Here are our top 10 stories for the month of August 2016. We'll be presenting our annual Year in Review feature between now and Jan. 1.
- The body of 38-year-old Clayton Chuck Mawakeesic was found in the McIntyre River and was quickly deemed not suspicious by police.
- A WestJet flight from Vancouver to Ottawa was diverted to Thunder Bay after an unspecified threat was made. RCMP said 125 passengers and crew were forced to leave the plane after it landed at Thunder Bay International Airport. The aircraft was searched and was sent on its way the following afternoon.
- Four men were arrested and faced multiple charges after a 17-year-old man was allegedly kidnapped from his Thunder Bay home. Police said the teen was in danger the entire time he was held captive at a residence in the 700 block of Simpson Street, where he was assaulted for about 48 hours.
- A 23-year-old man was killed by propeller in a freak accident at the Kakabeka Falls Airport. According to police a float plane had landed on the Kaministiquia River and was approaching the shoreline. The passenger exited the aircraft too soon and walked into the propeller, dying instantly.
- A 55-year-old Thunder Bay man was shot in a south-side bar early and was sent to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Days later police arrested a suspect near city hall. Jonathan David Dunston was the subject of a police manhunt and the public was told not to approach him if spotted as he was believed to be armed and dangerous.
- An actress who produced a bikini-clad video promoting the Ring of Fire Mining development for KWG’s The Mining Minute said she had no intention of sexualizing either herself or the mining industry. The video, produced by Theresa Longo, went viral and drew the wrath of women’s groups nationwide.
- Nishnawbe Aski Nation leaders joined a rally in front of the Thunder Bay Courthouse to show support of Sixties Scoop survivors ahead of the start of a class-action lawsuit. Between 1965 and 1985 an estimated 16,000 Aboriginal children in Ontario were removed from their homes and placed in other non-First Nation communities.
- Minister of Veterans Affairs Kent Hehr paid a visit to the city and announced the local Veterans Affairs office would reopen in January 2017. Hehr said the federal government was making good on an election promise after the Conservatives closed several offices across the country.
- The do-it-yourself crowd lined up for hours in advance of the opening of a Lowe’s location at Intercity Shopping Centre. The U.S.-chain store filled a vacancy at the mall left when Target pulled out of Canada entirely.
- A 34-year-old man was arrested and accused of robbing a Thunder Bay Credit Union. Police said they had spotted the man and attempted to corral him, but he fled the scene and managed to avoid arrest. He was charged in both the daytime robbery of the Bay Credit Union and an Oliver Road Mac’s Convenience Store.
