Wayne Ficek is Kenora's Olympic Torch Bearer

It's the moment we've all been waiting for.

The Kenora Olympic Torch Relay Committee has unveiled the City's official torch bearer, and it's wheel chair curler Wayne Ficek.

Ficek says he's glad to see the Paralympics and Olympics being held back to back.

Ficek is with the Northern Ontario Wheel Chair Curling rink.

Kenora's Roxanne Derouard will be carrying the flame on January 4th from Thunder Bay to Kenora.

Environmental Health

The Canadian Environmental Law Association will be holding a forum in Kenora this week about how to create healthy communities.

Renee Griffin will be making the presentation at the Kenora Legal Clinic and says the session is open to everyone.

The presentation is called Healthy Homes and Communities, andwill take place Wednesday at the Legal Clinic in Market Squarestarting at 3:00.

OPP Cellphon Ban

It seems that people will talk on their cellphones while driving, whether its legal or not.

The Cellphone ban was put in place a month ago by the provincial government, and so far 87 people have been pulled over in northwestern Ontario for talking and driving.

The OPP say they have laid six charges and issued 81 warnings.

Police say the charges are laid when a warning isn't appropriate, such as unsafe driving behavior while using a cellphone.

Miracle Marathon Update

Despite tough economic times, Kenora residents continue to give generously.

The 19th annual Christmas Miracle Marathon was another huge successfor the Salvation Army.
Thousands of dollars in toys, non-perishable food items and cash wasdonated over the weekend.

Captain Debbie Gosse says its too soon to tell, but this may have beenone of their most successful Miracle Marathons.

Gosse says people who weren't able to donate at the Miracle Marathoncan still make an on-line donation on their "i-kettle" on the CJRL website.

Atikokan Crisis Centre New Name

The Atikokan Crisis Centre has come up with a new name.It will be known as the Rainy-River District Women's Shelter of Hope.

Executive Director Donna Kroocmo says the name was selected by the board out of several submissions.

She says it could be up to a year before they can incorporate the name because of the legal issues.

Pikangikum Help

An appeal for supplies for children and youth in Pikangikum First Nation has generated a strong response in the region.

Tikinagan Child and Family Services recently put out a plea for food andclothing for kids in the remote community.

Jacquee Loerzel says the response has been amazing.

Loerzell says they are looking for items like infant clothes and formula, diapers, hats, boots, mitts and other non-perishable food items

Multi Skills Centre

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is hoping that its Multi-Skills Center of Excellence will encourage more students to stay in school.

The Center was officially opened this week, and has a number of features, including a shop area, computer lab and lecture theatre.

Gary Schwartz is one of the teachers at Thomas Aquinas and says the building gives them the space to offer different types of programs.

Schwartz says they are able to offer not only co-op programs through theMulti-Skills Center, but also college level courses for students interested in the trades.

New Hospital

The board of Lake of the Woods District Hospital says someone is goingto have to champion the cause of a new hospital building, if they are ever going to get one built.

The board recently held a retreat, where the idea of a new hospital was revived.

Jim Clark is a long time member of the board and says while there is some interest in getting a new building, they need someone to lead the charge.

He also says they need a compelling vision for a new health care facility, one that can be not only sold to the local community, but also the provincial government.

Miracle Marathon

The Salvation Army is predicting an increased need for its Christmas Hampers this year.

The biggest fundraiser for the Christmas Cheer campaign takes place later this week with the CJRL Miracle Marathon.

Captain Debbie Gosse says not only is the need for hampers expected to rise, they are looking for the community to help fill the shelves oftheir food bank.

The Miracle Marathon will air on CJRL starting at 6:00 Friday morningand run until Saturday afternoon.

Northern Growth Plan Sioux Lookout

About 20 people from the Sioux Lookout area turned out last night to give their thoughts on the Northern Growth Plan drafted by the Province.

Diane Kelley is the Grand Chief of Treaty 3 and says she wants to make sure aboriginal people are properly consulted and represented in the plan.

Feedback is being accepted on the Northern Growth Plan until February 1st.

CP False alarms

Canadian Pacific says an investigation found no problems with any of their trains in the Kenora Rail yard.

Yesterday afternoon a business in the Railway Street area reported an odor coming from the CP tracks.

Personnel from the rail yard began investigating and even stopped a train to see if they could find the source of the smell.

A company spokesperson says they were eventully able todetermined that the odor wasn't coming from any of their equipment.

Its still unclear where the mysterious smell originated from.

Police Firearms

The OPP have released details surrounding an arrest in the River Drive Area yesterday afternoon that closed down Highway 17 east for a brief period of time.

Around 2:45, the Street Crime Unit and the Crime Unit were called out after getting a call that a suspect was in possession of a firearm at a localmotel.

Police secured the area and the man was arrested without incident.

A 34 year old Kenora man was taken into custody for an outstanding warrant on an unreleated matter.

The area and the motel room were searched, but no firearm was located.

Optimistic about Abitibi

An AbitibiBowater official in northwestern Ontario is still optimistic about the company's future.

John Harrison provided an update on the company's status this week.

Harrison says the focus over the next few months on shaping the company that can help it exit credit protection.

Harrison adds the company is also continuing to examine alternative production for its high-
gloss paper machine that's has been scheduled to be idled by the end of the year.

CAS Northeastern Ontario

The N-D-P are upset with a proposal to merge some northernOntario Children's Aid Societies.

The government is trying to find a way to keep the Payukotayno James and Hudson Bay Family Services office open afterit sent layoff notices to its 120 staff.

Children Services Minister Laurel Broten says the government islooking at all kinds of options to keep centres open.

Human Remains Identified

Human remains found north of Pickle Lake on Saturday are those of a Kitchener, Ont., man.

Jeffrey Boyd, 51, was reported missing to the Waterloo Regional Police on Nov. 8.

Police say a hunter came across the remains roughly 65 kilometres north of Pickle Lake.

Police are not releasing the cause of death at the request of the family.

Foul play has been ruled out, although police say an investigation continues into why Boyd was in
remote northwestern Ontario.

Transport Crash in Dryden

Charges have been laid in yesterday morning's single vehicle crash on Highway 17 near Wal-Mart.

Dryden Police say an eastbound vehicle left the road, crossed into the westbound lane and struck a light standard.

The car flipped onto its roof, while live power lines fell to the Highway.Police say an unindentified driver faces 1-count of failing to drive in a marked lane.

The driver was transfered to Hospital with minor injuries.

Transport Crash in Dryden

Charges have been laid in yesterday morning's single vehicle crash on Highway 17 near Wal-Mart.

Dryden Police say an eastbound vehicle left the road, crossed into the westbound lane and struck a light standard.

The car flipped onto its roof, while live power lines fell to the Highway.Police say an unindentified driver faces 1-count of failing to drive in a marked lane.

The driver was transfered to Hospital with minor injuries.

Skyharbour Mining Red Lake

B.C. based Skyharbour Resources has reacquired a the Sidace Lake mining property near Red Lake.

Company officials believe the property is located in an ideal area, surrounded by rival Goldcorp claims.

Skyharbour will compile and review all previous work reports and exploration programs on its Sidace Lake property, including geophysics and diamond drilling.

The company plans to put together a budget for a future work program on the 2 square miles of
land it now holds there.

The property is located in the Sobeski Lake Area in northwestern Ontario.

Bayfield Gold Northwestern Ontario

B.C. based Bayfield Ventures is actively looking for gold in Northwestern Ontario.

The company has acquired 100 percent of the mineral rights to a claim in the Chapple municipality in the Rainy River District.

The claim consists of four patented mineral claims equaling 480 acres of land.

The company plans to continue its work in the area into the new year.

Chromite Northwestern Ontario

The owner of a valuable chromite deposit in northwestern Ontario is being taken over by a major U-S international iron ore and coal producer.

The deal for Freewest Resources by Cleveland Cliffs Natural Resources is 150 million dollars in stock.

Cleveland Cliffs plans to build an 800-million dollar open-pit mine and processing plant to
convert the ore into ferrochrome, used widely in stainless steel manufacturing.

The mine near Nakina would be North America's first major chromite producer with start up slated for 2015.

Fort Frances Physician

A Fort Frances physicians is being named to head a provincial physicians group.

Doctor Robert Algie is to become president of the Ontario Colleges of Family Physicians for the next year.

Algie has practiced in the Fort Frances area for the more than 28 years and joined the O-C-F-P
board seven years ago and its executive in 2006.

He's to assume the position at a conference being held in Toronto this week.

Beaver Brae Bronco's Girls Hockey

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team lost its first game of the young NorWOSSA season.

The Broncos were upended 3-1 by the Dryden Eagles Tuesday night.

Ainsley Lindquist scored the first goal of the game, but Dryden responded with three unanswered goals to win the game.

Beaver Brae is back in action this weekend at the Dryden High School Girls Tournament.

Prescription Pill Problem

Dryden Police Chief Shayne MacKinnon says Government action to better control the highly addictive painkiller Oxycontin is long overdue.

The Health Ministry is looking to impose new rules before the end of the year to curb the abuse of prescription drugs.MacKinnon says it's a major issue in Northwestern Ontario.

Proposals include a computer system to track how much Oxycontin is going out and send out alerts if a prescription is received 2-days in a row.

Northern Growth Plan

Representitives from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines have beengetting a lot of feedback on its Northern Growth Plan.

A public meeting was held in Kenora last night, with people coming from across the region to give their input.

Brian Brown is the Administrator of the Town of Machin and says one of the thing she's like the plan to address is increasing the number of cottage lots in northwestern Ontario.

Feedback on the Northern Growth Plan is being accepted until February 1st.

Another public session is taking place in Sioux Lookout tonight.

Rickford Abitibi Bowater Pensions

The Federal Government will be sitting down with Abitibi Bowater and its employees union to talk about their 1.3 billion dollar pension shortfall.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford says he's been working on finding a solution for pensioners.

Flaherty has encouraged the two parties to meet with the provincial government first, because pension arrangements fall in their jurisdiction, and then he'll sit down and meet with them.

Multi Skills Centre

A ribbon cutting ceremony has taken place at Thomas Aquinas School for its two new additions.

A special ceremony was held yesterday afternoon for the grand opening of the Multi-SkillsCenter of Excellence and the Grade 7 and 8 annex.

Principal at Thomas Aquinas, Paul White says they want to put the Multi-Skills Center to good use.

The Multi-Skills Center not only has space for a wood and metal shop, there is also a lecture theatre and a computer lab in the building.

Both additions have been in use since the start of the school year.

Main Street Tree

And its a sure sign that Santa Claus isn't too far away.

The big Christmas tree on Main Street South was erected byKenora Hydro employees earlier yesterady afternoon.

The tree will officially be lit up Thursday night as part of apromotion to get people to shop in downtown Kenora.

A number of smaller trees have also been installed in thedowntown area along Main, Second and Matheson Streets.

Innapropriate Poetry

A 45-year-old northern Ontario man is free after spending more than a month in jail over his poetry.

Daniel O'Neil had been in custody since his arrest October 10th for using rhyme to invite a girl under 16 to sexually touch him two days earlier.

O'Neil met the girl through her boyfriend, passed her ananti-depressant pill, and a note with a ``roses are red'' poem thatwasn't so sweet.

O'Neil was released for time served and will be on probation for18 months.

Bio Energy Atikokan

Researchers looking into the bio-energy industry in Atikokan have wrapped up their work, but they says its not the end.

Lakehead University and a team of researchers and students spent three years examining the issues surrounding the industry.

L-U's Vice-President of Research Rui Wang says the information gathered provides a blueprint for other agencies to take the next step.

More than 20 reports and one patent were generated out of the researchers work.

Northern Growth Plan Meeting Tonight

The Northern Growth Plan has been out for about a month and now the provincial government is seeking public input on the document.

A meeting will take place tonight in Kenora so the province can get feedback.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle saysthey just want to make sure the plan does what local residents want it to do.

Tonight's meeting will take place at 6:30 at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Elk Management Ontario

The Ministry of Natural Resources is drafting an Elk Management Planto deal with the population of the animals in four separate areas of the province.

The MNR began importing elk into Ontario from Alberta 10 years ago with mixed results.

Christie Curley is a spokesperson for the MNR and says due to concerns over disease, they have decided not to import anymore elk.

Elk numbers in the Bancroft area have exploded in recent years,and Curley says there has been talk of moving the animals into areas where their populations have not done as well, like Lake of the Woods.

Drug Bust

A 16-year-old has been charged following a drug bust at the Sandy Lake First Nation Airport.

Nishnawbe-Aski Police seized roughly 30-thousand dollars worth of oxycontin pills from the girl.

The drugs were transported to the remote Northern Reserve from the Winnipeg Airport.

The teen faces 1-count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Post Mortem

A post-mortem is to be conducted in Toronto today as an investigation continues into the discovery of human remains in northwestern Ontario.

A hunter came across the remains near Pickle Lake and investigators are trying to determine the person's identity and the cause of death.

Police say there is no evidence at the scene to suggest there was foul play.

Red Lake Mining

Conquest Resources has provided an interim report on its Red Lake area mining property.

The company has completed its 2009 surface drill programme which consisted of six drill holes
of over 4-thousand metres.

The report shows that the property contains shallow depths of gold.

The report provided the company with necessary encouragement to embark on a major deep drilling program in the near future.

Warm Weather Record Kenora

Kenora broke temperature records on Monday.

The city reached a high of 5 degrees in mid November, something the community hasn't seen since 1942.

Mix FM Meteorologist Bill Laidlaw says residents should enjoy the warmer temperatures while they have the chance.

The rest of the region also saw record breaking temperatures with Dryden recording a high of 4 degrees something the City hasn't seen in 90 years.

Local Sports Round Up

It was a successful trip to Thunder Bay for the Beaver Brae Broncos Senior Boys volleyball team.
When the dust settled the Broncos walked away with their fifth NWOSSAA Volleyball title since 2000.

The Broncos won both matches against the Westgate Tigers by identical 3 sets to zero scores.

With the win, the Broncos now move on to the OFSAA Provincial Championships being played in Sarnia Nov. 27-28.
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A tough weekend away from home for the Kenora Triple "A" Thistles.

On Saturday Kenora was doubled up 4-2 by the Southwest Cougars.

On Sunday the Thistles were edged 3-1 by the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Council Thank You

And seldom is heard an encouraging word.

That's the usual mantra at Kenora City Council meetings.

This week, things were a little different.

Gord Day-Janz of the Kenora Ministerial Associationsays he wanted to give council a show of gratitude fortheir work.

A small group of people also presented council memberswith a bag of treats as a gift of appreciation.

Triple Play Funding

The Triple Play organization expects to have a budget of about 80 thousand dollars this year.

About half of the budget will go toward administration, and the rest to program costs.

Tanya Watts is the program co-ordinator and says the need forfunding from Triple Play
continues to grow.

Watts says in response to increase demand for their program, they have updated their policies to help as many kids as possible and also assist those most in need.

Underserviced Area Program

The provincial government is looking at making changes to itsUnderserviced Area Program, which helps rural northern communities recruit doctors and other health care professionals.

The Municipality of Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls has drafted are solution in support of the new program.

It says the government seems to recognize the difficulty smaller communities in the north have in competing for physicians.

Councillor Rory McMillan suggests the revised program will also help Kenora in its efforts to recruitand retain doctors.

H1N1 Clinics

The Ministry of Health says there were 20 new cases of the H1N1 flu virus this past weekin northwestern Ontario.

Since the second wave of the virus began back in October, there have been 62 cases confirmed in this region.

Overall, the province says the number of cases of swine flu were actually down this past week.

The Northwestern Health Unit says it will be offering H1N1 flu shots Monday, Tuesdayand Wednesday by appointment.

There will also be a walk-in clinic on Thursday at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Hampton Child Services

Ontario's Children Aid Societies are running out of money.

A Northeastern Ontario society recently announced plans to layoff 120-staff unless it receives operating funds by December 16th.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says children's aid socieities in this region are also facing tough financial challenges.

Kenora-Patricia Child and Family Services confirms that it has laid off six employees recently butit has more to do with the number of kids it has in its care homes, rather than budgetary issues.

More Charges OPP

The Ontario Provincial Police say they have laid an additional four charges against a retired OPP officer who used to work in theMinaki and Whitedog Detachments.

Robert George Lewis was arrested on Wednesday and charged with two counts of gross indecency and two charges of indecent assault.

The charges relate to incidents that took place between 1976 and 1978 when Lewis was was an officer in the Kenora area.

Lewis now lives in Fenelon Falls, and the OPP have charged him in connection toa number of historical sexual assault incidents while he worked indetachments across the province.

Dangerous Driver

A 27 year old Kenora man has been charged after the OPP were called about a vehicle being driven in an erratic manner on the Reddit Road.

Police were called out around 10:45 last night and tried to pull over the vehicle as it approached Highway 17-A.

The OPP say the driver was posing a danger to other vehicles on the road and forced the car off the highway and into a ditch.

The driver was removed from the vehicle and arrested.

Vernon Kent has been charged with impaired dirving, and dangerous driving and other Highway Traffic Offenses.

Keewaywin Drug Abuse

A chief in a northern Ontario First Nation is asking for help indealing with a rampant drug problem on the reserve.

Chief Joe Meekis of the Keewaywin First Nation says almost halfthe adults in the community of 400 near the Manitoba border are abusing prescription narcotics such as OxyContin and Percocet.

Meekis says children are going hungry because their parents are spending grocery money on pills.

Meekis has asked social services agencies and other First Nations to help the community cope.

Truck Driver Charged

A truck driver from Burlington, Ontario faces several charges following a single vehicle accident in the Fort Frances area.

The OPP say a tractor trailor unit sustained extensive damage after the driver failed to stop at the intersection of Highway 502 and Highway 11 Thursday.

The trailor was carrying a load of wood chips which shifted during the collision.

Police say the driver wasn't familiar with the road and drove through a stop sign and ended up on a ditch on the south-side of Highway 11.

He suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to hospital in Fort Francesfor treatment.

The Watten Volunteer Fire Department was called out to the scene to help contain the spill of diesel from the ruptured fuel tanks.

A 53 year old man has been charged with failing to stop for a stop sign and failing to maintain a daily log.

C.P. Holiday Train

A major fundraiser for local foodbanks will be starting up next week.

The C.P. Holiday Train will begin its long journey across Canadaon November 26th.

Mike LoVeccio is a spokesperson for C.P. and says the trainhas been helping to fill local foodbanks for the past 10 years.

The Holiday Train will be rolling into Kenora, Dryden andIgnace on December 5th.

The alternative Canadian rock band, the Odds will be providingthe entertainment this year.

Ontario Drug Survey

Northern Ontario high school students hit the bottle and use cannabis more than their provincial counterparts.

112 students took part in the most recent Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey.

Dr. Robert Mann says the stats for the Northern Region were slightly higher than the provincial average.

The survey was administered to students in Grade 7 to 12.

Heating City Hall

The City of Kenora is going to have to cough up almost 17 thousand dollars for a new heating system in city hall.

The city is planning to replace the Heating, Ventilation, andAir Conditioning system in the aging building.

Councillor Dave McCann says because its an old building when repairs are needed, they tend to be expensive.

Ignatieff visits Kenora

The federal leader of the Liberal Party says he has real concerns about how the Harper Government is running the country.

Michael Ignatieff was in Kenora last week to meet with party faithful.

He expressed concern about the nations ballooning deficit.

Ignatieff says when his party supported the budget last year,the deficit was projected to be 32 billion dollars.

Now he says the government is looking at a 56 billion dollar shortfall.

New Police Chief

Robin Jones is the new face of the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service.

Jones has been appointed Chief by the Police Services Board, replacing John Domm.

She as worked in several portfolios and was the Provincial Negotiator for First Nations Police Services throughout Ontario 2-years ago.

Jones will oversee a staff of 175-uniform and civilian officers in 35-Police Detachments.

Children's Aid Societies

Kenora-Patricia Child and Family Services is denying reports that lay-offs are imminent.

There were reports this morning that the Children's Aid Society may have to lay off as many as 16 staff members due to a financial shortfall.

Executive Director, Bill Leonard says they did have some financial concerns but those have since been ironed out and its businessas usual for his agency.

A number of children's aid groups in the province have been reportingsizable deficits in recent months and have had to lay-off staff to cope with the funding shortfalls.

Ignatieff in Kenora

The Leader of Canada's official opposition isn't hinting if and when he might withdraw his support for the Harper Government.

Michael Ignatieff was in Kenora last night for a town hall style meeting.

He says its clear that Canadians weren't in the mood for a fall election, but isn't sure how long he will be willing to prop up the Conservative government.

Ignatieff says the key to getting northwestern Ontario out of its economic slump is more research and development in the forestry sector, to develop new products that can be marketed around the world.

Port Resigns

The City of Kenora is losing another one of its senior staff members.

Jeff Port, the municipal planner has submitted his resignation.

His last day on the job will be November 27th.

His resignation comes less than two weeks after the City's Chief Administrative Officer Bill
Presentanz announced heis going to be retiring next year.

Port could not be reached for comment.

New School Dryden

Construction work on a new elementary school in Dryden could begin in the spring if the Ministry of Education gives its blessing to the project.

Earlier this year, the board tendered the project, but it came in way over budget.

Superintentant of Business, Dean Carrie says they have been working with the contractor that provided the lowest bid to try and reduce costs.

Carrie says the new school would cost about 13 million dollars to build.

The board is expected to find out next month if they can go ahead with the project.

Food Bank Use High

Kenora's Salvation Army has seen an increase in monthly users of its food bank.

Captain Debby Goss says they've gone from 50 people using the food bank in a month to around 80.

Goss adds they've also seen a decrease in food donations.

Goss notes they are in need of canned fruit, vegetables and alphagetti and anyone who wishes to donate can drop off their goods at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Thunder Bay Worker Killed

Two labour inspectors are looking into the death of a 51-year-old recycling worker loading a container onto a truck at a Thunder Bay grocery store.

The ministry of labour spokesman says somehow the man's head was crushed between the container and the truck.

The victim was employed by Thunder Bay waste-management company ReCool.

Hospital Foundation Director

The Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation has its fourth executivedirector in the past year.

Jess Rheault was hired last week to fill the position.

She says in addition to the Tree of Lights campaign, they will alsobe erecting the lighted Christmas structures along Lakeview Drive.

Rheault says their fundraising efforts right now are going towards a PCR analyzer forthe Lab department.

Community Foundation Grants

A total of 14 groups in Kenora have been given over 46 thousand dollars from the Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation.

Executive Director Darlene MacGilivry says the foundation helps out a variety of programs in the region.

The Kenora Fellowship Centre, and St. John's Ambulance will each be receiving 3 thousand dollars, and the Sioux Narrows School Student Nutrition program will utilize over 2 thousand dollars.

Hampton on HST

The New Democrats say a harmonized sales tax of 13-percent is nothing more then a tax break for large and profitable corporations.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton is asking residents to voice their opposition to Legislation creating the single tax.

Hampton notes ordinary people will end up paying more in hydro, heat and filling their gas tank.

KPDSB Kindergarten

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has started the process of deciding where to extend all-day junior and senior kindergarten classesnext year.

The public school board will be able to offer only two classes starting next fall.

Superintendant of Business, Dean Carrie says its going to take some work to find locations that fit the Ministry of Education criteria.

Carrie says under the government's regulations, the schools will have to be able to accomodate at least 26 students, whichwill limit the number of locations they can use next year.

DSSAB Increase

Kenora City Council has reluctantly agreed to hand over an extra 217 thousand dollars to the Kenora District Services Board this year.

The board says due to unexpectedly high costs for Ontario Works programs this year, they had to amend their 2009 budget.

Councillor Chris Van Wallenghem refused to vote in favourof the increase, saying the 10 percent hike is out of line.

While other members of council agreed, they said the city's hands are tied and its required by law to pay the extra costs.

Ignatieff in Kenora today

The leader of the federal Liberals will be paying a visit to theKenora Riding today.

Michael Ignatieff has a number of events planned for his stay in town.

He will be holding a Town Hall meeting tonight atthe Best Western Lakeside Inn starting at 7:30.

He is also will be meeting local aboriginal and municipal leaders throughout the day.

This is Ignatieff's first visit to the Kenora Riding since hewas chosen to lead the party almost a year ago.

Thunder Bay Flu Scanners

Wait times at Thunder Bay flu shot clinics should get shorter once new computer equipment is up and operating.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is receiving gear that will allow quicker sign-ins at swine flu and seasonal flu clinics.

The equipment will allow those seeking shots to swipe an Ontario health card or driver's licence for identification.

The health unit will receive about 20 scanners at a cost of about 60-thousand dollars.

Dryden Highways

The City of Dryden plans to lobby the provincial government to improve the state of highways in northwestern Ontario -- and ask fora higher speed limit.

Dryden will ask that the speed limit to be increased by 10 kilometres an hour.

One councillor says most travellers are going stateside because of the state of Ontario's highway's.

Greyhound Hampton

No news, isn't good news when it comes to Greyhound Bus Service in northwestern Ontario.

Greyhound has said it will suspend bus service December 2nd unless the government agrees to provide some sort of subsidy for the service.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says he asked the Transportation
Minister yesterday in the Ontario Legislature what's being done to keep the service running.

Hampton says so far no other bus company has applied to the Ontario Transportation Board to operate in northern Ontario if Greyhound pulls out.

Greyhound Hampton

No news, isn't good news when it comes to Greyhound Bus Service in northwestern Ontario.

Greyhound has said it will suspend bus service December 2nd unless the government agrees to provide some sort of subsidy for the service.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says he asked the Transportation
Minister yesterday in the Ontario Legislature what's being done to keep the service running.

Hampton says so far no other bus company has applied to the Ontario Transportation Board to operate in northern Ontario if Greyhound pulls out.

KDSB Budget

Area Municipalities may be paying less for social services next year.

The Kenora District Service Board has released its proposed budget for 2010, with net costs dropping 147-thousand dollars from 2009.

Finance Chair Anne Krassilowsky says they are still facing considerable pressures.

The KDSB is expecting to pay 6.1-million dollars in Ontario Works financial benefits next year, up 700-thousand dollars from this year.All communities in the District have seen an increase in cases, with the exception of Red Lake.

The Kenora Riding did very well in terms of securing federal infrastructure funding this year.

A total of 6.7 million dollars was handed out to communities in first nations under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Fund.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says he's not going to apologize for the fact this riding got more funding under that program than any other in Canada.

Rickford says at this point its too early to say whether the Harper government will pump any more money into infrastrucuture projects next year.

He says the finance department is currently holding consultation sessions and will decide before the budget is released in the spring.

Nutritious Food Basket

The cost of eating a healthy, well-balanced diet continue to go up in northwestern Ontario.

The Health Unit has come out with its annual nutritious food basket survey for 2009.

Dietician, Julie Slack says their main concern isn't the cost of food in the region, so much as how people on limited incomes are managing to eat health meals.

Slack says the cost of feeding a family of four has risen to 825 dollars in 2009.

The survey is based on the average price of groceries in 25 stores thoughout the Kenora and Rainy River Districts.

Blood Donor Clinic Today

There are still at least 40 open appointments for the second day of the Canadian Blood Services Blood Donor Clinic today.

Yesterday, 162 donors walked through the doors of St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

Spokesperson Harvey Heather says they don't think the flu season has impacted their blood drive.

To make an appointment for today's clinic call 1-888-2-DONATE.

141 units of blood were collected yesterday.

Jones Road Landfill

Municipal waste will start being trucked out to the Jones Road Landfillsite on Wednesday.

Councillor Dave McCann says they had hoped to start using the siteon November 1st, but they had to wait for delivery of a landfillcompactor.

As for the site itself, he says it should be good for several decades.

City council decided to use the Jones Road Landfill site because thecost of shipping garbage to the Brady Road Site in Winnipeg wasgoing to double this year.

Kenora Budget Meeting

The City of Kenora hasn't received a lot of input into its 2010 budget processso far from local taxpayers.

Just one group came out to a public meeting last night to give its thoughts on how the city budget should be spent.

Program Manager for Triple Play, Tanya Watts says they would likea 15 thousand dollar grant next year to meet a skyrocketing demand.

Watts says their program is facing a "perfect storm" in theirfundraising efforts, including a loss of local jobs, combined with the downturnin the global economy.

Drive Test Site Thunder Bay

The Director of Young Drivers in Kenora and Dryden has mixed feelings about a partial Drive Test Centre being opened in Thunder Bay.

Written G1 Drivers tests are being offered by Drive Test Managers in centres across Ontario.

Young Drivers Spokesperson Maria Bagdonas says most new drivers are still in high school and would have a hard time getting to the Thunder Bay site.

The Thunder Bay office will offer only partial services which includes, written tests for all classes of licences, road test for commercially classified licences and out-of-province or out-of-country licence exchanges.

Dr. Paul Gully First Nation Health

Public Health doesn't work without the co-operation of the community.

That message was delivered by Dr. Paul Gully of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Gully was one of the speakers at a recent public health day in Whitefish Bay first nation.

The Federal Government spokesperson says they want to improve health care for first nations.

Gully was alongside Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo to celebrate Public Health Day recently.

Local Sports Round Up

In local hockey over the weekend...

The Beaver Brae Bronco's girls team beat visiting Fort Frances 6 to 3.

The Bronco's then went on to defeat Red Lake 5-3.

The Kenora Tripple A Thistles couldn't finish their game with the Central Plains Capitals on Saturday.

The game was suspended after 40 minutes at 2 and 2.

On Sunday, the Thistles beat the Capitals 3 to 1.


The J and M Judo Club has returned from competing in the St. Bonniface Judo Open in Winnipeg.

The club picked up 5 gold, two silver & two bronze medals on the day.

Multi medal winners included Daniel Gordon, Luke Heatherington & Ben Dennis.

Boe & Rhianna Rogers rounded out the medals for the group.

New Osnaburgh Homocide

Charges against an 18-year-old New Osnaburgh First Nation woman have been upgraded from second degree murder to first degree murder.

Kecia Leanne Spade was arrested in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Mariah Wesley in the First Nation community near Pickle Lake a week ago.

OPP and Nishnawbe-Aski Police are still investigating the incident.

Spade remains in Police custody.

MNR Lying

A Dryden resident has been fined 750-dollars for failing to report the acquisition of wildlife parts and making a false statement to a conservation officer.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Natural Resources executed a search warrant at Lee-Anne Corbin's home and officer seized roughly 100-animal parts including moose and deer antlers.

Corbin claimed she found, purchased and received the wildlife parts, but did not have the necessary paper work.

The MNR is now determining which items Corbin can keep.

Water Line

The three million dollar submarine water line between Water Street and Norman has finally been completed.

Kenora City council officially celebrated the end of the project Friday morning.

Operations Manager Rick Perchuck says the project costs also include a new section of the water line to Coney Island.

The new 16 inch water line is 2.2 kilometers long and services 45 hundred residents and businesses on Tunnel Island, Norman and Keewatin.

Changes in Latitude

The City of Kenora has found some problems with a local business owner's proposed marina along Highway 17 west.

Bruce Krawicki's Changes of Latitude Marina was originally approved for 38 parking spots and 38 boat slips.

Planning Assistant Tara Rickaby says Krawicki has 3 weeks to come into compliance.

Councillor Dave McCann says Krawicki can either remove some boat slips or create more adequate parking so that the two are equal.

Flu Shot Clinics

Attendance to the Northwestern Health Unit's flu shot clinics continue to be brisk.

Nearly 9-thousand doses of the H-1-N-1 vaccine have been administered to residents in the Kenora and Rainy River district since flu shot clinics began two weeks ago.

And while other parts of the province experience shortages, Director of Health Protection Arlene Lesenke says they have been able to meet the local demand.

Lesenke says even though clinics are being promoted for the H-1-N-1 vaccine, residents can get their seasonal flu shot with it as well.

For more information on clinic times and to make an appointment call 468-3147.

Blood Donor Clinic

It's time once again to give the gift of life.

The 2-day Blood Donor Clinic starts today at 4:30 at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

Canadian Blood Services Spokesperson Michael Hyduk says they are hoping to attract more then 300-donors.

Hyduk says he doesn't believe the on-going H1N1 vaccination program will hurt attendance.

To make an appointment to donate blood call 1-888-2-DONATE.

MNR Bait Fish

A Kenora resident has been fined two thousand dollars for illegally importing baitfish into Ontario.

Jerry Wiebe admitted in Kenora court this week to importing live baitfish from Manitoba and providing false information to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The court heard that Wiebe used minnows that were trapped on a commercial baitfishing licence in Manitoba and used them to supply his commercial baitfish business in Ontario.

The MNR says importing baitfish from other jurisdictions poses a significant risk to local ecosystems and fisheries.

Dream Draw

The Kenora Rotary Club is hoping for another sell-out of its Dream Draw.

Monday is the deadline for the purchase of the 100 dollar tickets.

Gord McTaggert is a member of the Rotary Club and says this is their most profitable fundraiser of the year.

A total of ten vacation packages are up for grabs in the draw.

The winning tickets will be selected Monday evening.

DSSAB Budget

Municipalities in the Kenora District should soon have a better idea on how much they will have to pay for social services next year.

The Kenora District Services Board is planning to approve its 2010 budget this week.

Rory McMillan is chair of the board and says one area they may have to look at increasing spending is for Ontario Works programs.

Earlier this week, the District Services Board wrote a letter to local municipalities to cough up and extra 10 percent to cover higher than expected Ontario Works costs.

CAO Job Posting

The City of Kenora has drafted a new job description for its Chief Administrative Officer.

Bill Presentanz will be retiring next year, and says he wanted an updated job description before they hired someone new for the position.

Presentanz says they plan to start advertising the job prior to Christmasand have someone in place by August 1st of next year.

Homework Help

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is one of 15 across the province involved in an on-line math tutoring service.

Scott Sparkman is a special assignment teachers with the public board and says math students from grade 7 to grade 10 can take advantage of program.

The on-line tutoring program is available Sunday to Thursday from 4:30 to 8:30.

Students can log onto WWW.HOMEWORKHELP.ILC.ORG

Kenora Budget

The City of Kenora is starting its 2010 budget process a lot earlier than normal.

The first public budget meeting will take place tomorrow night in council chambers.

Councillor Rory McMillan says they want feedback from local residents about how they want their property tax dollars spent.

The budget meeting will take place after the regular open meeting of council tomorrow night.

Anyone wanting to make a deputation is asked to contact city hall prior tothe meeting.

Health Awards

Northern Diabetes Health Network is up for a provincial award.

The network's Northern Ontario Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative is among finalists for an
Innovation in Health Care Award to be presented later this month in Toronto.

The Initiative helped identify priority needs of Aboriginal communities and organizations in dealing with diabetes among First Nations people.

Royal Winter Fair

There is a strong northwestern Ontario flavour to this year's Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto.

17-different products from companies between Thunder Bay and Kenora are on display at this year's agricultural showcase.

Rural Agricultural Coordinator for the Rainy River Futures Development Corporation Jeannette Cawston says attendance at last year's event convince them to join forced with other communities this year.

The fair includes a separate section for northern Ontario which Cawston says help local producers promote their products to fair goers.

PARO Cash

The Federal Government is investing nearly 500-thousand dollars in the PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise.

The FedNor funding will support a 3-year initiative allowing the Agency to expand training, networking and support services for women entrepreneurs in remote and rural communities in Northwestern Ontario.

Minister of Industry Tony Clement made the announcement Tuesday in Thunder Bay.

Missing hunter found

The OPP say a hunter who had been reported missing earlier this week has been found safe and sound.

Police say the man, who had been hunting in the Minaki and Whitedog areas, was spotted by
officers driving into the city late yesterday afternoon.

The man was last seen Monday morning but finally made it back to his hotel room last night.

Kenora man fined

A Kenora resident has been fined two thousand dollars for illegally importing baitfish into Ontario.

Jerry Wiebe admitted in Kenora court this week to importing live baitfish from Manitoba and providing false information to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The court heard that Wiebe used minnows that were trapped on a commercial baitfishing licence in Manitoba and used them to supply his commercial baitfish business in Ontario.

The MNR says importing baitfish from other jurisdictions poses a significant risk to local ecosystems and fisheries.

Broncos Win NorWOSSA Gold

Beaver Brae's senior boys volleyball team has won NorWOSSA gold.

The Broncos had an easy time with the Dryden Eagles winning in straight sets by scores of
25-19, 25-17, and 25-20.

Beaver Brae will now move onto the NWOSSA finals next week against the top high school team from Thunder Bay.

The only other Bronco team involved in NorWOSSA final was the senior girls basketball team, which was doubled up 26-13 by Fort Frances in the gold medal game.

Meanwhile, in high school girls hockey action, the Thomas Aquinas Saintscruised to an 11-1 win over Sioux Lookout last night at the Thistle Rink.

Search for Missing Hunter

The search is scheduled to resume this morning for a hunter who has been missing for the past four days in the Kenora area.

The OPP say the 50 year old man was believed to be hunting in the Minaki and Whitedog areas.
He was last seen on Monday morning around 7:00.

He was driving a late model, silver colored Chevy Pick-up truck with large silver front bumper with a winch on the front.

The truck also had a blue plywood homemade camper on the back.

The man is described as about five feet 6 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds.

Anyone who may know of his where-abouts is asked to contact the Kenora Detachment of the OPP.

Pilot identified in Cat Lake plane crash

A 50 year old Dryden man has been identified as the pilot of a plane that crashed near the remote community of Cat Lake.

The crash took place last Friday and a post-mortem was conducted on Mike Pateman yesterday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

He was the pilot of a Lockhart Air Cessna 310 that went while en route from Sioux Lookout to Cat Lake.

His two passengers have been identified as 46 year old Ronald Oombash from Cat Lake and 29 year old Dean Meekis of the Deer Lake First Nation.

]The OPP say the investigation into the cause of the crash is continuing.

More tree seedlings to be planted

The provincial government is planning to plant an additional 13.5 million tree seedlings next year.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle says they will be spending six million dollars to have the seedlings planted in the spring.

Gravelle says the seedlings will be planted next spring and summer in areas damaged by fire and blowdowns.

Drive Test strike drags on

People looking to get their driver's licence are not going to be behind the wheel any time soon.

Ontario's striking driver examiners, represented by the United Steelworkers, have rejected DriveTest's latest offer by 78 per cent.

Young Drivers of Canada Kenora Centre Director Maria Bagdonas says the strike is having an impact on local business.

Bagdonas adds its not fair that Southern Ontario has one Service Ontario office providing G1 tests while Northern Ontario is left out.

Council seeks parking solutions

Kenora City Council is still trying to decide where people with monthly parking passes on the south parking lot can go when the big tent goes up again next summer.

Council has agreed the tent should go up at least one more summer on the Harborfront.

Councillor Chris Van Wallenghem says they are looking at a number of different options, including allowing parking along the south side of Lakeview Drive to McLeod Park.

Council has ruled out a couple of other options, including building a new parking lot on the north side of Lakeview Drive, because they are too expensive for a short term problem.

Dryden New School

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board should know by next month whether it will be able to proceed with a new elementary school in Dryden.

Superintendant of Business Dean Carrie says they have been meeting with the contractor who submitted the orginal tender to build the school to find areaswhere they can reduce costs.

He says if Ministry of Education approves the new costs for construction,then they will bring the
tender to trustees for approval at their December meeting.

The project would start in the spring at the earliest.

The board rejected the initially tender back in June because it came in well above the funding they had available for the project.

School Property sold to City

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says its willing to sell a small parcel of land to the City of Kenora for one dollar.

The city had requested a 30 meter wide strip of land to help develop an urban trail system in the area.

In order to sell the property however, the public school board had to declare the property surplus and now has to offer its to other agencies, before it can formallysell it to the city.

The property runs along side Laurenson's Creek and is just outside the fencing surroundingKing George School.

All Day Kindergarten

The Keewatin Patricia District School Board will swear in a new nativetrustee next month.

Mary Anne Katchemonia from Eagle Lake First Nation was the only personto submit an application for the position.

Chair of the public school board, Dave Penney says they sent letters toevery first nation that they have tuition agreements with, asking fornominations.

He adds that they did receive two nominations that came after theirdeadline, so trustees agreed to appoint the Eagle Lake resident to theboard.

Snowmobile Registration

The City of Kenora's snowmobile and ATV committee is asking for council's support for proposed changes to the provincial trail permit system.

The committee wants the Ministry of Transportation to introduce snowmobile registration fees for District 17 of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.

Councillor Wendy Cuthbert says the fees would do away with the trail permitting system.

The registration fees would be forwarded to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs to be dispersed among District 17 snowmobile clubs to cover the cost of maintaining trails.

District 17 includes the communities of Kashabowie west to Thunder Bay and the Manitoba Border.

CAO Job Posting

The City of Kenora will soon have a vacancy for its Chief Administrative Officer.

Bill Presentanz has announced to council that he plans to step down next year.

Presentanz says he wanted to give the city lots of time to find a good replacement.

Presentanz is planning to retire before the new council is sworn in next fall.

He says they will post the job sometime before Christmas and hope to hire someone by next August.

Funding for Police Stations

Five remote communities in the Kenora Riding will be getting new police detachments thanks to a 20 million dollar announcement from the federal and provincial levels of government.

Cat Lake, Kasabonika, Wunnimun Lake, Pikangikum and Webequie will get anywhere from 1.3 to four million dollars for new construction.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle says the announcement comes as a result of recommendations into a coronor's inquest into the death of two inmates on the Kashechewan First Nation.

A total of 12 communities will receive funding for new police detachments,including seven served by the Nishinabe-Aski Police Service.

Jack Pine Budworm Infestation

The Ministry of Natural Resources says a jackpine budworm infestation inthe Kenora and Rainy River Districts over the past few years could pose a severe forest fire hazard in the next few years.

The MNR says in some areas, 90 to 100 percent of the jack pines have been killed off and are becoming an issue for fire crews.

Wildlife biologist, Scott Lockhart says the Auleneau Peninsula in Lake ofthe Woods has been particularly hard hit.

The MNR has been meeting with local municipalities to make them aware of the potential fire hazard and how they might need to respond if a major forest fire broke out in the region.

Rafferty on HST

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says there's still time to stop the harmonization of the provincial sales tax with the GST in Ontario.

Rafferty says it can be halted in the House of
Commons.

Rafferty says he's planning to tour the province in the new year as part of a campaign against the HST.

Holiday Train

Canadian Pacific's brightly decorated Holiday Train returns to Northwestern Ontario in early December.

The CP Holiday Train will be rolling into Ignace, Dryden and Kenora on Saturday, December 5th.

This year's entertainment includes alternative rock band The Odds and blues-rocker Shaun Verreault.

The holiday train raises food, money and awareness for food banks across Canada and the United States.

Mega Precious Metals

Drilling is underway at a Red Lake area mining property owned by Mega Precious Metals.

Several 3-thousand meter drill holes will test prospective zones adjacent to Goldcorp’s High Grade Gold Zone in the Red Lake gold camp.

The Headway gold property is located adjacent to Hwy 125, between the towns of Red Lake and Balmertown.

Canadian Arrow Mining

Canadian Arrow mines is continuing work on its Northwestern Ontario nickle property.

The Sudbury based company has started a diamond drilling program on its high priority Turtlepond area nickel-copper projects located 40 km south of Dryden.

The project consists of 2-thousand 5-hundred metres of drilling over six priority targets.

The Turtlepond area consists of three previously under-explored historic nickel-copper occurrences.

Fatal Crash Sunday

A 34-year-old man from Thunder Bay is dead following a collision last night on Highway 11, east of Hearst.

OPP say just after 9 o'clock, the driver of a pick-up truck heading east crossed the centre line and hit a tractor-trailer head on.

Todd Ketchabaw was pronounced dead at the scene.Police say road conditions were dry and clear at the time.

Homocide Pickle Lake

Pickle Lake OPP and Nishnawbe-Aski Police are looking for a suspect in a fatal stabbing in New Osnaburgh First Nation.

Officers arrived to the First Nation Sunday to find community members attempting to resuscitate an 18-year-old girl who was lying in the street.

Attempts failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are looking for leads in the case.

The name of the victim is being withheld at this time.

Suspended Drivers

Two people who didn't belong on the road have been charged by Dryden OPP.

Officers stopped a speeding vehicle on Highway 72 near Dinorwic and found that 54-year-old Elizabeth Keesick of Thunder Bay was a suspended driver.

OPP also stopped a vehicle on Highway 17 east of Dryden and an investigation revealed 21-year-old David Valkenburgh of Calgary was a suspended driver in Ontario.

Police seized the licence of both drivers.

DSSAB Levy

Municipalities in the Kenora District are being asked to cough up an extra 10 percent to cover social service costs this year.

The Kenora District Services Board has sent out a letter requesting the increase in levy.

Rory McMillan is chair of the district services board and says there are a couple of reasons for
the increase, including increased demand forOntario Works benefits.

McMillan says the recession is likely to blame for the increase in Ontario Works benefits.


The City of Kenora is being asked to contribute an extra 217 thousand dollars this year.

Plane Crash near Cat Lake First Nation

The Cat Lake First Nation in Northwestern Ontario is in mourning.

Two residents who ran the band's youth program were killed in a plane crash Friday night along with an experienced pilot from Lockhart Air Services.

The Cat Lake band's search co-ordinator Russell Wesley says Ronald Ombash and Dean Meekis both died in the crash.

Wesley says witnesses reported that the pilot aborted a landing at the Cat Lake airport and then crashed soon after.

OPP and the Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

The former owner of Lockhart Air Services says the pilot had been flying for 25 years, and the crash makes no sense.

The pilot is believed to be from Dryden but OPP have not released any of the names.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day Ceremonies are scheduled for this Wednesday.

Redditt, Kenora and Keewatin Legions will start theirs at 10:30.

The Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Command of Royal Canadian Legions Past President Roland Fissette says they're creating a history book about the legions in the region.

Anyone who has stories to tell about their service time with the military and their involvement in the legion is asked to submit them by March 31st, 2010.

For more information contact your local legion.

Of Love and War

You only have a couple of days left to check out the Lake of the Woods Museum's "Of Love and War" exhibit.

The stories of 10 Kenora war brides are on display through a variety of mediums.

Curator Lori Nelson says the exhibit will continue to run after Remembrance Day.

The last day to see the exhibit is this Saturday.

Kenora Thistles Weekend Results

It was a rough weekend on the road for the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles.

Friday night, Kenora was shut out 11-0 by the East Division leading Winnipeg Wild.

On Sunday, the Eastman Selects beat the Thistles 9-1.

The midgets will hope home ice will help them find the win column again when they play a
double header against Central Plains this weekend.

J and M Judo Club

Luke Heatherington earned himself a gold medal this past weekend competing in Ontario's
largest annual tournament held at RMC Kingston.

The 2009 Ontario Open attracted 600 competitors from across Canada & the USA.

Luke went 4&0 on the day to win his U17, under 66kg division.

Luke's team mate Ben Dennis also made the trip finishing 5th on the day.

J&M will travel to Winnipeg this upcoming weekend to compete in the annual St Bonniface Judo tournament.

Kenora Woman Assaulted

Kenora OPP are asking for the public's assistance after a womn was assaulted on the harbourfront.

Police says a woman walking her dog around 9 pm last Tuesday near the roundabout was attacked.

The woman was grabbed from behind and pushed to ground.

The assailant ran away when she screamed and the police were called.

The victim did not sustain any physical injuries.

Police are requesting the public's assistance to help identify her attacker.

The suspect is described as a First Nation's teen, with shoulder length hair, a thin build and standing at 5'7 to 5'9.

He was wearing a black sweatshirt and black cotton pants at the time.

If anyone has information they are asked to contact the OPP at 548-5534 or Crimestoppers.

Whitefish Bay Immunization Clinics

Whitefish Bay First Nation Chief Warren White is pleased with the turn out to his communities most recent flu shot clinic.

Almost all of the community attended and received their H1N1 flu shot.

White says he also commends the Assembly of First Nation Chief Shawn Atleo for attending
their Public Health Day celebrations.

White says they received 400 doses of the vaccine and they expect to receive more to cover the rest of the community.

Missing wood

Dryden OPP are looking for the person responsible for stealing timber from Crown land.

Police say the timber was removed from the April Lake Road area, north of Vemilion Bay.

The wood is believed to have been taken around October 14th.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dryden OPP or Crimestoppers.

Plane Crash near Cat Lake First Nation

3-people have been killed in a plane crash about 20-kilometres from Cat Lake First Nation.

An official at CFB Trenton says the wreckage was spotted by the crew of a Hercules airplane from the base on Sunday evening.

Search and rescue technicians jumped from a Griffon Helicopter to the scene.

The Lockhart Air Service charter plane with 3-people aboard left Sioux Lookout for Cat Lake on Friday.

The plane was reported overdue late that evening and a search was launched.

No word yet on the identities of the victims.

Good Weather Coming

Good news for people who hate the cold, but not good news for skiiers and snowmobilers.

Environment Canada has come out with its three month forecast and it calls for both warmer and drier than normal conditions.

Climatologist Geoff Coulson says as an added bonus the balmy weather we have been experiencing should stick around a little longer.

Coulson says they will be adjusting their winter forecast once again at the beginning of December.

Rafferty supports scrapping long gun registry

Northwestern Ontario New Democrats want the law repealed, but there leader says his party will defend the long run registry when it reaches the committee level.

M-P's John Rafferty and Bruce Hyer were among opposition members who supported a Conservative private members bill Wednesday.

Rafferty says despite Jack Layton's views, he'll still listen to his members.

Rafferty says opposition support for the bills is a realization that most Canadians want the gun registry abolished.

Whitefish Bay Public Health Day

The Chief of the Dhalles First Nation heralded an aboriginal made health care system for area first nations.

Lorraine Cobiness spoke at the Kenora Chiefs Council's first ever public health day, and told participants that health care starts in the community.

Cobiness notes the health care system should incorporate elders, traditional medicine and how to maintain healthy lifestyles.

Headwaters Groundbreaking

Qualico has broken ground on its Headwaters condominium project on Tunnel Island.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning with company and city officials on hand.

Barry Hedgecock is heading up the project for Qualico and says they have sold enough units to begin construction, and isn't worried about the lack of sales so far.

The first building, which will have 10 condo units is slated to be completed by next summer.

About 90 units in all are expected to be built over the next four to five years.

Houston Lake Mining Update

Houston Lake Mining is pleased with its recent results from its Dubenski property.

President and C.E.O. Grayme Anthony says the results have exceeded their expectations and increased the indicated mineral reosource by 84 percent.

Anthony adds that since the gold resource is near surface, they've only just started to reveal the real potential at the Dubenski property.

The property is considering a second drilling program on the property.

United Reef Limited

United Reef Limited is buying five mining claims in the Kenora Mining District.

The claims take up 435 acres of land and are located 45 kms south east of Dryden.

The Santa Maria Project lies within the Eagle-Wabigoon-Manitou Lakes Greenstone Belt, and has gold and quartz properties.

Inititial work on the property is expected to continue into the coming months.

Royal Agricultural Fair

Northern Ontario will have a strong presence at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

The annual event, now in its 87th year, showcases Canada's agricultural industry.

CEO Bill Bill Duron says the fair has led to some success for northern Ontario producers who attend.

The fair opens Friday and runs through to the middle of the month.

Royal Agricultural Fair

Northern Ontario will have a strong presence at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

The annual event, now in its 87th year, showcases Canada's agricultural industry.

CEO Bill Bill Duron says the fair has led to some success for northern Ontario producers who attend.

The fair opens Friday and runs through to the middle of the month.

Dryden Theft Ring

Three people face charges after Dryden Police broke up an internal theft ring.

Officers arrested the trio after searching a Highway 502 home and a Boyd Road residence.

Police recovered more then 12-thousand dollars worth of merchandise stolen from a local business.

20-year-old James Anthony Shearer and 18-year-old Geoffery Shearer have been charged with possession of stolen property, theft over 5-thousand dollars and posession of property obtained by crime.

28-year-old Adrian Piche has been charged with possession of stolen property.

Most of the goods were taken from a local store where Geoffery was employed.

Northwestern Ontario Agriculture Study

A new study on agriculture in northwestern Ontario shows the industry in the Rainy River district is strong.

The study reports the industry generated more than 13-million dollars in agri-related business in the district and created over 300 jobs in 2008.

Author Don Murray says the Rainy River district also showed an increase in the amount of land used for farming over the past forty years.

Murray says the presence of a research station and new abatoir bode well for the future of agriculture in the district.

Hampton on Buchanan

Criticism in the legislature yesterday over the lack of severance pay given to employees with the Buchanan Group of Companies.

Kenora-Rainy River NDP MPP Howard Hampton told the house while the forest company received millions of dollars from the government, none of it went to laid-off workers.

Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle did not say if the government would force the company to comply with provincial laws, but say it is working with those impacted.

Long Gun Registry Rickford

A private members bill calling for the repeal of the federal long gun registry has crossed another hurdle.

Members of Parliament voted in favour of scrapping the legislation this week.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says was good to see members of otherparties vote in favour of the Conservative motion.

Rickford says the bill still has to go before a parliamentary committeefor review and possible revision, before its goes to a third and finalvote.

AFN Chief Visits Whitefish Bay

Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo was impressed with his visit to the Treaty Three Community of Whitefish Bay.

Atleo was in the first nation yesterday for the Kenora Chiefs Advisory's first Public Health Day.

The new National Chief says he was pleased to see the preparedness and cooperation in the first nation community.

Atleo also unveilled the AFN's Influenza Surveillance Guide for all first nation communities across Canada.

The plan includes a checklist for schools, and helps teachers keep track of students showing signs of influenza.

Hospital Surplus

A good turn around for Lake of the Woods District Hospital financially.

The hospital is reporting a surplus of 484 thousand dollars in the first six months of the 2009/2010 fiscal year.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen believes the surplus isa credit to their staff rather than a third party review conducted last year.

At this point last year, the hospital had a modest surplus of 412 thousand dollars.

Kenora Waterline Construction

Construction of a new submarine waterline between Kenora and Norman has been completed.

Work began late this summer and wrapped up recently.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says employees of Galcon Marine are still on site mapping the current location of the waterline on the lake bed.

He adds that the two million dollar submarine water line is in use and carrying water to Tunnel Island, Norman and Keewatin.

AFN Chief Visits NWO

The new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations will be paying his first visit to theTreaty Three area today.

Shawn Atleo is scheduled to spend a couple of hours on the Whitefish Bay First Nation.

He'll tour the community with Chief Warren White and take part in Public Health Day Activities.

Atleo will also attend a public vaccination clinic and a noon-hour feast.

Atleo was elected national chief this summer.

RCMP Drug Seizure

The RCMP in eastern Manitoba say they have seized about 700 marijuana plants with a street value of about 700 thousand dollars.

Police raided a former business last Friday in the tiny community of Elma, which is about 60 kilometers northwest of Falcon Lake.

Sergeant Glen Reitlo said a prior grow-op investigation at a property in the rural municipality of Lac du Bonnet in September led police to raid the Elma location.

RCMP said two men were arrested in connection with the most recent seizure.

Flu Clinics Kenora

Residents in the Kenora-Rainy River area seem to be heeding the advice of local health officials in getting their H-1-N-1 flu shot.

Director of Health Protection for the Northwestern Health Unit Arlene Lesenke says numbers for the first week alone exceeded expectations.

Lasinski says there have been some changes to its flu clinic schedule with local offices offering additional clinics as required.

A flu clinic is being held today and tomorrow at the Kenora Rec. Centre.

Failing Plant Minnesota

A failing sewage treatment plant in Williams, Minnesota is threatening to dump thousands of gallons of raw sewage into Lake of the Woods.

The treatment plant is only nine years old, but city officials says they can't afford the one-point-million dollars needed to fix a tank holding the raw sewage which is heavily corroded and has
started to leak

The city contends faulty material is to blame while the engineering firm that designed the plant believes chemicals being added by the city of two-hundred to the treatment process is contributing to the corrosion.

Adoption Month

November is Adoption Awareness Month in Ontario, and Kenora-Patricia Family Services says its in need of more parents interested in adopting a child.

Marge Matheson is a spokesperson for the local Children's Aid society and says they provide training and support for people who might want to adopt.

Matheson says there are currently 20 children that are wards of the crown that are in need of adoption.

Rainbow Health Ontario

David Belrose has been appointed as Northwestern Ontario's representative for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered group Rainbow Health Ontario.

Belrose says they want to raise awareness in the region that there is a LBGT community.

The Rainbow Health Ontario group wants to improve health care services for the LBGT community.

Kenora Landfill Compactor

It could be a few more weeks before the City of Kenora can begin hauling municipal waste out to the Jones Road Landfill site.

Council approved the purchase of a Caterpillar landfill compactor at a meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Councillor Dave McCann says they need the machinery before they can start sending garbage out to the landfill site.

The landfill compactor will cost about 238 thousand dollars, and the city is spending another 87 thousand dollars to construct a building to house the equipment.

Long Gun Registry Repeal

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is applauding a vote in the House ofCommons to repeal the Federal Long Gun Registry.

Second reading of a private members bill was passed yesterday afternoon.

Greg Ferrant is a spokesperson for the OFAH and says while they won the battle, they haven't won the war yet.

The bill still has to go before a commons committee for review, but Ferrant says the legislations seems to have some momentum now.

Mavis Lake Mining

TNR Gold Corp. and International Lithium Gold Corp. are teaming up to work on a Dryden area mining property.

The duo are staking the Mavis Lake rare metals property located 15 km northeast of Dryden.

The company accquired more claims because of high grades of lithium found on the property.

Further work is expected to take place in the coming months.

Nuisance Bears Fort

Animal control officials in Fort Frances say it appears the bears are heading into their dens to hibernate for the winter.

Animal control officer Arlene Byrnes says only 32 nuisance bears have been reported since June.

She says the most recent report was on October 18th, meaning the nuisance bear season is winding down.

But residents are being urged not to leave garbage out that could attract bears.

Terrace Bay Speeding

Many Terrace Bay residents say they get the willies trying to cross the town's main drag, which happens to be the Trans-Canada Highway.

In the last few months, police have stopped more than a few vehicles travelling at nearly double the in-town speed limit of 60-kilometres an hour.

The latest incident occurred Sunday morning when police clocked a car at 110 kilometres an hour.

Mayor Mike King says Terrace Bay is just a little town, but that doesn't give people the right to mow down residents.

Thunder Bay Stolen Plane

A 31-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced to 2-years in federal prison for stealing a plane in Thunder Bay and flying over 3-states before landing along a dark southern Missouri highway.

Adam Leon had admitted in August to all federal charges he'd faced; interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft, importation of a stolen aircraft and illegal entry.

He told the court he suffered from depression.

Gun Registry

A Conservative M-P from Manitoba says she's a dozen votes away from having the support she needs to kill the long-gun registry.

Candice Hoeppner believes she has secured commitments from 12 opposition M-P's to put the minority Tory government over the top and send the legislation to third reading.

It comes to a vote in the Commons later today.

The bill seeks to gut the decade-old registry and destroy existing data within the system on about seven- million shotguns and rifles.

Beaver Brae Court Sports Results

The Beaver Brae Bronco's hosted the Dryden Eagles yesterday in court sports action.

Dryden's Senior Girls Basketball team beat the Broncos 34 to 31.

The Eagle's Junior Girls team defeated the Bronco's 45 to 27.

In Senior Boys Volleyball...
Beaver Brae beat Dryden 3-nothing

In Junior Boys Volleyball...
The Eagles beat Beaver Brae 3 nothing.

Kenora SIJHL Player

Colton Kennedy of the Fort Frances Lakers is the SIJHL Player of the Month for October.

The Kenora native scored 9-goals and added 9-helpers in 9-games last month.

Kennedy currently leads the Lakers in all offensive categories.

Meantime, the National Junior Rankings have been released with only 1 SIJHL team in the top 20.

The Fort William North Stars dropped 4-spots, to sit in 18th place in the Nation.Kingston maintained their number one position.

Abitibi Pensions

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union will be holding a couple of meetings in Kenora and Fort Frances next week to update former and present AbitibiBowater employees about talks to protect their pensions.

On Monday, members of the CEP met with Ontario's forestries minister, Michael Gravelle about protecting their pensions.

Kim Ginter says they want to update their membership on how talks with AbitibiBowater and provincial governments have been going.

The Kenora meeting will take place at the Best Western Lakeside Inn next Monday at 7 PM.

New Flu Clinic Location Kenora

The Northwestern Health Unit is changing the location for this week's H1N1 flu clinics.

Initially they had been scheduled to take place at the Norman Community Club, but they are now slated to take place at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The clinics will be for people considered at high risk of contracting theswine flu.

The next clinic will take place on Thursday from 10 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening.

There will also be one on Friday from 10 until 3:00 in the afternoon.

Both will take place at the Rec. Center.

Take our kids to work day

You might notice a few younger faces in local work places today.

Its the annual Take Our Kids to Word Day across Canada, and inKenora more than 20 local businesses are taking part.

Nicole Kurtz is a guidance councillor at St. Thomas Aquinas and saysthey've had a very good response to the program.

Kurtz says Lake of the Woods District Hospital is also getting involvedthis year with a special program for grade nine students interested ina career in the medical field.

New Fingerprinting Technology

A business that provides security services has opened a Northern Ontario office in Sudbury.

The Commissionaires office will provide state of the art digital fingerprinting for all of Northwestern Ontario.

Spokesperson Paul Guidon says it will be a quicker ID and fingerprinting service.

The Commissionaires office is accredited by the RCMP and can link securely and directly to their network.

Drugs in Car

Kenora OPP came across a vehicle left in a ditch on the Jones Road on Halloween.

Police found a large amount of marihuana and other drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle.

20 year old Tristan Hales of Kenora has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Hales will appear in Kneora cour on January 18th to answer the charge.

Airport Drugs

OPP and Nishnawbe-Aski Police continue to put their foot down on drug trafficking to remote Northern First Nations.

Police conducted 2-separate drug investigations last Thursday at the Thunder Bay Airport.

Officers seized 349-percocet pills, worth nearly 14-thousand dollars.

The drugs were destined for Fort Hope and Webequei First Nations.

A total of 5-people were arrested.

Flu Northwestern Ontario

The H1N1 flu virus has claimed its first lives in Northwestern Ontario.

2-Thunder Bay residents, a man and a woman, have died of the flu.The Thunder Bay District Health Unit says both had underlying health conditions.

In Dryden, there are no confirmed cases of H1N1.

Vaccine clinics are being held in Atikokan, Dryden and Sioux Lookout today if you have an appointment.

Clinics will be held in Kenora on Thursday and Friday at the Norman Community Club.

Drug Charge

A complaint regarding an eastbound vehicle on Highway 17 resulted in drug charges laid against a Winnipeg woman.

Dryden OPP were called and stopped the vehicle in the City.

Officers located a quantity of cocaine and charged the passenger, 23-year-old Angela Hamilton with possession of cocaine.

Speed Racer

An Alberta man has an extended stay in Northwestern Ontario.

OPP stopped a vehicle on Highway 17 doing 146-kilometres in a 70-zone in the Town of Igance.

Police stopped 38-year-old Mark Mahaussier of Eckville and charged him with racing a motor vehicle.

He had his licence and vehicle seized for 7-days.

Fatal Accident

The name of a Winnipeg Man who died in Sunday's fatal accident on Highway 17 near Kenora has been identified.

64 year old Alfred Barra was operating his tractor trailer west bound on hwy 17 when he failed to negotiate a corner.

Barra's transport hit a rock cut, and the Winnipeg man died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

Impaired Driver

A Kenora resident helped nab a drunk driver Monday night.

Kenora OPP say a local driver took evasive action to avoid a collision with another vehicle on 5th Street South.

Police heard that the citizen spoke to the irratic driver and came to the opinion that she had been drinking.

Police were called and after speaking with the driver determined that she was impaired.

44 year old Debra Assin of Grassy Narrows was charged with impaired driving.

Assin will attend Kenora court on December 14th to answer the charge.

Crime Prevention Week

It's Crime Prevention Week in Ontario.

The Kenora OPP will be holding a number of seminars on prevention and community involvement.

Constable Dave Cain says this year's theme was "Prevention Pays."

Home security, travelling safety, seniors issues and stranger danger will be promoted through out this week.

Weather Review

The month of October was a big contrast to our September to remember.

Last month was cooler and cloudier than normal.

Environment Canada Climatologist, Geoff Coulson says much of ourprecipitation last month actually fell in the form of snow.

Coulson says Kenora usually sees about 54 millimeters of precipitationin October.

The average temperature last month was 3.7 degrees , which is about1.5 degrees below normal.

Auto Insurance Reform

The opposition is taking the McGuinty government to task for its insurance reform package.

Finance minister Dwight Duncan suggests the reforms will see insurance premiums fall for some motorists.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says lowering coverage is not a good way of dealing with double digit hikes in premiums.

The provincial government is proposing more than 40 revisions to auto insurance regulations to give consumers options to reduce their premiums.

Highway 17/71 Accident

The Trans Canada Highway is open to both lanes of traffic again.

OPP responded to a single vehicle crash near the Highway 17/71 junction near Kenora yesterday.

Traffic was lined up in Vermillion Bay and just outside of the turn off to Highway 71.

The highway was opened and closed throughout the day as police cleared debris from that section of highway.

The OPP are investigating the cause of the transport crash.

Recycling Program AMO

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is applauding a discussion paper bythe provincial government which recommends that manufacturers take over 100 percent of recycling costs.

Currently, industry is responsible for 50 percent of blue box programs.

Peter Hume is president of AMO and says local taxpayers should never had been responsible for recycling costs in the first place.

In the City of Kenora, recycling costs are the main reason there is a deficit in the Solid Waste budget.

Hume says he would like the provincial government to implement the recommendations in the discussion paper as quickly as possible.

Grassy Narrows Charges Dropped

Charges have been dropped against a Grassy Narrows woman for building two cabins on crown land.

Roberta Keesick has built the cabins, without a permit, on her trapline north of Kenora.

Keesick says its a relief to have the charges dropped.

Keesick was charged in March of 2007 and the Crown Prosecutor in Red Lake decided to drop all charges last week.

She says she has not been given an explanation why the crown decided not to pursue the case.

Water Levels

Despite all the rain this week, water levels on Lake of the Woods Control Board continue to drop.

Water levels went down about one inch in the past seven days and the Lake of the WoodsControl board says the lake should drop another one or two inches in the next week.

The Control Board has been working to draw water levels down before freeze up.

Outflow remains steady at 410 cubic meters per second.

Gun Registry

The Conservatives are launching a publicity blitz to help kill the Federal gun registry.

The Tories are targetting specific ridings, aimed at twisting the arm of key MP's who might give them the votes they need to eliminate the registry.

They are buying radio ads in largely rural areas, urging listeners to flood their MPs with calls and emails to vote for a Conservtive Bill next week.

The ads stress the importance of protecting the rural way of life.With the gun registry up for a free vote, the Tories need only a handful of MP's to switch sides in order for the private member's bill to pass.

Opponents of the registry complain that it unfairly hassles honest hunters and owners of long guns, while doing nothing to stop criminals.

Crimestoppers Update

The new executive director of Northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota Crimestoppers says the program is as strong as its ever been.

Doug Anderson has been meeting with police, media and other community members.

Anderson says he's pleased with the program's response both in northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota.

Anderson says part of his role is to help bring more community awareness and support for the Crimestoppers program.

Fire Season Wrap Up

There hasn't been a lot of activity for Ministry of Natural ResourcesFire Ranger Crews in recent weeks.

The fire season officially draws to a close on October 31st in northwestern Ontario.

Fire Information Officer Debbie McLean says even though theweather has been very wet this week, its still possible forwild fires to start.

McLean says MNR staff are investigating one new fire this week thatstarted west of Clearwater Bay.

The 0.1 hectare blaze was human caused.