Free Business Workshops in the City

A couple free workshops in the city for local businesses.

Dana Bridgeman-Cross with Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong says they are bringing in a  renowned speaker  Denise Bissonnette for the workshops title "Workplace Inclusion Training" and "30 Ways to Shine."

The workshops take place at the Bestwestern Lakeside inn tomorrow and Wednesday.

to R.S.V.P you can email Dana at dcross@shooniyaa.org

Kenora's Snow is Twice as Much as Usual

How much snow is too much snow.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the Kenora area has already seen about twice as much snowfall as  we'd get in a "normal" winter.

He says the snow pack at the Kenora Airport is about 85
inches, which is about double the amount for the end of February.

The Kenora Airport says this has probably been the most snow they've seen in at least 25 years.

Attiwapiskat Walkers Make it to Ottawa

A more than 17-hundred kilometre walk from the remote northern community of Attawapiskat to Ottawa is over.

The group has arrived on Parliament Hill and is sharing its experience.

The trip, organized in part by Danny Metatawbin, started on January 4th.

Roughly 25 people ended up taking part in the trek when all was said and done.

Metatawbin has stated that they need to have open dialogue with the Provincial and Federal governments.

Walkers raised several issues including poverty, poor housing and high suicide rates.

School Board Pleased With Solar Projects

The Kenora Catholic District School Board says it's run into a bit of a problem with it's solar panels.

The separate school board installed a number of solar units on top of Pope John Paul School
last year.

Operations manager Andrew Poirier says overall they are exceeding their targets for electrical
generation.

However, he admits they haven't been able to generate any power over the past couple of months
because their solar panels are covered with snow.

He says they haven't been able to remove the snow from the solar units and is hoping for an early
spring they can resume generating electricity.

City Well Represented at Good Roads

Municipal leaders are in Oakville today for the annual Good Roads Confererance.

Mayor Dave Canfield says they have one big issue on their agenda this year.

He says they have a file on homelessness that will be presented to
the cabinet ministers they meet.

Canfield also notes that bridge repairs and taxation will be on their agenda.

NOMA has applied for upwards of nine meetings with provincial cabinet ministers.

RCMP Officer Injured In Weekend Collision

A close call for an RCMP officer on duty in eastern Manitoba.

Early Sunday morning, a marked police cruiser was on patrol just west
of Pinawa, when it was side-swiped by an eastbound vehicle.

The force of the collision caused the window of the police car to shatter.

The car made no attempt to stop, so police began pursuit.

The suspect vehicle was pulled over about a kilometer away from the scene of the collision.

The RCMP say the 45 year old driver was charged with impaired driving
and breach of conditions to abstain from alcohol.

The driver of the police cruiser was treated in hospital for minor injuries, while the officer in the passenger seat was unharmed.

Rickford Outlines Government Infrastructure Plans

Minister of State Greg Rickford says the new infrastructure program for Canadians will be rolled out shortly.

Rickford says the focus this year will be on such things as roads and bridges.

Several communities are looking at other projects including Kenora with a new events center and arena and Rickford says funding for the those projects is up in the air.

He notes the Recreational Infrastructure program was in place a couple of years ago.

Health Unit Works on Customer Satisfaction

The Northwestern Health Unit is taking new steps to improve its client services.

Offices are collecting client feedback surveys and have put in place a scent-reduced policy for all of its offices.

Quality Improvement Officer, Alex Berry says it's all about making sure local residents are happy with the service they receive.

The surveys are anonymous and voluntary.

Union Gas Doesn't Expect Any Natural Gas Shortages

No worries of a shortage of natural gas for users in northwestern Ontario.

The colder than usual winter has increased demand.

But Union Gas' Andrea Stass says supply is still strong.

New prices come out in March, but Stass says any change will likely below market price because the company purchase on longer-term contracts to keep consumer costs down.

NAPS Launches Project North Star

A new anti-gang initiative is being launched by the Nishinabe-Aski Police Service.

Sergeant Jackie George says they have received 100 thousand dollars for something they call Project North Star.

Project North Star will start up today and run for 6 months.

The money for funding was provided by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Proceeds of Crime.

Ontario Youth Advocate Releases New Report

The province's advocate for children and youth is releasing a report today titled Feathers of Hope.

The report urges both levels of government to help provide healthier communities for aboriginal youth.

Spokesperson Uko Abara says the report was written by first nations youth and has a few specific recommendations and an action plan to implement those recommendations.

The action plan is  being released simultaneously today in Thunder Bay, Toronto and Ottawa.

Broncos Girls Lose in Overtime

Close but no cigar.

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team gave up a third period lead and saw the
Fort Frances Muskies take game one of their best of three semi-final
4-3 in overtime last night at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The Broncos don't have a lot of time to lick their wounds, as they are back on
the road this morning to face Fort in game two this afternoon at 2:15.

Meanwhile, the semi-final series between Beaver Brae and Thomas Aquinas
is going the distance.

The Broncos forced game three with a 4-1 win Saturday night.

Tonight's third and deciding game has been pushed back to a 7:30 start
at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Novice Boys Teams Fall in Dryden Finals

Kenora teams were well represented at a Novice hockey tournament in
Dryden.

Local teams made three of the finals, only to fall just short of winning.

The Thunder Bay Ram Rangers won the tournament with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Kenora On Deck Fries in shootout.

Sioux Black took home the 'B' side title with a 5-4 victory over the Kenora DST Penguins.

The Sioux Orange Blades won the 'C' side championship over the Kenora Stingers 3-2.

Gold For Novice Girls in Emo

Some hardware for a couple of Kenora girls hockey teams at a tournament in Emo over the weekend.

In the novice division Blue Sharks and White Lightning met up in an all-Kenora final, with the Blue Sharks coming out on top 3-2.

In the Atom Division the Blue Buccaneers settled for silver, after losing 3-0 to the Superior Spartans in the A-side final.

Taylor Beaten In Northern Ontario Women's Seniors Final

The Peggy Taylor foursome was a win away from advancing to the National Seniors Curling
championships.

Taylor made it to the final of the Northern Ontario Senior Women's Playddowns at the Kenora Curling Club yesterday, but lost 7-3 to Vicky Barrett from Sudbury yesterday.

Barrett was a perfect 4-0, while Taylor ended up at 3-1.

Meanwhile, the NorWOSSA curling championships continue today in Sioux Lookout.

Action began yesterday with the winners to be crowned later today.

PeeWee Thistles Win/Midget Thistles Lose

The Kenora Double "a" PeeWee Thistles have advanced to the semi-finals of the Eastman Hockey League.

The Thistles wrapped up their best-of-three quarter final on Saturday with a 5-0 shutout over Niverville.

The Kenora Peewees will now face Ile Des Chenes starting next Saturday at home in game one of their series.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles have a couple of weeks to prepare for the Northwest Branch Playdowns.

The Thistles were ousted from the Manitoba Midget play-offs by the Winnipeg Thrashers with a 4-2 loss Friday night at the Rec. Center.

The Branch playdowns will take place this year in Thunder Bay starting March 14th.