Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Aggravated Assault

The OPP have arrested a 33 year old man in connection to a disturbance over the weekend at a Railway Street residence.

Police were called out Saturday night to investigate an alleged assault.

Marshall Morrison from Big Island habeen charged with aggravated assault after one person was taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in an altercation.

The OPP say they are continuing the investigation.

Missing Man Manitoba

The RCMP in Manitoba are searching for a man believed to be missing in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Early Sunday morning, police say they received reports of someone who seemed to be struggling in the water near the campground in Big Whiteshell Lake.

Later in the morning, a canoe was found floating in the lake with no-one around.

The canoe had been submerged with a few personal effects around.

The Winnipeg Police Underwater Search and Recovery Unit has been brought in to help search the lake for the missing person.

Police say a 20 year old Winnipeg man has been reported missing by his family, but his name is not being released at this time.

OPP Long Weekend Results

A busy weekend for the OPP on local roads and highways.

Officers were out in force over the Labor Day Long weekend cracking down on agressive drivers.

A total of 165 speeding tickets were issued, along with one charge of following too close, three for disobeying traffic signs, and two seat belt infractions.

The OPP also pulled over one person for impaired driving.

There were eight minor motor vehicle collisions investigated as well.

Drunk Driving

A Manitoba man encountered a different type of hazard on Beauty Bay Golf Course in Kenora.

Police and Ambulance personnel were called to the course Sunday morning around 5 o'clock.

Someone was thrown from a golf cart and required medical attention.

OPP say the driver of the cart was impaired and he was taken into custody.

The 20-year-old from Woodridge was charged with impaired operation.

Hospital Annual Planning Submissions

The Lake of the Woods Hospital is starting to work on its annual planning submissions for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

The board must have the plans in the hands of the Northwest Local Health Integration Network by November 30th.

C.E.O. Marc Balcaen says its going to be difficult to balance their budget.

Balcaen notes they've already started talking to fellow hospitals, the LHIN and their staff.

NDP Cameron

The New Democrats say they would consider supporting the Harper government in certain circumstances.

The Liberals say they're ready to pull the plug on the minority Conservative government.

NDP candidate in the Kenora Riding, Tania Cameron says they have basic social issues they want the government to address.

A non-confidence motion could come as early as the first week of October.

Amalgamation Costs School Board

The Ministry of Education has provided a funding projection for the 3 schools that have been amalgamated with the local public school board.

The Keewatin Patricia District School Board should get almost 3 million dollars to offset the costs of running the additional facilities.

Superintendent of Finance Dean Carrie says they will be reviewing the financial records for those schools and establishing 2009-2010 operating budgets.

Carrie says the funding is sufficent; but notes the Ministry projection does not include any extra funding to offer new programs at the schools.

Accomodation Review Schools Kenora

The Keewatin Patricia District School Board is reviewing the enrollment and accommodation needs at its five elementary schools in Kenora.

The first step in the lengthy process is to establish what community stakeholders should be involved.

Superintendent of Finance Dean Carrie says there will be a sizeable contingent of school board officials and staff on the committee.

The committee will decide if any of the schools should be closed; if new facilities need to be built and what the impacts will be on the local community.

Drive Test Talks Resume

DriveTest and the United Steel Workers, which represents driving examiners across the province, are slated to resume negotiations this morning.

Jim Young, president of Local 9511, says it remains to be seen how long this rounds of talks will last.

Job security is the key issue at the table.

The strike affects all 55 full-time DriveTest locations and 38 part-time centres -- the only facilities that grant licences to novice drivers and renew licences for motorists over 80.

Bears

The Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen's Alliance says more cubs are being orphaned or killed now because of fatal nuisance bear encounters than before the cancellation of the spring bear hunt.

The group says that Ministry of Natural Resources statistics collected before and after the hunt's cancellation show the annualharvest of bears has been reduced by nearly a third.

Prior to the cancellation of the spring bear hunt, hunters killed an average of 68-hundred bears a year.

But during the next two five-year periods following the hunt's cancellation, hunters shot an average of 48-hundred and 56-hundred bears, respectively.

The ministry has blamed the upswing in bear-human encounters on a lack of summer food, and on people attracting bears into their yards with garbage, greasy barbecue grills and full bird feeders.

Speedy Trucker

A 45-year-old Sault Ste. Marie trucker truckeris facing a stunt-driving charge.

OPP say they clocked a transport truck at more than 50 kilometres an hour over the posted speed limit on Sunday near Schreiber.

Police say the westbound transport was going 142 in a 90-zone on Highway 17.

The truck's driver had his licence suspended for 7-days and his transport was impounded for 7-days.

Northwestern Ontario Greyhound



Ontario's minister for the north says Greyhound's threat tocancel bus service in northwestern Ontario is ``a great concern.''

But Michael Gravelle is still hopeful a bailout won't be necessary to keep the buses on the roads.

Greyhound says unless the government coughs up 15 million dollars in subsidies, it'll close routes in northwestern Ontario and Manitoba this fall.

It has already suspended some routes but Transportation MinisterJim Bradley says other bus companies are picking up the slack.