News

Thunder Bay Teacher Up For A Juno Award

Local Thunder Bay’er, Greg Chomut, a music teacher from Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, is nominated for a Juno.

Chomut, who has taught music at DFCHS for 17 years, has been nominated for MusiCounts charity’s Teacher of the Year award.

The prize includes $10,000 in cash, a large contribution to the music program at the winner’s school, and of course, their very own Juno Award statuette.

Chomut is a stranger to winning accolades.

He has already received an award from the Prime Minister of Canada for his teaching excellence.

Chomut is also a driving force behind the annual Wake the Giant Music Festival, where he has helped students write and perform their own songs in front of thousands of spectators.

The Junos will take place on March 30 at 8pm and will be hosted by Michael Bublé.

Good luck Greg! We’re all cheering for you.

Daily Poll

Do you watch the Junos?

74% of you guys said on Wednesday that you would support the renaming of established recreational and tourism spots if a business paid the city for the right to do so.

Today’s question:

Mental Health

Rage Room Opened

I’ve never heard of these, but I can certainly see the appeal.

On Wednesday Thunder Bay got its very own rage room.

What’s a rage room you ask?

Well, it’s a place where you get to let your rage out and smash stuff.

Called Bash Bays, the new facility, now open on Simpson Street, allows you to come in, suit up in protective gear, enter a room and smash the hell out of breakables until you feel better.

The facility is owned and operated by Jeremy Moore, who after going through his own mental health journey, decided that Thunder Bay could use its own rage room to help others in his situation that needed an outlet for their feelings.

The longer-term goal is to help support organizations that provide mental health support in the community.

Transportation

3 Injured in 11-17 Crash

Three people were hurt after a serious collision involving two transport trucks, east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11-17.

The crash occurred near Eldorado Beach Road, west of Pass Lake Road.

The collision closed the westbound lanes.

Shuniah Fire and Emergency Services responded to the call and extricated one person from one of the vehicles.

Three people sustained injuries, with two transported by land ambulance, and one by air ambulance, to Thunder Bay Regional.

Municipal

City Eyes Multi-Year Capital Budgets

The city of Thunder Bay is eyeing up the prospect of switching to multi-year capital budgets.

The consideration is to switch to two-year budget cycles.

The benefit of stretching out the cycles is it allows for better longer-term planning because the budgets would be set and projects secured.

There has been talk of possibly also doing a two-year operating budget, but that brings with it increased challenges.

Operating budgets tend to fluctuate more year-to-year, especially depending on what the province hands down.

Additionally, councillors feel that scrutinizing the operating budget is one of the most important things they do, and should therefore potentially remain an annual thing.

Education

CIBC Donates $100K to Con College

Confederation College received a $100,000 donation from CIBC that will be used for student awards.

The college will be creating 10 bursaries of $2,500 each per year for three years.

An additional $25,000 has been designated for an experiential learning fund, providing approximately $8,500 per year for 3 years.

The funding will be used by students in the Community Integration Through Co-operative Education Program (CICE).

The CICE program program supports individuals with developmental disabilities and other significant learning challenges with a college experience.

The program is offered in Thunder Bay and Fort Frances and accepts 20 students per year for a two-year term.

Indigenous News

Health Unit Launches Indigenous Food Curriculum

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) has launched a new curriculum for 14 First Nations around indigenous food sovereignty.

The program, which is based on a 2022 Food Sovereignty Assessment, aligns with the traditional harvesting resource put together by knowledge keepers, elders and some of the unit’s advisory circle.

The curriculum went live on the TBDHU’s website a few weeks ago and works on the 13 moons curriculum, talking about traditional harvesting, eating foods that are within the seasons, and helping walk children through this calendar, as opposed to the traditional Gregorian calendar that we all use.

To help further engage and educate children, the health unit also released a colouring book designed by a local artist to allow students to colour foods that are available at different seasons of the year.

Things to do This Week

Events In and Around the City

Young Frankenstein
Live theatre
Paramount Theatre
Feb 12-15 @ 7:30pm
$28

4Play
Valentine’s date night
The Barrel House
Feb 14 @ 6pm-8pm
$49 (for 2 people)

TBSO Candlelight - Will You Be My Valentine?
Live musical performance
Urban Abbey
Feb 14 @ 7:30pm
$75

Misfits Matchmaking: Valentine’s Single Social
Singles come to mingle for Valentine’s
Goods & Co.
Feb 14 @ 7:30pm-10pm
$10

Disco of Love Retro Valentine’s Party
Live music and dancing (disco, funk, 80s)
The Foundry
Feb 14 @10pm
$5

NV Valentine’s Party
Live music and dancing
NV Music Hall
Feb 14 @ 10pm
$5-$10

The JB Band
Live music
Fort William Curling Club
Feb 14 @ 10pm
$ FREE

Karaoke
Live music
Feb 14

• The Hodder

• The Social

• The Bar

• The Waterhouse

Family Day Weekend Dance (All Ages)
Live music and dancing
South Gillies Community Centre
Feb 15 @ 6pm-9pm
$5-$10

Snowed In Comedy Tour 2025
Live comedy show
Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
Feb 15 @ 7:30pm
$50

Consortium Aurora Borealis - Hungarian Strings
Live musical performance (stringed instruments)
St. Paul’s United Church
Feb 15 @ 7:30pm
$15-$25

Karaoke
Live music
Feb 8

• Westfort Prosvita

• Howl at the Moon (sober karaoke)

• The Hodder

• Norteños Taqueria

• The Social

• The Bar

Musical Open House
Free musical performance for the community
Unitarian Place
Feb 16 @ 4pm-6pm
$ FREE

Home of the Day

1397 Olver Rd.

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2+2 bedrooms
4 bathrooms
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Semi-rural with modern touches and a large heated garage.