BAYSAR‘s Project Life Saver training helped southern Ontario search and rescue personnel find a missing person in Toronto recently. As reported by BayToday, an officer in a York Regional Police helicopter found the subject riding a bus by tracking the radio transmissions coming from a body-worn radio device.

Tourism Week is being celebrated with the release of a fun video showcasing North Bay, check it out HERE. You can also explore the updated Tourism North Bay website.

 

Top Shelf

 

• Cricket swinging for the fences in North Bay
• Tripping the French River with a TVO producer

 

Today’s Eye Opener

 

Echo Essentials

Cricket getting
more support
in North Bay

Vasu Kaarudaiar and Romy Ghumman join Lisa Boivin, host of the To North Bay With Love podcast, to dive into North Bay’s increasing desire for cricket and the potential of a new pitch to be built in our city.

Listen to the episode HERE. They explain the sport to Lisa and point out that, while they play teams from all over Ontario, North Bay is one of the only cities that lacks a proper field.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the city is putting $140,000 aside to find a suitable piece of property and design the cricket pitch, with more than $2.4 million earmarked for the associated construction costs in 2026.

Before the cricket discussion, producer Ben talks about a recent driving pet peeve, and Lisa shares her latest road rage story.

Tripping down
the French River
is an adventure

Tomorrow morning, Backroads Bill Steer and co-host Ben Sargent are joined by Mitch Azaria, executive producer at TVO, to talk about his latest documentary ‘Tripping the French River’. See the trailer HERE before tuning in for the show April 21.

Mitch shares some behind the scenes stories about how they created this unique view of one of Canada’s greatest waterways.

 

………

Today’s Zen Suggestion: Avoid using the word ‘hate’ to describe how you feel about something or someone … especially yourself. Leave crude, negative emotions to others with poor taste and less class.

 

Sponsor

 

 

Thanks to our sponsor Casey’s Grill Bar at the Algonquin Avenue intersection of the Highway 11/17 bypass. Visit the website, check out the menu and try not to drool on your keyboard.

 

Echo Network

 

Echo Essentials:

Coming up on Thursday’s episode of the Echo Essentials Podcast, Dionne family descendant Brian Callahan outlines the “tragedy” that ensued after the Dionne Quintuplets were born May 28, 1934. Brian said it was midwives who helped birth the first few girls before the famous Dr. Dufoe arrived, adding it was the midwives who kept all five alive through the night after the doctor left with an ominous prediction that the tiny girls wouldn’t survive.

Brian also explains how the first five Dionne children, plus three more after the Quints arrived, were treated as second-class family members, as well as why he recently removed himself from the Dionne Quints Heritage Board … The 90th birthday celebration for the Quints begins in North Bay on May 24 and includes the third presentation of Gerry Mendicino’s Five: The Dionnes Musical at the Davedi Club on May 25.

Last week, North Bay resident John Best joins the Echo Essentials podcast to talk about the PFAS levels in our water. He used to sell eggs he produced at his Tower Drive hobby farm until he was told there were traces of “forever chemicals” in them.

The New York Times reported last week that the Environmental Protection Agency is requiring all water utilities in the United States to remove PFAS from public distribution systems, with costs expected to be $1.5 billion annually (although the utilities expect it to be double that amount).

The federal government in Canada is also looking at setting stricter maximum levels with province’s expect to address the issue once new national regulations are announced. See this PFAS background story by BayToday.

To North Bay With Love:

Hariett Madigan and Wanda Wallace from Clean Green Beautiful and North Bay Heritage Gardeners joined host Lisa Boivin last Thursday to talk about upcoming events and the various benefits of keeping the city clean.

They also dive into the history of the Heritage Gardeners and how the community has rallied behind this initiative.

• Harriet and Wanda join the show 1:50
• How difficult is it to grow plants outside? 6:10
• Why wouldn’t we want tree orchards? 12:30

There are more than 60 episodes of the 2NBWL podcast to check out HERE.

Backroads Bill:

In last week’s Backroads Bill podcast, Bill and Ben are joined by longtime North Bay resident and pillar of the community Peter Handley. They talk about a couple books he will be releasing in the next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of North Bay in 2025.

Follow the Backroads Bill podcast in video form on the North Bay Echo YouTube channel, on this website under the Echo network, Spreaker or Spotify.

Cogeco:

Catch the North Bay Battalion playoff action against the Sudbury Wolves tonight at 7 p.m. It’s the third game of their OHL Eastern Conference with the Troops leading the best of seven series 2-0.

Check out the North Bay YourTV website to watch video stories.

Frontline:

The Powassan Voodoos are in Timmins tonight with a Game 7 deciding the NOJHL Eastern Conference champion.

And if you can’t make the Battalion playoff game in Sudbury tonight, listen to the North Bay Mitsubishi After Action Report which followed the Game 2 win Saturday, April 13.

Wingspan Entrepreneur:

Wingspan Entrepreneurs by Joel Arndt is all about financial issues and provides the inspiration and information to lift your business to the next stratosphere.

There are seven episodes of the Wingspan podcast so far. Check out the audio-only show on our website network page or follow on Spotify. If you have an established podcast and want to capitalize on extra eyeballs and episode promotion through the Echo network, email [email protected] to start the process.

Cheap Seats:

This week’s episode of Cheap Seats is entitled: Canadian Crimes, Don’t Doubt the Host, and Is Road House More Than A Meme? (41)

Cheap Seats is an eclectic conversation between best friends, Drew and Nick, who love talking about movies and whatever else comes to mind. Find them on the usual suspects of podcast platforms.

 

3-Day Events Echo

Tuesday, April 16

• North Bay Battalion in Sudbury for Game 3
• Skateboarding Sessions at OutLoud North Bay 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
• Tips and Tricks for using Newspapers.com by Ann Smith, Nipissing District Branch of Ontario Ancestors, at the North Bay Public Library upper floor mezzanine room from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
• Perk Up, Pianist! at the North Bay Capitol Centre at 7:30 p.m. Sarah Hagen has transformed her award-winning role as “concert pianist” into a stand-up, or rather, sit-down comedy.

Wednesday, April 17

• Lego Skills Group every Wednesday at North Bay OutLoud from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
• North Bay’s Next Top Performer Singing Concert hosted by Sam Harvey, presented by ACNBA ‘A Taste for Life’ at Beef n’ Brand. Registration for contestants closes at 5:45 p.m., contest starts at 6 p.m.

Thursday, April 18

• Frankenstein: An original play written by North Bay’s Joshua Bainbridge opening night at Canadore College on the David Fox Stage. Curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation to the Gathering Place (non-perishable food or cash). Runs through Saturday.
• Button Making for Tweens and Teens (ages 11 to 17) at the North Bay Public Library from 6 to 7 p.m.
• Super Fun Time Trivia at Moose’s Cookhouse from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

 

(For more events further out on the calendar, check Tourism North Bay’s comprehensive events listing guide. On Facebook, check out Creative Industries North Bay and take a gander at its April newsletter with month-long highlights HERE.)

 

 

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If you have something to add to the discussion or an idea for one of Echo’s podcasters or affiliates, email Content Director Dave Dale at [email protected].

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Last week:

The “toxic workplace” cloud hanging over the North Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority became another shade darker … just as a heavy rain warning was issued by the organization (keep the kids and pets away from the creeks). Staff actually walked out last Thursday on their coffee break as a form of protest.

BayToday broke the story late Tuesday afternoon April 9, referring to the NBMCA’s recently-hired Human Resources director Mark Bremer as a “whistle-blower” after he blamed poor staff-management relationships on the chief administrative officer and the board for not dealing with the festering issues. Employees recently unionized due to some of the issues, which started to bloom in 2022, and they are in negotiations for their first contract.

It was reported by BayToday and The Nugget on Thursday, April 11 that the HR director discovered the lock on his office was changed Wednesday after the story broke. He had gone into work this morning to collect a few things after his mother had called from Europe to tell him that his father had been taken off life support. Bremer has since resigned from his position, as did the deputy CAO to take a job elsewhere.