Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Public School Board Worried About Loss of Special Education Funding

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is raising the alarm bell over declining funding for special education.

The Ministry of Education will be increasing the budget of the public school board by about
1.9 million dollars next year.

But Director of Education Sean Monteith says they are concerned by the continued erosion
of their special education budget.

Monteith suggests their budget for special education could decrease by more than a million
dollars over the next couple of years without any changes to the funding forumla.

Dryden Exhausts Snow Removal Budget

Mother nature isn't helping Dryden's finances.

Public Works has exhausted 90-percent of its snow removal budget, leaving officials little to work with for the rest of the year.

Chief Administrative Officer Andre Larabie says the City is coming to their aid.

Larabie says he's allocated an additional 120-thousand dollars.

Catholic School Board Working on Energy Plan

Spending money to save money.

That's the plan of the Kenora Catholic District School Board as it finalizes it's five year energy plan.

Operations manager Andrew Poirier says they have 1.8 million dollars set aside for capital expenditures, but that will save the board money over the long haul.

Poirier says that's a savings of about 25 percent on their annual energy bill.

The board is looking at a number of options including LED lighting at Thomas Aquinas and more energy efficient heating systems.

Progress Being Made on Water Main Breaks

The water pandemic is not over just yet in Kenora.

Operations manager Rick Perchuk says spring weather normally leads to a handful of water main breaks.

On a positive note Perchuck says crews have done a great job handling the rash of breaks and frozen water lines.

He notes the waiting list for pipes to thaw is now down to 15 homes.

NOACC Elects A New President

There's a new person at the helm of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce.  

Nathan Lawrence has been elected as the organization's new president.

Lawrence says he wants to make sure all the chambers are working together on future projects.

Lawrence believes all the chambers should be allowed to voice their concerns and opinions on issues critical to them.

Dryden's Richard Jonasson has been elected Vice-President.

NDP Demand Action on High Natural Gas Prices

The NDP are asking the provincial government to do something about the increasing cost of natural gas.

NDP critic Gilles Bisson says Union Gas rates are going up 28 percent.

The government says natural gas prices are regulated by the Ontario Energy Board  and it's not their policy to interfere with an independant regulatory body.

Ontario Says It's Now A Coal Free Zone

Ontario is now coal free.

The last remaining load of coal has burned at the Thunder Bay Generating Station, Ontario's last remaining coal-fired plant.

The plant is being converted to burn biomass.

Meantime, the conversation of Ontario Power Generation's Atikokan plant continues and is expected to be complete by August.

Another Weather Record Falls In Kenora

Temperature records continue to fall.

For the second day in a row, Kenora has set a record low for this date.

The previous low for April 16 was -10.1 set back in 1989.

Overnight, the thermometer bottomed out at -11.

There is hope however, it looks as if we'll hit near normal conditions starting Easter Sunday with warmer weather moving in early next week.