Rickford upset over Gun vote

Kenora MP Greg Rickford is one upset individual.

Rickford says he's upset that Northern Ontario NDP members didn't vote to abolish the contraversial long-gun registry.

Rickford says Constituents want to see the end of the wasteful registry and they thought they had voted for candidates that would stand up for their needs and do the right thing.

He notes NDP members were whipped by Leader Jack Layton.

Thunder-Rainy River MP John Rafferty was a no show during the vote.

Rafferty says he wasn't in the House because he was busy with forestry business and the vote came just before a CUPE meeting he had.

The opposition motion to maintain the registration passed in the Commons by a 7-vote margain.

Disaster Conference Popular

The Canadian Red Cross believes Northwestern Ontario is ahead of the curve when it comes to dealing with a disaster.

Provincial Director John Saunders addressed delegates attending the Northwest Response Forum in Dryden Thursday and notes the cooperation between agency's is impressive.

However, Saunders says there's always a way to do things better and that's why hosting a disaster management Conference is so important.

 

 

Applications up for Med School

There's a lot of interest in the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

The school says its received more than 18-hundred first-year applications looking for one of 56 spots at either the Thunder Bay or Sudbury campuses.

Nearly 4-hundred of them have already received interviews.

Letters of acceptance will be issued next month.

Home Show this weekend

The Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce is holding its 23rd Home and Trade Show this weekend.

President Dwayne Yaremko says this is first time they have run the event by themselves.

Yaremko notes they have over 200 exhibitors taking part in this year's event.

The home and trade show will start this evening and run til Sunday.

Beaver Trapping

The City of Kenora is re-newing its agreement with the Kenora Trappers
Council to deal with nuicence beavers.

The agreement takes effect in mid-May and runs through mid-September.

Councillor Dave McCann says the agreement is beneficial to the city
because it can potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars in
road repairs caused by dams bursting.

He says last year the Trappers Council captured 21 beaver, and the
year before, they had as many as 41. 

Weyerhaeuser wants Whiskey Jack Forest

Weyerhaeuser says its prepared to wait as long as it takes for a
Co-operative Forest License to be developed for the Whisky Jack Forest.

The new license was supposed to be ready by April 1st, but negotiations
with Grassy Narrows are on-going.

Wayne Rosnowski is a spokesperson for Weyerhaeuser and says while they need the fiber from the Whiskey Jack forest for their I-Level Timberstrand Mill in Kenora, they're continuing to work
with the MNR and area first nations.

In the meantime, the Minister of Natural Resources confirmed this week
that Weyerhaeuser will continue to have access to wood from the Kenora
Forest for the timberstrand mill. 

Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls Budget

Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls Budget              07:41:24

 Good news for property owners in Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls.

Town council there passed its 2009 budget this week and it calls for
a 12 percent decrease in the mill rate.

Bill Thompson is mayor of the community and says combined with education taxes, the overall reduction in the tax rate will be closer to
10 percent.

Thompson says they decided to reduce taxes this year because there
was such a big jump in assessments in lakefront property from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.