Woman dies in early morning house fire

Posted April 22, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

A woman is dead following an early Thursday morning fire in the city’s east end. After arriving on scene at the McPherson Street address to find the air thickly coated in dense black smoke and flames enveloping the small white and blue homes, fire officials quickly brought the blaze under control. “When we arrived on scene flames were shooting from the front window and out the doors. Fire crews slowly made their way in because of the amount of flames that were inside,” said Thunder Bay Fire Service platoon chief Val Fontaine. “The whole building was going inside. After we got the fire under control and vented the roof, we finally got in to do a secondary search.” That’s when the body of the deceased was discovered. Several dead cats were also found during the search.   “On our primary search there was so much smoke we couldn’t see very well. We felt our way around and we didn’t find anybody. After the fire was knocked down we got in again for a secondary search and that’s when we discovered the deceased,” Lafontaine told CKPR Radio early Thursday morning. Neither the identity nor the age of the victim, found under debris in the badly burned bungalow, was immediately released. “I cannot identify the victim at this time,” Lafontaine said. “The police will release that information.” Fire officials say they are investigating the cause of the fire at this time, with the scene being turned over to the office of the fire marshall. “We have no indication at this time as to what caused the fire. We do know there were smoke detectors in the building because we installed them. But as to the cause, fire prevention and the Ontario Fire Marshall’s Office will attend and try to determine that,” Lafontaine said. Police, who have surrounded the house in yellow police tape, and fire officials remain on scene on Thursday morning. View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

Early arrival

Posted January 2, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

Alexander Bunting just couldn’t wait to be born. Due at the end of the month, he gave mother Clarissa Wesley a New Year’s Eve surprise, deciding to enter the world a little earlier than planned. His arrival, at 7:05 a.m. Saturday morning, earned him the New Year’s baby title at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, the first baby born in the city in 2011. “It was very unexpected, because he wasn’t due until the 25th of this month,” said Wesley, a Slate Falls First Nation resident who was visiting family for Christmas and New Year’s Eve when she went into labour. All along she planned to have her fourth child at home. It just didn’t work out that way, though Wesley didn’t really care where the baby was born as long as everything went well. “I’m just happy that he’s healthy and that he came safely and that I’m OK.” Like his older siblings, Alexander followed family tradition and took a name that began with the alphabet’s first letter. Older brothers Ashton and Antonio, and sister Angel began the trend, which Wesley said is mostly because of their father, Antonio Bunting. “They boys were all named by their dad,” she said, awaiting their arrival at the hospital on Saturday afternoon. “We had an agreement. If we had a boy he’d name him, if we had a girl. I’d name him. I was hoping for a girl, but I’m happy,” she said, smiling. The New Year’s birth will make the holiday that much more special in future years, Wesley added, reiterating she had no idea young Alexander would put the spotlight on her as 2011 began. “Everyone talks about who is going to be the first baby of 2011, and I didn’t think it was going to be me. When I went into labour last night at midnight, I thought it was just a false (labour), but by 5:30 a.m.  they called the ambulance. Then by 7 a.m. he was born. It was quick.”   View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

Dryden’s early start throttles Stars

Posted December 19, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | 1 comment

Special teams were the difference for the Dryden Ice Dogs on Saturday night. The Ice Dogs scored three power play goals – on 17 chances – and once shorthanded, downing the host Thunder Bay North Stars 5-3 at Fort William Gardens. Ben McLellan led the way for Dryden (23-12-0) with a pair of goals, as Dryden took over top spot in the Superior International Junior Hockey League standings, one point ahead Wisconsin. The Wilderness were scheduled to host Fort Frances on Saturday, but icy roads threw a wrench into that plan. Thomas Kuhn, and Dwight Lee with a pair, also scored for the Ice Dogs, who built a 4-0 lead five minutes into the third, only to see the North Stars roll off three straight markers to draw to within one. Daniel Franks, Kyle Breukelman and Daniel Salokari were the North Stars marksmen. Guillaume Piche replaced starter Jay Pelletier in the Thunder Bay net at the 9:45 mark of the first, after Pelletier had allowed three goals. View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Sports

Early birds

Posted October 16, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

With one day left for advanced voting in the municipal election, more than 2,500 people have already handed in their ballots.

“We’re a little behind the count from 2006, but then you need to remember the election is moved forward two weeks so there is a little less pressure on snowbirds who might have been leaving town at the end of the month or in November,” said city clerk John Hannam. “They don’t need to rush out to the advanced polls now since the election is Oct. 25.”
Advanced polls have been set up at various locations throughout the city including the 55 Plus Centre and the West Thunder Community Centre. The city’s mobile voting van has also been making the rounds. About 300 people have used it to vote.

“We’ve been quite encouraged by the turnout there,” Hannam said. “It’s been a great response from the voters; they all think it’s a great idea.”

The city is hoping to see voter turnout hit at least 50 per cent last year after the 2006 election brought in less than 40 per cent of eligible voters.

“It would be encouraging to see a larger turnout than that; 50 per cent is nothing to celebrate,” Hannam said. “We hope to see numbers at least get up to where the provincial and federal elections are at, which is somewhere between 60 and 70 per cent. That might be asking for a bit much this time around, but if we can get ahead in the right direction, that will be encouraging.” Hannam also want to let people who don’t   normally vote know it’s important to vote to help select the people that will lead the community; he encouraged people to take a little time to learn about the candidates.

Saturday is the last day for advanced polling; voting stations will be set up at Intercity Shopping Centre all day.
View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

Swartzendruber’s early goal leads Chill to win

Posted June 28, 2010 by admin in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

Brandon Swartzendruber and Gustavo Oliveira were brought back to Thunder Bay to beef up the Chill offence. So far they’ve delivered. On Sunday Swartzendruber scored in the second minute, on a pass from Oliveira, and the Chill hung on to defeat the host St. Louis Lions 1-0, their second win in two days to start a five-game road trip. With the win Thunder Bay (7-1-1) takes over top spot in the Premier Development League’s Heartland Division, one point ahead of Rochester and Des Moines.

View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Sports