High-speed Internet upgrades

THUNDER BAY, ON – September 2,2010 ---  Local MP Bruce Hyer says Thunder Bay-Superior North communities like Dorion, Pass Lake, MacDiarmid, Armstrong, Nakina, and Marathon are slated for high-speed Internet upgrades following a Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruling Tuesday. 

The ruling means the country’s largest telephone companies must allocate $733 million out of special ‘deferral accounts’ towards customer rebates and rural broadband. This includes $310 million rebated to urban home telephone customers, and $422 million to deploy broadband Internet service to 287 rural and remote communities.  

99 Luftballons

THUNDER BAY, ON ----  September 2, 2010 ---- I thought of the title for this one as I was preparing to write about the dubious practice of the trial balloon. Those who have fond memories of the pastel T-shirt with unstructured jacket era surely remember 99 Luftballons, the anthemic German-English pop song heartily sung by Nena walking through a war zone. The controversy at the time was that Nena had armpit hair. That was the 1980s. Ronald Raegan was simple-minded and so was the decade.  read more.....>

Northern Networks Trade Conference (NNTC)

THUNDER BAY, ON ------  September 2, 2010  -----  Northern Networks Trade Conference (NNTC) is a cross-border, multi-national trade event. Business owners and Economic Development professionals from Northwestern Canada, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will have the opportunity to tap into the experience of trade representatives. This venue provides attendees the chance to discuss business ventures; plan strategic alliances; and build partnerships to maximize results.  

Ignatieff and Layton pandering

THUNDER  BAY, ON  ----  September 2, 2010  --  The recent announcement by NDP Leader Jack Layton of plans for a 'compromise' bill designed to alleviate opposition to the long gun registry is nothing more than a rehash of a previous ineffective proposal made by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. Neither provides a solution to the longstanding grievances against a badly flawed system that has cost taxpayers of Canada in excess of $1 billion dollars, continues to eat up millions more each year, and according to the Auditor General, has not been demonstrated to save lives or enhance public safety. 

New commissioner Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.  ------September 2, 2010 –--- Rick Revoir was recently appointed by the Duluth City Council to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners. He will complete the remaining two years of a six-year term held previously by Thomas A. Clure who passed away in May.

Since 2004, Revoir has been an assistant professor in the School of Business & Technology at the College of St. Scholastica, teaching both accounting and healthcare finance courses. He taught a personal finance course for four years in the College’s Dignitas first-year experience program and has led several study abroad trips to China.  

Alzheimer Society Supported

THUNDER BAY, ON – AUGUST 26, 2010: The Alzheimer Society of Thunder Bay is pleased to announce that Doris Arnold has renewed her commitment as Patron to the Society for another three years with a donation of $25,000 at the 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last night at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.  Doris first became Patron in 2007 with her generous donation of $25,000 in honour of her late husband John Arnold who died of Alzheimer's disease 18 years ago.

 Doris has been a wonderful Patron and advocate who rarely misses an opportunity to introduce people to the charitable works of the Alzheimer Society. The Society has benefitted greatly from her ongoing support and dedication. Doris' gift will help fund public education and support for local families and people affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.  

Remind children to use the Buddy System

WINNIPEG, MB --  August 25, 2010 -- As the end of summer approaches and families get ready to return to their 'back to school' routine, parents are urged to talk to their kids about personal safety strategies such as the Buddy System to help keep them safe when away from home.

Children who go places alone are at greater risk of victimization and that's why the Buddy System is one of the most important safety strategies a parent can teach their kids. Whether a child is walking to and from school, heading to the park after school to play with friends or participating in extra-curricular activities, they should always be with a buddy. 

Tournament Anglers Battle Invasive Species

Brooklyn Center, MN - August 25, 2010 --- Wildlife Forever granted $80,000 in funding this past spring to seven Great Lake states for media outreach alerting sportsmen and vacationers to Clean - Drain - Dry their boats to help Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!

Fifty highway billboards along major travel routes show what can happen if invasive species go unchecked; contaminating boats and fishing gear, in some cases, a big ticket. Advertisements in popular outdoor publications and angler websites depict images of dead and rotting fish when foreign fish viruses are introduced.   

Hello Joe, Waddaya Know?

THUNDER BAY, ON  ---   August 22, 2010  ----  For this, the first of I hope many political columns to come, I had prepared to write a quite serious piece about the Harper Government’s decision to close the prison farms from the angle that because of climate change, we are actually going to need more people who know how to run a tractor, not less. You’ll be reading, I hope, that take on a present issue quite soon. 

 Interpretive Nature Painter Shows at Lake Superior Art Gallery

THUNDER BAY, ON ------  August 19, 2010  -------   Interpretive nature painter, Patricia Bigelow is showing some of her artwork at Lake Superior Art Gallery in Victoriaville Mall, Thunder Bay.  Her showing will run until September 17.

Pat is a multifaceted person, as most interesting people are. She has lived and studied in the States, and has travelled around the globe all the while painting and at the same time developing a career as a computer scientist. She now resides in Nolalu, just west of Thunder Bay. She is now retired from Computer Science, so one would think she would devote all her time to her artwork, but she divides her creative talent by making concrete sinks as well. (They are made to go with granite countertops!)

In perusing her works at the gallery I had a sense of déjà vous, I had seen works similar to this at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa. She has often been told that her works resemble those of the group of 7,  

First Nation artifacts being Removed

THUNDER BAY, ON  ----- August 19, 2010 – Anishinabek leadership in the Northern Superior region are upset over thousands of artifacts estimated to be 9,000 years old being excavated and shipped to Lakehead University without any consultation with local First Nations.

 This has been called one of the most significant archeological finds in Northern Ontario in an area behind the McKenzie Inn 40 Kilometres East of Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17.

 "It has become common knowledge in Canada – especially in Ontario – that First Nations have a significant connection to our history and these artifacts represent the history of our people and our relationship to this land,” said Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee.  

 Full Circle Superior Project

NIPIGON, ON ---    August 17, 2010 ------   Mike Link and Kate Crowley, two naturalist adventurers walking around Lake Superior, were kind enough to pose at the Paddle to the Sea Park Waterfall in the attached picture. It was a pleasure to meet them! Help them out by filling out a questionnaire to assist in the research efforts of the Full Circle Superior Project, it is available at the Nipigon Library.

In their blog they say:
"Nearly at Nipigon now. Visited their Paddle to the Sea playground...The graphics and the playground equipment are colorful and clever and tell portions of Paddle's story.  We took our Paddle and put him in the waterfall they've built and gave him a ride down.  The town deserves high praise for this attraction."  

Wind Turbines for Minnesota

Duluth, Minn.—   August 16, 2010  -----  When the *BBC Ems arrived in the Port of Duluth marked a significant milestone for Minnesota Power’s wind development project that spans two states.

The BBC Ems is carrying wind turbine equipment destined for the company's 76-megawatt Bison 1 Wind Energy Center now under construction near New Salem, North Dakota. On board the ship are 16 nacelles and 16 rotor hubs that are integral components of the first phase of Bison. Manufactured at a Siemens facility in Brande, Denmark, the equipment was shipped from the port of Aarhus.   read more......>

O’Hearn  on MMA and lonely middle-aged guys

THUNDER BAY, ON   -- _  August 15. 2010   -----  Between on-line gambling and MMA fights, the Ontario Government is exhibiting the same behaviours as lonely middle-aged guys who can’t get a date after their second divorce.

I have followed with personal interest the debate regarding the Ontario Government announcement that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) cards would be legal and available for licence as of next year. This is a major change of athletic policy by Ontario, given that Toronto in particular was one of the last remaining major North American cities that was unable to host a UFC pay-per-view. A robust lobbying effort by UFC President Dana White, and presumably Rogers Inc. - anxious to fill an increasingly vacant Skydome (sic) - seems to have worked. In this case, they have been well-aided by a sports media looking for its next swanky press box buffet.  

Human cockfighting and Online gambling coming to Ontario

THUNDER BAY, ON   ------   August 14, 2010 ----  Saturday,  McGuinty Government announced Ontario is taking steps to allow professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events in the province.

The province would adopt the same rules for professional MMA that are widely used across North America. This announcement paves the way for the first regulated professional MMA event to be held in Ontario in 2011   read more......>

Woff on Mismanaged City 

THUNDER BAY, ON  ----  August 14, 2010  ----  I take issue with regards to the article Councillor Frank Pullia wrote, entitled “How Council Makes Decisions” dated, August 7, 2010.  In our entire history, I have never seen a more mismanaged city.  Our taxes keep going up, our infrastructure is crumbling and this council continues to spend money on mega projects, they somehow believe will benefit the citizens of Thunder Bay. On all of these issues, we have had more public protests in this one term of city council than the entire history of Thunder Bay. These are only a few examples that prove “disconnection doe! s exist between citizen’s expectations and council/administration’s capability to deliver timely and effective decisions”.