Treaty Three Hosts Youth Conference

Grand Council Treaty #3 is hosting a two day youth forum.

The Conference gets underway today on Pow Wow Island on the Rat Portage First Nation and features a number of guest speakers.

Actor/dancer Waawaate Fobister, olympic athlete Waneek Horn-Miller and health activist, Jessica Lee will be addressing youth between the ages of 15 and 29.

Youth leadership is the theme of the conference.

STR to Get a New Trail Groomer

Kenora City Council says its willing to help the Sunset Trailriders get a new groomer on the trails this winter.

STR says someone is willing to donate a Bombi Groomer, and it wants the city to issue a donation reciept based on the cost of the vehicle.

Council has agreed to issue the reciept, but says it wants STR to submit a propsal, which includes a plan on how the groomer would be used to enhance snowmobiling and ultimately enhance snow machine related tourism in the Kenora area.

STR needs a new groomer after one of their machines was destroyed by fire last winter.

Councillors Panned for Running for Tories

A couple of members of city council are being taken to task for their decision to run for higher office.

Both Rod McKay and Louis Roussin are seeking the Conservative Nomination in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Gregory Potvin ran unsuccessfully in the last municipal election for council and doesn't think its appropriate for members of council to continue to sit at the council table, while running for provincial politics.

Potvin believes they should take a leave of absence until the election is over.

The Conservatives will nominate their candidate this weekend.

Kenora District Services Board Worried About State of Housing

The Kenora District Services Board has been warned that it needs to come up with nearly 490-thousand dollars to fund non-profit public housing units.

The Board's Housing Director says capital reserves are running dry and notes 2-providers may have nothing in the bank as early as next year.

CAO Dan McNeill says this has been a problem for some time now.

The KDSB services 8 non-profit providers for a total of 560-units.

West Nile Confirmed in the region

For the first time in a couple of years, a mosquito in this region has tested positive for the West Nile Virus.

The Northwestern Health Unit says a number of mosquitoes were identified in a trap in the Fort Frances area.

West Nile can be spread to humans through the bite of mosquito.

The Health Unit ceased its west nile bird collection program last year, but continues to trap mosquitoes in several areas of the Kenora and Rainy River Districts to monitor for the presence of the virus.

Horwath Promises Northern Platform soon

The NDP plan to unveil a northern Ontario-specific platform in the next two weeks.

Leader Andrea Horwath, in Fort Frances for Monday night's nomination meeting, says it will include policies that will make a real difference for the region.

It's to includes previously announced plans to scrap the current wood allocation process and forcing mining companies to process their raw materials in Ontario.

A day of Severe Weather in Northwestern Ontario

(Tornado at Dryden Airport)

It was a day of severe weather in northwestern Ontario.

While there was a tornado warning issued for the Kenora area, none materialized.

We did get just over 41 millimeters of rain which was a record for August 16th.

The previous record rainfall was 26.6 back in 2006.

Meanwhile, there are no reports of damage after a large funnel cloud swept through the Dryden area.

The funnel cloud materialized near Oxdrift and swept past the Dryden Airport yesterday afternoon.

It appears to have made it all the way to Sioux Lookout before finally running out of steam.