Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP and National Revenue Critic Carol Hughes is supporting a private member’s bill tabled yesterday calling for changes to the Income Tax Act to encourage charitable donations. The NDP bill of Finance Critic Thomas Mulcair would raise the non-refundable tax credit rate from 29 to 39% for every new donation above $200 that exceeds the donation given in 2009.

It was a tense morning on Tuesday at a high school in Stephenson, Michigan. Officers with the Michigan State Police are investigating a threat — they responded to a call after 8:30 after the discovery of a written note indicating a bomb inside the school. The situation came shortly after a hostage taking at a school in Marinette, Wisconsin — just south of Stephenson — where a 15 year old shot himself. Stephenson High School was put into lockdown by the superintendent as a precaution prior to emergency units arriving. A police K-9 handler, an explosives detection dog and handler from Escanaba were sent in to search for any explosives, but none were found and students were able to return to class.

An information session for students interested in post-secondary education will take place Wednesday evening at 6:30 at Sault College. The 3 in 1 Joint Information Session in the Multimedia Centre will allow students to learn about programs, collaborations and transfer agreements offered by the college, Algoma University and Lake Superior State University. Some of the subjects to be highlighted range from General Arts and Science to Health Science, Business and Information Technology.

Sault MPP David Orazietti issued this newsrelease this afternoon…

ONTARIO’S GREEN ENERGY PLAN SUPPORTS LOCAL JOBS AND STRENGTHENS SAULT’S ECONOMY

Essar Steel Algoma Supplies $3.5 Million in Steel Towers for Southern Ontario Wind Farm

Sault Ste. Marie – The provincial government announced today that construction on a wind farm project near Windsor is well under way as the steel for 27 wind turbine towers provided by Essar Steel Algoma Inc. arrived at the site that will produce 49 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, which is enough to power more than 16,000 homes, David Orazietti, MPP announced today.

“Our government’s leading edge renewable energy strategy is transforming Sault Ste. Marie into the green energy capital of North America and, in doing so, building a stronger more diversified economy by supporting jobs at Essar Steel Algoma and creating high quality, well-paying jobs at new companies, such as Heliene Canada’s solar panel manufacturing plant,” said Orazietti. “In addition to positioning the Sault at the forefront of the rapidly growing green energy economy, the province’s work is also protecting our environment and improving public health as we continue to close coal fired generators.”

Essar Steel Algoma Inc. is a fully integrated steel producer that employs 3200 people in Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma region. The company derives its revenues primarily from the manufacture and sale of hot and cold rolled steel products. It provided 4,600 metric tonnes of steel plate, valued at over $3.5 million for 27 steel towers that will be used at Southern Ontario’s Point-aux Roches wind farm, which is expected to be operational by 2011.

“We are proud to be a significant supplier to the green energy industry in Ontario,” said Robert Dionisi, Vice President of Commercial at Essar Steel Algoma. “This steel order was the impetus for a development project for Essar Steel Algoma and we are beginning to see new opportunities thanks to Ontario’s significant commitment to building a clean economy. Orders of this magnitude help us to sustain operating and employment levels which are particularly critical in today’s difficult market environment.”

In addition to supplying materials for wind turbine projects, the steel sector is benefiting from provincial support provided by the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program (NIERP), which is giving industry electricity price rebates of two cents per kilowatt-hour, which will total approximately $450 million in savings over three years.

Through the NIERP program qualifying large industrial facilities, such as Essar Steel Algoma Inc. and St. Mary’s Paper Corporation, can reduce electricity costs by up to 25 per cent. The province also introduced an energy conservation program for the regions largest industrial companies, which will reduce energy costs, increase competitiveness and help to preserve jobs in Sault Ste. Marie.

1.2-million dollars in funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation is being awarded to 28 local not-for-profit and charitable organizations in Algoma, Manitoulin, Sudbury and Cochrane Districts. A half dozen of those grants are going to support Sault area groups including 93-thousand dollars for the Sault International Youth Association, 55-thousand dollars for the Sault Ste. Marie Safe Communities partnership, 75-thousand dollars for the Township of Plummer Additional to purchase and install a new condenser in the ice plant at the Centennial Arena, over 58-thousand dollars to the Sault and District Branch of the Canadian Red Cross, 5-thousand dollars to the F.J. Davey Home, and 30-thousand dollars to the Ken Brown Recovery Home Foundation.

Thunderbirds issued this statement today…

News Release

The Soo Thunderbirds have enjoyed a very successful first half of the 2010/2011 season and are looking to continually improve its program.
As per NOJHL rules we have to have our team roster at a certain level.
The Soo Thunderbirds have released #4 Joe Spitzer. The Soo Thunderbirds had arranged a trade for the 19 year old defensemen, but Joe Spitzer has decided to go home.

City Hall staff chowed down on an $8 breakfast today – raising more than $1500 in the process – in their second annual Charity Breakfast – with proceeds this year going to the Children’s Wish Foundation and the Salvation Army.

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Librarians from Algoma, Laurentian and Windsor Universities have won the Ontario Council of University Libraries’ 2010 OCUL Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of their efforts in making the Evergreen Integrated Library System – Project Conifer – an enterprise-class, online infrastructure for running academic libraries – serving over two dozen academic locations and tens of thousands of users.

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A Blind River resident awoke Sunday morning to the sound of someone breaking into his Victoria Street residence. Police were called and 20 year old Robert Schellekens of Blind River was located a short distance away and taken into custody and charged.

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28 year old Owen Martin of Gran Street turned himself in to city police last evening and was arrested for assaulting a woman, unknown to him, outside a downtown bar following an argument early Sunday morning.

21 year old Eric Elie of Batchewana Bay also turned himself in – and was charged with taking the vehicle of a person known to him – without his consent and driving it to Batchewana.

26 year old Ruby Grisdale of Albert Street was charged with shoplifting at Zellers-Station Mall, 44 year old Dwayne Guy of James Street was charged with stealing at Zellers-Station Mall and 19 year old Matthew Hart of Albert Street was charged with stealing a few bottles from the Station Mall Liquor Store.

The locks were cut recently to a storage unit at a business on White Oak Drive – it’s not known if anything was taken. There were more reports of vehicles being entered and more reports of licence plates being stolen. And a cellphone was reportedly stolen from a high school locker.

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