Huge hunting fine

An Iowa man has been handed a large fine for illegally obtaining Ontario hunting and fishing licences.


Stephen Grupe pled guilty fined 10 thousand dollars to having a void outdoors card, making false statements on an application and illegal hunting.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says Grupe bought a hunting and fishing camp on Wabauskang
Lake back in 2004, but his primary residence was still in Iowa.

He managed to purchase an Ontario resident Outdoor card and hunting and fishing licences
over the next four years.

The MNR says he saved over three thousand dollars during that period.

Union Gas rates going down

Good news for people who heat their home with natural gas.


The Ontario Energy Board has approved changes to the natural gas
commodity price that Union Gas Limited will charge its customers
effective July 1st.

Union gas says the average customer in northwestern Ontario will
pay about 32 dollars less a year.

The change is due to a decrease in what Union forecasts it will
have to pay for natural gas.

Summer Officially here

Does it feel any warmer yet?


Summer officially arrived in northwestern Ontario earlier this morning

The first day of the new season began at 6:28 this morning.

Environment Canada's long range forecast for the summer calls for both
above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation in this
region.

Busy weekend for fire crews

A busy couple of days for Ministry of Natural Resources fire crews in northwestern Ontario.

Friday's windy weather resulted in more than 16 small wildfires in the region.

The MNR says the blazes were caused by trees falling onto hydro lines.

All of the fires were small and most were located in the Fort Frances and
Dryden Districts.

Fire Ranger Crews have also been dispatched over the weekend to
northern Manitoba to help battle wild fires there.

Hospital using new technology

Lake of the Woods District Hospital says its made great strides in diagnosing
patients with infectious diseases.

The hospital is one of the few in the province that now has molecular genetics
testing equipment.

Dr. Kerry McDonald is the hospital's chief of staff and says they can isolate
certain infectious diseases in a matter of hours, rather than days.

McDonald says in the past a patient could spend up to 72 hours in isolation
before they could determine if they had any infectious diseases.

The new technology allows them to diagnose any problems within two hours.

Confederation College Graduation tonight

A big week for local students.


Graduation ceremonies will be taking place on three fronts over the next
four days.

This afternoon, graduating students from the Confederation College Campus
in Kenora will be holding their 2010 convocation.

The ceremonies will start at 4:30 at Pope John Paul the Second School.

On Thursday, both Beaver Brae and Thomas Aquinas will be holding their
graduation ceremonies for grade 12 students.

That will be followed by Safe Grad Celebrations at the Kenora Rec. Center.

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.