Monday, October 5, 2009

Mental Health Week

Mental Health Week is being observed by the Canadian Mental Health Association with this year’s theme being "invest in yourself".

CMHA spokesperson Debbie Baldwin says positive mental health enables us to resist stress, take opportunities and tackle challenges.

Baldwin notes they'll be spreading the word about their services during mental health week 2009.

Mental Health Week runs October 5th to 9th.

Confederation College Votes

Voting will take place this week at Confederation College campuses across the region for part-tim support staff.

The issue is whether the workers should belong to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

Spokesperson for the college workers Richard Belleau says they were only given the right to join a union recently.

Voting will take place in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout on Tuesday, and Fort Frances on Wednesday.

The certifcation vote is scheduled to wrap up across the province at the end of this month.

H1N1 Flu Update

There appears to be a second wave of the HINI breaking outin southern Ontario.

That's the suggestion from Dr. David Williams, the AssociateMedical Officer of Health for the province.

Williams was in Kenora last week meeting with health unitstaff and says they are still awaiting results on the suspected cases.

The Minister of Health is urging the federal government torelease the vaccine for the HINI virus sooner rather than later.

The shots are expected to be ready until early November.

Water Levels

With winter starting to close in, water levels are starting to decline on Lake of the Woods.

The Lake of the Woods Control Board says levels went down more than an inch this past weekand is expected to drop another two to four inches over the next seven days.

Outflow has increased slightly in recent days, with 485 cubic meters per second flowing through the Norman Dam into the Winnipeg River.

Boil Water Advisory

Another boil water advisory has been put in place in parts of the City of Kenora.

Homes, businesses, and facilities located in Tunnel Island, Norman, and Keewatin are asked to
boil their water for at least a full minute before consuming it.

The Lake of the Woods District Hospital is also affected by the advisory.

The Northwestern Health Unit has determined that the safety of the drinking water cannot be guaranteed at this time.

The advisory will remain in effect until further notice.

Grassy Narrows Court

The Ontario Superior Court in Toronto will start hearing evidence today in the Grassy Narrows First Nation's fight against logging.

The northwestern Ontario First Nation is challenging the province's right to give industrial logging the green light when Grassy Narrows says the logging interferes with its treaty rights.

Last year, forest industry giant AbitibiBowater pulled out of theWhiskey Jack Forest north of Kenora.

The company said it couldn't wait four more years for theprovince and the Grassy Narrows First Nation to agree on logging practices.

Northwestern Ontario Bears

The Ontario government says complaints about nuisance black bearswon't bring back the spring bear hunt.

Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield says there's noevidence to support the claims of more nuisance bears in northernand central Ontario.

She says it's no surprise there have been more complaints becausethe government's Bear Wise program encourages reporting.

A and W Landing

The Ministry of Defence is launching an investigation into the landing of a Canadian Forces helicopter in Kenora.

Defence Ministry Spokesperson Dan Dugas says they're trying to determine why the landing happened.

On Thursday, a Canadian Military Helicopter touched down in the parking lot across from A&W for a food run.

Dugas says at no time during the landing or takeoff was there a danger to the public's safety.

Layton HST

NDP Leader Jack Layton is taking his campaign for Employment Insurance reform to Northwestern Ontario.

Layton was in Thunder Bay on a tour of the region on Saturday to meet with local workers and ask them what they need from the Employment Insurance system.

At a press conference he also discussed the possibility of a harmonized sales tax and Layton said Prime Minister Stephen Harper would put eight more cents on the dollar.

Layton asked why the legislation has to go through the House of Commons in order for the tax to be passed if the HST is a provincial decision.

Police Training

The entire Thunder Bay police force is going to get additional human rights training.

The news accompanied an announcement the force has reached a settlement approved by Ontario`s Human Rights Tribunal with Abraham Miles.

Miles, an aboriginal, was a 17-year old high school student in the fall of 2007 when he was grilled by officers about a possible connection to a street gang while he was on a tour of the city`s police station.

Greyhound Talks

Talks are set to go Wednesday to help save Greyhound services in northwestern Ontario.

The company and Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley will meet for an undetermined length of time to work out a solution.

Greyhound vice-president Stuart Kendrick says he would like to see a leadership role from provincial and federal ministers for a short-term, 15-million break-even subsidy, that would give both sides 12 months to look at a long-term plan.

Greyhound has set a December 2nd deadline of pulling the plug on northwestern Ontario services.