Thunder Bay is once again on the edge of its seat as the challenging 2009 ends and the more promising 2010 approaches. Everyone is more than ready to blow what this year brought with whatever fireworks they can get a hold of and it is for this reason that one of our local fireworks seller is giving us a friendly reminder to be extra careful come the new year.

Regardless of the fact that the risk of accidental fire setting off from a fireworks display is at its lowest during the winter, with more of Thunder Bay getting ready to light the fuses of their own fireworks, it is always a good idea to be extra careful especially with the new year’s party pouring in the drinks.

It is strongly advised that fireworks users carefully read the instructions of whatever fireworks they have prepared to welcome the New Year before lighting the fuse. Doing so should be more than enough to assist consumers in properly setting these sky beauties without bringing in unwanted surprises.

Hold on tight Thunder Bay! Let’s all welcome 2010 with a blast – safely!

This is just in from the officers at Environment Canada themselves! Everyone in Thunder Bay, and the entire Northwestern Ontario, should expect a much colder than usual 1^st day of the year for 2010.

Rather than the usual -9 degrees Celcius seasonal temperature, temperatures will drop to around -18 degrees Celcius will should be more than enough reason to wear an extra piece of to keep us warm enough to greet the blue moon or the passing Olympic torch whichever tickles your fancy to greet the year.

Luckily for us, Mr. sun will be there to give us plenty of sunshine during the day regardless of what the temperature has in store for us.

All this unusual cold are said to be from the movement of the arctic air and that normal seasonal temperatures should be out and about around the middle of next week – just in time for work to resume.

Many might not find this news all that welcoming however, others are more than happy to be reminded of where we are all living, a little below the north pole.

Everyone knows that terrorism almost scored another hit on Christmas Day itself thanks to the efforts of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 24 year old Nigerian man who attempted to use destroy the Detroit bound Northwest Airlines plane he was onboard. For all of us traveling through Thunder Bay airport, these most recent of terror activity will not affect us much in terms of security measures and the overall use of the facility.

In fact, with the event, Thunder Bay airport officials’ only change notice is for those who are bound for the United States. The said the said passengers-to-be will have to adjust to a few more measures that will likely make the flights take around 20 minutes more. Such a delay is a low price to pay for the benefit of added security in these challenging air transportation times according to airport officers.

Another measure to take note for the flights to the US is the fact that carry-on luggage is no longer permitted.

These measures are more likely not to change anytime soon so if you (or someone you know) is planning a trip to the states, spread to word to avoid being surprised.

Thunder Bay’s very own Michael Somppi found himself, among with many other notable Canadian athletes, etched in a popular lottery ticket appropriately dubbed “Quest for Gold”. Everybody is invited to check him out on the new lotto tickets the next time you purchase one.

It has been said that Somppi was among the athletes picked to be on the ticket due to his apparent love for competing in cross-country skiing. He knew of the move to have himself part of the lotto ticket just a couple of months ago and he was ecstatic to know about it. He even thinks of it as a dream come true. His parents are just as welcoming with the turn of event and to show their appreciation, they even framed one of the tickets to form part of their son’s memorabilia.

The Mechanical Engineering student from Lakehead University started skiing when he was only 14 years old after being a competitive hockey player. Since the shift, Somppi has earned a few notable medals including silver and a bronze from the Ski Nationals in 2006.

Wherever the slopes may take Somppi for the coming year, Thunder Bay is assured he will make everyone proud.

When Thunder Bay mayor, Lynn Peterson, took the time to look back to the year 2009, she happily recognizes it as the year when infrastructural development got its spark back thanks to a long list of construction projects that had been announced, started, and or completed during the year. She also added that the next year would mean more clean and green projects for the city and that she aims to make Thunder Bay an even more diverse city all in all.

Among the many infrastructure projects mentioned by Mayor Peterson include the completion of Thunder Bay’s Protective and Emergency Services Training Centre, the City Hall, the new city land fill, and the Margaret Smith building, the waterfront development project, the joining of the Centre for Excellence for Senior Services and the courthouse just to name a few.

These are just some of the words from Thunder Bay’s very own mayor and judging by the optimism in these words, everyone in the community will surely be up for another great year for 2010 amidst these challenging times.

Recession notwithstanding, hordes of bargain hunters braved the cold Saturday morning to flock to the shopping centers of Thunder Bay where they expect deep post-holiday discounts to meet them. In Intercity Shopping Centre alone, the shoppers were already crowding the mall well before it opened. These early shoppers were no doubt ready to rumble with the thought of being able to make the best of every bargain they can get their hands on by being on the location well before others can even think about it.

When the centre did finally open, the expected shopping frenzy from locals and even out-of-towners shifted to high gear with arm-to-arm shopping action.

Although the entire day can be considered a success, it didn’t go by without its own challenges. Shoppers noted that the drive to the centre could have been a lot better especially for those who have come from out of town. These shoppers had to go through unplowed roads forcing them to get stuck for some time. When they luckily reached the shopping centre, parking is nowhere to be found – as expected for many locals.

However, with no physical injuries reported from the event, this year’s Thunder Bay Boxing Day is no doubt something to be remembered especially for everyone that got a hold of their bargains.

Thunder Bay residents are advised to prepare for more snow from this point until Christmas Eve as Environment Canada predicts more than the normal volume of snow to hit the city. How much more snow exactly? Around 20 centimetres according to the Environment Canada’s prediction.

This unusual amount of snow is mostly because of a winter storm that is currently hitting Northeastern Texas and is set to make its way to the Great Lakes. In fact, more snow has already been pouring along the Minnesota borders due to the storm. It will head to Thunder Bay by today.

Luckily, even though the weather could definitely be better, predictions from Environment Canada do not expect the snow fall volume to be enough to reach the warning standard of 15 cm within 12 hours. However, everyone should always be cautious especially if driving can not be avoided on the snow.

For the most part, we can all just make the best of our whiter Christmas this year by spending time with our love ones during this joyful holiday regardless of the weather condition brought about by this unwelcome storm.

There might be a number of factors that led to the number of impaired driving casing being reported by the Thunder Bay Police to drop to nil for the month of December however, it can’t be denied that the efforts of Operation Red Nose has been one of the strongest forces behind such a feat.

Although Operation Red Nose is just at its first year of non-profit operations offering a full service free ride to Thunder Bay locals who have had a drink or two during the month of December, its success is a no-brainer.

To be more specific, the ORN has successfully taken 452 service calls which in turn led to a total of 267 safe rides home for an astonishing 650 people across 6,436 km.

In return, the efforts of ORN’s volunteers led to almost $5,000 in total donations which is going to benefit St. Johns Ambulance.

With a couple of nights left for ORN, everyone involved in it should be very pleased with themselves. Although their efforts might not be solely responsible for making impaired driving a thing of the past for the holiday season, the figures above should be more than enough reason to say their campaign has been a huge success in Thunder Bay.

Thanks to the efforts of the Thunder Bay Ministry of Natural Resources, anglers now have 3 more reasons to go on celebrating during the holidays. The fishing regulation changes will directly affect 2 fish species along with all the other fishes that are in the area of Zone 6 fishing grounds.

The most significant change goes to the lake trout in the said zone when Londa Mortsen, the Ministry of Natural Resources’ planning and information management supervisor for Thunder Bay, said that the fishing season for the mentioned specie has now been extended a full month.

With this change, anglers in Zone 6 will now have 4 more weeks to enjoy fishing on the winter season starting on the 1^st of February up until the 31^st of March 2010.

Another fish variety affected by the recent change in regulations is our small mouth bass. Anglers will now be able to fish for the said specie all year long as long as they limit their catch to 4 fishes.

For the 3^rd regulation change, the ministry has now partly removed the former size limit of 70-90cm for all fish varieties in Zone 6. With the partial removal, anglers are now allowed to take home 1 fish variety with the size going beyond 70 cm.

With all the activity the holidays is sure to bring to everyone on Thunder Bay, especially the holiday shopping and partying, the men and women in uniform from the Thunder Bay Police Service is stepping their presence up a notch to be able to do even more to the public.

In effect, we can all expect the presence of our servicemen and women patrolling the streets on their police cars and even on foot monitoring the busiest of shopping districts especially the south cores and the downtown north of Thunder Bay where everyone expects last minute shopping action to take place in huge numbers.

Officer Chris Adams, Thunder Bay Police Spokesperson, proudly stated that more devoted public servants from their department can be expected in parts of the city where all the holiday action is, naturally including the city’s busiest shopping centers and party establishments. This includes the Thunder Centre, the Intercity, and even on the two downtown cores of the city.

The Thunder Bay Police service has decided this is what’s best to keep everyone safe and sound during these busy days. Everyone will surely appreciate the department’s RIDE programs as well which has been taking residents home safely even before  the holidays.