Here's a look back at this year's top 10 news stories from April, as composed by tbnewswatch.com editor Leith Dunick:
1. An ice storm that brought freezing rain and ice pellets to Thunder Bay threatened to cripple the city, at least for a few hours. The storm led to downed trees and power lines and closed schools, forced Premier Kathleen Wynne to cancel a scheduled appearance at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference and saw police urge motorists to stay off the ice-covered roads.
2. Mayor Keith Hobbs announced he would not seek re-election in 2018 for a third term at the city’s helm. Hobbs said he wanted to step aside and focus on family. Hobbs was first elected in 2010, a landslide win over incumbent Lynn Peterson. He easily won re-election in 2014, knocking off competitors Ken Boshcoff and Shane Judge.
3. Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins was re-elected to the post for a seventh term, defeating challengers Kyle McLaurin, Leo Bannon and Walter Bannon. Collins said his main priority was the James Street Swing Bridge and finding a replacement span to connect him community with the Westfort area.
4. MP Don Rusnak, a Liberal, called on the Conservative party to remove Dryden Senator Lynn Beyak from their senate caucus. Beyak was under fire for comments she made suggesting some good came out of the residential school experience. Rusnak said Beyak should resign, which she did not do.
5. A 69-year-old Thunder Bay man was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for a series of violent home invasion sexual assaults that took place between 1985 and 1987. Donald Milani was initially arrested 30 years ago, but insufficient evidence meant the case never went to trial. New DNA evidence later linked him to evidence seized at the crime scenes.
6. It was announced residents of Thunder Bay had been selected to take part in the basic income pilot project, a plan that will see every resident receive a minimum living wage. A single person will get up to $16,989, while couples can get up to $24,027, less any earned income.
7. Members of the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, gathering at the Waverley Park cenotaph for a ceremony, laying a wreath which was then covered in poppies placed on it by members of both the regiment and the public.
8. City council agreed in principle to spend $125,000 from municipal coffers to help cover the cost of towing the former Coast Guard ice breaker Alexander Henry home to Thunder Bay, where it was originally built in the 1950s. The ship had spent the past three decades as a tourist attraction in Kingston, Ont.
9. Lakehead University president Brian Stevenson announced he would step down at year’s end, declaring he’d accomplished what he set out to do when he took over the post from Fred Gilbert in 2010.
10. Rising floodwaters led to a precautionary evacuation of residents of Kashechewan First Nation. About 50 evacuees landed in Thunder Bay, the flooding caused by the break-up of ice on James Bay. Kapuskasing, Wawa and Smooth Rock Falls also took in residents of the community, about 300 in total.
