Students and staff from St Bernadette school will be making a special donation tomorrow afternoon for Sault Area Hospital’s Pediatric Unit. The donation is being made in honour of teacher Rita Demarco who passed away suddenly late last November. Through a variety of fundraisers, a book cart full of children’s books has been purchased.

There are two large fires burning in Ontario including Wawa 18 which is currently 23-hundred hectares in size and is located approximately 50-kilometres east of Wawa. An Emergency Area Order has been implemented due to this forst fire. Under such an order, travel maybe restricted on specific roads to ensure public safety and the safety of firefighters. The order went into effect as of Saturday and will remain in place until conditions improve. On Wawa 18, hydro crews are reporting progress to the town’s mayor and 11 off 22 poles have been replaced and they hope to have power restored by late tonight. Ontario’s largest fire is Red Lake fire 32 which is 42-hundred hectares in size. A Restricted Fire Zone remains in place for Northeastern Ontario.

OPP seized a large quantity of oxycodone after checking a vehicle in Hornepayne yesterday. Two adults were arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking as the vehicle, a quantity of cash as well as other related items were seized. The estimated street value of the oxycodone seized is over 18-thousand dollars. Charged are a 59-year old Oshawa man and a 50-year old woman from Calstock, Ontario.

Essar Steel Algoma has commenced proceedings against a supplier of iron ore pellets over a pricing and supply dispute. The supply of iron ore pellets has been interrupted as a result of the pricing dispute with Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company under a purchase agreement between the two sides that dates back to January 2002. Essar Steel Algoma has filed an application with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and has also commenced arbitration proceedings. The proceedings are being commenced not only to resolve the pricing dispute but also to ensure Essar’s supply or iron ore pellets pending the resolution of the dispute.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the group of non-supply-managed commoditity organizations have come together to form the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Coalition to continue their push for a new risk management program – claiming it’s something they’ve been waiting two years for. They point to the government’s encouraging farmers to expand operations several decades ago – get bigger, or disappear. As a result the average farm grew from 45 to 450 hectares – and now with 2 per cent of the population being responsible for feeding the entire country – and fewer young people interested in farming, all the time – they’re growing frustrated with Ottawa’s failure to take their problems seriously. The OFA and Canadian Federation of Agriculture have offered solutions that continue to go ignored.

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18 year old Thomas Agawa of no fixed address – already on probation – was arrested by City Police for a couple shoplifting offenses at the Mac’s on Gore Street. 35 year old Robert Elliot of Dacey Road was charged with impaired driving following an accident at the McDonald’s on Trunk Road Friday night. Another male driver, observed speeding on Great Northern Road early Saturday morning was pulled over and found to be impaired. And a 37 year old female was seen running a stop sign on Albert Street yesterday afternoon and when pulled over was found to be impaired.

Police were called regarding a breakin to a home in the 100 block of Spring Street where several bottles of alcohol were stolen.

A number of vehicles were entered over the weekend and items such as elecontronics, wallets and purses stolen. A couple bicycles were stolen, and construction material was stolen from the 400 block of MacDonald Avenue.

There were reports of vandalism to a vehicle on Birch Street and to a business on Queen Street … a garage was spray painted in the 500 block of Shannon Road … patio furniture, plants and shrubs were also damaged around town.

There was a dumpster fire on Queen Street.

And two males were arrested inconnection with domestic assaults.

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The Memorial Day weekend was marred in Dafter Township with the drowning of an unidentified down-state man yesterday afternoon. Witnesses told State police that the man went underwater – at an unidentified lake – and did not surface. Police were called and the body was located in the water a short time later. At least 6 people have died in state lakes and waterways this holiday weekend.

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City Council will decide at Monday’s meeting on a recommendation to arrange for the demolition of a downtown property. A report from the City Solicitor suggests that the former Eastgate Hotel property on Queen Street East be vested in the city’s name and that arrangements be made to demolish the building. Money for any demolition would come from the Property Purchases Reserve Fund. An added recommendation is being made for city staff to review the need for and how much it would cost to put an additional parking area there, should the Eastgate be torn down. Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Bob Davies will also attend City Council on Monday night. He will discuss the 2009 results of the police service’s Three Year Business Plan. Finally, a request will be made to Innovation Centre staff by council to prepare a report regarding Google Earth. It is suggested that the move would be a benefit to several groups from the Downtown Association to the city’s post-secondary institutions as people can tour points of interest.

The situation involving a forest fire near Chapleau has gotten so serious that a state of emergency has been declared. Chapleau’s mayor made the announcement and is asking people to prepare for a long-term outage, that it may be the middle of the week before the outage ends. Hydro lines have been down since Thursday, but some businesses are able to operate on backup power.

A parish reorganization that began last fall has resulted in what are described as disappointing decisions by the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. The diocese announced today that two churches — Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Mount Carmel — will close by December 31st. The congregation at Blessed Sacrament will be served by either Precious Blood Cathedral or St. Gregory’s Parish. Our Lady of Mount Carmel will still have its 100th anniversary celebration on October 16th and 17th. Two parishes — St. Joseph the Worker and St. Andrew Bobola — will cease to exist and become a new parish housed in the existing church of St. Andrew Bobola, starting this Christmas. The church building and rectory of St. Joseph the Worker will be put up for sale. Parishes will also cease to exist or merge in Sturgeon Falls and North Bay. Further reorganization details for other regions served by the Diocese are expected to be announced in the near future.