Oxdrift Fire

A large log garage was destroyed following a fire near Oxdrift over the weekend.

The Oxdrift Volunteer Fire Departmetn responded to the blaze shortly after 7 o'clock Saturday night.

11-firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within an hour.

Highway 601 was closed while the blaze was being battled and no one was injured.

The cause is under investigation.

Groups Oppose Forest Tenure Plan

The Ontario Forest Industry Association is calling on the Provincial government to cancel its plans to reform the forest tenure process.


The OFIA is part of a province wide coalition against the McGuinty government's forest tenure proposal.

President Jamie Lim says it's going to have a negative impact on the forest industry.

The coalition is made up of unions, forestry groups, municipal leaders and chambers of commerce.

Life Jacke Campaign

The OPP Marine Unit has launched a new campaign on Lake of the Woods promoting life jacket use.

Members of the Marine Unit haned out red t-shirts over the weekend to kids
proclaiming, "I got caught wearing my life jacket".

The OPP says while most of the life-jackets were handed out to youth, some adults were also rewarded.

The message from local police is if the motor is running, life jackets should be on.

Broadband service in northwestern Ontario expanded

More homes in the remote northwest will be getting high speed internet.

Federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews made the announcement last week.

He says the project will be completed by the end of next year by three companies.

TBay-Tel, Galaxy Broadband Communications and the Spectrum Telecom Group will be rolling
out the broadband service.


Toews says here are about 45 hundred households in the region that will benefit from the funding
announcement

Discovery Center Tender to be Awarded Tonight

The City of Kenora is ready to move ahead with a new tourism office on Lakeview Drive.


Council is expected to approve a tender of 2.1 million dollars to build the Discovery Center
near Norman Park.
Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they had budgeted 1.8 million dollars for construction but
is asking council to approve the tender despite the increased costs.

Council is expected to approve almost six million dollars in expenditures on two separate
projects, including phase two of downtown revitalization.

That project came in about 634 thousand dollars higher than projected.

Weekend Fatal

There was one fatality on northwestern Ontario highways over the weekend.


The OPP in Nipigon say a motorcycle lost control while traveling up a hill near Schreiber.

Police say road conditions were damp at the time.

The male driver of the bike was pronounced dead at the scene, while a female passenger was taken to the Health Sciences Center in Thunder Bay for treatment of unspecified injuries.

The Trans-Canada in the area was closed briefly due to the accident.

Apartment Fire under investigation

An apartment building on Cambrian Drive had to be evacuated Friday morning
due to a fire in one of the units.

The fire broke out around 9:30, but Kenora Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says
they were able to contain the blaze to the apartment of origin.

He says there was extensive damage to the apartment, but quick response from
fire fighters kept the fire from spreading to any other units in the building.

Brinkman says the apartment complex was evacuated only as a precaution.

No damage estimate has been given but Brinkman says the apartment will need
extensive renovations.

The cause of the fire still has not been determined.

Another Quiet Forest Fire Weekend

Another relatively quiet weekend for forest fires in northwestern Ontario.

Just three new blazes were reported over the past three days.

One of the fires was located on an island on Lake of the Woods just

north of Morson.

Fire crews from the Fort Frances District responded.

It was just 0.1 hectares in size.

The other fire was also small and located about 75 kilometers

southwest of Pickle Lake.

There was some smoke lingering in the Kenora area yesterday, but the
MNR says it was from fires burning in Saskatchewan.

Phase Two of Downtown Revitalization Awarded

Its going to cost almost four million dollars to complete phase two of the downtown

revitalization project.

Council held a special meeting this morning to approve a tender from Jarnel Contracting
worth 3.943 million dollars.

Operations Manager Rick Perchuck says the contract includes construction of Lake of the
Woods Plaza and the new festival site.

Perchuck says the tender is about 624 thousand dollars more than than budgeted.

Council has agreed to take money out of its reserve fund to pay for the work.