Good morning, Nickel City! Here are a stories to start your day

Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Saturday morning.

Family reeling after dog bite kills healthy Chelmsford man

A few days after being accidentally bitten by his two-year-old husky, Tinkerbell, Chelmsford man Sylvain Boissonneault died in hospital as a result of capnocytophaga bacteria in the bite. “It’s just insane,” the 56-year-old’s sister, Carolyn Chevrette, told Sudbury.com. On June 3, she said, Tinkerbell was having a seizure, so Boissonneault put his hand in her mouth thinking he would help prevent her from swallowing her tongue. She clamped down and bit into his thumb, infecting him, it turned out, with capnocytophaga bacteria, which lives in the mouths of dogs and cats. During the night of June 7, Boissonneault suffered a fever, sweats and sore joints while spending the night alone at his Chelmsford home. In the morning of June 8, he called an ambulance. He was coherent at the time and believed he’d be out of the hospital within a few days. However, his health took a sharp decline that evening as Boissonneault developed a toxic blood infection. He died at 10:25 p.m., less than 18 hours after he was admitted.

Read the full story here.

KED bidder drops off, leaving two to compete for the project

With one pre-qualified bidder dropping off, the Kingsway Entertainment District’s design-build progressive request for proposals is down to two interested general contractors. These final two proponents include Ball/TESC Construction Inc. (Sudbury) and PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Kitchener). The third shortlisted pre-qualified bidder, EllisDon Corporation (Mississauga), did not end up submitting a bid by Thursday’s 1:30 p.m. deadline, so has dropped out of consideration. City administration is expected to evaluate the two remaining proponents and prepare a recommendation to council next month alongside a total project cost for the municipal arena/events centre slated to be built on The Kingsway. A comprehensive update on the project was provided to city council during tonight’s meeting, at which the city’s elected officials were told the existing timeline, with a 2025 grand opening, remains their north star. 

Read the full story here.

Glencore strikes battery vehicle deal for its deepest Sudbury mine

Glencore’s deepest new mine in the Sudbury Basin will be populated by electric vehicles from MacLean Engineering. MacLean’s battery electric mining vehicles (BEVs) were chosen to be one of the mobile equipment suppliers of fleet vehicles for Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations and its Onaping Depth mine project, now under construction. Scheduled to come online in 2024, Onaping Depth is referred to as Glencore’s “Mine of the Future.” It’s the next mine in the succession plan to replace the Fraser and Nickel Rim South mines, both of which will near the end of their operational lives by the mid-point of this decade. First discovered in 1994, Onaping Depth is located below the company’s Craig Mine near the community of Onaping in the northwest corner of the Sudbury Basin. As a new source of high-grade nickel, the mine life extends to 2035.

Read the full story here.

Sudbury Spartans’ home opener set for this evening

The Sudbury Spartans host their home opener this Saturday (June 18) at James Jerome Field, facing off against the Sault Ste. Marie Steelers. Kickoff is 7 p.m. This is the team’s third game of the season and they’re looking to maintain the perfect record they’ve enjoyed so far. On June 4, the Spartans took a 42-24 bite out of the North Bay Bulldogs. A week later, the Toronto Raiders fell to the Spartan onslaught by a score of 41-20. Tickets for the home game are $10, with no charge for kids 12 and under. Saturday’s game is sponsored by Overtime Sports Bar & Grill. 

Ontario wastewater shows increase in virus, COVID stats steady

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Ontario have remained relatively steady over the last three weeks. There were approximately 5,073 new cases confirmed between June 7 and 14, which is about even with the 5,319 cases confirmed between May 29 and June 4. For June 16, the province reported 777 new cases. The number of severe cases resulting in hospitalization and deaths is also down with between two and six deaths per day during the week of June 1-7, compared to eight to 13 deaths per day between May 11 and 18. The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has decreased over the last 30 days from about 62 new hospitalizations on May 17, to fewer than 25 per day over the last two weeks. There are currently 109 patients in Ontario ICUs because of COVID-related critical illness, including 45 patients on ventilators. There are 491 people hospitalized in the province with COVID-19, and of those, about 42 per cent were admitted because of COVID, and the remaining patients were admitted for other reasons but test positive for COVID-19. 

Read the full story here.

Fact Check Friday: Is the Infrastructure deficit unmanageable?

Claim: The city’s infrastructure deficit is at an unmanageable level. Although various numbers have been ascribed to it over the years, it’s safe to say the City of Greater Sudbury’s infrastructure deficit is great enough to warrant concern at city hall. It’s a topic that has come up a great deal in recent months, spurred in part by the upcoming Oct. 24 civic election and municipal candidates pledging to do something about it. Last year, city administration released what Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland referred to as a “beast of a report,” which clarified that the city would need to spend an additional $100 million on assets per year to keep them in their overall current state. During subsequent 2022 budget deliberations, Mayor Brian Bigger sussed out from city administrators that council would need to increase the municipal share of property taxes by 33 per cent to meet this annual funding shortfall. “It’s not something municipal taxpayers can solve,” he said at the time, adding that the city needs to find innovative ways of using their dollars more efficiently.

Read the full story here.

Mix of sun and cloudy, mild temps for the weekend

Expect a mix of sun and cloud for your Saturday morning, and then sunny. The wind will be out of the north at 30 km/h, gusting to 60. Today’s high is 18 with a UV index of eight, or very high. Tonight, the skies will be clear with a low of 7. For Sunday, expect a mix of sun and cloud, and a high of 22. Sunday night, there will be cloudy periods and a low of 11.