The Thunder Bay Police Service has taken cocaine and fentanyl worth just under half a million dollars off the streets.
The bust came after a search of a home on Golf Links Road on Tuesday.
Three people, all from Thunder Bay, each face over half a dozen drug and weapon related charges.
All three remain in custody awaiting their next court date.
Over 3.36 kilograms of suspected cocaine and 285 grams of suspected fentanyl were seized.
A 3-year-old Dryden girl may have saved her family after alerting her parents her sister’s room was on fire.
In a Facebook post Carmi Levy shared how his granddaughter Lilly woke his son Zach and daughter-in-law Michaela just before 7:00 am on Thursday morning.
Zach Levy ran through the flames to snatch up his one-year-old Claira from her crib and the family escaped the burning home as Dryden Fire Service arrived on scene.
Three of the family members were taken to hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. The fire was extinguished but the home has extensive damage and is uninhabitable.
In his social media post grandfather Carmi said there were lots of heroes on Thursday. His 3-year-old granddaughter Lilly who had the fortitude to alert her parents before the smoke alarm even went off. Levy went on to praise his son who didn’t even think about himself as he ran straight into a burning room and grabbed an almost-14-month-old from her crib and added mother Michaela who kept it together for her traumatized family after the unthinkable has happened.
Matthew Bertolin of the Thunder Bay North Stars scored twice and added an assist to lead Team Red to a convincing 7-2 victory over Team White. His brother Lucas chipped in with a goal and an assist for Team Red.
Brodie Wood from Sioux Lookout, Elias Eisenbarth from the Dryden GM Ice Dogs, Chance Loke from the North Stars, and Payton Hu from the Ice Dogs chipped in with singles.
Carter Poddubny and Kaden Goodwin from the Kam River Fighting Walleye potted for Team White.
Friday night during the skills competition the overall faster skater was Brodie Wood of the Sioux Lookout Bombers with a lap time of 13.53 seconds. Fort Frances Lakers forward Tie Schumacher won the shooting accuracy event. Jack Carruthers of the Ironwood Lumberjacks recorded the hardest shot at 76 mph.
SIJHL regular season action resumes Tuesday night when the Bombers travel to Thunder Bay to take on the North Stars. The same two teams will clash on Wednesday night.
Dryden City Council meets tonight to vote on its proposed 2026 municipal budget, which includes a property tax levy increase of approximately $538,000, or 2.82%. This is down from the initial draft’s 3.34% increase, thanks to several cost-saving adjustments.
Key Savings and Adjustments
Mayor Jack Harrison says inflation is impacting the operating budget including higher costs for insurance and labour.
Operating Budget Highlights
The mayor notes the city is looking at over $20 million in capital expenditures which is one of the larger investments in a number of years but adds provincial funding will help with those projects.
Capital Plan
The 2026 capital budget totals approximately $20.9 million, with $15.5 million funded by external sources such as NOHFC, OCIF, and MTO. Key projects include:
If approved, the budget will maintain service levels while investing in infrastructure and reserves, balancing modest tax increases with strategic savings.
A provincial grant of just over $216,000 is going to help the Dryden Go-Getters complete renovations to its senior’s centre.
President Judy Crigger says they added a new addition but at the time could not complete everything they planned, especially the lower level.
Kenora Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford, who joined the Go-Getters for a hot bowl of chili on Tuesday, told the crowd the funding will pay for among other things new accessible bathrooms, air conditioning, and furnish the lower level of the centre.
The Dryden Go-Getters operates a facility that offers healthy meals, social activities and wellness programs. As the largest senior centre between Thunder Bay and the Manitoba border, the not-for-profit organization plays a vital role in community engagement and seniors support in the region.
“Dryden Go-Getter’s remains a cornerstone of the community, providing a gathering space equipped with accessible and fun services for seniors in Dryden and the surrounding area,” said Rickford. “This funding is not just for infrastructure upgrades; it is ensuring the Dryden Go-Getters can continue to offer the incredible spaces and services, while modernizing and meeting the growing community demand.”
President Crigger notes their membership has more than doubled since covid to just under 700.
Fire services serving 13 communities in the riding of Kenora – Rainy River will be receiving funding from the province to help keep their firefighters safe.
MPP Greg Rickford, at an announcement at the Dryden Fire Hall on Tuesday, shared this money comes from listening to the local firefighter leadership. He noted it is important we be proactive in limiting exposure to elements that could be harmful to their health is vital. “So making sure that they have every piece of facility support operationally and the gear to do it is, it has to be a top priority,” added Rickford.
The Kenora Rainy River MPP went on to say his government is doing a lot of work on the prevention component of the occupational hazards faced by firefighters. ryden.
The funding announced today will go towards purchasing protective gear ranging from hoods to footwear, fit test machine and bunker gear drying stations here in Dryden plus some capital upgrades to a couple of the facilities in the Rainy River area.
Here is the funding that each fire department will receive:
Municipality of Alberton – $19,626.05
Municipality of Chapple – $32,000
City of Dryden – $34,517.57
Township of Emo – $19,626.05
Town of Fort Frances – $19,626.05
Township of Ignace – $17,372.62
City of Kenora – $52,821.07
Municipality of La Vallee – $16,000
Municipality of Machin – $13,300
Township of Morley – $30,000
Town of Rainy River – $48,000
Sioux Narrows – Nestor Falls – $33,114.89
Dryden Fire Chief Chris Wood noted there is a lot of emphasis being placed on cleaning the firefighters gear when they return from a call to limit any exposure to dangerous chemicals.
The top players from the SIJHL will take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s hockey team this weekend.
The two game showcase kicks off tonight at 7:00pm at the Fort Williams Gardens. The same two teams meet again Saturday night at 7:00pm.
Each Superior International Junior Hockey League team submitted a list of six players (three forwards, two defensemen, and one goaltender) with every team represented by at least two players.
Representing the Sioux Lookout Bombers will be goaltender Matthew Ofukany, defencemen Kaden Veller and Michael Casey along with forward Brodie Wood.
The Thunder Bay North Stars will have defenseman Chance Loke as well as forwards Evan Simeoni, Matthew Bertolin and Lucas Bertolin.
Forwards Evan Lachimea, Kaden Goodwin and Carter Poddubny will represent the Kam River Fighting Walleye.
Defenceman Bradyn Rowsell along with forwards Bryant Linklater and Noah Tenney will represent the Red Lake Miners.
Fort Frances Lakers Goaltender Nolan Koethler will be joined by Pierce Gouin, Judd Pesch and forward Teagan Wrolstad.
The Dryden GM Ice Dogs will send forward Adrian Mendoza and Carter Goreniuk to Thunder Bay for the two-night event.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves went into the December break with a record of 10-6, good enough for 2nd spot in the Western Conference. The exhibition series will be a tuneup for Lakehead who face off against the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks on January 9th.
The new year is off to a good start for Mark Parker of Kenora.
He got the call on Wednesday that he was the winner of the Lake of the Woods Hospital Foundation’s Holiday 50/50 draw.
Parker will be picking up a cheque for $51,880 – the largest jackpot in the past 4 years for the LWDHF 50/50.
Here is a link to the phone call he received.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y62wlEq5LCY
A company called Samsara has published a list of the 10 worst stretches of highway for winter driving in Canada and the stretch of Highway 17 from Kenora to Dryden ranked number six. The study analyzed data from crashes across the country and to no ones surprise driving in the Rocky Mountains in the winter can be very dangerous as well as in the highway traffic around Toronto.
The stretch of 17 from Kenora to Dryden it noted had a higher risk from long, dark two-lane stretches with limited passing and the constant threat of moose crossing. Highway 11 from Hearst to Kapuskasing also cracked the top ten.
The worst stretch of road though was in southern Ontario between Chatham and Erieau where lake effect snow from Lake Erie, the winding curves along the shoreline and the narrow two lanes increased the risk to motorists.
The week of Christmas found the most crashes happen on December 24th.
Here is the full list:
If you bought a ticket for Friday night’s Lotto Max draw in Thunder Bay you should check your ticket.
While no one has the winning ticket for the $80 million grand prize someone in Thunder Bay split a maxmillion worth $500 thousand dollars.
There was a total of 8 maxmillion prizes won in Ontario from Friday night’s draw.
The grand prize for Tuesday’s draw will remain at $80 million but there will be 43 prizes of a million dollars up for grabs.
