Here are the top Thunder Bay news stories of 2014

There can be no other story of the year in Thunder Bay in 2014 than the senseless and tragic number of homicides the city has witnessed.

Since last we looked back, 11 people were killed within our city limits, the most that have died at other’s hands in a calendar year since records have been kept. Once again Thunder Bay will reclaim the title of Canada’s murder capital, a dubious moniker with plenty of repercussions across the board.

1 Eleven murders in one calendar year easily eclipsed the previous high-water mark of eight, as city officials and police struggled with how to stem the tide of violent deaths. While all homicides are tragic, there was none more so than eight-year-old Brandi Wingert, murdered by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, who later died before he could be arrested.

2 Bombardier workers walked off the job in July and were on strike for nearly two months before a deal was struck ending the bitter labour dispute.

3 In January the city announced it had formed a partnership with Thunder Bay Live, a group dedicated to bringing the American Hockey League farm team of the Winnipeg Jets to Thunder Bay should the event centre be built. The city is in the process of submitting funding applications to both the federal and provincial governments. Opponents of the project vehemently protested the city’s plan, demanding a plebiscite, a request that was ultimately rejected by council.

4 Mayor Keith Hobbs easily won re-election to another four year term on Oct. 27, knocking off former two-time mayor Ken Boshcoff and conservative challenger Shane Judge, a vocal opponent of the proposed event centre.

5 Officials from the city and Fort William First Nation continued a year-long battle with CN in an attempt to convince the railway to re-open the James Street Swing Bridge to vehicular traffic, a condition both the city and FWFN are adamant the company must live up to, according to a 1906 agreement. CN agreed to make repairs, but only if they could renegotiate the terms of the deal.

6 Longtime MPPs Bill Mauro and Michael Gravelle were re-elected in the June 12 provincial vote, helping the Liberals regain a majority at Queen’s Park. Both were subsequently renamed to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet.

7 Progress on the Ring of Fire stalled in 2014, with Cliff’s Natural Resources pulling out of the multi-billion project. The province did agree to a framework to move ahead with Matawa First Nations, and re-committed a billion dollars to the project. But the federal government has not committed a cent and said recently they want a lot more information about the proposed development corporation before they’ll do so.

8 Would-be Progressive Conservative Tamara Johnson raised party concerns in February after statements she made about business practices involving First Nations went public. Johnson was quickly booted as the party candidate in Thunder Bay-Superior North and ultimately ran for the Libertarians and later for city council in the at-large race.

9 In early May Thunder Bay Police made a gruesome discovery of an infant’s body in the woods near the southern bank of the Neebing River. Police have remained tight-lipped about the case, other than to say the death was from natural causes. No arrests have been made.

10 After years of construction and several delays, the Thunder Bay Courthouse finally opened in April.