Downed Power Line causes Grass Fire

Kenora Hydro says a downed power line caused only a momentary outage last night for most of its customers in the Lakeside area.

The line went down near 1st Avenue South and caused a small grass fire.

Hydro president, Dave Sinclair says the line likely fell down due to a  faulty switch, which failed.

The incident took place shortly before 7:00 last night.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department was called out to deal with the blaze and were able to contain it fairly quickly.

Boat Explosion in Minaki sends five people to hopsital

Five people had to be taken to hospital as a result of a boat explosion in Minaki.

The OPP say the incident took place late Friday afternoon just before 6:00 at a marina.

Police say a 5 meter long Hurricane was being refuelled when the gas line broke, causing the hull to be filled with gasoline.

The boat would normally hold 200 liters of gas, but took on 360 liters before fuelling was stopped.

When the operators tried to start the boat, there was an explosion.

Three people were taken to Lake of the Woods District hospital and later released, while two others are still being treated for 2nd degree burns.

The Ministry of Labor has been called in to help out with the investigation.

Council to Vote on CIP Changes this Evening

Kenora City Council is being asked to support some changes to the Community Improvement Plan for the Harbortown Center.

The Property and Planning committee held a public meeting last week to review some of the changes.

One of the key improvements in the plan would be to increase the grant for landscaping.

Currently, the Community Improvement Plan offers just 25 hundred dollars for landscaping.

Under the revised plan, businesses would be eligible for up to 15 thousand dollars.

City council is expected to vote on the changes at tonight's open meeting.

Busy Weekend for MNR Fire Crews

Rain likely to give a hand to to easing the forest fire situation in northwestern Ontario.

Over sixty fires are now considered active by the Ministry of Natural Resources, including two in the Kenora District.

Both are located north of the city and were caused by lightning.

The largest is 8.3 hectares in size and is listed as not under control, while the other is just 0.2 hectares and isn't posing any problems for fire crews.

The largest fire in the region is burning in the Red Lake district inside Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.

That fire is measured at 934 hectares.

The Sioux Lookout District is also dealing with a large fire measuring more than 400 hectares in size.

None of the active forest fires are threatening any residents.

NAN Looking for New Grand Chief

Nominations for Nishnawbe Aski Nation's executive close tonight.

Up for grabs is Grand Chief and three Deputy Grand Chief positions.

Head Electoral Officer Larry Amos says so far preperation for the election has gone well.

NAN is looking to replace Stan Beardy as grand chief.

Beardy was elected as Ontario Regional Chief late last month.

Missing Boaters Located

Some damage to their boat, but a happy ending to a journey for three Fort Frances men forced to spend a night on an island on Rainy Lake last week.

OPP were called Thursday morning after family members reported the men overdue from an excursion the night before to a restaurant on the U-S side of the border.

Police say when the men were returning, their boat struck a reef, forcing them to an island.

The men flagged down a vessel the next morning who returned them to the mainland where they called home to report they were safe.

Transport Fire Destroys Six Vehicles

Provicinal Police say Highway 17 was closed for roughly 2-hours Friday evening after a truck caught on fire west of Dryden.

OPP say the fire occurred at West Arm road.

Officers arrived and found a trailer completly engulfed in flames.

Machin Fire attended and extinguished the blaze.

Six cars were destroyed on the trailer as well as the trailer itself.

Police say fast thinking of the driver prevented all of the vehicles from being destroyed.

Aboriginal Group Raises Concerns over Rising Interest Rates

Higher mortgage rates may mean trouble in some communities.

National Vice-Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Dwight Dorey has begun a cross country trip to adress current issues.

Dorey says one of the issues raised is how the new rates would affect aboriginals living off reserve.

Dorey says other issues have also come up, such as health care and employment.

Fisher Top female at Kenora Borealis Triathlon

A familiar face was a top the leader board at the Kenora Borealis Triathlon/Duathlon on Rabbit Lake.

Edie Fisher topped the women's Olympic Triathon yesterday.

The top male in the Olympic Triathlon was Patrick Naylor, while Adam Naylor topped the field in the Tri-a-Triathlon event.

Lisle Compton was the top female competitor in the the Tri-A-Tri.