Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Tuesday morning.
Sudbury man charged with historic sexual assault
A Sudbury man has been charged with sexual assault for an alleged incident that occurred in 1999. In an April 29 news release, Greater Sudbury Police said the 57-year-old Sudbury man was arrested and charged April 8. The case has some history. The complainant originally approached police in 2004, but at the time the person didn’t want to pursue criminal charges. Then in January, 2023, the complainant told GSPS they were ready to proceed with charges and an investigation was launched by the GSPS Major Sex Crime Unit. There is no statute of limitation when it comes to reporting a sexual assault. The investigation led to charges of sexual assault against the man. He was released on bail and will be in court on May 1 to answer to the charges.
Human skeletal remains found in Chelmsford
Human skeletal remains were found in a wooded area west of Marion Street in Chelmsford on Sunday. A community member found the skeletonized remains and phoned police at approximately 5:30 p.m. on April 28. Greater Sudbury Police Service note in a media release issued on April 29 that officers arrived and confirmed the discovery was that of human remains Officers are on scene in the remote wooded area, where residents can expect to find increased police presence for the next few days while the scene is examined and a ground search is conducted. The identity of the deceased, the length of time the remains have been in the wooded area and the circumstances of the death have yet to be determined, according to the media release. Detectives from the Major Crime Section of GSPS’s Criminal Investigation Division will be working in collaboration with the Coroner’s Office, the Centre of Forensic Science and subject matter experts in a shared investigation.
Ambulance offload delays jumped by 26% in 2023
Greater Sudbury paramedics are spending more time at Health Sciences North waiting for patients to offload. Last year, they spent 5,560 hours at the hospital on ambulance offload delays, which is a 26-per-cent jump from the 4,411 hours reported in 2022. An ambulance offload delay is a delay in transfer of patients between paramedics and emergency room nursing staff. “This equates to 15 hours every single day of the year of lost time for emergency resources,” according to a report by city Paramedic Services deputy chief Paul Kadwell, which was tabled for the April 22 community and emergency services committee meeting of city council. These delays deplete resources and affect their ability to respond to the scenes of emergency situations within target times.
Symington aiming for a ‘respectful’ Conservative campaign
Pledging to underpin his campaign with respectful, professional decorum, family physician Dr. Ian Symington has launched another political bid with the Conservative Party of Canada. Sudbury.com met with Symington at the Copper Cliff Medical Centre on Friday morning, where he has worked for the past eight years after spending several years with the family health team at Pioneer Manor. Raised in Copper Cliff, he described the medical practice as a good fit, noting that while the community had just about everything else, they didn’t have a doctor until the clinic opened. Symington recently announced his reaffirmed position as Conservative candidate for Sudbury on social media. Billboards have begun appearing which featured his face, Conservative branding and the statement, “I would be honoured to serve you in Ottawa.” This isn’t Symington’s first kick of the political can.
Pets & Animals: Swan couple, Sudbury couple share ‘a lot of joy’
A pair of swans have been welcome recurrent guests of Ted and Linda Paylor for the past several years, with the human couple lovingly naming the avian couple Cecil and Olivia. “They bring us a lot of joy, they really do,” Ted told Sudbury.com. “It makes me feel good to be around them.” Ted has Parkinson’s disease, which he said can get depressing at times, so it’s nice to have twice-annual (spring and autumn) visits from Cecil and Olivia to look forward to and brighten his days. “It feels good to know that some wild animal has that much trust in you,” he said of the pair. “It’s nice to have something that makes you feel good.” Sudbury.com stopped by the couple’s home off of Lily Creek in Sudbury on April 2, but Cecil and Olivia weren’t there at the time. We headed upstream with Ted, where the pair of swans were found swimming alongside a flock of ducks.
Ontario moves to limit phone use, social media, vaping in school
Ontario will limit cellphone use in classrooms, restrict access to all social media networks and ban vaping on school properties starting this fall, the province's education minister announced Sunday. Stephen Lecce unveiled the new measures at a morning news conference, touting them as necessary steps to improve safety in schools and help students focus in class. "Every parent and teacher we speak to has shared the growing problem of cellphone distractions in class during instructional time, in addition to the disturbing rise of vaping in schools amongst our youth," he said. "We need to be bold. We need to be comprehensive. And we need to act with urgency today." The government has put together a "comprehensive plan" to curb distraction levels among the province's students, Lecce said, including restricting cellphone use and banning vaping in schools.
