Canadian Blood Services

253 Kenora residents took one hour of their time over the last 2 days to donate blood at Thomas Aquinas High School. Harvey Heather from Canadian blood services says over 600 patients will benefit from this weeks blood donor clinic. For more information about becoming a blood donor call 1-888-2-DONATE or visit: www.bloodservices.ca

AbitibiBowater

AbitibiBowater says it's concerned about proposals for managing the Abitibi River forest.


The Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association has said the proposal would immediately cut the conifer wood supply in the area by 25 per cent.

AbitibiBowater says the such reductions in wood supply could jeopardize future forest sector investments.

It says it could also impact the economic foundation of 25 northern Ontario communities.

The Ontario Health Coalitions

The Ontario Health Coalitions wants to make health care a priority in the provincial election campaign.

Spokesperson Natalie Mehra says the political parties need to explain where they stand on the key issues in health care. Mehra says more than 18-thousand hospital beds have cut since 1990 while 24-thousand people wait for nursing home beds and 10 thousand wait for home care.

Randall Hopley

The Mounties say kidnapping charges await Randall Hopley when he  appears in a court in Cranbrook, British Columbia today.

Hopley was arrested yesterday 20-kilometres east of Sparwood. Three-year-old Kienan Hebert was returned to his Sparwood home on Sunday, four days after he disappeared.

R-C-M-P Inspector Brendan Fitzpatrick says it appears Hopley acted alone. Fitzpatrick adds no deal was made for the safe return of the boy

Air Canada Strike

Air Canada's flight attendants voted overwhelmingly to give their union leadership a mandate to call a strike.

Some 68-hundred workers could walk off the job as early as September 21st after giving the airline 72 hours notice.

The two sides continue to negotiate, but union president Jeff Taylor says progress has been very slow. Air Canada says it's business as usual until a strike is launched, when it plans to operate a partial schedule including code share flights operated by its partner airlines

Forest Fire Update

A shift in weather conditions has drifted smoke from a forest fire in Minnesota into Northwestern Ontario and as far east as Owen Sound and Barrie.


The lightning caused fire is 60-thousand acres in size and is about 15-kilometres south of the Canadian Border.The fire poses no threat to Canadian communities; however some U.S. road closures and evacuations have taken place.There are 45-active fires in the Northwest Region, with an area of nearly 480-thousand hectares burned.