Ontario Fire Rangers Heading Home

Some of Ontario fire fighting resources in British Columbia are coming home.


A total of 168 Ministry of Natural Resources fireRangers and support personnel are scheduled back today following a two-week deployment in the west coast.

Sunday, the province sent 206 personnel, including some from northwestern Ontario, to replace those returning.

Kenora District Services Board loses CAO

The Kenora District Services Board is losing it's top gun.


Cheif Administrative Officer Sten Lif has announced his retirement effective March 2011.

Lif says the Board has turned into a 50-million dollar organization in just 12-years.

The District Services Board hopes to have a replacement for Lif in place
before his departure next year.

Bearskin Lake youth faces Murder Charge

A 15 year old youth from the Bearskin Lake First Nation is due to appear in Kenora Court this morning on murder charges.

The Nishinaski-Aski Police says they were called to the nursing station in the remote community early Sunday morning.

Police say one man had been pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was taken to hospital in Sioux Lookout for treatment.

The deceased has been identified as 20 year old Neil Fiddler from Bearskin Lake.

An autopsy will take place in Toronto today to determine the cause of death.

In the meantime, the OPP's Northwest Crime Unit has been brought in to help out
with the investigation.

The 15 year old suspect, has been charged with second degree murder and also
attempted murder.

Ignace man charged in cold case

OPP have laid charges against an Ignace man in a cold case investigation that dates back to the mid 80's.


Between 1985 and 1987, Thunder Bay OPP looked into a number of cases where a man wearing a disguise and at times brandishing a weapon entered homes and sexually assaulted women.

A man was arrested and charged in 1987 but the charges were dismissed 2-years later.

Police reopened the case in 2007 and today arrested 62-year-old Donald Milani.

Milani has been charged with 19-offences including break and enter, sexual assault, wearing a disguise while committing an indictable offence, forcible confinement and robbery.

He has been released and scheduled in Court on August 30th.

Airport looking to increase traffic

The Kenora Airport Authority is looking for ways of increasing traffic at their facility.

Members of the Airport Authority met with Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford yesterday to discuss how the federal government might be able to help
out.

Rick Lovelace is chair of the airport authority and says they have big plans, which will require a lot of financial support.

Lovelace says they'd also like to build a new airport terminal, but all those plans will require funding from both the federal and provincial levels of government.

New Service Ontario Site Open

For the second time in less than a year the location to re-new your driver's licence in Kenora has moved.

A new Service Ontario office has opened up on Main Street South in the old Land Titles Office.

The site will offer both Ontario Health card and driver and vehicle licencing services.

The new Service Ontario office opened yesterday to the public and replaces the former site at the provincial building on Robertson Street.

Kenora Airport Gets Funding

The Kenora Airport is getting over three-quarters of a million dollars to improve the safety of the facility.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford announced 775 thousand dollars to install a fence to keep wildlife out of the airport compound.

Rickford says the funding comes out of the federal/provincial infrastructure program.

Airport manager Mike Zroback says they plan to install a 12 foot high fence around the airport to keep deer out.

He says there have been a number of near misses in recent years between aircraft
landing and taking off and wandering wildlife.

Highway fatality near Oxdrift

A woman from Kitchener, Ontario has been killed in a two-vehicle accident between Kenora and Dryden on the Trans-Canada Highway.

The OPP say the collision took place shortly after 10:00 yesterday morning near the intersection of Eton-Rugby Road and Highway 17.

Police say a west-bound car collided with an eastbound pick-up truck.

The driver of the car, 35 year old Rosanne O'Brien was killed, while the operator of the half-ton was taken to hospital in Dryden for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The highway was closed for over five hours as a result of the collision.

Ultimate Fishing Town Contest

Nestor Falls is getting a lot of support for its bid to be the Ultimate Fishing Town in Canada.

The northwestern Ontario community is second among all towns and cities nominated, with 142 submissions to the World Fishing Television contest.

Kenora has 40 votes and is fifth overall.
Nominator Maureen Hanson of Hanson's Hideaway Lodge says it's an important contest to win.

The winning town gets 25-thousand in prizes.

Voting begins today on the World Fishing Network website.

Angler Young Angler Winners

The founder of the Angler Young Angler Fishing tournament now has official
bragging rights.

Andrew Klopak teamed up with two other youngsters to win the one day
walleye fishing derby on Lake of the Woods over the weekend.

Klopak, Stephen Duynisveld, and Jordan Boychuck from Lac Du Bonnet weighed in more than
30 pounds of walleye to take this year's title, which featured 28 teams
from across Canada and the United States.

City and Health Unit meet over Beach Signage

The Northwestern Health Unit says its willing to work with the City of Kenora over Beach Warning notices.

Health Unit administration met with council at a special meeting last week to discuss the issue.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr. James Arthurs says they are governed by very specific legislation, but are willing to look at suggestions on how to better present information about beach closures.

Members of council have suggested sending beach water samples to labs in Winnipeg to get quicker information about bacteria levels at local beaches.

Moncrief United Ladies Soccer Champs

Moncrief United were two for three in Kenora Women's Soccer this season.

United edged out Hap's Hurricanes for the overall league title.
The two teams also met up last night in the League Championship game,
and United prevailed 4-0.

Hap's won the Ladies Tournament title last month.

Treaty Three Police lay Murder Charges

Treaty Three Police Service have made an arrest in connection with stabbing death of a man on the Onigaming First Nation back in April.
22-year-old Thomas Ryan Indian appeared in a Kenora court on Friday on a charge of second degree murder in the death of 45-year-old William Kelly.

Kelly's body was found in a home in the reserve near Nestor Falls April 8.

Police say he died as a result of a single stab wound.

Rafferty wants investigation of Cross Border Complaints

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty wants to know if the enforcement of border crossings in northwestern Ontario is stiffer than elsewhere in Canada.

Rafferty says recent media reports of an Illinois man, denied entry at the Fort Frances border because of a criminal report dating back to his high school days, highlights the need for a review.

Rafferty understands the difficult role customs officers must perform, but is concerned with the number of complaints he's heard.

CAA launches annual Worst Roads Contest

Now is your chance to nominate the worst roads in the Kenora area.


The Canadian Automobile Association has launched its annual worst road contest.

CAA spokesperson Kory Kennedy says its easy to cast a vote.  You can log onto the CAA website
with your nomination.

Kennedy says 90 percent of the roads nominated to the yearly list have been either repaired or are slated to be repaired.

NOMA Opposed to Bill 68

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association says the so-called "Open for Business Act" will do nothing to help the struggling forest sector.


Bill 68 proposes changes to the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, giving the Endangered Species Act higher authority on forestry practices.

NOMA President Anne Krassilowsky says the move will have a devastating effect on local economy's.

Krassilowsky notes they have asked for the past 3-years to make Forest Management Plans the be-all, end-all.

More Border Crossing Complaints

Border crossings in Fort Frances and Rainy River continue to be a bone of contention for the area's tourism officials.


Executive Director of Ontario Sunset Country Gerry Cariou says area lodges are reporting large declines in American visitors, and point to the area's border as a contributing factors.

Cariou believes millions of dollars in revenue has been lost by enforcement of rules that restrict Americans with prior drunk driving convictions from entering Canada.

Wood Supply Announcement expected in the fall

The Ontario Government could announce the winners of the wood supply competition by the fall.


115 applications came forward for the 11 million cubic metres of wood up for grabs.

Minister Michael Gravelle says he's working as fast as he can on the process.

Those individuals with successful proposals will be able to use logs, branches and other wood in Crown forests for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.

Ignatieff Cancels Kenora Visit

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's Northwestern Ontario's tour has been cancelled.


It has been cancelled following the death of fellow party member Mario Lague in Ottawa last week.

Lague was killed in a accident yesterday on his way to work, when the Motorcycle he was driving collided with an S-U-V.

Ignatieff is flying back to Ottawa for thew funeral, but insists on continueing the tour later on, sometime in the fall.

He was scheduled to be in Kenora and Dryden on Saturday.

OPP looking into Pikangikum Policing Issues

Very little information is being released about members of the Pikangikum OPP being escorted out of the community.


Superintendent Ron Van Straalen says the 11 officers were asked to leave and were sent to the airport
earlier this summer.

Von Straalen calls the OPP's relationship with the Pikangikum community good.

The incident happened on June 30th and is still under investigation.