Friday, September 18, 2009

TransCanada Fatal

A 29-year-old Winnipeg man is charged with a non-criminal offence following an accident in northern Ontario that left one man dead.

A pick-up truck crashed into a small car on Highway 17 on Wednesday, about 50 kilometres east of White River.

The crash killed the car driver -- 46-year-old Alexander Duffittof Fox Creek, Alberta.

The pick-up driver -- who was charged with ``drive left of centre'' -- and two other men suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Bears Fort Frances

Black bears not expected to go into hibernation for at least another month and Fort Frances residents are being warned to watchout for prowling bruins.

Bylaw enforcement officer Arlene Byrnes says numbers are on parwith last year.

By the time bears started going into hibernation last October, the town had received a total of 40 reports.

Byrnes says residents should avoid attracting bears to their property by doing things such as picking apples have fallen off trees and can attract bears.

Abitibi Bowater

Fort Frances couldn't be spared from the latest cost cutting measures announced by Abitibi-Bowater.

The Montreal-based company is halting production at its commercial printing paper plant in Fort Frances effective October 31st.

A total of 75 employees will be impacted.

It is one of four operations across the country to be shutdown.

Schools Building Schools

Schools building schools.

That's the new program being put on by Rotary and area highschools.

St. Thomas Aquinas Chaplin Dean Woodbeck says he's happy to help fundraise for a new school in Guatamala.

Dryden Highschool and Queen Elizabeth High School in Sioux Lookout will also be fundraising for the project.

Greyhound Rickford

Kenora MP Greg Rickford is hopeful a resolution will be reached between the Provincial Governments and Greyhound Canada.

The bus company stated that they are having meaningful dialogue with the Manitoba Government.

Rickford says they are encouraging the Ontario Government to do the same.

The bus company's recent threat was aimed at squeezing 15 million dollars a year in subsidies out of the provincial governments.

Greyhound hopes to talk with the Ontario government soon, warning it could still pull the plug in December if things don't work out.

Pandemic Planning

Schools in the Kenora area are bracing for an increase in flu activity this fall.

The Northwestern Health Unit has set up a pandemic planning team to try and prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Director of Education with the Kenora Catholic District School Board, Phylis Aikre says they are doing their best to be prepared.

Aikre says they are no considering any school closures this year due to thethreat of the Swine Flu.

She adds that they have been asked to contact the Health Unit if more than10 percent of a school's population comes down with the flu.

EQAO Results KPDSB

Mixed results for local schools in the most recent Education, Quality and Accountability reading, writing and math tests.

Almost every elementary school in the Kenora area saw its math test scores improve, with the public andseparate school boards seeing their results exceed the provincial standard.

Larry Hope is the director of education with the public school board and says for the most part they are pleased with the progress they've seen.

The results show an increase of six percent in grade three math results compared to last year in the public school system.