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Week in Review: Week 13

Here are the stories that had the most reads for thirteenth week of 2015: 5 City man convicted in child porn case A city man has been sentenced to six months in jail on child pornography charges.
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(tbnewswatch.com file photograph)

Here are the stories that had the most reads for thirteenth week of 2015:


5 City man convicted in child porn case
A city man has been sentenced to six months in jail on child pornography charges.

Archie Hogan was sentenced on March 30 to the jail time followed by 18 months of probation on the charge of making child pornography available.

He was also ordered to submit a DNA sample and was issued a 10-year ban on attending parks, schools and other places where children frequent. He also has to report to the sex offender registry for 10 years.

A charge of possession of child pornography was withdrawn.

Hogan was one of more than 50 people charged in a province-wide online child exploitation investigation in September 2014.

Ninety-nine search warrants were executed, resulting in 249 charges against 60 people, including two Thunder Bay men.

In addition to Hogan, 35-year-old Jason M. Caron was charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of making child pornography available.

Caron’s trial is set for May 10 at the Thunder Bay Courthouse.


4 City broke homeowner’s water line and refuses to pay, couple alleges

A local couple says city crews broke a waterline in their home and won’t pay the estimated $7,000 bill to fix it.

Ivy and John Wassenaar were in their Ogden Street home more than a month ago when a neighbour across the street had frozen pipes. The Wassenaars say the city used the couple's shut-off valve in the effort to thaw the pipes.

"The second time they did it we heard a loud bang and the pipes rattled in our house," Ivy Wassenaar said.

A few hours later, Wassenaar said water started showing up on their sidewalk.

A city crew came, determined that it's the Wassenaar's problem and now the local couple are facing an estimated $7,000 bill to fix the broken waterline.

But the couple argues that it was the city's fault in the first place
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Coun. Paul Pugh said he looked into the matter after the Wassenaars called him.

Based on the information given to him, Pugh said it's the Wassenaar's problem because the city doesn’t do repairs on private property.

Pugh added that the information he received indicated that the city crews found the leak two metres into the property.

"If the city were to start doing repairs on private properties I don't know where it would end," Pugh said.

3 Mayor says FedNor directed city to gas tax fund for Event Centre

The City of Thunder Bay has produced a letter in which FedNor director general Aime Dimatteo directs the city to apply for event centre funding through the Build Canada federal gas-tax fund.

The letter, dated Jan. 21, 2015, denied the city $3 million from FedNor to support the move to Phase 5 of the development.

“I would suggest that the municipality include these costs in its future application under the Build Canada Federal Gas Tax Fund,” Dimatteo writes.

Earlier on Tuesday the minister in charge of FedNor, Kenora’s Greg Rickford, said the federal government had made it perfectly clear all along Ottawa would not fund an arena and convention centre, telling city officials late last month it would consider a standalone convention centre under newly altered gas-tax rules.

“The federal government, through FedNor and through Minister Rickford, advised us to go after gas-tax funding,” Mayor Keith Hobbs said, reached via phone.

“For Minister Rickford to be saying (this) now – the letter says it all, as far as I’m concerned.”

Rickford countered on Tuesday morning that the federal government was on board for a convention centre, and would even consider supporting an arena project, but only if a professional or semi-professional team was not part of the equation.

2 Angels on Defensive after allegations members were rough with woman

The leader of the Thunder Bay Guardian Angels is defending the organization against allegations that its members were involved in an aggressive and physical altercation with a woman.

Reports of the incident began circulating through social media last week after a local resident reported seeing members of the Guardian Angels physically restraining a woman across the street from their May Street clubhouse last Thursday night.

But Ian Hodgkinson, leader of the Angel’s local chapter, sees the incident from a completely different perspective. Instead of a physical confrontation, Hodgkinson told tbnewswatch.com that he and at least two others were actually saving this woman’s life.

“There was an altercation with a young woman where I saw her in the street jumping in front of oncoming traffic. She was bleeding and obviously in need of assistance. There was a young man with her and they were going back and forth verbally. From what I saw I thought he had hit her,” Hodgkinson said.

“As soon as I got there it was very obvious she was intoxicated and the young man had bolted. She couldn’t stand, there was traffic coming. We guided her to the sidewalk and asked if she needed help, what’s happening, was she hurt. As soon as we did that we called 911.”

Officials with the Thunder Bay Police Service have confirmed that they did receive a 911 call from a Guardian Angels member, but they could not provide specific details.

Hodgkinson said the woman was extremely distraught and in a state of emotional distress.


1 Tragedy in Lutsen: Thunder Bay woman’s body found on ski trail
The body of a city woman has been found on a Lutsen Mountain Ski Resort trail, Duluth News Tribune is reporting.

The Minnesota newspaper says officers from Cook County Sheriff’s Office reported a search beginning early Monday morning for Andrea Matyuska, 32. She had not returned from a Sunday snowboarding excursion.
The woman’s body was found at the Moose Access Trail at about 7 a.m. CT.

While the incident remains under investigation, police say they do not suspect any criminal activity.


 





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