Around the North

Sault Ste. Marie's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is building a new headquarters. Their current Queen Street space is considered too cramped and renovation costs are considered too high compared to building a new structure.

Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, and the John Milloy, Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, today launched a week of good news for Ontario's universities and colleges with the announcement of the first round of infrastructure in

The Vale Inco Living with Lakes Centre at Laurentian has received $5.2 million from Industry Canada's Knowledge Infrastructure Program.

Industry Minister and Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement has festooned the Town of Parry Sound with $1.3 million to beautify the place.

A northwestern Ontario First Nation and an Ottawa-based junior miner are solidifying their relationship to conduct exploration near Red Lake.

North Bay's Holiday Inn has been branded as a Holiday Inn Express and Suites. Patrons will see a new sign and logo going up on their Seymour Street property as part of the hotel chain's $1 billion North American relaunch program.

Lund Gold has completed its first phase of exploration at its Blackfox property near Hemlo. The Vancouver junior miner has property 225 km east of Thunder Bay and 70 kilometres west of the Hemlo gold deposit.

Northwestern Ontario junior miner Sage Gold has entered into a merger agreement with Consolidated Puma. Sage will acquire all the outstanding shares of Puma in a $3.5 million all-share transaction.

The first phase of a major downtown revitalization project that will generate about 30 jobs during the next five years is under way in Terrace Bay. The project it designed to increase tourism potential.

The construction of a new digital dome theatre is almost complete at Science North. The theatre will feature a large dome-shaped projection screen to accommodate digital planetarium shows.