Friday, August 14, 2009

AYA Saturday

For the second weekend in a row, Lake of the Woods will be playing host to a major fishing tournament.

26 teams are entered in the Angler Young Angler fish derby.

Each team is made up of one adult and two children.

Michelle Trudeau is one of the people responsible for organizing theevent and says teams are coming from across North America to fish.

Fishing will begin Saturday morning at 8:30, with final weigh-instaking place at 3:30 on the Kenora Harborfront.

Gilles Bisson Mining Act

The McGuinty Government has set a September 7th deadline for amendments to the Ontario Mining Act.

Northern Ontario MPP Gilles Bisson is outraged as public consultations have just commenced.

Speaking in Sioux Lookout, the NDP member stated they need more time to gather public input.

Bisson is calling on the Liberals to extend the deadline.

MNR watching Lightning

A lightning show on Wednesday night has the Ministry of Natural Resources keeping a close eye on the fire situation in Northwestern Ontario.

Over a thousand lightning strikes were reported.

Information Officer Debbie McLean says they'll monitor the strikes for any possible fires in the coming days.

McLean says if new fires are being reported they will have enough staff and equipment on hand to deal with them.

Another contingent of fire fighting personel from the region was sent to B.C. yesterday.

Compton on AMO

The federal Transport Minister is being urged to establish a central aircraft registry in Canada.

Kenora Mayor Len Compton has been lobbying for such an agency for several years and is hoping to get a meeting with federal officals in Ottawa next week.

Compton says the United States has had such registry for over 80 years.

Compton suggests Kenora would be a perfect location for such an agency due to its central location.

He'll be in Ottawa next week for the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention.

Rescue North

Rescue North is in need of funds to run its animal shelter.

The charity organization relies on donations from the public, and recently asked Kenora City Council to partner with them in their shelter endeavours.

Spokesperson Jamie Penny says they need a concrete answer from Council by the end of the month, or they will be forced to shut their doors.

Council has decided to create a committee to look at animal control operations within the city and whether it will partner with Rescue North.

Red Lake Water Levels

Water levels in the Red Lake area are at their highest in more than 30-years.

The record levels could lead to shoreline property damage according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Sections of the Red Lake shoreline are underwater and susceptible to errosion.

Boaters should be on the lookout for floating debris.

Thanks to the heavy rainfall this Summer, more water is entering the system than can be released by the control dam at Snowshoe Rapids.

Sandbags are available free-of-charge at the Red Lake Public Works Yard.

Keewatin Beach Closure

All the rain this week is starting to play havoc with local beaches.

Run-off from Wednesday's heavy rainfall had led to high bacterial counts at Keewatin Beach.

The Northwestern Health Unit has posted the beach as unsafe for swimming.

The Health Unit says it will continue routine sampling of the water at Keewatin Beach, but it will remain closed until samples show lower bacterial counts.