Look back: Aug. 2010

1 Bounty arrives
A visit from the HMS Bounty brought thousands to Thunder Bay’s waterfront in order to set foot on a piece of cinematic history.

About 5,000 people lined up to get aboard the tall ship, famous for its roles in Mutiny on the Bounty and more recently on Pirates of the Caribbean. The ship was in town for two days and set sail on Aug.5.

2 Big find
Thousands of artifacts estimated to be about 9,000 years old were found behind the McKenzie Inn. Experts called it one of the most significant archeological finds in Northern Ontario. Spearheads and stone tools were discovered undisturbed and archeologists believe the area, spanning 20,000-square metres, was a habitation site for those who left the tools behind.

Leadership with the Fort William First Nations later criticized the organizers of that dig, saying that the area First Nations communities should be consulted whenever such discoveries are made.

3 Patient records left behind
Officials at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre were investigating why and how confidential patient records could be found on the streets surrounding the former Port Arthur General Hospital site.

Doctor’s order sheets with patient names, addresses, dates of birth and progress notes could be seen blowing onto the sidewalks and streets around the former hospital, which was slated for demolition.

4 NOSM strike
More than 150 employees at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine walked off the job on Aug16.

Picket lines were in place at both Laurentian and Lakehead University as the OPSEU members and management failed to work out a collective agreement after 34 days of negotiation. The picket lines caused slowdowns for students and other university staff going into and out of the school’s facilities.  

5 Cold case arrest
Police made an arrest in sexual assault cases dating back more than 20 years.

Between 1985 and 1987 a man in a disguise, sometimes armed, broke into homes and sexually assaulted women in Conmee, Hagee and Scoble townships. Members of the OPP charged Donald Milani, 62, with five counts of sexual assault.

Milani was originally charged in relation to those cases in 1987, but the charges were dismissed at a preliminary hearing in 1989.

6 Casino celebrates a decade
A gamble made a decade ago has mostly paid off for the city, said police, politicians and addictions counselors. The Thunder Bay OLG Casino celebrated its 10th anniversary. An estimated $23.8 million had been taken by the city from its five per cent of the casino’s slot revenues over 10 years.

Critics argue that the percentage is minimal compared to the estimated $500 million the province has made.

7 Age-defying swim
William Ikola swam across Boulevard Lake for his 86th birthday. Ikola said he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it despite his age. It took Ikola 20 minutes to swim from Birch Point to the boat launch. A life-long water enthusiast, Ikola plans to beat his time sometime in 2011.

8 Stimulus deadlines
City administration said Thunder Bay’s two Infrastructure Stimulus Funding projects would be substantially completed by the March 31, 2011 federally imposed deadline.
The $5.1 million Mary J.L. Black Library and the $47.5 million first phase waterfront development projects were on schedule and would stay that way, barring any unforeseen delays, said city manager Tim Commisso.

The city has since asked for an extension for the waterfront project.

9 Chiefs reject Far North Act
After a two-day emergency chiefs assembly, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation rejected the province’s Far North Act. NAN said Bill 191 divided its territory with artificial boundaries and warned the province that if NAN was not given final say in the development of those lands, there would be trouble ahead.

10 big bids
The lowest bid for work on land north of Pier 3 in the city’s waterfront development plans came in almost $1 million over budget.

Waterfront development project manager Katherine Dugmore was looking for ways to reduce the cost of that tender. Because a large share of Prince Arthur’s Landing development was funded through federal stimulus money, the March 31 deadline was driving up costs because of tight timelines, she said.