Sault College will be home to another ProtoLaunch gaming workshop on Saturday and Sunday. Two speakers will be included during the weekend event. Ben Mattes is known for his work in the ‘Prince of Persia’ series for four years and is a Creative Director for Ubisoft in Montreal. Matt West has worked for Rockstar Games as a Director of Technical Design and is a Director of Level Design at Ubisoft in Toronto.

She’s employed at one of the top commercial firms in the world. LSSU Class of 2000 Political Science/Pre-Law graduate Sophie Chanduaka will speak to the more than 500 graduates making up this year’s class at Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Taffy Abel Arena that begins at 11:00 a.m. Since graduating in 2000, Chadauka has studied and worked in Europe, completing her diploma in legal practice. She is now a senior associate at Baker and McKenzie, one of the top three commercial firms in the world. Chanduaka credits Lake State and the Rotary International program in Sault, Ontario for where she is now, saying her life would be very different without those experiences. Environmental chemistry graduate Shelby LaBuhn is this year’s student respondent — she has been on the Dean’s List for four years and has served as a tutor and supplemental instruction leader to her fellow students. LaBuhn is moving on to accept a fellowship to study in the freshwater sciences doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Sault Tribe Law Enforcement — Health Division and the U-S Drug Enforcement Administration are teaming up to dispose of unwanted, unused and potentially dangerous perscription pills during the ‘Take Back’ event. The public will have an opportunity to get rid of those pills on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Sault Tribal Health Centre. Disposing of unused perscription pills prevents any possibility of drug theft or drug abuse and any drugs causing a problem to the environment by being in the sewer and water systems.

High schools across the Sault are participating in the Community Car Wash for Charity this weekend. The event is put on by Volunteer Sault Ste. Marie and district and the United Way Youth Empowerment Council and is part of the Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge. The goal of ‘Change The World’ is to have 10 thousand Ontario youth volunteer for three hours during the three week campaign.

The local high school robotics team ‘The Knights of Alloy’ still have a chance to be drafted into the playoff round in St. Louis. After 5 round-robin matches, the team ended up nearly steady on Friday, in 51st place out of the 88 teams in the Archimedes Division at the World Robotics Championship. The Knights play in their final-round match on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m.

The Roberta Bondar Pavilion is the site for the 2011 MS Walk on Sunday morning. Check in for the event is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., with the walk starting at 9:30 a.m. Another event that is growing every year is the Steps For Life 5k walk. It’s scheduled to take place at the Jo Forman Track near the Rhodes Centre at 10:00 a.m.

The Downtown Association had its Annual General Meeting on Thursday. The highlights for 2010 discussed by the group’s Board of Directors included the installation of lights in Downtown trees. The meeting also resulted in a full return of all 2010 board members and the election of two new members for 2011. It was also announced that three lanes are undergoing improvements that are due to be completed for this spring. Other topics included the hiring of a consultant to conduct a feasibility study into the creation of a bigger, year-round market with locally grown goods. That study is expected to be ready for late spring.

No recommendation is being made by the Sault, Michigan City Manager at this time on the issue of implementing boat launch fees. According to a report included in the agenda for Monday’s Commission meeting, various grant agreements for building facilities like the fish cleaning station would have to be confirmed before setting any of those fees. This is a reponse to a recommendation from the Community Services Board, who determined last week that that the Commission approve instituting various launch fees — from 5 dollars for a daily pass to a seasonal/non-resident fee of 60 dollars, along with a 50 dollar violation fee. In addition, the board concluded that by purchasing a daily or seasonal pass, boaters could utilize the fish cleaning station. A recommendation is being for the City Commission to approve a pair of change orders related to the CSO project on Monday. The orders would be awarded to Burton Excavating and Bacco Excavating — a total of about 436 thousand dollars. The money would go towards work that was done during the last construction season, as well as items anticipated for the 2011 construction season. The commission will also be asked to eliminate the East Spruce Street project for now and evaluate the reconstrution of Maple Street from Johnston to the power canal.

Roads providing access to Crown land in the Sault Ste. Marie and Blind River areas may be washed out and unsafe for travel due to heavy rains in the area. Drivers are urged to use caution while driving. Water levels and flows in streams and rivers may also be higher and faster than normal. Residents should stay away from riverbanks and ensure children and pets are safe. The Ministry of Natural Resources is continuing to assess road conditions in Sault Ste. Marie District. The ministry will work with its partners to establish priorities for repairs to unsafe roads.

The local high school robotics team “The Knights of Alloy’ is in St. Louis, Missouri for the first World Robotics Championships. After some challenges in yesterday’s first four rounds of competition they find themselves sitting 50th in their 88 team “Archimedes” division. There are five more qualification matches today and one final match tomorrow before the playoff cuts are made.

live streaming of the matches can be found at: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/ (select “Archimedes” field to find the Sault team.

Match results can be found, as they occur, at: http://www2.usfirst.org/2011comp/events/Archimedes/matchresults.html

and team standings after each match can be found at:

http://www2.usfirst.org/2011comp/events/Archimedes/rankings.html

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