This week marked a changing of the guard at Thunder Bay city hall.
The previous council, which included a number of long-serving members who won't be back, held their final meeting. The next council, which includes five members brand-new to municipal politics, began their orientation process two nights later.
Here are some of the top stories of the week form Northwestern Ontario.
Previous city council bids farewell
Three city councillors with a combined 51 years of experience marked the end of their careers as municipal elected officials.
Rebecca Johnson, first elected in 2003, and Brian McKinnon and Aldo Ruberto, both elected in 2006, had their final Thunder Bay city council meeting on Monday. The three, along with one-term Neebing representative Cody Fraser and mayor Bill Mauro, chose to not seek re-election. One-term at-large councillor Peng You will also not return after his unsuccessful mayoral bid.
Six of the 13 seats in Thunder Bay city council chambers have turned over.
New council takes office
While those six incoming members of council are largely new to their roles, with five rookies, they'll also have a mayor with decades of experience returning to the role after nearly 20 years away.
Mayor Ken Boshcoff, who had been the city's mayor between 1997 and 2003 and had several other terms in various councillor capacities, headlines the new group. He's joined by at-large members Rajni Agarwal and Kasey Etreni, Northwood's Dominic Pasqualino, Neebing's Greg Johnsen, and Red River's Michael Zussino.
The new council is scheduled to hold their inaugural meeting on Nov. 28.
Community safety awards recognize changemakers
The annual Thunder Bay mayor's community safety awards put a spotlight on community responses to the city's homelessness and mental health crises.
Recipients of outstanding community projects awards included Team DEK, Elevate NWO, Hospice Northwest, and the Niizhaayek Alliance.
Bryan Tucker, a sergeant at the Thunder Bay District Jail, was honoured with a community hero award for his work founding a weekly support group for incarcerated men.
Border Cats to make long-awaited return
After missing the last three Northwoods League campaigns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related border restrictions, the Thunder Bay Border Cats will return to Port Arthur Stadium next summer.
The team on Friday announced it will rejoin the summer collegiate baseball circuit for 2023 after having played their last game in August 2019.
The organization, which has an all-local ownership group, said it expects to announce a new manager for next season in the coming days and already has 20 player commitments.
The team said next season's schedule and ticket packages will be announced soon.
Thunderwolves take down No. 2 team in the country
The Lakehead Thunderwolves picked up their second victory over a top-10 team in as many weeks.
The Thunderwolves picked up a home court win over No. 2 Ottawa, prevailing 69-65 at the CJ Sanders Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Guard Michael Okafor led the charge for the Thunderwolves, scoring 16 of his 18 total points in the second half.
Lakehead entered the weekend ranked ninth, after picking up a road upset of the then-No. 3 Brock Badgers last week.
