1. Thunder Bay officials were asking for help after the city became a transportation hub for thousands of people fleeing their homes because of massive forest fires.
More than 7,000 people moved through the city on their way to hotels in the region as forest fires burned around some northern First Nations communities. More than 2,000 out-of-province fire fighters came to help control over 124,000 hectares of burning forest. It was the first time Ontario needed additional resources for a forest fire season since 2006.
Four fires, two in both Red Lake and Sioux Lookout districts, accounted for 80 per cent of the burning forest in Northwestern Ontario.
2. Two Thunder Bay women pleaded guilty to the murder of 30-year-old Verna Patricia Sturgeon.
Sturgeon was found beaten to death at an Arthur Street hotel Sept.3, 2010. Thunder Bay Police Service officers initially charged Michelle Morris, 28, and Joanne Vivier, 34, with first-degree murder.
The charges were reduced to manslaughter.
3. The city narrowed its site location for a proposed events centre down to three – Innova Park, land near the Thunder Bay International Airport and the downtown north core.
The north core site, currently the Water Street Bus terminal, was determined to be the cheapest and best option.
4. Lakehead University received the go ahead from the province to open the first law school in Ontario in 42 years.
The law school will open in 2013 with a first class of 55 students with 170 when the school is fully operational. The curriculum, approved by the Law Society of Upper Canada in April, will focus on Aboriginal and natural resource-based law and sole-and-small-firm practice law.
5. Two men were sent to hospital following a bizarre hit-and-run on Camelot Street.
A man driving a stolen Chevrolet panel van struck a pedestrian near the provincial court house. He then swerved onto the courthouse lawn veered sharply to the right and careened off an embankment into the Safeway parking lot, crushing the passenger side roof of a Geo Metro below. The man was arrested immediately and taken to hospital.
6. J.P Levesque took over as the city’s top cop in July. He took over for Bob Herman who was the city’s chief for 11 years.
Levesque was deputy chief since 2009. He has over 24 years experience with the force. Mental health and crime prevention were some of the priorities for the new chief.
7. The 2011 Thunder Bay Blues Festival was a hit despite some heavy rain.
With rockers Grand Funk Railroad and Blue Rodeo bookending the legendary Buddy Guy on Saturday night, organizers said the festival was a runaway hit.
8. The mayor apologized to the former chief of police, putting a pending $700,000 lawsuit to rest.
Mayor Keith Hobbs made a formal apology to retired police chief Bob Herman for allegations he made that Herman had illegally intercepted his private communications. Reading from a prepared statement, Hobbs said Herman accessed text messages between himself and a suspended police officer from a police-issued Blackberry and acted lawfully while doing so.
9. High winds ripped an 80-foot portion of the Thunder Bay International Airport’s roof off damaging cars in the parking lot.
No one was hurt as the 115 kilometre per hour winds sent pieces of the corrugated roof through the parking lot. The airport was back to business as usual less than 12 hours after the incident despite the damage.
10. The city ranked No. 1 in homicides with five reported murders in 2010 according to Statistics Canada.
It also ranked fourth in violent crimes and fifth in reported-crimes overall behind Regina. Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Kelowna.
