Kenora Water Smelly, but Safe to Drink

It may smell bad, but Kenora's water is safe to drink.

The City has been getting a steady stream of complaints about poor water quality over the past few weeks.

City spokesperson Heather Kasprick says even though the water has a bad odor, it meets or exceeds the province's drinking water standards.

Kasprick says the foul odor is a result of the algae in the lake, which has been a little higher than usual due to a warm summer and a lack of rainfall.

She says they expect the odor-issue should be rectified over the next few weeks as the temperatures start to drop.

OPP Call Blaze Suspicious

The Provincial Police say the cause of a major fire in Kenora is suspicious.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact OPP or Crime Stoppers.

The fire started behind 9th Street North yesterday afternoon and forced the evacuation of Valleyview School.

City fire crews, the Ministry of Natural Resources and two water bombers were able to extinguish the blaze before it spread to nearbye homes.

Gas prices going Up

Its going to cost more to fill up today.

Most gas stations have increased the price at the pump by more than six cents a liter in the past day.

Gas is now selling for as much as 1.35.9 cents a liter, up from 1.29.4 yesterday.

Gas price crusader, Dan McTeague says there's really no reason for this latest increase.

He calls the dramatic hike quite absurd.

More Funding Needed for Infrastructure

Federation of Canadian Municipalities call for more Federal Funding for infrastructure.

The call comes from the FCM's report card on infrastructure that states communities are reaching a breaking point when it comes to paying for infrastructure upgrades.

FCM Board Member Linda Rydholm says more money is needed.

The FCM report card on infrastructure was released earlier this week.

Catholic Board Pleased with EQAO Results

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is crowing about its latest standardized test results.

The Education Quality and Accountability Office released the results of grade three and grade six reading, writing and grade nine math tests yesterday.

Director of Education Phylis Eikre says their grade six and nine students had some very good marks.

Eikre says the marks of their grade three students were below the provincial average, so they will be looking more closely at those results to see how they can make improvements.

Rainy River New Owner of Tourist Info Center

The town of Rainy River now owns the former Ontario Travel Information Centre in the community.

The province agreed to hand over the building to the township at no cost.

Mayor Deb Ewald says they hope to re-open the facility next spring as a tourist centre, but want to talk with the Rainy River Chamber of Commerce and Lake of the Woods township about being involved.

The centre was one of three closed in May as part of cost-saving measures by the province.

Kenora Hunters Fined for Shooting Moose

Three Kenora residents have been fined close to five thousand dollars for illegal moose hunting.

The trio were hunting north of Dryden last December, when one of their party shot at a bull moose while standing on Glider Road.

The court heard that they did not have a valid bull moose game seal.

Diane Neniska was fined two thousand dollars for discharging a firearm from a roadway, and 750 dollars for making a false statement to a conservation officer.

Stuart Neniska was fined one thousand dollars for unlawfully hunting big game, and is not allowed to hunt in Ontario for the next year.

He and Mark Carlson were also fined 500 dollars for making false statements.

No More Coal For Atikokan

The burning of coal at Ontario Power Generation's plant in Atikokan is over.

The last piece of coal went through the plant Tuesday as OPG proceeds with the conversion to biomass.

Plant Manager Chris Fralick says it's the start of a new era.

Since commission in 1985, the plant generated over 19.5-billion kilowatts of electricity.

Council puts off decision on Special Events Position

Kenora City Council is balking at making the Special Events Co-Ordinator position a permanent full-time job.

The position was created last year on a one-year trial basis.

The contract comes up on October 1st, but members of council want more discussion on the issue before agreeing to make the job permanent.

Councillor Ron Lunny questions whether there is enough work to keep a special events co-ordinator busy year round.

Other members of council questioned why the job was unionized, considering the fact they are technically an employee of the Lake of the Woods Development Commission.

Fire Under Investigation

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department and the OPP are investigating a fire that caused the evacuation of Valleyview School and a number of homes at the east end of town yesterday afternoon.

High winds fanned the flames and required the assistance of a couple of water bombers, and a number of fire crews to bring the blaze under control.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says residents living in the area of the fire might notice some smoke from the area, but says they now have the situation under control.

He says they'll be mopping up any remaining hot spots today.

Fire Information officer Heather Pridham says the fire hazard in the Kenora area is extreme.