The recreational lock at the Sault Canal will be shut down for the 2010 season because of expected repairs. While the lock is scheduled to re-open for the 2011 season, the work done to perform upgrades will give visitors an unprecedented, behind the scenes look at the inside of the lock. Boaters will continue to have access by way of the American locks and still have access to South St. Mary’s Island and Whitefish Island during this time.

Between 20 and 30 people learned about the latest move to clean up the St. Mary’s River at last night’s B-PAC meeting. The Environmental Protection Agency and Consumers Energy will begin work to clean up the former MGP plant of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — or P-A-Hs — this spring. EPA Environmental Enginner Ajit Vaidya says the chemical compounds can have a negative impact…David Olsen is a senior engineer at Consumers Energy in Jackson, Michigan. He says the chemical compounds can originate from many sources, not just the one plant, adding that there are also P-A-H sources on the Canadian side of the river. Testing has been done to see how far crews will have to dredge in the boat slip and nearby river — anywhere between one and nine feet deep or when clay begins. About 26 thousand cubic yards of contaminated sediment are expected to be removed when work is completed. A notice of the boat slip cleanup will be sent to mariners sometime in April, with dredging to begin in May and post-dredging of the boat slip area to start in June, completing Phase 1. Phase 2 of the sediment removal involves a larger area in the St. Mary’s River — a feasibility study is currently being worked on. That phase should be complete sometime in 2011.

The issue of the Point Estates Development was discussed at last night’s B-PAC meeting. B-PAC member Don Marles presented the group with a summary of the presentation made at the Sault Region Conservation Authority meeting earlier this week. Marles also mentioned whether the land is ‘provincially’ or ‘regionally’ significant will determine if the 91 lot project moves forward and who decides to give the go-ahead. If the land for the 91 lot development is ‘provincially’ significant, the province will determine if the project goes ahead. If it is ‘regionally’ significant, the conservation authority gets the final word. Either way, the development must meet Regulation 176 under the Ministry of Natural Resources — where no person shall undertake development in an area adjacent or close to the shoreline of the Great Lakes that may be affected by flooding, erosion or ‘dynamic’ beaches. In addition to that issue, Marles talked about a rather small window for the MNR to consider public feedback for the Wetlands Evaluation Report — that the public can submit written comments until March 10th, only for the MNR to release the report on March 12th.

Sault OPP say one person is deceased after a residential fire in the 100 block of Bye’s Side Road in Fenwick Township just after 11:30 this morning. Officers attended the scene with Goulais River Fire and Rescue — the blaze is being investigated by the Sault OPP, the OPP Forensic Identification Unit, the Fire Marshall’s Office and the Coroner’s Office.

The Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site, Fort St. Joseph and the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site will share in about 5.3 million dollars under two federal programs. The announcement was made at the Delta Waterfront this afternoon by Conservative MP Guy Lauzon, who spoke on behalf of Minister Responsible For Parks Canada Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister James Moore. 2.6 million dollars from the federal government’s Economic Action Plan Infrastructure Stimulus Plan will go to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal to drain the recreational lock for inspection and repair and reconstruction of the baffle wall. 880 thousand dollars will be spent on improving the access road into the Fort St. Joseph National Historic Site. 1.8 million dollars from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund will be invested in supporting the renovation of the Old Stone House exhibition space at the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site. A 65 hundred square foot Heritage Discovery Centre will also be created.

Superior East OPP continue their investigation involving a number of ATM bank machine parts and other equipment suspected of being used in ATM bank machine fraud. Officers arrested three people after an investigation of a car used in a theft at a gas bar in White River back on February 8th. A car was stopped on Highway 17 at the junction of Highway 519 — officers discovered a small amount of marijuana, drug paraphenalia and the equipment. According to police, the ATM items may have been used in Western Canada. 22 year old John Mendoza of Waterloo, 21 year old Pablo Posada-Montenegro of Kitchener and 28 year old Bishar Sadig of Kitchener each face charges of theft under 5 thousand dollars, possession of a controlled drug or substance and possessing an instrument for use in forging credit cards. The three are to appear in a Wawa court at a later date.

Abuse against women and its impacts on a family will be the focus of Toronto based Legal Director Pam Cross at the Northern Child Abuse Conference being held today at the Marconi club. Her work has involved looking at policies with the aim of reforming laws and legal processes to better support women and children in leaving abusive situations. Cross says our province is getting good at responding to cases of family violence but unfortunately we haven’t been able to reduce the number of cases of abuse. The partners of today’s conference include the Sault Area Hospital Sexual Assault Care Centre, Algoma Family Services and the Algoma Council on Domestic Violence.

City fire crews responded to a two vehicle accident in the area of Carmens Way and Conmee Avenue just after 8:00 this morning – where they had to remove one of the drivers from their vehicle. That person was transported by ambulance to hospital with what’s regarded as serious injuries. Traffic was restricted in the area – but is back to normal. No further details are available.

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The Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled yesterday that faculty at the province’s 24 colleges did accept a final offer earlier this month. A vote of 51.45 percent in favour of a new contract stood after all of the outstanding and mail-in ballots were counted. The three year deal is retroactive to September 1st, 2009 and offers salary increases of 1.7 percent in the first year, and 2 percent in the second and third years. OPSEU Bargaining Committee member Jeff Arbus says there is still room to improve when it comes to implementing recommendations in the area of workload for teachers — an area the colleges previously signed off on. Arbus adds that this is an area where negotiations will be ongoing, beyond yesterday’s decision. Arbus added that binding arbitration offered to the colleges would have resulted in a quicker resolution, but the colleges chose not to go that way.

The Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority is meeting Thursday morning at the Delta Waterfront. One of the bigger issues on the agenda is the authority’s five year plan — there is hope that the group will move forward with the construction stage of the Toll Plaza Redevelopment Project, if approved.