THUNDER BAY -- Local news matters as it connects us with our community, allowing us to see, know and understand our neighborhood in a variety of ways.
It helps build awareness, share perspectives and connect you not only with the people, but with the place you live.
To continue our annual Year in Review, Tbnewswatch.com likes to present one final list that demonstrates how local news has connected readers with the community.
Using our readership metrics, we’ve completed our list of most read stories for 2017. So here are the top 10 stories as selected by you:
10. Double murder arrest made in Sioux Lookout
Police were called to a Carl Avenue home on July 2 where the bodies of Kory Campbell, 22, and Robert Gray, 50, were discovered. Garnet Loon, 41, and Kailee Loon, 19, were later arrested in Sioux Lookout on July 3 and charged with second-degree murder. The double homicide resulted in a first-degree murder charge for Garnet Loon, while Kailee Loon faces a second-degree murder charge in connection to the death of Gray and an assault charge in relation to Campbell.
9. Pelletier sentenced to 7 years in 2015 manslaughter
During a sentencing hearing on September 18, Cruz Pelletier, 20, of Fort William First Nation, was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Larissa Charlie-Stillaway in June, 2015. After Justice Fitzpatrick took into consideration the conditions of his incarceration at the Thunder Bay District Jail, which included the Dec. 201 riot, the sentence was reduced to seven years.
8. Arrest made in trailer hitch case
A trailer hitch, thrown from a passing vehicle, struck and severely injured 34-year-old Indigenous woman Barbara Kentner, while she was walking on Cameron Street with her sister. The incident was labeled a hate crime by some and led to the arrest of 18-year-old Brayden Bushby, who was charged with aggravated assault. Months after Kentner’s death in July Bushby received a second-degree murder charge.
7. Man’s throat cut in violent assault
A driver with Roach’s Taxi Service heard a man calling for help on the corner of Martha and Carrie Streets on June 14. The driver called his dispatch to send an ambulance after the victim opened car door stood there with his throat cut and a stab wound to the back. A second man was put in handcuffs by Thunder Bay Police and they were both taken to hospital under police custody.
6. Police charge five during biggest crack seizure in city history
Thunder Bay Police Service officers seized $350,000 of crack and powder cocaine in the city’s largest-yet crack seizure. Five people were charged with drug charges after drug and gang units executed four search warrants in March at an apartment in the South Cumberland Street area. They also seized a replica firearm, cash and an asp baton. All were remanded into custody and held for future court dates.
5. Ghost plane crashes east of Marathon
A downed aircrast was discovered March 15, about 60 kilometres east of Marathon. Two rescue technicians were airlifted into the site and upon arrival they found the plane unoccupied and no footprints in the snow around the wreckage. It appears the plane was on autopilot and crashed after exhausting its fuel supply. The TSB has confirmed the plane did not touch down at any point after it took off and would not speculate to what had occurred.
4. Human trafficking charges laid
Two Toronto men have been charged with human trafficking of a 17-year-old southern Ontario female. on Jan. 9 officers hunting for the missing woman, believed to be in the city, located her and safely returned her to her home. The first suspect, 20-year-old Kahli Johnson-Phillips, was arrested on Jan. 14 in Thunder Bay and was charge with trafficking in persons under 18 years and breach of probation. A second male, a young offender who cannot be named under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested by Peel Regional Police
3. Police chief charged
City police chief J.P. Levesque has been charged with breach of trust and obstructing justice following a five-month investigation by the OPP. In January, the OPP received a request from the RCMP to conduct an investigation, with the case referred to an OPP criminal investigations branch major case manager. The six-day trial began on Dec. 4 and say more than a dozen witnesses testify. Levesque was first charged with obstruction of justice and breach of trust last May and has since been on medical leave. He pleaded not guilty to both charges. Levesque, can expect to learn the judge’s ruling in his trial for charges of obstruction of justice and breach of trust early in the New Year.
2. Hobbs charged with extortion
Thunder Bay mayor Keith Hobbs and his wife Marisa have each been charged with extortion and obstructing justice. The charges against the 65-year-old mayor and his 53-year-old wife were announced in July by the OPP, with the provincial police statement that the charges stem from "an investigation of allegations of criminal wrongdoing that include a municipal official and a local resident." A date for the judicial pre-trial was set for Jan. 19, 2018.
1. Tammy Keeash/Josiah Begg
In May 17-year-old Tammy Keeash of North Caribou Lake First Nation and 14-year-old Josiah Begg of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation both disappeared and were later found dead in local waterways. It took nearly two weeks for Josiah Begg’s body to be found and Thunder Bay Police were accused of mishandling both searches. In November, it was determined that no charges would be laid in the deaths of the two Indigenous teenagers.
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