More Fire Crews heading east

More fire crews from northwestern Ontario are heading east to battle wild fires

in Quebec.

On Friday, fire rangers from bases in Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, and Sioux Lookout were
dispatched to Val D'or.

Currently Ontario has 30- four person initial attack crews, four aircraft including two water
bombers and assorted support staff in Quebec.

Because of all the rain, there hasn't been any significant forest fire activity in northwestern
Ontario over the past few days.

Traffic meeting next week

Local residents will get not one, but two chances to give feedback about the
traffic design in downtown Kenora.

Public meetings will be held next Tuesday at City Hall after councillors
complained recently about everything from the length of the traffic lights to
left turns off of Main Street South and the pedestrian crossing.

The first meeting will take place at 8:00 in the morning in council chambers
followed by another session at 2:00.

People who can't attend the meetings can still submit their suggestions, in writing
to city hall by June 30th.

Hospital Wait Times Released

Lake of the Woods District Hospital still has some work to do in order to meet provincial targets for wait times.

In the most recent statistics released by the Ministry of Health, wait times in the emergency room were longer that the goal set by by the province.

For a minor medical condition, wait time in the Emergency room was
5.3 hours.

The provincial target is four hours.

For complicated conditions requiring more time for diagnosis, treatment
or hospital admission, the wait time was 9.6 hours.

The provincial goal is 8 hours.

HST exemptions for First Nations?

There are reports indicating continued point of sale HST exemption for Ontario's first nations will be

announced soon.

That's music to the ears of the Grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.

Stan Beardy says treaty rights give his people PST exemption and having that continued with
the provincial portion of the HST is great for his people.

Beardy says the official annoucement is expected to come by Friday.

Machin Budget Passed

Homeowners in Vermillion Bay are going to have to dig a little deeper to pay their

taxes this year.

Machin Town Council passed the 2010 budget this week and it includes a four
percent increase.

Mayor Garry Parkes says initially there were dealing with an 8 percent hike
in taxes, but were able to chisel that down.

Parkes says they had to cut a few things from their capital budget, including
extra road work this year.

Treaty Three Demands Action from OPP Commish

The commissioner of the OPP is being personally asked to address, what Treaty Three describes as social unrest, which is the result of the shooting of a 39 year old Grassy Narrows woman last week.


Grand Council Treaty #3 issued the challenge yesterday.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says the OPP promised to provide bias-free policing in the City of Kenora when they took over from the Kenora Police Service last year, but suggests the shooting is not a good start.

Kelly is also asking Public Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci to involve the Treaty Three Police as a partner or oversight agency in the SIU investigation of the shooting.

She says first nations people don't trust a fair investigation will happen, and have the
Treaty Three Police involved will provide some reassurance.

EQAO literacy test results

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is crowing about the most recent grade 10 literacy test results.

89 percent of Thomas Aquinas students who wrote the test were successful, which is a 14 percent improvement over last year, and 5 percent higher than the provincial average.

Assistant to the Director of Education, Murray Delorme says the results represent a lot of hard work and effort by their             teachers, parents and the students.

Over at Beaver Brae, the results weren't as positive.

68 percent of students who wrote the test were successful, down from 72 percent
last year.

Beware of Blue Green Algae

The Northwestern Health Unit is warning local residents to be on the lookout for blue/green algae blooms this summer.

The toxicpoisonous algae has shown up in recent years in local lakes and rivers.


Health inspector, Brian Norris says the algae is recognizeable by the smell of fresh mown grass in newer blooms and rotting garbage in older blooms.

Side effects in humans can range from skin irritation to vomiting.

If you think you have come into contact with the algae you should contact your doctor.

MaxMillions winner in Kenora?

                                                                                    A Northwestern Ontario resident may be a    million richer after buying a winning Lotto Max ticket.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation spokeswoman Sarah Kiriliuk says the identity of the winner has yet to be announced.

The five dollar ticket was purchased at a Kenora store.

The Maxmillions prize is one of twenty one-million dollar prizes associated with a bigger jackpot worth $50 million.

Kiriliuk said nobody has won the jackpot yet.

That means the $50-million jackpot is still up for grabs on Friday, along with an estimated 45 Maxmillions draws.

Human Remains still unidentified

Local police say they still don't know the identity of a woman whose body was

found near Miller's Rapids Road last year.

The human remains were found in a tent in a wooded area just off the D-2 one
year ago today.

The OPP say the woman was camping in the area no longer than a week before
her body was discovered.

She is described as a light-skinned female, between the ages of 26 and 50, about
5 feet 5 inches tall, about 110 pounds with shoulder length light brown hair.

She was wearing oval shaped eyeglasses with wire rims and three colored bead
necklaces.

Anyone who might have information as to her identity is asked to contact the OPP.

Parks, Beaches and Trails plans

Kenora's green spaces are due for some upgrades.


That's the feeling of the Lake of the Woods Economic Development
Commission.

Conceptual plans have been presented for local beaches, trails and
parks to upgrade them.

The city's economic development officer Jennifer Findlay says they want
to get some feedback from local residents on their plans.

Plans have been unveiled for Anicinabe Park, Coney Island, Garrow Park,
Portage Bay and Beatty Park.

Movie Gallery Closing outlets

Its going to be a little harder to rent a movie this weekend in Kenora.


The Movie Gallery has announced its closing all of its stores in
northwestern Ontario.

The company has 181 outlets across the country and says it will be
liquidating the merchandise from its stores over the next few weeks.

The Movie Gallery Corporation says its being affected by internet downloads,
video rentals from cable providers and subscription-based male delivery services.

American Hunters face hefty fine

Two American hunters face a huge fine for illegally hunting deer in the Kenora

area last fall.

Jamie Doucette and Jesse Caswell from Michigan have been fined a total of
over 11 thousand dollars for hunting deer at night.

The two were driving along Cynet Lake Road last Hallowe'en when a large
buck ran across the road in front of them.

One of the hunters turned the truck to point the headlights at the deer,
while the passenger got his rifle out to shoot at the buck out the side
window.

The shot missed its mark, but the gun discharged and the bullet ripped through the floor of the truck
as one of the hunters tried to put it back in its case.

Caswell and Doucette have also been banned from hunting in Ontario for three and six years
respectively.

Rickford defends FedNOR

The federal government is defending the FedNOR program.


Critics have said the Harper government is backing away from FedNor or has been mispending
funding.

But Keora M.P. Greg Rickford says the Harper government is still committed to the program.

Lakehead University, Confederation College and the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund recently
benefitted from 1.1 million dollars in FedNOR funding.

Van Wallenghem Not Running Again

There will be at least one vacancy on Kenora City Council this fall.


Councillor Chris Van Wallenghem says he doesn't intend to run in
the upcoming municipal elections.

Van Wallenghem made the announcement at the end of last night's
open council meeting.

Councillor's Dave McCann, Wendy Cuthbert and Jim Parson have
all submitted their nomination papers for the October 25th municipal
elections.

Councillors Charito Drinkwalter and Rory McMillan have not indicated if
they plan to run again.

School Boards gear up for All-day Kindergarten

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is gearing up for all-day kindergarten

this fall.

Two schools will be offering the day long junior and senior kindergarten classes.
Director of Education of the public school board Jack McMaster says they have been
working with the Kenora Catholic and the Northwest Catholic School Boards on the
roll-out of the program.

In Kenora the public school board will be offering all-day kindergarten at Evergreen
this fall, while the Catholic board will be using St. Louis for its program initially.

Local Services Board Proposed for Pellatt

The Pellatt United Fire Department is hoping to have a more reliable source

of funding soon.

Residents in four unincorporated townships west of Kenora are being asked to
support the creation of a local services board.

Barry Balteson is one of the people behind the proposal and says the goal is
to impose a small levy on each home owner in the area served by the fire
                                            department.

The first of two public meetings on the local services board will take place
tonight at the Pellatt Fire Hall at 7:00.

The actual vote will take place on August 14th.

Sioux Narrows fatality update

The name of a 22 year old man who died after jumping off the Sioux Narrows

Bridge over the weekend has been released.

Gerald Jonasson of Edinborough, North Dakota was killed after he jumped
off the bridge early Sunday morning and failed to resurface.

The OPP's Underwater Search and Recovery Unit as well as the Kenora Marine
Unit were able to locate the body later in the day.

No other details about the incident have been released.

Environment Committee releases annaul report

The City of Kenora is getting a passing grade for its work on environmental issues.


The city's Environmental Advisory Committee has submitted its annual report to council and its generally favorable.

Dave Schwartz is a member of the committee and says they are pleased with a number of initiatives undertaken by the city last year.

Schwartz says the implementation of an Electronics Waste Depot is a positive move, but suggests he would have liked to have seen solar power used in the building of the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

A new principal at Beaver Brae

A couple of schools will see administrative changes next School year.


Beaver Brae Secondary School will get a new principal next year.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says Clinton Bruetsch will take over from Katherine McIvor.

Bruetsch is currently the vice-principal at Queen Elizabeth High School in Sioux Lookout.

Steve Poling becomes the new principal at Queen Elizabeth, while Wayne Mercer becomes the vice-principal.