A lot of drivers certainly didn’t like the way the work week ended — or the weekend began — where they fill up their vehicles. Gas stations in the Sault increased their prices for a litre of gas yesterday to about a dollar and 46 cents — or 145.9 a litre! The previous high was about 1 dollar and 44 cents in 2005 — around the time Hurricane Katrina hit, and concerns were raised then about refineries in the Gulf of Mexico being threatened by major storms. It also means the price at the pump has jumped up nine cents in just over two weeks! Some reports suggest gas could go beyond a dollar and 50 cents a litre by summer.

Two city councillors are raising concerns with the Canada Customs Redevlopment Project and the possbility the original plan for the 44-million dollar project maybe adjusted to move the project forward. Councillors Butland and Niro are behind a motion included in council’s agenda for Monday’s meeting and the concern is with the existing available funding to acquire the needed properties to ensure the approved plan can be implemented. The motion goes on to explain that an amended plan has been prepared that does not adequately include all the key principles of the original design and reduces the effectiveness of the facility. The councillors are calling for additional funding and for stakeholders including MP Bryan Hayes to explore opportunities for additional funding.

Ward 1 city councillors Butland and Christian say the PUC’s move to convert the municipal water system to disinfection with free chlorine may be behind a spike in bottled water sales and may have exacerbated the east-end water quality situation. A motion from the two councillors is included in the council agenda for Monday’s meeting. Their motion calls for the PUC to carry out a 3rd party random survey to determine the perceived impact of the conversion.

City council will need to address a 4.8-million dollar shortfall when it sits down on Monday to carry out budget deliberations—-that’s the amount of expenditures for 2012 over revenues. If council decides to make up that amount through a tax levy it would mean a 3.7% increase for the average residential property assessed at 132-thousand dollars in 2012. That would mean an extra $89 in property taxes bringing the total tax levy for the year to just under 25-hundred dollars. Staff is again recommending that no reserve funds be used to reduce the levy however it is recommended that 500-thousand dollars in surplus funds be used. It is stated that the adjusted year end surplus stands at 2.2-million and 500-thousand of that could be used to reduce the levy with some of that balance allocated for purchases by the transit department.

The 6th annual Algoma University Business Case Competition goes today and this year’s judging panel will feature CBC’s Amanda Lang. The contest will involve approximately 100 students, faculty, local business professionals and sponsors. The presentations will be held in the Pavilion at Algoma’s Water Tower Inn from 4 to 6:30.

Algoma University has made a formal application to move its varsity athletics programing into the Ontario University Athletics. The University currently competes in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. Algoma U is looking to have OUA varsity teams for both men and women in six sports: basektball, soccer, curling, cross-country running, wrestling and Nordic skiing. An OUA special committee will be coming to Sault Ste. Marie on April 16th to 17th for a site visit.

Four local men have pleaded guilty in Marathon Court to allowing a moose to spoil during last fall’s hunt near Terrace Bay – leaving the field-dressed moose to hang, with it’s hide intact, for several days during the unseasonably warm weather – leaving it unfit for human consumption. Denis, Alain, Donald and Michel Benoit were each fined $400.

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40 year old Jeffrey Mayhew of Second Line was arrested by City Police yesterday morning without incident, in the eastend, and is due in bail court today on assault and threatening death charges – although the other person involved was not hurt.

32 year old Aaron Wilson of Cathcart Street was charged with about a half dozen breakins earlier this month.

In the meantime further breakins were reported at homes on Woodcroft Avenue and Adrian Drive. Propane tanks were stolen from a trailer on Hardwood Street, and a GPS was stolen from a vehicle on Gladstone.

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City Police news release…

The Accused Jeffrey Brian MAYHEW was located in a combined effort by the Sault Ste Marie Police Service’s Patrol Division and Street Team around 8:45 this morning on Trunk Road in Sault Ste. Marie. He was arrested without incident and has been charged with one count of assault with a weapon, one count of threatening death, one count of possession of a prohibited weapon, one count of possession of a weapon contrary to a court order and two counts of breach of probation.

The accused is to appear in bail court tomorrow morning.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service would like to thank the media and the public for your assistance in this matter.

Sault OPP advise of a scam that’s shown up in the Echo Bay area – an overpayment scam – where a person owed money for goods receives a cheque for more than is owed – usually a counterfeit cheque … and is then asked to return the overpayment amount. By the time the original cheque comes back as bogus, the fraudster has cashed the so-called overpayment cheque. The lesson to be learned – don’t accept a cheque for more than your selling price.

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The cleanup continues along Highway 11 near Kirkland Lake after yesterday’s early morning accident involving a truck containing millions of dollars of loonies and toonies crashed into a rock cut – spilling it’s load. The driver and passenger remain in hospital in critical condition. The highway was re-opened last night even as the cleanup and recovery continue at the site. Once the area is released ‘scroungers’ will be free to show up with metal detectors or anything else they can think of to look for any loose coins.

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