Beach Boys coming to town

Tourism Kenora says you will be hearing some good vibrations coming from the Harborfront next spring.

The Beach Boys have been signed to play one night under the big tent.

The iconic 60's California Surf band will entertain local residents on
Wednesday, June 15th.

Chair of the Kenora Economic Development Commission, Dennis Wallace says this is not just a concert, but an economic impact event for the city.

Tickets for the all-ages concert will go on sale on December 10th.

Prices range from 59 to 100 dollars.

New Name for merging Children's Aid Societies

The new children's aid society for the Kenora and Rainy River District will have a new name.

Kenora-Patricia Child and Family Services and Family and Children's Services of the District of Rainy River will officially merge on April 1st of next year.

Agency staff, foster parents and children all were given the opportunity to come up with
a new name for the amalgamated children's aid society.

The transitional leadership team has come up with new name of Kenora-Rainy River Districts
Child and Family Services.

A new logo for the joint is still being worked on by staff.

Fort Frances man jailed on Sex Charges

A 44year-old man has been convicted of  three counts of sexual exploitation and one count of sexual interference in relation to an historical sexual assault investigation.


Fort Frances OPP charged Garry Mathewson back in July with several sexual offences.

The offences involved three male victims and took place within the Rainy River and Thunder Bay District's between 1992 and 1999.

Mathewson has been ordered into custody to serve 66 months concurrent with 141 days of pre-sentence custody.

He must register with the sexual offenders information registry and submit DNA samples.

Mathewson is also prohibited from attending any place with children for ten years and can't own a firearm for his lifetime.

Paterson Medical Clinic officially opens

Kenora's newest medical facility has celebrated its grand opening.

The Paterson Medical Clinic on Tunnel Island held its ribbon cutting last night.

Don Parfitt is chair of the Kenora Health Center Board and says the total project will cost about 7.5 million dollars once all is said and done.

Dr. Buzz Pederson is with the Sunset Family Heath Team and says the new facility makes it a lot easier for doctors to do their jobs.

Other tennants in the new building include the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and
the Community Care Access Center.

Hospital reports a surplus

Lake of the Woods District Hospital continues to operate in the black.

Through the first seven months of this fiscal year, the hospital had a surplus
of 341 thousand dollars.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says he's confident they will be able to
break even on their operations by the end of the year.

He says tradionally the winter months are a little lean for generating extra income,
because they don't see the same number of patients from Manitoba and the U.S.

CP Holiday Train stops in Kenora this weekend

The Canadian Pacific 'Holiday Train' rolls into Northwestern Ontario this weekend.

The train will arrive Saturday in Vermilion Bay at 1:45, then Kenora at 3:45.

Spokesperson Kevin Hrysak says the train has become a festive tradition.

Canadian rockband 'The Odds' will be performing and Santa Claus will be on hand
at the CP Rail Yard behind the WholeSale Club.

Report looks at retaining grads in NWO

Northwestern Ontario's labour force has a hard time retaining post secondary graduates.

That's one of the findings in a report created by an economist at Lakehead University.

Author Livio Di Mateo says the first step retaining our youth is to create a graduate survey.

The report recommends retention incentive programs and employer surveys.

MPP calls for insurance rebate for snow tires

A northwestern Ontario member of the Ontario Legislature wants insurance companies to give motorists who use snow tires a break.

Thunder Bay Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro introduced a motion last week calling for

rebates for any one putting the heavy duty tires on.

Mauro calls it a win win situation.

Young Drivers of Canada says while snow tires do help in poor conditions, safe driving

habits are just as important to avoiding collisions in bad weather.