Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Shelter Box

A Kenora man will be taking part in the latest Shelterbox campaign.

Tom Henderson is the head of the Rotary International Project and says local Rotary Member Ron Noseworthy will be taking part in a disaster relief project in Sumatra.

Henderson spoke to members of the local Rotary club on Sunday.

Ron and Claire Noseworthy are members of the local rotary club and also part of the International Shelterbox response team.

NAN Chief

John Domm has resigned as Chief of Police with the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service.

Domm will vacate the position on Friday to become the new Chief of the Rama Police Service.

Domm was hired in 2006 and has served as both Deputy Chief and Chief.Deptuy Chief Robin Jones will replace Domm until a full-time person is hired.

The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service is the largest First Nations Police Service in Canada and second largest in North America.

Re-Thinking Retail

Northwestern Ontario businesses are being asked to "re-think retail".

A one day seminar on the region's business market is being held in Kenora today.

Northwest Business Centre Coordinator Michael McCaffrey says they're expecting a good turnout.

Kevin Graff of Graff Retail will be the key speaker and will talk about having a successful Christmas shopping season, and driving sales and profits.

Kenora Olympic Funding

Kenora’s Olympic torch run celebrations are getting a $15 thousand dollar boost from the federal government.

Kenora’s Conservative MP Greg Rickford announced the government’s support to communities hosting celebrations on Friday.

The Torch will be in Northwestern Ontario starting on January 4th with stops in Ignace, Dryden, Vermillion Bay, Rat Portage, Kenora and Keewatin.

Funding to Kenora will be used to highlight local talent and artists, provide interactive activities to engage youth and other individuals.

Drug Bust Kenora

A 30 year old Winnipeg man faces drug charges following a routine traffic stop along the Kenora By-Pass.

The OPP say they pulled over a vehicle for speeding.

Officers noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the car and observed evidence of pot inside.

The driver was arrested and a search of the vehicle turned up 200 grams of marijuana, a quantity of cash and other drug paraphenalia.

Mark Freeman has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

He is due to appear in Kenora court on December 14th to answer the charges.

Missing Person Northwestern Ontario

Nishnawbe-Aski Police and Sioux Lookout OPP are looking for a missing New Osnaburgh First Nation man.

42-year-old Robert Bottle was last seen by his family last Thursday and was spotted in Dryden and Sioux Lookout on the weekend.

Bottle is described as 6 feet tall, 180-pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes and was wearing a green bush jacket, camo hat and possibly rubber boots.

He was driving a Red 1999 Ford F150 truck, with Ontario licence plate 590-2RB.

Anyone with information of his whereabouts is asked to call OPP.

Fire Burn

Burn Baby Burn!

That's the approach the Ministry of Natural Resources is now taking when dealing with any new forest fire on any Island on Eagle Lake.Spokesperson Jason Robinson says there are certain exceptions.

The response plan was approved for the regeneration of Red and White Pine Trees in the Eagle Lake area.

Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister in Kenora

The provincial government is going to be setting up a commission to look into the fundingfor child welfare agencies in the province.

Aboriginal Affairs minister Brad Duguid was in Kenora yesterday to speak with chief ofTreaty Three and city council.

Duguid says there is clearly a problem, and they want to find out the best wayto care for our children.

A number of child welfare agencies in the region have been experiencing shortfalls, butDuguid suggests money spent has tripled in the past ten years with no appreciableincrease in caseload.

Safe Communities Ambassador Awards

Safe Communities Kenora is celebrating the communities ambassadors for safety.

The group honored its business partners and many volunteers on Friday afternoon at its safety awards.

Maria Bagdonas of Young Drivers was won of the winners and says she's happy to help promote road safety initiatives.

Shannon Robinson of the Northwestern Health Unit also received a safety ambassador award.