TBNewswatch is looking back at the top 10 stories of each month in 2023, as chosen by Dougall Media's director of news, Leith Dunick. Here are the picks from October.
- Officials from Curling Canada were on hand to announced the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be contested at Fort William Gardens, a make-up of sorts for the 2022 event that was held in the city, mostly without fans in the stands.
- Premier Doug Ford paid a brief visit to Thunder Bay, where he highlighted provincial investments in Indigenous training programs and stopped by local paper and saw mills and the Matawa Training Centre.
- The death of Abdullahi Mohamed Ali was deemed a homicide, the city’s sixth of 2023, and resulted in the arrest of 25-year-old Russel Brayden Moonias, who was charged with first-degree murder in the killing. Police later confirmed a firearm was involved.
- Members of the city’s 2SLLGBTQIA+ community told the Thunder Bay Police Services Board they fell unsafe in the city, while detailing increase hate-related incidents and asking for more reporting to police and better data collection.
- City council approved an ambitious housing pledge, vowing to see 2,200 new housing units built by 2031, despite being told it wasn’t necessary for the municipality to access its share of the province’s $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund. The province is looking to have 1.5 billion new housing units built over the next eight years as a way to address the housing crisis.
- After months of renovations and improvements, the Canada Games Complex reopened to the public. The work included upgrades to the washrooms and change rooms.
- Lyrina Jacob was sentenced to five years in the 2020 stabbing death of her mother, Lydia Jacob. The 25-year-old was charged with manslaughter in the killing, which took place at a Dawson Street apartment.
- The city announced a multi-million-dollar plan to revamp the Waterfront bus terminal, work that will include an addition, heated enclosures and increased visibility. The work is tentatively scheduled for 2025.
- The Lakehead School Board filed a court order demanding social media site, Reddit, release user identity information after the board accused the users in question of making defamatory remarks about board employees.
- A Thunder Bay actress, Presley Allard, starred in a new TV movie, alongside Melissa Joan Hart, that depicted the horrific real-life events about a young girl encouraged to kill her stepfather. Would You Kill For Me? The Mary Bailey Story aired on Lifetime.
