City Ready to Pay MNR Fire Bill

The City of Kenora is expected to cut a cheque for 32 thousand dollars this week to
the Ministry of Natural Resources for battling a wild fire back in September.

Fire chief Warren Brinkman says they met recently with the MNR to talk about
mutual fire aid.

He the Valleyview fire last year did raise some concerns about the local tele-communication system.

Initially the city had balked at paying the fire fighting bill from the MNR, but after much discussion
they decided to move on.

Northern Communities Urged to Form United Front

Northern communities must band together in order to grab the province's attention on pressing issue.

That's the feeling of Red Lake Mayor Phil Vinet  as municipal leaders prepare for a trip to Toronto for the Ontario Good Roads conference.

Vinet says poor infrastructure is just one issue that needs to be raised.

He also says he wants to discuss revenue sharing, an energy crisis and low property assessments.

Tourist Numbers Increase in 2012

A big increase in tourist traffic in Kenora last summer.

The Lake of the Woods Development Commission has released its year-end figures for 2012 and its shows the number of visitors at the Discovery Center almost doubled.

Mort Goss is vice-chair of the Commission and says that's a big economic impact on the city.

The final figures show over 20 thousand visitors signed in at either the Discovery Center
or the Thistle Pavillion, up from 13 thousand 800 the year before.

New Taxi By-Law Expected to be Approved Tonight

Kenora city council says its willing to work with local cab companies to
ensure they remain profitable.

A new taxi by-law will come into effect this summer.

Eric Lovas is with Co-ot Taxi and says they would like to see the number of
safeties needed reduced from two down to just one a year.

Council has agreed to just one safety a year, but says it's not willing to
allow vehicles older than 10 years to be newly registered as a taxi.

Campbell Eager to Get Back to Work at Queen's Park

MPP's will finally get back to work today after a four month break.

The speech from the Throne will be read this afternoon around 2:00.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Sarah Campbell is itching to get back to work at
Queen's Park.

Campbell says she'll hold premier Kathleen Wynne at her word, that she'll work with the opposition.

At the same time, Campbell says she has a number of issues she wants to
raise at Queen's Park and wants more than lip service from the new government.

Thistles Will Face Wheaties in Quarter-Finals

The Kenora Triple A Midget Thistles will have a tall order in  the next round of the play-offs.

The Thistles will take on the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Best-Of-Five quarter final round starting on Friday.

The Thistles advanced after getting by the Eastman Selects two games to one in their preliminary round series.

The Kenora Midgets iced the series on Sunsday afternoon with a 4-1 win at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The Thistles will now face the top team in the western Conference in the next round.

School Buses Cancelled in the Kenora area This Morning

It's an extra-long weekend for some students today.

Poor road conditions and the massive amount of snow has resulted in the cancellation of school buses in the Kenora
area this morning.

The Sioux Narrows school bus, and service to several other communities such as Ear Falls, Red Lake, and
Vermillion Bay have also been cancelled this morning.

The Rat Portage School Bus has also been cancelled this morning.

The Northwestern Ontario Student Service Consortium says minimal snow clearing has occured and they are concerned about the safety of bus drivers and children.

All schools remain open.

City transit is running as usual.