Here are our top 10 stories for the month of November 2016. We'll be presenting our annual Year in Review feature between now and Jan. 1.
- A jury delivered 28 recommendations at the conclusion of a coroner’s inquest into the April 2013 suicide death of 23-year-old Kasabonika First Nation woman Lena Anderson while she was in police custody and left alone for less than 20 minutes. The jury called on the federal government to provide equal funding to First Nations policing and to ensure communities policed by Nishnawbe Aski Police Service are identical to those in non-First Nation communities in Ontario.
- City workers under Unifor Local 87 avoided walking off the job when they accepted the municipality’s latest contract offer, a five-year deal retroactive to Nov. 1, 2014. Had they decided to strike, residents would have been left scrambling to figure out garbage collection and alternatives to city-run facilities, such as its rinks and senior centres.
- Thunder Bay Police Chief J.P. Levesque found himself in the national hot seat after a Fifth Estate documentary suggested local police had not conducted a thorough enough investigation into the Oct. 19, 2015 death of 41-year-old Stacy DeBungee, an Aboriginal man whose body was pulled out of the McIntyre River. It was one of several deaths on local waterways police have been accused of quickly deeming not suspicious and not taking seriously.
- Students at Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute got a one-year reprieve when the Lakehead Public School Board voted to delay closing the school until June 2018 after the province changed its capital deadlines. Students were delighted at the delay, especially those set to graduate in 2018.
- Thunder Bay Police said they welcomed the assistance of the Ontario Human Rights Commission to help them deal with allegations of racism and systemic discrimination. Chief Commissioner Rena Mandhane earlier in the month sent a letter to the TBPS outlining a number of steps they could take to improve the situation.
- A windy winter storm wreaked havoc on the Sports Dome, tearing a hole in the bubble’s fabric which led to its collapse. It was expected to remain out of commission for up to a month while repairs were made.
- A houseboat built by former Thunder Bay resident Rick Small drew international attention when it washed ashore in Ireland. The boat had most recently been seen in Conception Bay, Nfld.
- St. Joseph’s Care Group administrators were forced to halt admissions to the 416-bed long-term care facility after the province issued a report stating the newly opened residence had fallen short on nine compliance orders.
- Thunder Bay Fire Rescue hired its first two female firefighters, welcoming Stephanie Drost and Ceilidh Boyd among the six new recruits brought on board after successfully completing a rigorous 22-week training program.
- Friends of Chippewa Park announced it was going to seek federal, provincial, municipal and private funding to help complete a $1.5-million refurbishment of the park’s nearly century-old carousel. The plan, if approved, would include the construction of a building to surround the C.W. Parker ride to protect it from the elements.
