Communities Readying to Host Flood Evacuees

A number of communities across northwestern Ontario say they are willing to host 300 flood evacuees from James Bay.

Kashechewan First Nation declared a state of emergency due to the flooding of the Albany River and is expected to begin evacuating vulnerable residents as early as today.

Thunder Bay, as well as Kapuskasing, Greenstone, Wawa, Fort Frances and Dryden are stepping up as host communities.

It's not yet confirmed which communities will be asked to host evacuees but they are prepared to do iso if they are requested by the Province.

Hunting Accident Results in Hefty Fine

A Timmins man has been fined three thousand dollars following a bizarre hunting incident.

Michel Quirion was pulled over by conservation officers east of Fort Frances last November after they noticed some damage to his passenger side door.

Quiron says he accidentally fired a shot inside his truck while deer hunting near Sioux Narrows.

He told conservation officers that he loaded the gun inside his truck because he didn't want to spook a deer he had seen on the road.

But he slipped while getting out of the truck and accidentally discharged the rifle.

The shot put a hole through the door, shattered the window and deployed the airbags.

Students Encouraged To Champion Human Rights

Students in northwestern Ontario who identify as being gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or trans-gender are being encouraged to promote dignity and human rights in their schools.

About 80 gathered for a conference in Fort Frances yesterday.

Human rights-consultant Chris D'Souza hopes the message can spread outside schools as well.

D'Sousa was encouraged that school administrators and teachers attended to support the students efforts.

City Approves More Funding For Bridge Repairs

It's going to cost almost a million dollars more to repair the Winnipeg West Branch Bridge than
initially projected.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they discovered some issues with the concrete arch
while doing work on the bridge last summer.

He says fortunately they won't have to close the bridge in order to do the work.

Innovative Civil Constructors Inc. had the lowest of four bids for the project at 946 thousand
dollars.

Elections Ontario Readies For June 12th Vote

Elections Ontario is starting to gear up for the provincial election in
the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

The main returning office will be located in Fort Frances once again in the
old town library.

Ian Simpson is also returning as the returning officer.

Satellite offices will be located in Kenora's Market Square, as well as Dryden,
Sioux Lookout and Red Lake.

Green Party Candidate Ready To Hit the Road

The Green party candidate in Kenora-Rainy River is ready to launch an aggressive campaign.

Tim McKillop of Pickle Lake says he won't be sitting on the sidelines this campaign.

McKillop says he wants to bring some stability back to the Ontario Legislature.

He is a teacher with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and has been involved with the party for a number of years.

OFIA Concerned By Funding Cuts for Forest Access Roads

The Ontario Forest Industries Association is in shock.

President Jamie Lim feels after the Liberal budget reduced the Ontario Forest Roads Program by 24 percent.

Lim is calling out Northern cabinet ministers for hiding the cuts.

It's the second reduction to the program since 2011 when it was cut back by 36 percent.

Harbourfest Seeking New Directors

Harbourfest is changing things up.

Board member Jay Whetter says they are looking for new directors to organize the August festival.

Whetter says the change is to keep things fresh at the event.

Some of the positions to be filled include a director in charge of food vendors, a volunteer coordinator, and a director for grant writing.

For more information you can visit:

 http://www.harbourfest.ca/

Aboriginal Police Services Concerned About Funding

The Nishnawbe-Aski Police and Anishinabek Police Service says the future of aboriginal policing is in doubt.

NAN Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler says the Federal government has negotiated police contracts in bad faith and used underhanded techniques which led to poor policing conditions.

NAN's statement comes after the Auditor General released a scathing report on First Nation policing.

Electricity Restored Following Overnight Outage

There might be a few people running a bit late this morning.

The power was out overnight for about 700 homes north of
town in the Jaffray, Mellick, Redditt, Minaki and Dalles area.

Hydro One says a fallen tree damaged three conductors.

The electricity was just just after midnight but Hydro One says most
home should have had power restored by 5:30 this morning.

Accuweather Predicts Cooler Summer

Not the kind of news you want to hear after the sort of winter we just
had.

Accuweather is out with it's summer forecast and it's calling for
cooler than normal conditions in northwestern Ontario.

Brett Anderson is a senior meteorologist and says a high pressure system
on the west coast will likely be the major influence on our weather over the next few months.

He says while British Columbia can expect warmer, drier conditions, the jet stream will likely block that weather from moving very far inland.

Anderson says the good news is the cooler than normal conditions will keep humidity levels down, therefore reducing the risk of severe weather.