Thursday, November 5, 2009

Kenora Waterline Construction

Construction of a new submarine waterline between Kenora and Norman has been completed.

Work began late this summer and wrapped up recently.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says employees of Galcon Marine are still on site mapping the current location of the waterline on the lake bed.

He adds that the two million dollar submarine water line is in use and carrying water to Tunnel Island, Norman and Keewatin.

AFN Chief Visits NWO

The new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations will be paying his first visit to theTreaty Three area today.

Shawn Atleo is scheduled to spend a couple of hours on the Whitefish Bay First Nation.

He'll tour the community with Chief Warren White and take part in Public Health Day Activities.

Atleo will also attend a public vaccination clinic and a noon-hour feast.

Atleo was elected national chief this summer.

RCMP Drug Seizure

The RCMP in eastern Manitoba say they have seized about 700 marijuana plants with a street value of about 700 thousand dollars.

Police raided a former business last Friday in the tiny community of Elma, which is about 60 kilometers northwest of Falcon Lake.

Sergeant Glen Reitlo said a prior grow-op investigation at a property in the rural municipality of Lac du Bonnet in September led police to raid the Elma location.

RCMP said two men were arrested in connection with the most recent seizure.

Flu Clinics Kenora

Residents in the Kenora-Rainy River area seem to be heeding the advice of local health officials in getting their H-1-N-1 flu shot.

Director of Health Protection for the Northwestern Health Unit Arlene Lesenke says numbers for the first week alone exceeded expectations.

Lasinski says there have been some changes to its flu clinic schedule with local offices offering additional clinics as required.

A flu clinic is being held today and tomorrow at the Kenora Rec. Centre.

Failing Plant Minnesota

A failing sewage treatment plant in Williams, Minnesota is threatening to dump thousands of gallons of raw sewage into Lake of the Woods.

The treatment plant is only nine years old, but city officials says they can't afford the one-point-million dollars needed to fix a tank holding the raw sewage which is heavily corroded and has
started to leak

The city contends faulty material is to blame while the engineering firm that designed the plant believes chemicals being added by the city of two-hundred to the treatment process is contributing to the corrosion.

Adoption Month

November is Adoption Awareness Month in Ontario, and Kenora-Patricia Family Services says its in need of more parents interested in adopting a child.

Marge Matheson is a spokesperson for the local Children's Aid society and says they provide training and support for people who might want to adopt.

Matheson says there are currently 20 children that are wards of the crown that are in need of adoption.

Rainbow Health Ontario

David Belrose has been appointed as Northwestern Ontario's representative for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered group Rainbow Health Ontario.

Belrose says they want to raise awareness in the region that there is a LBGT community.

The Rainbow Health Ontario group wants to improve health care services for the LBGT community.

Kenora Landfill Compactor

It could be a few more weeks before the City of Kenora can begin hauling municipal waste out to the Jones Road Landfill site.

Council approved the purchase of a Caterpillar landfill compactor at a meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Councillor Dave McCann says they need the machinery before they can start sending garbage out to the landfill site.

The landfill compactor will cost about 238 thousand dollars, and the city is spending another 87 thousand dollars to construct a building to house the equipment.

Long Gun Registry Repeal

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is applauding a vote in the House ofCommons to repeal the Federal Long Gun Registry.

Second reading of a private members bill was passed yesterday afternoon.

Greg Ferrant is a spokesperson for the OFAH and says while they won the battle, they haven't won the war yet.

The bill still has to go before a commons committee for review, but Ferrant says the legislations seems to have some momentum now.