THUNDER BAY –There’s no question 2020 will go down in infamy. It was a tumultuous year, to say the least.
A pandemic swept the world, killing more than 1.8 million people around the world. The killing of George Floyd brought Black Lives Matter to the global forefront, with protests spilling into the streets of Minneapolis and across the planet.
Wildfires threatened to destroy Australia, heightening the climate change concern, and the U.S. election, pitting incumbent Republican Donald Trump against lifetime politician Joe Biden of the Democrats, is still be contested by Trump, despite losing by seven million votes.
It was also one of the most fascinating news years in recent history here in Thunder Bay, the headlines dominated, of course, by COVID-19.
But there were plenty of other stories that drew national and international attention.
Here’s our top 10 of 2020.
1. Clearly COVID-19 was the dominant story. At year’s end, there were 585 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and sadly, 21 people and counting have died as a result, the majority linked to an outbreak at Soutbridge Roseview nursing home. The city’s first case was documented on March 27. By then the city was in lock-down, most businesses either closed or reduced to curbside delivery. Some would never reopen. The pandemic made household names of Dr. Janet DeMille and Dr. Stewart Kennedy, made heroes of front-line workers, brought mandatory mask orders and sent students online in search of an education. There is hope. On Dec. 22 the first Pfizer vaccines were administered at Thunder Bay Regional, though the city ended the year on a provincially mandated two-week shutdown.
2. Mayor Keith Hobbs was a polarizing figure while serving for two terms, but he and his wife, Marisa, were acquitted in February of charges of extortion, having been accused by a plaintiff of attempting to force him to buy a home for a third defendant in the case. The Hobbs’ later filed suit against just about everyone involved with the case, including the plaintiff and police, for upward of $15 million. That case is still pending.
3. Though too late to save her life, Barbara Kentner finally got justice more than three years after her death, which the court ruled was hastened as a result of a trailer hitch thrown from a passing car that hit her while out walking with her sister in January 2017. Kentner died in July of that year and in early December, Brayden Bushby was found guilty of manslaughter in the case. He’d originally been charged with attempted murder. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
4. A Black Lives Matter rally drew about 2,000 people to Marina Park for a peaceful, but forceful, protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Organizer Pitia Modi said it meant a lot to the city’s growing Black community to see so much support and call for change.
5. Through it all, Thunder Bay likely retained its dubious title as the murder capital of Canada. Eight people were killed at the hands of others in 2020, including a 11-year-old on New Year’s Day and 14-year-old Kayleigh Ivall, whose body was found in the woods near Boulevard Lake. Austin Robinson, Rae Towegishig, Adrian Drysdale, Paul Vivier, Lydia Jacob and Christopher Meeseetawagesic were also murdered, according to police.
6. Pinhole leaks in water pipes led to a $250-million lawsuit being filed against the City of Thunder Bay, which was accused of causing the problem when it added sodium hydroxide to the municipal water supply to prevent lead poisoning. St. Joseph’s Care Group launched a separate $350,000 lawsuit, with hundreds of homeowners saying they were left on the hook for thousands of dollars in costly repairs.
7. Fans of Finnish cultural heritage (and pancakes) were shocked to learn the Finlandia Association had filed for liquidation after a bank called in the organization’s mortgage on the Finnish Labour Temple, threatening the future of the Hoito Restaurant. The building was eventually sold to a developer, who plans to turn the hall into apartments. The fate of the Hoito remains in the air.
8. A fire at the Thunder Bay courthouse has thrown a curve into an already difficult year on the justice front. The building, which opened in 2014, was closed after the electrical fire, forcing trials to satellite locations, including the Valhalla Inn and the former Superior Court of Justice on Camelot Street, now a trendy downtown hotel.
9. A series of rotating strikes, affecting all local school boards, finally came to an end with agreements signed with the provincial government. Teachers and education workers were fighting for smaller class sizes and more favourable hiring policies, among other issues.
10. Former city councillor Larry Hebert was found guilty of assault with a weapon and uttering threats, after initially being charged with attempted murder following a November 2019 incident. The 73-year-old was given a 12-month conditional sentence and ordered to stay away from the victim. Hebert served on council from 2006 to 2018.
