KPDSB Not Happy With Fine From MOE, but Will Pay

The Director of Education for the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says safety was never compromised at the schools in Upsala and Savant Lake.

Sean Monteith is reacting after the Board was fined 15-grand for violations under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Monteith says the government is taking money out of the classroom and is putting right in the pocket of the Ministry of Environment.

Officials say they corrected the problems right away and in one case even notified the province on one of the issues.

City of Kenora Working on Homelessness Plan

The City of Kenora wants to take its work plan on Homelessness a step further.

Council is supporting the hiring of a coordinator for a pilot project.

Louis Roussin is on the city's Homelessness committee and says one of the jobs would be pulling together all the resources available locally.

Roussin says they are working on a proposal for the provincial government to fund the pilot project for two or three years.

Fellowship Center to Expand Housing Options

Teaching independence.

That's what the Kenora fellowship is hoping to do as they continue to prepare the new Room and Boarders Residency Program.

Fundraiser Outreach Coordinator Taylor Hainey says the program will be very educational.

Hainey says the center is looking for donations to purchase equipment like beds, showers, and a washer and dryer.

She notes they hope to have the program operating in a few weeks time.

Toronto Man To Remain In Custody for Kidnapping His Sons

The man arrested in Dryden for allegedly kidnapping his two sons will have his case heard in Alberta.

29-year-old Illhami Butin was stopped Tuesday afternoon by Provincial Police on a Canada-wide warrant.

The man was wanted for abducting his three year old and  four year old sons in Edmonton and attempting to bring them to Toronto.

Butin made a brief court appearance yesterday morning and was told that Edmonton Police would be coming to pick him up.

He will remain in Dryden custody for a maximum of six days as he may be out earlier depending on when the transfer will be completed.

Butin is on orders to not directly or indirectly contact his kids while in custody.

Trans-Canada Closed Between Hadashville and Winnipeg

Despite all the snow yesterday and overnight, there are no road closures or bus cancellations to report so far this morning.

The main highways in the Kenora area are described as snow-covered with visibility ranging from fair to poor.

A different situation this morning in Manitoba, where the Trans-Canada is closed all the way from Hadashville to Winnipeg.

Visibility is described as poor to non-existent in the area.

Otherwise, Highway 1 is described as snow-covered from Falcon Lake to Prawda.

In town, road crews are currently plowing the main arteries, but side streets still have
a lot of loose snow.

Intersections this morning are also starting to get pretty slick so motorists are urged to
slow down while out on the highway and travelling around town this morning.