Wednesday, October 27, 2010

NOSM contract talks set to resume

OPSEU and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine are heading back to the bargaining table.

The 2-sides haven't talked since Union members rejected the Schools last offer earlier this month.

Support staff at the school have been striking since the middle of August.

Talks are set to resume on Monday.

NOTO Conference Starts today in Dryden

The 83rd Annual Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association Annual Conference starts today in Dryden.

Tourism officials and camp owners will sit down for 2-days to discuss the state of the industry.

An update on the new Tourism Zones and the benefits of a Tourism License for Ontario will be discussed on Day 1.

The contenous issue of on-going border problems will highlight day number 2.



Parkes reacts to Machin election results

The outgoing Mayor of Machin says he had a great run during his tenure.

Garry Parkes says his main goal was to better the community and he believes great strides have been made in that.

Parkes says he plans to spend some more time on his small business and do some traveling with his wife.

Parkes says a number of projects are close to moving forward and he hopes Council keeps them on the priority list.

Fort Hope Funding announced

Ottawa is working with an aboriginal community in northwestern Ontario that's declared a state of emergency over high crime.

The Fort Hope First Nation says its overwhelmed by recent murders and arsons.

Indian Affairs says it is providing 275-thousand dollars for staff and basic supplies for patrols and to repair the community's only school.

Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan says one option is to call in a reserve military unit with a large Aboriginal component such as the Canadian Rangers.

IJC Task Force in Town tonight

A task force set up to help governments address water quality and related issues in the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River watersheds will hold a series of public meetings this week.

The International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force was in International
Falls last night and travels up to Kenora tonight.

The session will take place at the Best Western Lakeside Inn starting at 7:00.

The Task Force is to submit its recommendations to the International Joint Commission by July 15.

Wicked weather wanes

The Kenora area has so far been relatively unscathed by a huge storm system that is moving over central Canada.

Rain, high winds and even some snow has been attached to the system.

Geoff Coulson is a severe weather specialist for Environment Canada and says things should start to improve later today.

The storm system has caused a number of power outages in and around Thunder Bay, and even forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway between Nipigon and
Schreiber for a short time last night.

No power outages have been reported in the Kenora area so far.