Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here's some stories to start your Monday.
LifeLabs closing its Sudbury laboratory, putting 40 technologists out of work
LifeLabs is closing their Sudbury laboratory sometime this spring, meaning specimens such as blood samples will soon be tested in Toronto and Mississauga laboratories instead of locally. Sudbury.com reached out to LifeLabs communications staff to request a phone interview to explain the change, but they declined our request. Instead, they sent a written response which only partially answers our questions. Nowhere in their response did they address our question regarding how many local jobs will be lost, nor did they meaningfully respond to our question regarding whether this change will make it longer for Greater Sudburians to receive test results. “Test turnaround times and patient care will continue to meet LifeLabs’ high standards and Ministry of Health requirements,” they wrote in their response, which doesn’t address whether these new turnaround times will be longer than what Greater Sudburians currently experience.
Video: Come along on virtual Friday Fun Night ski down Lively Ski Hill
Lively Ski Hill held its first Friday Fun Night of the season on Jan. 9, which went ahead despite the record rainfall earlier in the day. The event featured a visit from a BeaverTails stand and a bonfire in the hill’s beautiful custom firepit. With nothing much else happening this weekend, I decided to pack my ski equipment into my car and bring you along on a virtual trip up the hill’s poma lift and a ski back down. I figured that might be fun for those of you who have never been downhill skiing or snowboarding, or aren’t able to do so anymore. I’ve previously done similar videos with the Ramsey Lake Skate Path and Killarney’s Granite Ridge Trail. A big shout-out to local musician Kevin Closs, who once again allowed me to use one of the tracks from his instrumental album, Sans Voix. The track you're hearing is "JP's Guitar."
Watch our video and read the full story
Sudbury breaks rainfall record for Jan. 9
While rain in January is not unheard-of, the amount that fell in Greater Sudbury on Jan. 9 was record-breaking. Environment Canada said that 14.1 millimetres of rain fell in the city Friday, along with 1.0 millimetres of snow. At one point, the rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning, as witnessed by our reporters, and also officially recorded by Environment Canada, which said there were thunderstorms at 11 a.m. The previous record for rainfall on Jan. 9 was in 2008, when 13.8 millimetres fell in Greater Sudbury, only slightly less than what fell yesterday. Greater Sudbury also had the highest temperature recorded on Jan. 9 in 77 years, at 5.4 C. Back in 1949, the temperature in the city on Jan. 9 was 7.2 C.
‘I was stunned’: Verner couple win $1M in HSN 50/50 draw
December’s HSN 50/50 take-home grand prize of $1,041,848 has been won by Dale and Thérèse Ackerland of Verner. “I was out grabbing a coffee at my brother’s house when my phone rang and I got the news,” said Dale, in a press release. “I was stunned, I think my brother realized I had won before I did!” “When he got home, he handed me a piece of paper with the jackpot amount on it and said ‘We got a call’,” said Thérèse. “ I never imagined it was something like this.” The two have been playing the HSN 50/50 since the summer of 2020 and always considered it a way to contribute to a cause they feel is important. “Whether you win or lose with these 50/50s, it doesn’t really matter because you know where the money is going and that it makes a difference,” said Dale. “Health care is only getting more important, especially as we age.”
