Treaty 3 Police Service Decides to Close Doors

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is shocked at the decision to close down the Treaty 3 Police Service.

Regional Vice-Prescient Sharon DeSousa says the union is still willing to work with the force.

DeSousa says closing the force is not the right way to move forward and that more work can be done to find a solution.

She says in reaction to the announcement the union will be meeting with the officers on how they want to proceed.

She adds that it's disappointing that the communities the force serves will have to suffer due to a lack of federal funding.

The force is preparing to shut down on August 19th.

Power Out Due to Morning Storm

This mornings brief, but violent thunder storm has knocked out power
to over 200 homes in the Kenora area.

Hydro One says high winds associated with the storm system knocked trees onto power lines, resulting in the outages.

The electricity is out this morning in several areas west of the city including the McKenzie Portage area, Washagamis Bay First Nation and parts of Keewatin.

Its unknown when power will be restored.

City Gets a Clean Audit

A pretty robust bottom line for the City of Kenora.

A draft of the 2012 audit has been released and it shows the city's surplus has increased by about a million dollars over last year.

On paper the city has a surplus of 208 million dollars, but chair of the
finance committee Ron Lunny says that figure is misleading because it includes items such as roads and bridges, things he says are actually liabilities instead of assets.

One of the reasons for the increased surplus is a reduction in OPP costs
last year.

Lunny says with an 8.5 percent wage increase due next year, he doesn't anticipate the surplus will be as large in the future.

Fire Crews Quickly Bring Minto Brush Fire Under Control

Quick work by Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services department has prevented a fire in the Minto area from getting out of control.

Yesterday afternoon fire crews responded to and contained a bush fire on the South shore or Rabbit Lake.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says he's frustrated that resources were tied up due to reckless behaviour.

Brinkman says the cause of the fire was an unattended camp fire.

Resolute Mill Ready to Recall Some Workers in Fort Frances

Good news for some laid off workers at the Resolute Forest Products Mill in Fort Frances.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union reached an agreement that will allow the start up of paper machine number 7 for 2 to 3 months starting July 17th.

CEP National Rep Steven Boon says about 40 people will be back to work for that period of time.

Boon says they hope to get some feedback from Resolute on what the plans are for the long term.

Northern Policy Institute Ready to Hire First Ever President

The Northern Policy Institute is slowly starting to take shape.

There are reports that the province is ready to hire the first ever
president of the NPI.

Charles Cirtwill, who heads up the Atlantic Institute Market Studies,
has been tagged to head up the northern Ontario think tank.

The Northern Policy Institute has been set up by the provincial government to draft an economic blue print for the region.

Triathlon Ready to Go This Weekend

Organizers are gearing up for the annual Kenora Borealis Multi-Sport Triathlon.

Safety is a key concern for the participants.

Race organizer Kim Mann says they will have traffic detours set up to keep the race area clear from dangers.

Racing begins Sunday morning from Garrow Park, and includes a swim in Rabbit Lake, a bike ride and also a run.

More details are available at www.kenoraborealis.com.