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Good morning, Thunder Bay — and welcome to issue one hundred and nineteen. Cloudy today with a high of 19°C and a 30 percent chance of showers, easing off from yesterday's wetter stretch. In today's issue: Pays Plat First Nation gains 4,203 acres on Lake Superior's north shore in a deal 36 years in the making; Ontario's high school teachers set a strike vote for November; police seize $25,000 in drugs and a loaded gun in an Ogden Street bust; and Belluz Farms kicks off its Fall Wonderland season with the giant pumpkin weigh-off. Plus eight things to do between now and Friday.
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Trivia: The S&P in the S&P 500 stock index stands for two merged financial-publishing companies — Standard, and what? (Answer at the bottom!)
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Thunder Bay Events
From today's artisan market and a rescheduled Celtic celebration to a weekly running group, a progressive draw, comedy and a Friday night of live music, here's what's on between now and Friday.
Sunday, September 27
SEP 27 · The Market — 8 to 11 a.m. · 📍 MacGregor Rec Centre, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Shuniah · Food and vendor market, running the last Sunday of every month. · 📅 Add to Calendar
SEP 27 · Celtic Day — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free · 📍 Fort William Historical Park · Pipe and drum bands, Highland dancers, hands-on activities and food — rescheduled from July. · 📅 Add to Calendar
SEP 27 · Splash of Pride BBQ and Pool Party — 1 to 5 p.m., from $18 · 📍 Valhalla Hotel & Conference Centre · BBQ, live DJ and pool access in partnership with the Rainbow Collective; proceeds support local 2SLGBTQI+ community groups. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Tuesday, September 29
SEP 29 · Tuesday Group Run — 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. · 📍 Boulevard Lake (meet at the Rita Street parking lot) · A friendly 5K run or run/walk around the lake, open to all speeds and fitness levels. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, September 30
SEP 30 · Westfort Prosvita Catch the Ace — 7 to 8 p.m., $5/ticket · 📍 Westfort Prosvita, 721 West Gore St. · Weekly progressive draw at The Proz — you don't need to be there to win. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Thursday, October 1
OCT 1 · LIVE Open Mic Comedy Thursdays — 7 to 10 p.m., no cover · 📍 Campfire Comedy, 117 Cumberland Street North · Touring comedians and rising stars, with sign-ups open to newcomers and veterans alike. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Friday, October 2
OCT 2 · Mum's Pantry General Store — noon to 6 p.m. · 📍 100 Simpson Street · A community general store and mini artisan market with fresh weekly goods and hot food daily. · 📅 Add to Calendar
OCT 2 · Bar Polonia Friday Live Music — 8 to 11 p.m., $10 cover · 📍 209 N. Cumberland St. · Weekly live music night at the Polish Combatants' Association hall. · 📅 Add to Calendar
✅ NO WEATHER ALERTS IN EFFECT
Environment Canada has nothing posted for Thunder Bay as of Saturday evening. A cooler, showery stretch continues into Sunday, but nothing severe is expected.
☁️ Sunday, September 27 — Thunder Bay
19°C
Overnight low 7°C
Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers late in the morning and through the afternoon, with fog patches dissipating in the morning. UV index 3, moderate. Light winds, clearing late in the evening.
Sunday stays cloudy with a high of 19°C and a 30 percent chance of showers, clearing overnight to a low of 7°C. Monday turns sunny with a high of 19°C. Tuesday cools off with showers and a high of 18°C, then Wednesday and Thursday both bring a mix of sun and cloud in the high teens, before Friday holds near 17°C with more sun than cloud. Winds stay light through the stretch. Forecast from Environment Canada.
Pays Plat First Nation gains 4,203 acres on Lake Superior's north shore
Pays Plat First Nation is expanding its reserve by 4,203 acres — nearly eight times its original 541-acre footprint — after federal and provincial ministers signed off on a Land and Larger Land Base Final Agreement 36 years in the making. Chief David Mushquash called it the start of an "economic and housing boom" for the community of about 100 people, 175 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay near Rossport.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu and federal Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty both framed the expansion as room for new housing and economic development as Pays Plat takes on managing its own land under the Lands Management First Nations Group.
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Ontario's high school teachers set a strike vote for November
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation says its roughly 1,100 members in Thunder Bay — spanning Lakehead Public Schools and the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board — will hold a strike vote from Nov. 6 to 16. The union points to class sizes, special-education supports, staffing levels and violence in schools as sticking points in talks that opened in March.
A strike vote alone doesn't put anyone in a legal strike position — OSSTF says the Ontario Labour Relations Board still has to settle a dispute over which items get bargained centrally versus locally before any job action could even be considered.
🗳️ Your call: if it comes to job action this fall, where do you land?
Your call: if OSSTF's strike vote leads to job action this fall, where do you land?
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Police seize $25,000 in drugs and a loaded gun in an Ogden Street bust
A drug trafficking investigation on Ogden Street ended this week with three Thunder Bay men in custody and about $25,000 worth of drugs and a loaded firearm off the street. A search warrant executed Wednesday turned up crack cocaine and fentanyl at a residence, and a third suspect arrested later that day was carrying more than 100 grams of cocaine, 27 grams of fentanyl, hydromorphone tablets and a loaded gun.
A 40-year-old man faces drug trafficking and firearms charges; a 49-year-old man and a 46-year-old man face drug trafficking charges. All three were remanded into custody.
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Belluz Farm kicks off its fall season with the giant pumpkin weigh-off
Fall Wonderland is back at Belluz Farms, and this year's giant pumpkin weigh-off went to Gary Klages, whose 820-pound entry earned him a repeat win — his first title came about eight years ago. Co-owner Jodi Belluz said this year's growing conditions were tough, which made the winning pumpkin even more impressive.
The farm's Fall Wonderland activities continue on Saturdays, Sundays and Thanksgiving Monday for four more weekends, running through the weekend before Halloween. An activity pass is recommended since capacity is limited, but visitors just picking up a pumpkin or fresh vegetables don't need one.
Meme of the Day
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Trivia answer: Poor's. Standard Statistics and Poor's Publishing merged in 1941 to form Standard & Poor's; the S&P 500 index itself launched in 1957.
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