Year in Review: September 2017

1. The body of 21-year-old Dylan Moonias was pulled from the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway on Sept. 23. Police renewed their call for public assistance in the case in December, asking anyone who might have been in the area of Fort William Road and Isabel Street on the evening of Sept. 21 to come forward. No arrests have yet been made, despite having released a description of a person of interest wanted for questioning in the case. 

2. A 35-year-old man was charged with Sept. 10 second-degree murder of Bert Wood, whose body was found at a North Syndicate Avenue residence. Nazareth Alexander Nelson was arrested at a south-side residence. A male and a female victim were also assaulted during the incident. 

3. A Thunder Bay pilot was killed in a plane crash in Manitoba. RCMP say the 29-year-old male victim took the plane without consent and crashed it north of Winnipeg near the St. Andrew Airport. According to police, the pilot knew the owner and was an experienced flyer. 

4. The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s board called for Dryden Senator Lynn Beyak to step down, after twice making inflammatory comments about the country’s Indigenous population in 2017. Coun. Shelby Ch’ng would later propose a motion asking the City of Thunder Bay to support the motion, which sparked a pair of lengthy debates around the council table. 

5. Cruz Pelletier got seven years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2015 beating death of 22-year-old Larissa Charlie-Stillaway at a trailer court on Fort William First Nation. The judge, when sentencing Pelletier, took into consideration the conditions of the Thunder Bay District Jail and the 2015 riot. 

6.Physicians at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre threatened to depart en masses in an open letter to the editor to local members of Parliament. The warning, addressed to Don Rusnak and Patty Hajdu, came after planned changes to the country’s tax code threatened to close loopholes allowing doctors to incorporate. If they follow through with the threat, it could mean the hospital’s emergency room might not be staffed 24/7. 

7. Mayor Keith Hobbs returned to office less than three months after taking a leave of absence to deal with legal issues. The mayor is facing charges of extortion related to disgraced lawyer Alexander (Sandy) Zeitzaff, who is facing sexual assault charges. A video of the two surfaced in late 2016 and the mayor is alleged to have asked Zeitzaff to buy a house for a 46-year-old woman as a result. 

8. A 20-year-old man was pulled from the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway by police and fire responders was expected to make a full recovery. Alcohol was a factor, police said.

9. City council shot down Northwood Coun. Shelby Ch’ng’s proposal to reduce the minimum snowfall clearing amount from 10 centimetres to five centimetres. Only Ch’ng and Coun. Larry Hebert voted in favour of the motion, which saw little discussion. The city set the limits in order to cut back on snow removal costs. 

10. A strike at Avenue II Community Services was averted when a deal was reached and later ratified.