saint-Joseph students Zackael Lefrançois, Caleb Lefrançois, and Finn Maclary came first for Grades 3 and 4; Saint-Joseph student Jeremy Leonard and Gavin Schaffer of Sault Ste. Marie's Écho-des-Rapides came first in Grades 5 and 6; École Saint-Joseph's Gavin Burnham and Jesse Franklin topped Grades 7 and 8; and two students from Chapleau's ÉSC Trillium, Noah Taylor and Xander Jaworski, came first in the Secondary category.
École Saint-Joseph also thanks the Rotary Club of Wawa for its support of the tournament and local chess club.
Chapleau's splash pad is open for the season.
The Township says the local attraction - located at the waterfront - opened last Friday, May 31st.
The Municipality of Wawa's continuing to look into a tax on short-term accommodations.
In a special public meeting last night, Community Services and Tourism Director Alex Patterson outlined further details about the proposed "Municipal Accommodation Tax", noting it's recommended by the Municipality's Strategic and Tourism Plans, and a number of other Northern communities have implemented one - including Chapleau, Marathon, Sault Ste. Marie, Greater Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and Timmins - as a move to help support tourism, with half of the funds going to municipal coffers and half to a third-party "tourism entity".
Patterson's proposing setting up a non-profit that would include all businesses collecting the MAT as members, with a board to include 2 members from accommodation operators, a public member, 2 Municipal representatives like Council members or staff or members of committees like the Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee, though the board could include further members, as the organization feels necessary.
As noted by Patterson, funds raised through the tax could support Tourist Information Centre operations, highway signage, a marketing or branding plan, the expansion of the Downtown Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to include Mission Road and potentially Pinewood Drive, to support downtown improvements under the CIP, and otherwise support business and entrepreneurs, while some of the funds could be used to cover costs of administering the tax, as Kirkland Lake does.
About ten members of the public were in attendance, with Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee Chair Heidi McLaren giving the committee's enthusiastic support for the MAT as a "strong message" of support for economic development and the community - touting its potential benefits - though several local hotel owners raised concerns about the timing, noting low occupancy so far this year - even after lowering prices - with many people "shopping around", watching costs, and cutting down on travel, though there was support from Mary Harbocian of the Wawa Music Festival - who suggested it could benefit the arts community, promoting events - while another local accommodation owner spoke in favour of the MAT, saying customers were used to it as it is "everywhere".
Patterson said plans are to incorporate the input with more research into a final report for Council's July meeting, with a MAT by-law expected to be brought for Council consideration in August or September.
Local health units are no longer publicly reporting COVID-19 figures.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts - whose coverage area includes Chapleau - says it "no longer has access to some COVID-19 data" due to "restructuring of provincial data sources", so it will "no longer report on testing and case details" - the health unit's Respiratory Illness Surveillance Dashboard's also temporarily unavailable as changes are made.
Algoma Public Health - whose coverage area includes Wawa, Dubreuilville, and White River - says its updates are paused "until further notice" as the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 surveillance transitions to a new reporting system.
Wawa's mayor is welcoming provincial support for a couple local projects.
Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Indigenous Services Greg Rickford was in town last week to make a trio of funding announcements, which Mayor Melanie Pilon says was an honour.
Pilon explains one of the announcements relates to the airport.
Mayor Pilon notes the local airport has become much busier in recent years, due to increased use by industrial clients including Alamos Gold, who is a partner on that project.
Pilon adds the other funding announcement will help the local golf club.
In addition to the support for Wawa, Minister Rickford also announced $198,000 for Michipicoten First Nation to develop "MFN Common", touted as an open-air market and cultural space adjacent to TransCanada Highway 17, where community members can sell traditional products and host events that teach local Indigenous history and culture.
While Michipicoten High School's 70th Reunion won't be happening this year, a few social events are still planned for that weekend.
Though organizers of the reunion announced last month that it was cancelled "due to a lack of commitment" - turning their focus to the 75th Reunion in 2029 - they now note that "the good resident of Wawa have planned" some activities for those who were planning to come to the community, and will still be happening, including a Social Gathering for Vikings from the 50s through 70s at the Rock Island Lodge, golf, and a Viking Social at the Legion Hall all on July 6th, and the Lady Dunn Health Centre Foundation's Memorial Butterfly Release on July 7th.
Those interested in Wawa minor hockey are meeting tonight.
The Wawa Minor Hockey Association's holding its annual general meeting, and Ray McGregor of the association executive explains the event.
The meeting will be held at 7 pm at the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre.
Wawa Municipal Council's holding a trio of meetings tonight.
First up is a public meeting to provide an update - and get public input - on a proposed Municipal Accommodation Tax, which CAO/Clerk Maury O'Neill's told Council is recommended by the Municipality's Strategic and Tourism Plans, and has been implemented in a number of other communities - including Chapleau, Marathon, Sault Ste. Marie, Greater Sudbury, and Thunder Bay - commonly set at 4%, though Council could choose a different rate.
O'Neill's noted preliminary estimates suggest a Municipal Accommodation Tax could bring in about $500,000, and - per provincial legislation - 50% of the funds raised go to municipal coffers.
That'll be followed by a Committee of the Whole meeting featuring discussion on a draft 5-Year Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, a required electrical upgrade at the Water Treatment Plant, a request for quotation for the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre arena's score board, and an update on changes to landfill signage and hours of operation.
The final meeting with be a regular Council meeting, which includes a request for waiver of marina slip rental fee and a single "in-camera" item, a personnel issue about labour or contract negotiations.
The meetings will be held back-to-back-to-back, starting at 6:30 pm tonight in Council Chambers - they'll also be livestreamed through the Municipality's YouTube channel.
A major initiative's rolling out for hospitals across the region.
CEO Kadean Ogilvie explains the Lady Dunn Health Centre's one of the hospitals launching the "Meditech ONE" initiative.
While she emphasizes that hospitals have long collaborated and connected on patient records to improve patient care, Ogilvie says this will be a change.
Ogilvie adds this will create efficiency, helping staff keep an eye on standards of care and move through the process "more seamlessly".
Though Ogilvie notes staff were involved in building the system over the last two years - being integral in what it looks like and how it works, receiving training on it - but acknowledges it could take some time to adjust.
The change is happening not just at the Lady Dunn Health Centre site in Wawa but also its site in Dubreuilville.
Chapleau Health Services is also among the Northeastern hospitals making the change today.
Wawa Public Library’s wrapped up most of its 70th anniversary celebrations (held over the month of May), including making its Library Card Contest Draw.
CEO and Head Librarian Sue Jarrell (says there was a lot of interest in the library card draw.
Jarrell says her predecessor actually won the library card draw.
Jarrell reminds there’s still a few days left to enter the literary contests: a short story competition & a poem contest, both split into 3 categories - Grades 5-8; Grades 9-12; and adult - entries can be submitted via email to sjarrell@wawa.cc by 4 pm Friday, June 7th
Wawa residents are being encouraged to learn about plans to rehabilitate the water system.
A special open house is being held tonight, and Infrastructure Services Assistant Director Rebecca Weatherall notes public consultations are an important part of the environmental assessment process, to ensure people are informed and able to give input.
Weatherall explains the project stems from concerns about the drinking water system intake pipe from Wawa Lake.
In addition to the intake pipe, Weatherall says there is another part of the system they're looking at replacing.
The open house runs from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm tonight at the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre.
Chapleau Town Council's considering extending hours for local transit.
Mayor Ryan Bignucolo says the idea was discussed in this week's Council meeting, though no decision was made.
Bignucolo also notes Council is looking into how to address the impact on cancer screening due to the loss of local service from the Screen For Life coach.
Mayor Bignucolo adds he plans to follow up on that with the government in "the next coming weeks".
Time's running out in a contest celebrating the Wawa Public Library's 70th anniversary.
CEO and Head Librarian Sue Jarrell explains the contest encouraging library use.
The draw is set to be held at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon.
Jarrell reminds there's also a literary contest.
The deadline for the the short story and poetry competitions is 4 pm next Friday, June 7th.
