These are the stories that dominated headlines and conversations in June:
1. Ring of Fire employees walked off the job protesting poor wages, deteriorating work conditions, inadequate health, and safety infrastructure.
Around two dozen Cliff’s Natural Resources workers left the worksite near the James Bay coast. Bill Boor, senior vice-president of Global Ferroalloys, said what the workers were saying was based on misinformation and that they would be contacting each member of the camp get a better understanding of what happened.
2. A tree falling down near Boulevard Lake definitely made a sound in the community.
Thunder Bay Police Service officials say a 100-year-old white pine, a landmark tree on Lyon Boulevard, was cut down. The tree was well known in the area for its resilience, having been the victim in a number of motor vehicle collisions. Many paid homage to the fallen pine with candles and other tributes. Police later charged a 24-year-old-man with the crime.
3. The city’s chief of police went ahead with a lawsuit against Thunder Bay’s mayor. Former Thunder Bay Police Service Chief Bob Herman filed a libel notice against Mayor Keith Hobbs in April following comments he made to local media, alleging his private communications had been intercepted.
In a statement of claim, Herman asked for $500,000 for libel and slander and another $200,000 in punitive damages.
4. An industrial incident along the MacKenzie Bridge in Shuniah claimed the life of a worker.
Officials with the Thunder Bay detachment of the OPP said a 24-year-old-man was injured when the scissors lift he was operating tipped over. Paramedics rushed the man to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
5. Canadians across the country had empty mailboxes during the lockout with postal workers, and it was no different in Thunder Bay.
Canada Post locked out 48,000 employees, including 230 in the city when negotiations with the union found no common ground. The company blamed the union for the lockout, saying more than $100 million in revenue was lost when rolling strikes hit Toronto and Montreal.
The union had a different view. CUPW local 620 president Wendy Johnson said it was the company that forced the employees to not to work by locking them out of the building.
6. With federal funding secured, the next step for Thunder Bay’s research institution was picking a location for a cyclotron.
The federal budget ended any doubts by including a $4 million investment for a cyclotron in the city. Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute CEO Michael Power said it is good news for the $9.4 million project.
One of the locations considered was near the IRC Discoveries Centre on Munro Street.
While there are benefits to housing the 10,000 square-foot cyclotron at the centre, Power said it is far away from Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where the medical isotopes would be used. The other two locations considered were both on the hospital site.
7. Kevin Kennedy was a man who always tried to put a smile on someone’s face.
Kennedy, 58, better known as Dr. Funnybone, died unexpectedly while on a boating trip near Silver Island. He was taken to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where he was later officially pronounced dead.
Kennedy’s local contributions weren’t exclusive to the stage.
He served as the spokesman for the Thunder Bay Professional Fire Fighters Association for a decade, and spent about 15 years on the board of directors for the Northern Cancer Research Foundation.
8. Police dealt a major blow to the illegal drug trade after a raid at several locations throughout the city.
Six Thunder Bay men were arrested and $1 million worth of narcotics and $120,000 in cash and property were seized in the culmination of what police have dubbed Project Dolphin.
The 16-month undercover investigation was a joint effort by the Thunder Bay Police Service, RCMP, OPP, Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service and the Toronto Police Service and has put a major dent in the city’s drug distribution network.
Fifteen search warrants were executed in the city Thursday and police seized 26 pounds of marijuana, a kilogram of cocaine, 2,000 Oxycodone pills, and 46 pounds of hash oil.
9. Shuniah Street residents prepared to take on city council in protest of more bike lanes.
Shuniah Street resident Barbara Brayshaw-Fontaine made a deputation to council with a petition of more than 190 signatures that protested the city’s plan to put bike lanes on her street.
Brayshaw-Fontaine said the bike lanes would make it more difficult for residents to park their cars on the streets.
City administration said during a council meeting that there was sufficient parking along side streets, driveways and back lanes.
10. An alleged random stabbing on the city’s south-side had some residents questioning the safety of their neighbourhood.
Thunder Bay Police Service officers responded to the reported stabbing at the corner of Marks and Arthur Streets. Police say the 24-year-old female victim did not appear to be known to the suspect, and that the assault was unprovoked. Police later arrested a 20-year-old woman near Donald Street and Syndicate Avenue.
The suspect has been charged with aggravated assault. The randomness of the attack had some people worried. Some people who spoke with tbnewswatch.com at the time said they hadn’t felt safe in the city for some time.
