Monday, December 21, 2009

Thistles Game Scores

It was a long weekend for the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles.

The Thistles played three games away from home.

On Friday, Kenora was edged 5-4 in overtime by the Southwest Cougars.

Saturday the Thistles rebounded with a 7-4 thumping of the Yellowhead Chiefs.

The midgets rounded out the weekend with a hard fought 3-2 loss to the Cougars.

Next game for the Thistles is Wednesday at Thistle Rink against the Winnipeg Wild.

Torch Relay Kenora



The Kenora Catholic District School Board is getting funding to help welcome the Olympic Torch to town early in the new year.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford announced just over 61 hundred dollars to host an event on January 4th.

The funding comes from the Ministry of Heritage.

The separate school board plans to hold its own multi-lingual opening ceremony, a multi-school
torch relay and have students participate in a number of sporting events during the day.

The Olympic Torch is scheduled to arrive in Kenora at 6:00 on January 4th.

No New Flu Cases

For the first time in over two months, there were no new cases of the H1N1virus reported in northwestern Ontario.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Health indicates there wasa big decline in swine flu outbreaks this past week.

So far this fall, there have been 73 cases of the H1N1 virus innorthwestern Ontario.

There will be just two more flu shot clinics this year in Kenora.

Local residents can make an appointment for December 23rd or 30th at the Health Unit office on Ocean Avenue.

Drug Warrant

Three people have been arrested in Fort Frances on drug charges following a bust by the Community Drug Action Team.

Initially, the OPP stopped a vehicle in Fort Frances and discovered some Oxycocet pills and marijuana.

Police subsequently conducted a search warrant on a home in the west end of the town and seized a number of drugs, including Oxycocet.

The street value of the drugs is extimated to be over a thousand dollars.

The OPP have not released the names of the accused, but they are due to appear in Fort Frances Court on January 25th.

Police Services Board Meeting

The Kenora Police Services Board is looking into the final report delivered by the former Chief of the Municipal Police.

Several members of the board including Len Compton and Glenda McMillan want Dan Jorgenson to complete a report for his last day on the job.

Chair Colin Wasacase explains there is no report from July 16th to the 17th; the day the OPP took over command.

The board is considering speaking to their legal advisor about the matter.

Drive Test Strike Over

DriveTest facilities should be open for exams the first week of January.

Staff who've been on strike since August have reached a tentativedeal with the company.

The company will also be hiring 100 people to deal with thebacklog that's expected to take several months to clear.

Economic Development Kenora

Kenora City Council has approved a new organizational structure for the Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission.

Council met yesterday morning with members of the commission.

Geordie McEwan is one of the directors and says under the structure, the city's economic development officer will now report directly to the commission.

In the past, the Economic Development Officer reported to the City Planner, but with the resignation of Jeff Port last month, the commission decided ona re-organization.

McEwan says the new organizational structure is now the way most Economic Development Commissions operate in the rest of canada.

Tourism Zones Changed

Ontario's Tourism Minister is defending the creation of 13 new tourism marketing regions.

Northwestern Ontario belongs in a huge district that runs all the way from the Manitoba border to Sault Ste. Marie.

Monique Smith says while there have been some nay-sayers, she believes themarketing regions will help build the tourist industry.

Smith says they will also be providing another 25 million dollars to the tourism regions over the next two years to help with the transition.

Crimestoppers Year In Review

The Crimestoppers program in Northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota had another successful year.

Executive Director Doug Anderson says they saw an increase in tips over 2008's 1-thousand 700 hundred tips.

Anderson notes they've also revamped their Crimestoppers website to include blogging and other new features.