Schools buses running today

Despite some snow overnight, its going to be business as usual for local schools.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says its buses will be running in the Kenora area this morning.

Already, road crews are out plowing local streets and highways.

The Kenora area has been hit with about five centimeters of snow so far, and Severe Weather Specialist, Geoff Coulson says about the same amout of snow will likely fall today.

Roads in the Kenora area are listed as snow-covered with some slushy sections and

poor visibility.

The OPP say further to the east in the Dryden area, travel is not advised this morning.

Bell admits problems with PST rebates

Bell Canada is working with the Union of Ontario Indians to provide PST rebates to its first nation customers.

Spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis says they were overwhelmed with the amount of calls they received about the refund.

The rebates will be retroactive to September 1st when the PST was to be exempt from phone, satelite and cable bills for first nation residents.

Kenora Figure Skaters medal in Winnipeg

The Kenora Figure Skating Club took part in its first major competition of the year and had a strong showing at the Super Skate in Winnipeg.

The club brought home 23 medals including nine gold, nine silver and five bronze.

Josh Cariou ended up with four gold, finishing first in every event he was entered in.

Julia Withers, Haylee Creed, Cassandra Moncrief and Emily Whiting also medaled in every event coming back with multiple medals.

Fort Frances Man charged in connection to stand-off.

A man remains in police custody, facing a number of charges including attempted murder in connection to an incident in Fort Frances over the weekend.

Richard Kabatay is to return to court next Monday after making a brief court appearance yesterday.

Police have not confirmed whether Kabatay is connected to a weekend incident in which one man was sent to hospital with serious injuries while another was holed up in a home on Scott Street in Fort Frances for much of the day Saturday.

More Money for Winter Roads

The Provincial Government has increased the funds for this year's winter roads network.

4.5 million dollars is allocated for the road network that spans 3-thousand kilometres.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle doesn't foresee a problem with the warm weather we're experiencing.

Gravelle notes the winter roads will connect 31 northern First Nation communities.

New Fire Hall Officially Open

Kenora's fire and emergency services department is hoping the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill lasts as long as the century old fire hall on Second Street South.

The grand opening for the new fire hall took place yesterday with more than 100 guests on hand for the ceremony.

Charito Drinkwalter is the chair of the emergency services committee and says it was exciting to see the new building opened.

Meanwhile, Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says even though they had their ribbon cutting yesterday, its going to be a couple of more weeks yet before they can move into their new digs.

Brinkman is hoping they can move in by the middle of December at the very latest.

Police Arrest 38 people in Project Ghost

A six month undercover investigation involving four police agencies has resulted in the arrest of 37 individuals and 153 drug related offences.

Raids were carried out yesterday morning in Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Ignace.

Officers seized over two thousand oxycodone tablets, 185 grams of cocaine and 14 pounds of marihuana worth an estimated 245 thousand dollars.

Inspector Tom Dirling is the Program Manager of the OPP Drug Enforcement Unit and says they are being proactive in keeping drugs off the street.

The suspects arrested during Project Ghost include residents of Dryden, Eagle Lake, Wabigoon,
Fort Frances, Ignace and Sioux Lookout.

More Snow on the Way

Northern Ontario is going to be getting all kinds of precipitation over the next few days.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the region, stretching from the Manitoba border to North Bay.

North and west of Lake Superior and east of Kenora will get more than 10 centimetres of snow.

But ice pellets and wet snow are expected to hit Atikokan to Geraldton.

Thunder Bay and the north shore of Superior will see some wet snow changing to rain and eventually a change back to snow tomorrow.

Stand-Off in Fort Frances ends Peacefully

One man in is custody while another taken to hospital following a stand-off with police in Fort Frances that lasted nearly 12 hours.

The OPP were initially called to an assault involving two men about 4:30 Saturday morning.

One man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

His condition is not immediately known.

The other man barricaded himself inside a home on Scott Street, forcing police to close a section of the road to traffic and evacuate some nearby homes.

The Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service was also called to the scene.

The man eventually surrendered to police without incident.

Official Opening for Kenora's New Fire Hall Today

Its been more than a year in the making, but Kenora's new fire hall on Barsky's Hill will finally be opened up to the public today.

A grand opening ceremony will take place this afternoon at 1:30.

The fire hall cost the city about six million dollars, with one million of that coming from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

The new fire hall will replace the old 100 year old facility on Second Street South.

Later in the afternoon, Kenora City council will hold a special meeting to look at the request for proposals for the heritage fire hall.

Broncos and Thistles win Weekend Games

Beaver Brae's boys hockey team fired a lot of rubber at the Red Lake Rams this weekend and won both games on the road.

The Broncos had 60 shots in Saturday's game against the Rams, but the game was still tied at 1-1 after regulation.

The Broncos won the game scoring three times in the shootout.

Friday night, Colt German had a pair of goals and an assist as Beaver Brae downed Red Lake 6-1.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles had a good weekend winning both of its

homes games.

Saturday, the Thistles blanked the Pembina Valley Hawks 4-0.

Matt Benson turned aside 18 shots for the shutout.

 On Friday night, the Thistles beat up Pembina Valley 3-1.

Saints win Silver Medal at OFSAAA

The Saints two year reign atop the OFSAA Single "A" senior boys division has come an end.

Thomas Aquinas had to settle for a silver medal this year after losing the final in three straight sets to Quinte Christian High School from Belleville.

T.A. head Coach Joanna Krisko says they just didn't have their "a" game on Saturday.

The Saints had won the gold medal at the All-Ontario Championships the previous two years.

Local Health Unit Gains Accreditation

The Northwestern Health Unit says its the first one in the region to be accredited by the Ontario Council on Community Health Accreditation.

The Health Unit showed of its newly minted certificate last week.

Alex Berry was the team lead for the accreditation process and says it took about three years to complete all the work.

Berry says of the 36 health units across the province, only 14 are currently accredited.

Another Good Year for the Miracle Marathon

It was a good weekend for the Salvation Army's Christmas Cheer Campaign.

The CJRL Miracle Marathon raked in thousands of dollars in cash donations, toys and non-perishable food items.

Captain Debbie Gosse says the community certainly responded in a big way this year.

Gosse says they managed to collect a lot more this year during the Miracle Marathon than last year.

That's good because she feels there is going to be a bigger need this christmas for hampers in the community.

Saints through to the Quater-Finals

The Thomas Aquinas Saints have finished the round robin without a loss.

The Saints played their fourth game this morning and beat London District Chrisitan in two straight sets, by scores of 25-17 and 25-20.

The Saints will finish first in their pool with a perfect 4-0 record and have yet to drop a set.

T.A. will play in the quarter-finals this afternoon at 3:00.

Their opponant still has to be determined.

Drug Bust in Fort Albany

Two people face charges after Nishnawbe-Aski Police executed a search warrant at a Fort Albany First Nation home.

Police seized 25-hundred dollars worth of marijuana, 33-hundred dollars cash, 2-firearms and various packages of ammunition.

Police say 29-year-old Ross Loone and 28-year-old Angie Lagasse have been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, careless storage of a firearm and unauthorized use of a firearm.

Police to release details of undercover operation

Police Agency's from across Northwestern Ontario will take the wraps off a major 6-month undercover investigation tomorrow morning.

A press conference is taking place in Dryden involving the OPP, Treaty 3 and the Anishinabek Police Services.

Police say the probe led to significant cash, drug and property seizures.

The announcement is expected to coincide with a report relased yesterday highlighting the escalated prescription drug problem.

Miracle Marathon turns 20

The Salvation Army and CJRL is celebrating a special milestone today.

The 20th annual Miracle Marathon is being broadcast over the next two days to raise money to help support the Christmas Cheer Fund.

Captain Debbie Gosse says its a special time of year for her.

Over the past 19 years almost 1.5 million dollars in cash, non-perishable food items and toys have been donated to the Salvation Army through the Miracle Marathon.

The Miracle Marathon will run until 2:00 Saturday afternoon.

Bell Canada under fire for PST refunds

Bell Canada is being accused of failing its First Nation customers.

The Union of Ontario Indians says its members have had a hard time getting their PST refunds.

Spokesperson Maurice Switzer says some people have had to wait on the phone for over 4 hours.

All phone, cable and satelite bills were expected to be PST free as of two months ago.

OPP Launch seasonal RIDE campaign

Police in the region are gearing up for another Festive RIDE campaign.

Sergeant Ken Manti of the OPP says this year there are stricter rules in force.

The seasonal RIDE campaign begins today and will wrap up on January 2nd.

School Buses Running

Its business as usual at local schools this morning.

Local school buses and the city transit buses are running once again after being shut down yesterday due to all the snow.

Road crews have been out plowing, salting and sanding local

roads overnight.

The Kenora area received a lot less snow yesterday than

predicted.

Only about six centimeters has fallen, less than the 10 to 15 that had been predicted.

Road conditions on the main highways are described as partially snow-covered with some bare and dry sections.

Saints Unbeaten so far at OFSAA

The Thomas Aquinas Saints have a perfect record after the first day at the All-Ontario Single "a" championships.

The Saints won all three round-robin games they played yesterday.

Last night they got by Ecole Secondaire Lajeunesse by scores of 25-21 and 25-9.

Saints Coach Joanna Krisko says so far they have had a pretty easy schedule.

The Saints wrap up the round robin this morning against London District Christian, which is also unbeaten in the round-robin.

Kenora Hydro proposes rate increase

Kenora Hydro is proposing a 10 percent increase in its rates next year.

Hydro has submitted a request to the Ontario Energy Board for an increase in rates effective May 1st, 2011.

The new rates would help Kenora Hydro off-set some of the costs of a couple of major capital projects, including the installation of smart meters.

Hydro says the rate hike will also help pay for the re-build of their  sub-station on Mellick Avenue.

For the average consumer, rates would increase about nine dollars and 45 cents a month.

Road Closure near Wabigoon

It looks as if we'll be getting at least another 24 hours of snow.

So far about 10 centimeters has fallen, and its expected to snow

all day today and tonight.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says things won't start to

improve until Friday.

Meanwhile, there is one road closure to report this morning.

The Trans-Canada in Wabigoon has been shut down because of a collision involving two semi tractor trailor units.

The OPP say small vehicles and trucks are able to detour through the town.

Saints go for OFSAA gold

The Thomas Aquinas Senior Boys Volleyball team is gunning for its third straight provincial title.

The Saints are in Missasauga for the All-Ontario Single "a" championships.

Their first game is this morning at 11:30 against the lowest ranked team in the tournament, Bloor Collegiate from Toronto.

The number one ranked Saints' next game is at 2:30 against Brampton Christian High School.

T.A. wraps up the day with a game at 5:15 against Lajeunesse from Southwestern Ontario.

Broncos win league gridiron awards

Some hardware for Beaver Brae's Football team.

The Winnipeg High School Football League held its award ceremonies last night and the the Broncos took home two major awards.

Dannon Saunders was named the lineman of the year in the Vidruk East Division.

The Beaver Brae Football Club also received kudos for having the top coaching

staff in the Vidruk East Division.

Abitibi ready to exit Bankruptcy Protection

Abitibi Bowater could be on the verge of exiting bankruptcy protection. 

The company has been given the green light by an American court to go ahead with a restructuring plan that will shed five and a half billion dollars in unsecured debt. 

Part of the deal ensures the company will meet all pension obligations in Canada.

Hampton Outlines Energy ideas

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says his party has a lot of ideas

to help produce and conserve electricity.

Hampton was responding to complaints by Premier Dalton McGuinty that the

opposition doesn't have any ideas on its own how to handle Ontario's energy

demands for the next 20 years.

Hampton says there are a lot of things the province could and should be doing to

help conserve energy.

Hampton calls the McGuinty Government's 87 billion dollar energy plan is hap-hazard

and too expensive.

Compton Reflects on Four years in office

Out-going Kenora Mayor Len Compton says the city is well poised to move forward.

Compton will leave office at the end of this month and says the city has benefited greatly from a number of big projects over the past couple of years.

He says while the federal and provincial governments have contributed with

their infrastructure projects, private companies have also been very active.

Compton says the city was able to capitalize on all the infrastructure funding

because they had projects that were shovel ready.

Another Snow Day in Kenora

Its another snow day for students who have to take the bus to school.

Excel Coachlines says none of its buses will be running today, including the city Transit vehicles.

None of the secondary roads surrounding Kenora have been plowed, and  Excel says its just too difficult for its school buses to get around right now.

Schools will remain open today for students who walk or who have other means of transportation to get to school.

The Rat Portage School Bus is also not running today.

More snow on the way

Expect it to snow for the rest of today and overnight.

Another 10 centimeters of snow is expected before the system finally blows through northwestern Ontario.

Mark Shuster is a meteorologist with Environment Canada and says things should start to improve tomorrow.

The Kenora area has received another 10 centimeters of snow since yesterday afternoon.

There is one road closure this morning.

Highway 17 through Wabigoon has been closed down due to an accident

involving two semi-tractor trailor units.

The Trans-Canada east of Dryden is expected to be closed for at least an

hour.

Truth And Reconciliation Commission Returns to NWO

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is making a return trip to northwestern Ontario.

The Commission will listen to the stories from residential school surviviors at a day long session in Thunder Bay.

Commission spokesperson Alvin Fiddler says it's part of the healing for First Nations residents.

Fiddler says the Commission was invited here by officials of the Nishawbe Aski Nation.

City Erects Christmas Tree on Main Street

Main Street definitely has a Christmas look and feel today.

Kenora Hydro Crews installed the traditional Christmas Tree yesterday afternoon at the intersection of Second and Main Streets.

The tree was harvested from some property on Florence Avenue and will boast over 13 thousand individual lights once its fully decorated.

The lights on the tree will officially be lit at a special ceremony on Thursday evening.

The bows that adorned the tree last year, have instead been placed on the parking meters in downtown Kenora.

City posts Surplus in 2009 Audit

The City of Kenora continues to remain relatively financially healthy.

Council approved the 2009 audited financial statements last week, and it

shows the city has strong financial reserves.

Karen Brown is the Chief Adminstrative Officer and says there is almost 80 million dollars in various reserve funds.

The city also has 11.5 million dollars in cash and temporary investments and 8.2 million in government business enterprises.

Saints Ranked #1 at OFSAA Volleyball Championships

The Thomas Aquinas Senior Boys Volleyball team is the number one ranked team heading into the All-Ontario Single "A" championships this week.

The Saints are heading to Missasauga today for the OFSAA finals.

T.A. head coach, Joanna Krisko admits their is a lot of pressure going for a three-peat.

The Saints first game in the round-robin is tomorrow morning at 11:30.

More Snow on the Way

Its good news for snowmobilers and skiiers, but not for anyone who has to shovel their driveway.

Another winter storm is being felt across northwestern Ontario.

Mark Shuster is meteorologist with Environment Canada and says this is less intense version of a classic Colorado Low.

Shuster says we can still expect about 10 centimeters of snow to fall over the next

couple of days.

That's on top of the 25 centimeters that fell over the weekend.

Catholic Board hires new Curriculum Coordinator

The Kenora Catholic District School Board has filled one of its administrative

vacancies.

The separate board has announced that Tammy Bush has been hired to take over as the

Curriculum Co-Ordinator.

Bush fills the vacancy created after Mary Cunningham took on the newly created

job as the board's School Effectiveness leader.

Bush is currently employed by the board at Pope John Paul II School as a grade one teacher.

New Winter Carnival Taking Shape

Kenora's revived Winter Carnival is starting to take shape.

The steering committee for the Carnival met last week to confirm some of the

events that will be taking place during the three day festival.

Heather Paterson is Kenora's Tourism Development Officer and says

there's a lot of excitement about the March event.

The carnival will take place from March 4th to 6th.

Paterson says they will be launching a website in the next

couple of weeks.

RCMP investigate Hunting Accident in Eastern Manitoba

A man is in a Winnipeg hospital after a weekend hunting accident in southeastern Manitoba.

R-C-M-P say the 43-year-old man and a 17-year-old male teen were hunting in the Rural Municipality of Piney on Saturday when the teen accidentally shot his companion.

The victim was taken first to the hospital in Roseau, Minnesota before being transferred to Winnipeg where he's listed in critical but stable condition.

Mounties say they're considering charges.

New Fiber Optic Network promised for Northern Ontario

Within five years, 26 Nishnawbe Aski First Nations Communities will hooked up to fibre optics.

The federal and provincial governments along with Bell Aliant are making it happen.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford says the 55 million government dollars is taxpayers money well spent.

Total cost of the project is 86 million dollars.

Hampton Joins Protest over high hydro costs

Spiralling electricity costs continue to plague the McGuinty Government.

Energy Minister Brad Duguid confirmed hyro rates will be going up 46 percent

over the next five years.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton says its time for local northern residents to speak out.

Hampton demanded the Government remove the Harmonized Sales Tax off hydro bills to provide some relief.

A rally against high electricity rates took place in Dryden on Friday.

Local Judokas medal at a pair of tournaments

The competitive judo season is underway for the JM Judo Club.

The club recently attended the St. Boniface Tournament and took home a number of

medals.

Thomas Hertz and Calvin Legarde medalled in the Under 13 age group, while

Bo Rodgers and Daniel Gordon placed in the top three in the boys Under 13 age group.

Gordon and Luke Heatherington won medals in two different divisions.

Meanwhile, Ben Dennis won the only medal for the JM Judo Club at the Ontario
International Open Tournament in Toronto this past weekend.

He won gold in the Under 17 boys 46 kilo division.

Kaitie Dennis lost a pair of bronze medal matches in the women's Under 20 and Senior

divisions.

Common Ground at an Impasse

The once-promising Common Ground Initiative has hit a bit of a roadblock.

Common Ground is a partnership between the City of Kenora, four local first nations and Treaty Three, but development of a management plan has reached an impasse.

Kenora Mayor Len Compton says they haven't been able to agree with Treaty Three on whether to include a dispute resolution mechanism in the plan.

Compton says Treaty Three doesn't seem to feel a dispute resolution mechanism is needed, and that's held up development of the management plan for months now.

Greenpeace and CEP unveil Green Jobs Report

Greenpeace and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union are teaming up to create green forestry jobs.

The environmental group released it's green jobs report for northern forestry on Friday.

CEP Spokesperson Kim Ginter explains why the union is getting involved.

Ginter hopes by launching the report in northwestern Ontario, Minister of Northern, Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle and the Liberals will sit up and take notice.

New Fire Hall Almost Ready to Open

The new Fire Hall on Barsky's Hill will be officially opened at the end of this month.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says while almost all the work on the building is complete, there are still a few minor details that have to be finalized before they can begin moving their equipment in.

The new fire hall opened its doors last week to Kenora City council so they could tour the building and hold their special meeting of council in the second floor training room.

No Free Parking This Christmas

Don't expect any free parking in downtown Kenora this holiday season.

Kenora City council has turned down a request by the Business Improvement

Zone for five days of free parking in the week leading up to Christmas.

A representitive from the BIZ had suggested allowing free parking at all
metered stalls from December 20th to 25th.

But councillor Dave McCann says that could cost the city anywhere from 18 to
23 thousand dollars in lost revenue.

Council voted unanimously against the free parking initiative.

Kenora Cleans up after Snow Storms

Don't put away your snow shovels just yet.

After getting anotehr 10 centimeters of snow yesterday, another system is expected to drop couple more centimeters of white stuff over night.

Yesterday's snowstorm caused some travel problems in the Kenora area.

The Kenora By-Pass was closed down for a couple of hours due to a number of accidents involving tractor-trailor units.

Over the past four days, the Kenora area has received over 25 centimeters of snow, but road conditions are slow starting to improve as city crews are out this morning clearing major routes through town.

Most of the major highways in the area are listed as bare and wet with slushy
sections.

Confederation College signs deal on Aborignal Education

Confederation College is again getting involved with educating our First Nations communities.

College President Pat Lang says they're partnering with Matawa to try to make a difference in educating young Aboriginals.

The two organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding to achieve their objectives.

Matthyson tours Northwestern Ontario

The Women's critic for the NDP feels the federal government isn't doing enough

to ensure the safety of aboriginal women in Canada.

Irene Mathyssen was in Kenora last week and spoke with representitives with local women's groups.

Mathyssen says the National Status of Women committee has been touring the country looking into the issue of violence against women.

Mathyssen says her committee has been fighting the federal government for funding to complete their report which will look at the disappearance and murder of  aboriginal women across Canada.