A water-main break on has shut down Airport Road at McChesney around 6 o’clock this morning.

Drivers are asked to use alternate routes until crews can repair the main.

Crews think they should be finished around  6 o clock this evening.

In the meanwhile… residents may experience coloured water during and following the repair period, so be sure to run cold water until it runs clear.

Algonquin Boulevard is expected to return to normal by Saturday, October 20th, 2012.

The right lane westbound was closed so that crews could replace curbs and sidewalks in front of the new Holiday Inn Express.

He devoted his life to the game he loves and in his eyes it was nothing more than having fun doing what you love.

Timmins native Murray Costello recieved the Wayne Gretzy Award for helping build hockey in the United States as a member of Hockey Canada and as Vice Presdient of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

Desptie the accolade Costello said he’s fortunate for the award.

“I’ve been one of those few people who took a life-long dream and turned it into a career and then to be rewarded for your work is just amazing.”

Even with a lifetime of hockey on his resume one thing still stands out in his career.

“Working in the game your entire life is a reward onto itself but the formation of our program of excellence which led to the formation of our national junior team is the highlight. It brought us back to being competitive at a national level again.”

Already a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders category, Costello was also instrumental in extablishing the the Women’s World Hockey Championship.

New Democrats from across northern Ontario and beyond will gather in Timmins for the annual Northern Council October 19th to 21st at Timmins Inns and Suites. Provincial Leader Andrea Horwath will join delegates, members of parliament and MPP’s.

Timmins-James Bay Riding Association President Louis Clausi says the convention was moved from the spring because of forest fires. “We cancelled our convention in May and gave up our hotel rooms to MNR staff to help them fight the threatening forest fires. Now we are ready to go again and the weekend should be a very good one.”

Clausi says Andrea Horwath will be the guest speaker. “Andrea has performed very well in the minority government, and the polls reflect her work. New Democrats will focus on jobs and job creation discussion.”

Clausi expects delegates from Sudbury, North Bay, Parry Sound, Sault Ste Marie, Temiskaming Shores, Thunder Bay and Timmins.

“We think our theme ‘Jobs in the North’ is timely indeed.”

MP Charlie Angus is looking forward to talking with delegates. “Last year was a very good year for New Democrats in the north. And with an increase to the size of the northern federal and provincial caucuses, we should have some very productive discussion.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s announcement Monday took the province by storm.

Not only is he proroguing government, he will be stepping down as premier as soon as a new leader is picked.

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson said the opposition was expecting McGuinty to prorogue.

“There’s a committee starting to sit next weds that was looking into who made the decision that lead to the cancellation of the gas plant constructions. The government is proroguing the house because they don’t want the committee to sit.” he said.

He added the resignation did come as quite the surprise.

“We have to take at face value that he’s leaving and we wish him well, that’s what you do on these occasions but, I think he was left with not a lot of choice at this point.”

Bisson went on to say it’s scandalous that the government is being prorogued just so the Liberals can focus more on selecting a new leader as opposed to focusing on what matters to Ontario.

Mayor Tom Laughren’s reaction to McGuinty’s resignation was one of surprise like many northerners.

“I think many of the issues that are plaguing us in Ontario, may be the reason he resigned. I’m hoping there is not a bigger story there, but my fear now is that there may be and when I think of all the different things we’ve been going through in the north, it really makes me wonder.” He said.

Laughren hopes a new leader will make a difference.

“For us in the north a new leader will have to make a difference. When I look at what’s happening in Northern Ontario in general, people are very very frustrated. I think the parks issue really brought that to a new level.”

He added he doesn’t think the past will change, but he has hope a new premier will help ease damage the current government has done.

Laughren’s major concern over the whole ordeal is that no one knows how long the house will be shut down, which means less answers for northerners.

It will be a no holds barred meeting between Minister Michael Gravelle and Presdient of FONOM Al Spacek.

Spacek and Gravelle are set to discuss the closure of 10 provincial parks in Northern Ontario, Including Ivanhoe Lake. After two public meetigns last week in Timmins and Kapuskasing Spacek says he has enough evidence to prove keeping the parks open can be cost effective.

“We have very good information that if they want to keep the parks open, it is attainable. We expect the minister to take the information and hopefully change his mind.”

It’s a decision northerners are hoping runs in their favour. Although Dalton McGuinty has resigned Spacek doen’t think that will affect Gravelle’s mind.

“The Minister will make a decision with the information gathered at that time,” said Spacek, “he is the one who made the decision in the first place and he can certainly change his mind but I consider the Mcguinty resignation a distraction.”

As presented during the public meetigns last week, the government would save roughly $100,000 for every parks closed rouding out to a total of $1 million.

Highway 11 near Temagemi is closed because of a tractor trailer in a ditch.

Ontario Provincial Police are on scene and cleanup is underway.

OPP estimate closure at 1-2 hours as of 7:37 a.m. Tuesday.

The City of Timmins is booming and continues to grow stronger economically.

Mayor Tom Laughren kicked off Small Business Week Monday with his State of the City Address at the Days Inn and Suites.

He warned attendees that he had no bad news to share about our fair city, noting he would refrain from touching upon the Liberal Government’s recent decision to shut down the ONR and prohibit camping at 10 provincial parks.

He states “City council and staff continue to balance economic and service needs of the community,” while mentioning Timmins was well on it’s way to meeting it’s 2020 strategic plan.

He did say one of the major problems facing our thriving city is the lack of workers to fill job positions and a lack of housing for the workers to live, “there’s going to be many things we’re going to have to do as a community to solve those challenges.”

Here are some of the points touched upon in Laughren’s address:

The partnership agreement with the Canadian Space Agency and Centre Nationale d’Études Spatiales is to the City. The city was able to move the first launch date from 2014 to 2013. It will have a significant economic impact on Timmins by bringing a large number of scientists and technicians to our city, while putting Timmins in a new light. Injecting money into our economy.

The water filtration plant achieved a rating of 99.26%, a significant achievement that ensures our drinking water is safe.

Timmins awarded the largest construction contract in it’s history to North American Construction Ltd. in the amount of $64.4 million for upgrades to Mattagami plant.

The implementation of the new waste and recycling collection system has been in place for about 1 year and has increased our recycled material by 30%. That means the Deloro Landfill’s life with be extended.

In 2012 the city completed the last phase of providing security of water supply to South Porcupine and Porcupine by commissioning our new pressure reducing valve station and upgrading controls at the existing Tisdale Water Reservoir. That’s over $10 million in investments over the last 4 years.

The McBride/St-Jean link was completed that supports city growth in the west end of the City.

Completed a detailed engineering design to north sector with an expectation to see growth in the JV Bonhomme and McLean Drive area.

Many projects in the Engineering Department including Vipond and Goldmine Road Overpass and the Autumnwood Project on Cedar and Fifth Ave.

$7.2 million invested to improve our road network throughout the City.

Transit continued to increase in ridership with the hope of reaching one million riders in 2012 in sight.

It will be important Timmins develops an aggressive tourism strategy to make the City a four season tourism destination.

Airport has seen an increase in parking to facilitate increased number of flyers, the City’s work with Porter has been phenomenal.

The Timmins Economic Development Corporation helped over 28 companies secure more than $2.7 million in funding in 2011, $2.4 millions so far this year for 26 companies.

Timmins is well known in the mining industry across the world and is regarded highly.

The City may not Cliffs Resources, but we put our best foot forward and truly impressed, setting us up for future deals.

Timmins Police and public safety continue to be an important part of our community. Timmins Police Service School Liaison Officer Program means every school in Timmins has the benefit of regular visits from police officers. This improves the flow of communication between police, school administration and kids.

A new parking management program has been purchased and will be put into place. This will allow parking control officers to issue tickets more easily as well as receive instant information such as hot place notification.

For the full State of the City address CLICK HERE

Dalton McGuinty is calling it quits after nine years as Premier of Ontario and heading Ontario’s Liberal Party for 16.

He blind sided the political world Monday night after calling an emergency Liberal caucus meeting.

McGuinty said he’s giving up Liberal Leadership and proroguing legislature because his minority government can’t pass legislation to free public sector wages. In doing so, he said, it would give Liberals time to negotiate with unions and opposition parties on a wage freeze for nearly a half million public sector workers.

The announcement came just as the government was to face finance committee hearings into a contempt motion over two cancelled gas plants. The opposition is none to pleased because now those hearings will not move forward.

Twitter was buzzing with more speculation that McGuinty might be stepping back to run federally next month.

Liberal supporter Michael Doody said Northern Ontario won’t forget about the ONTC and the closing of ten parks when they consider McGuinty’s legacy. “Those are the type of things that we feel as northerners that our quality of life…parts of it were taken away that we took for granted.”

McGuinty’s full statement is as follows:

Sixteen years ago, when I was elected leader of our Party, the Ontario Liberals had won exactly one election in fifty years.

We couldn’t do anything to help families because we couldn’t win an election. That’s changed. We’ve won three elections in a row. But more important is what those election wins have allowed us to do.

In every area that matters most to families – their schools, their health care, their environment and their economy — we’ve made huge progress.

We’ve gone from struggling schools to the best schools in the English-speaking world… From Canada’s longest health-care wait times, to the shortest … From dirty air to clean air … And the toughest drinking water standards, anywhere.

When it comes to the economy:

We’ve made our workforce the strongest and our taxes very competitive. We’re renewing our infrastructure. We keep creating jobs. Ontario has recovered 13 per cent of our jobs lost in the recession. In the U.S., it’s 49 per cent.

We’ve positioned Ontario for decades of success.

Our government hasn’t been perfect. But when it comes to the big things that families count on us to get right –schools, health care, the environment and the economy — we’ve gotten it right every time.

Just this afternoon, we updated Ontarians on the state of our finances.

We’re once again ahead of schedule with our plan to balance the budget… We’ve beaten our budget forecasts in seven of the last nine years. I feel very good about where we are as a party and a province. But as Liberals, we’re always driving forward.

The opposition’s political games are holding Ontario back. They’ve told us they oppose our plan for a two-year pay freeze for government workers. That means we can’t make it law. So, we need to go back to the drawing board. We’re going to make a sincere and determined effort to negotiate a wage freeze agreement with our labour partners.

Like the agreements already reached with 80,000 public sector workers. We’re also going to consult with the opposition about what they would support to freeze wages.

To this end, I’ve asked the Lieutenant Governor to prorogue the legislature to allow those discussions with our labour partners and the opposition to occur in an atmosphere that is free of the heightened rancour of politics in the legislature.

And when the legislature returns, we will either have negotiated agreements in hand or a firm sense of what the opposition will support.

As the party and government of relentless progress, we’re always looking for new ideas and ways to renew ourselves. And I’ve concluded that this is the right time for Ontario’s next Liberal Premier and our next set of ideas to guide our province forward.

Earlier today, I asked Yasir Naqvi, our party president, to convene a leadership convention at the earliest possible time. I will remain as Premier until that leadership convention.

And it will be my honour to continue to serve as the MPP for Ottawa South until the next general election. I know I’ve asked some hard things of you.

But I’ve always been inspired by the ideal that the older generations work hard to build a bright future for the younger ones. And they do this, always, with love and an unwavering commitment. I saw that in my own mother and father. It’s what Terri and I have tried to do for our children.

And I see it in the eyes and actions of Ontario families, every day. I thank you for the honour of serving as your Leader and your Premier… In Ontario, the greatest province in the best country in the world.”

When it comes to patient health care and experience, we’re on top.

Timmins and District hospital has earned Accreditation with exemplary standing from Accreditation Canada.

“This accreditation award underlines the very high standards of care provided at Timmins and District Hospital”, said Léon Laforest, hospital board chair. “We recognize that there are always things we can do better, but this accreditation status clearly demonstrates the emphasis we place on the quality of care at our hospital.”

Exemplary standing is the highest status awarded by Accreditation Canada showing that Timmins and District represents excellence in meeting the requirements of the accreditation program.

A three-day on-site survey was conducted in September 2012 as part of an ongoing process of quality improvement with Accreditation Canada’s Qmentum program. The Accreditation report is provided to guide an organization as it continues to incorporate the principles of accreditation and quality improvement in its programs, policies, and practices.

“Participating in the Accreditation process is a powerful tool for accountability and quality improvement.  It is one of the most effective ways to examine what we do and improve the quality of our services”, said Jennifer Plant, Quality and Performance Improvement Manager, of the Timmins and District Hospital.

“Staff, medical staff, volunteers, managers and Board members are all commended on their commitment to improve the quality and safety of the services offered to patients,  clients and our community”, said Hospital CEO, Roger Walker.  “We recognize the contributions of so many, some of whom have moved on from the hospital, to making the focus on quality improvement a primary pursuit of the hospital. This provides a great base to continue to build on.”