Council Ready to Move Ahead with Common Ground

The long-dormant Common Ground Initiative on Tunnel Island may soon wake out of hibernation.

Kenora City council is trying to get the ball rolling again, agreeing to waive the need for a dispute resolution process in the By-Laws of Common Ground.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says it didn't make sense to continue to hold up the process any longer.

The Common Ground Initiative had been on hold for the past three years because the City of Kenora couldn't agree with its first nation partners on a dispute resolution process.

Canfield says now that issue has been resolved, he's hoping all sides can get together and pass By-Law #1.

Police Arrest Agressive Driver

A short temper has ended up costing a 50 year old Welland man.

Kenora OPP stopped a vehicle on Highway 17 on the weekend for a traffic violation.

Police say the driver became aggressive towards the officer causing a stuggle on the Highway.

An off-duty Treaty 3 officer witnessed the altercation and assisted the officer in apprehending the accused.

Police say Wallace Buss has been charged with assault with intent to resist arrest.

Youth Arrested in Evergreen Break-In

The OPP say they have arrested seven male youth in connection to a break-in at Evergreen School.

Police say the school was broken into Friday evening.

The culprits made off with a safe containing an undisclosed amount of money.

The OPP say the suspects are between the ages of 13 and 17 and will appear in

Kenora Court on June 11th.

They will face charges of break, enter and theft and possession of stolen property.

Police say a portion of the stolen cash has also been recovered.

Youth Charged with Arson in Beaver Brae Blaze

The OPP say they have charged a 14 year old youth in connection to a fire up at Beaver Brae Secondary School last week.

Police say fires had been set in two bathrooms, and the school had to be evacuated as a result.

Classes were also cancelled for the day to allow the smoke to be  properly ventilated and to allow officers to investigate the incident.

A male suspect is due to appear in Kenora Court next month on arson charges.

Hampton Attacks government over Missing Youth

The NDP is attacking the Liberal Governments inaction over the disappearance of 7-First Nation High School students in Thunder Bay.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton brought the issue up in Monday's Question Period.

Hampton is pushing for increased attention to the conditions of First Nations youth living off-reserve.

Fraser Institute Rates Local High Schools

Not a great report card for local secondary schools from the Fraser Institute.

Its released annual survey of high schools across the province, and only two from northwestern Ontario finished in the top 200.

Thomas Aquinas placed 181 out of 727 schools rated.

It had a rating of 7.2 out of ten, which was up from 6.8 last year.

The other top scoring school in this region was Atikokan at 161 overall.

Beaver Brae finished in that lower end of the scale with a score of 3.8 out of ten.

It was rated 655th, down from 588 last year.