Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Rabbit Lake Brush Fire

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department has been dealing with a rash of brush fires over the past couple of weeks.

The most recent blaze took place Tuesday afternoon behind Thomas Aquinas School.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says the fire burned about an acre of bush immediatley south of the Rowing Club on Rabbit Lake.

He says there was a lot of deadfall in the area and the fire burned very quickly.

Local firefighters were able to put a hose around the blaze and bring it under control in less than an hour.

Brinkman believes the fire was likely started by kids hanging around the area.

Power Outages

High winds this afternoon are causing some problems for Hydro One customers in the Kenora area.

About one thousand customers in areas east of the city have been without electricity since
3:15.

Areas affected are Grassy Narrows, Jaffray and Melick, Haycock, and Pettypiece.

Hydro One says crews have been dispatched to restore power.

Electricity is expected to be back on for most customers by 6:00.

KPS Disbandment Costs finalized

The total cost to disband the Kenora Police Service will come in at about 2.4 million dollars.

That figure was provided to Kenora City Council yesterday.

The costs include severance for employees of the municipal police service, legal expenses, overtime training costs, and building expenses for renovating the old KPS building.

Finance and Administration Manager, Karen Brown says they will be able to bring down the final disbandment expense by recovering some costs elsewhere.

The final bill for the city will amount to 1.7 million dollars.

Municipal Paving Contract

Its going to cost the city about a million dollars less than expected to resurface Highway 17 east and west in Kenora.

The City is planning to award a 5.2 million dollars contract next week for the Municipal Road Works Tender.

Operations Manager Rick Perchuck is hoping they can use the extra funds from the federal-provincial infrastructure program to do more paving this year.

In addition to resurfacing Highway 17 east this year, the city also plans to re-pave parts of Matheson Street South and 1st Avenue South.

Stabbing fatality

A 45 year old man from the Onigaming First Nation is dead following a stabbing incident.

Treaty Three Police say they were called to a residence in the community last Thursday night.

There was a stabbing reported and when officers arrived at the scene, they discovered the body of deceased male victim.

The OPP's Criminal Investigations Branch has been called in to help out with the homicide investigation.

A post-mortem was carried out on Saturday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, but the name of the victim has not been released.

Child Porn Charges laid

A Toronto man has been charged after allegedly taking a computer full of child pornography to a Winnipeg shop to be fixed.

The 34-year-old was working in Kenora last October when he had trouble with his desktop computer and took it to Winnipeg to be repaired.

The technician called police and investigators allegedly uncovered more than 200 pornographic images of young children.

Eric John Maillard is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of accessing child pornography.

He is expected in court in May in Winnipeg.

LHIN's releases Strat Plan

The Northwest Local Health Integration Network has unveiled its vision for health care in the region.

The Integrated Health Strategic Plan was presented to theLake of the Woods Hospital Board last week.

Laura Kokochinski is the interim CEO of the LHIN's and saysthey conducted an extensive consultation earlier this year.

The three year plan will also focus on reducing wait timesin Emergency rooms and improving access to healthcare in communities across the region.

Money for winter roads

The federal government is providing finacial support to Northern Ontario First Nation communities.

A total of 3.8 million dollars will be distributed due to warm spring temperatures forcing early winter-road closures.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says these winter roads are vital for transportation of goods and services.

The money will be directed at battling the high costs of fuel transportation.

Crimestoppers numbers up

CrimeStoppers of Northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota is showing some impressive numbers in the first three months of 2010

Coordinator of the program, Doug Anderson says there's been large increases in tips received, cases cleared and rewards issued over last year.

Anderson says continued media support and initiatives such as an improved website and a new facebook page are helping increase the organizations public profile.

Green Power Projects for the Region

A company called Xeneca Power Corporation was one of the big winners in last weeks green energy announcement by the provincial government.

The company is going ahead with 19 hydro projects in northern Ontario and is planning five others in the northwest.

Mark Holmes is a spokesperson for the company and says they are planning to develop relatively small hydro stations in the region.

Holmes says they are hoping to be able to move ahead in the next couple of years on hydro projects on Ball Lake near Grassy Narrows, Wabigoon Falls and Quibell.