Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Thursday morning.
Skeletal remains in Chelmsford found off-trail in wooded area
A police ground search of a wooded area in Chelmsford where skeletal human remains were located on Sunday turned up additional remains this week. On April 28, a member of the public walking in the wooded area west of Marion Street in Chelmsford located what they believed were parts of a human skeleton. There are trails in the wooded area, but police said the person was walking in the woods off-trail. The person contacted Greater Sudbury Police at around 5:30 p.m. Officers attended the scene and confirmed what appeared to be human bones. GSPS spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn said police conducted a ground search covering a 100-foot radius around the area where the remains were found and located additional human remains. “The skeletal remains that have been located by officers during the ground search are believed to belong to the same person,” Dunn said.
Chronic opioid users die decades younger than the average: study
A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows chronic users of opioids have a life expectancy decades lower than the average. The study also found those with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) could benefit from better access to palliative care. The article, Association between opioid use disorder and palliative care: a cohort study using linked health administrative data in Ontario, Canada, said health-care providers who support people with opioid addictions should receive training in palliative care and addiction medicine to support people with OUD. It was written by physicians and research scientists in Toronto and Ottawa. "We identified important differences in palliative care provided at the end of life between people with and without OUD. People with OUD were less likely to receive palliative care," the authors wrote. "Opioid use disorder can be a chronic, life-limiting illness, and people with OUD are less likely to receive palliative care in communities during the 90 days before death. Health-care providers should receive training in palliative care and addiction medicine to support people with OUD," the study said.
Memory Lane: Readers share memories of the grand dame of Elm Street
It’s a sunny late afternoon and we find ourselves standing at the corner of Mackenzie and Davidson Streets, staring up at the mural of the son of the Nickel Range’s most famous employee. A scant 350 metres south of here was the location of this man’s second home, the kitchen where his father worked feeding the masses: hotel guests, miners, partygoers, service clubs and the local police. Now, let’s travel back in time and head on down there to take a seat in the Matador Lounge, where our fellow readers will regale us with their memories of that grand old lady of Elm Street, the Nickel Range. The man in the mural, Alex Trebek, in his memoirs released not long before his unfortunate passing, dedicated an entire chapter to his life at the Nickel Range. “As I grew up, the kitchen became a second home to me,” he wrote, “where I learned the value of the little things in life: the importance of punctuality; the rewards for hard, honest work; the pride of properly arranging tables and chairs; the camaraderie of a staff of waitresses and food preparers working together in harmony — although there was a time one of the meatcutters, obviously not happy with the way the waitress was placing her order, heaved a meat cleaver at her.” As mentioned in the previous article, the Nickel Range had its share of famous guests over the years, and two readers added a couple more to that list.
Leduc’s arena referendum motion fails to get off the ground
There will be no referendum on whether the city should proceed with the construction of a new $200-million arena/events centre in the city’s downtown core. Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc tabled a motion to have the city look at adding the referendum question to the 2026 municipal election, but it failed to get off the ground at Tuesday’s meeting. The 12-member balance of city council was unanimous in voting down Leduc’s motion to reconsider their unanimous decision on April 16 to greenlight the project. Soon after Mayor Paul Lefebvre called a brief recess following the vote, a small crowd of people in the gallery began heckling city council. “That’s not democracy, that’s demo-crazy,” one woman yelled repeatedly, while others yelled undefined allegations of collusion.
Province expanding Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program
The province is expanding the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program to cover more costs incurred by patients needing eligible out-of-town care. Health Minister Sylvia Jones on Tuesday revealed details of the revamped plan at a stop at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, announcing they have increased the overnight accommodation allowance from $100 a night to $175, and from $550 to $1,050 for stays of eight nights or longer. The government also reduced the travel distance requirements from 200 kilometres round trip to 100 kilometres and have expanded the eligibility to cover costs of medical travel companions accompanying a patient requiring hospitalization. The province plans to provide $45 million over three years to fund the program. Jones said the goal is to provide Northern Ontarians with a better health-care experience, acknowledging residents often don’t have access to a full suite of medical services in their home communities, especially in sparsely populated regions in the Northwest.
Mine-opoly: Playing games, learning about mining at the Mining Games
Hundreds of Sudbury-area secondary school students got a hands-on opportunity Wednesday to find out how the mining industry is an economic driver for Northeastern Ontario, as well as being a source of job opportunities. The event was the MineOpportunity Games which were held as part of Modern Mining and Technology Sudbury (MMTS) week. The games event has been part of mining week activities for the past 18 years, but this was the first time it was held at Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines. Nicole Tardif, the program co-ordinator at the Goodman School, is the game inventor and main organizer of Wednesday's event. She explained what the students had to do. "So they're playing a board game that is very similar to Monopoly. And when they pick question cards or research cards, they're required to go visit company booths that are volunteering their time, or go to a department at Laurentian University where staff is volunteering time, and find answers to the questions that are on the cards or complete hands-on activities."
