Thistles Split weekend games

The Kenora Triple "A" Midget Thistles were .500 in shootouts this weekend.

The Thistles beat the Winnipeg Wild Sunday 3-2 in a shootout, after the game was tied 2-2 after regulation.

The Kenora Midgets lost their home opener Friday night with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Central Plains Capitals.

The Thistles have a record of 2-2-1 after the first two weeks of the regular season.

This weekend the Kenora Midgets host the winless Parkland Rangers for a pair of

games at the Thistle Rink. 

Broncos lose on the road

Beaver Brae's football team suffered only its second loss of the season.

The Broncos were upended 27-13 by the unbeaten Murdoch McKay Clansmen on Friday in Transcona.

Beaver Brae falls to 3-2 on the season, whiel Murdoch McKay leads the division with a perfect 5-0 mark.

The Broncos now face the Steinbach Sabres on Friday

The expansion team is still looking for its first win of the season after dropping a 20-15 decision to Dryden last week.

It was the Eagles first win of the season

Rash of late season forest fires

The warm weather has resulted in some Fall-time activity for Ministry of Natural Resources Fire Crews.

Eight new fires have been reported in Northwestern Ontario since October first and five are still burning.

The Dryden District is the hot spot, with 5 fires.

The MNR stresses they have adequate resources on hand to deal with the recent fire activity.

The other fires were reported in the Fort Frances and Thunder Bay District's.

None of the blazes have exceeded 2.5-hectares.

NOSM support staff vote on first contract

Striking administrative, clerical and technical workers at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine will vote on a tentative contract today.

Union Spokesperson Tyler England says they'll start reviewing the deal this afternoon.

The Union isn't for or against the tentative agreement, England says they're staying neutral and will

let employees decide whether the deal is fair or not. 

Sioux Lookout woman identified in crash

The OPP in Sioux Lookout have released the name of a woman killed

last week in a single vehicle accident on Bindo Lake.

52 year old Sophia Trist of Sioux Lookout was pronounced dead at the

scene.

Police say the vehicle ended up in the lake after driving off a single lane

bridge on Vermillion Rriver Road.

The OPP say the accident is still under investigation.

Breast Screening Program promotion

The Ontario Breast Screening Program wants to see 160 over 50 on Monday October 18th.

It's the second year for the 12 hour drop in breast screening day in Northwestern Ontario.

Manager of Cancer Screening, Lori Della Vedova says there are some real benefits to being

screened.

New clients who participate in the challenge will receive a free "Thingamaboob" and will be entered into a draw for a 50 dollar gift card.

By-Law being considered to protect Heritage Landscapes

Kenora's Heritage Committee is looking at sample by-laws from other communities across Ontario that protect local landscapes.

The Committee wants to draft a similar by-law protect and preserve a 300 year old Eastern Cottonwood Tree in the Rideout area of town.

The by-law would designate the tree as part of the city's heritage landscape and

could prevent it from being cut down in the future.

The tree is thought to be the oldest eastern Cottonwood in Ontario.

Under similar by-laws, the fine for cutting down or damaging the tree could be

as high as 20 thousand dollars.

OFIA Upset with Ontario's Environmental Commissioner

Statements made by the Environmental Commissioner's Office have ruffled the feathers of the Ontario Forest Industry Association.

The ECO recently released a press release claiming caribou haven't returned to previously logged forest areas.

Spokesperson Scott Jackson says that statement simply isn't true.

The OFIA feels the Environmental Commissioner's Office should be more than a cheerleader for southern Ontairo special interest groups.

Operation Impact

People trying to jam in one more weekend at the cottage or hit too many Thanksgiving dinners should be careful.

The Ontario Provincial Police will be out in force during the holiday weekend.

They say ``Operation Impact'' is part of a Canada-wide initiative to catch unsafe drivers.

Police will be focusing on impaired driving, aggressive motorists and seatbelt violations.

The national road safety initiative is aimed at saving lives and reducing serious injuries.

A total of 243 people have been killed in accidents so far this year on OPP patrolled roadways.

FedNor provides funds for northern agriculture

The Federal Government is investing in Northern Ontario's Agriculture industry.

FedNor Minister Tony Clement has announced nearly 365-thousand dollars in funding to help agri-food representatives from this Region attend the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

A Northern Ontario Pavilion will be set up at the 10-day event and 350-thousand consumers are expected to attend.

Last year, immediate and follow-up sales by Northern exhibitors were estimated at about 750-thousand dollars.

Heritage Fund gets a new executive director

There's a new Executive Director at the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

Bruce Strapp is taking on the job.

Strapp was the CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie economic development commission.

He also worked with Red Lake's economic development corporation.

Broncos hit the road in WHSFL

Two of the top offenses in division two of the Winnipeg High School Football League

will meet up today.

The 3-1 Beaver Brae Broncos will travel to Winnipeg to face the Murdoch McKay Clansmen.

Both Beaver Brae and Murdoch McKay has scored 107 points so far this season, but the Clansmen have allowed just four points in four games.

Game time is 3:00 this afternoon at Murdoch McKay High School.

Municipal Election just over two weeks away

Local residents have just over a week to mail in their ballots for the October 25th

municipal elections.

October 16th is the deadline to have the ballots in the mail.

After that the kits will have to be dropped off in person prior to election day.

Returning officer Joanne McMillin say they also have contingencies for people who did not get a mail in ballot.

McMillin expects to get results from this year's election a lot faster than the past two elections.

She says the votes are being run through a computerized tabulator each day and the

final results will be printed off at 8:00 on election day.

Wasaya Airways Expands

Wasaya Airlines is expanding its operations in northwestern Ontario.

The First Nations owned company has added a Bombardier Dash 8 to it's fleet.

President Tom Morris says they also plan to order another Dash 8 in the near future.

The new aircraft will be used to fly Goldcorp workers to it's Musselwhite mine site.

Grassy Blocks MNR Officers

Residents of Grassy Narrows say they have once again barred MNR officials shutting down road repair work in their community.

Enforcement officers were at the site of a blockade to check out work being carried out on the Slant Lake Road.

The blockade members says the MNR has threatened to shut down the work because they don't

have the necessary environmental permits.

This week, band members say they denied the enforcement officers access to Slant Lake and

repair work continued on uninterupted.

Repairs have not been made to the road since 2002, when Grassy set up the blockade to

protest clear-cutting operations near their community.

Hampton weighs in on Lobby Contraversy

The lobby contraversy at Queen's Park goes right up to the premier's cabinet table.

That's the assertion of Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton.

Hampton says former government members are now paid lobbyists, and former lobbyists are now members of the Liberal government.

Hampton also questions the government's sincerity when it says it will pass legislation to curb the use of public money to pay for lobbyists.

House fire on Peterson Road

A busy night for Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Fire Fighters were called to a house fire on Peterson Road around 10:30 last night.

All four stations were called out to deal with the blaze, and pumpers spent the night

shuttling water back and forth from a hydrant several miles away on Veteran's Drive.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but damage is said to be extensive.

There was no-one home at the time the fire broke out.

Machin opens new centennial pavilion

The Town of Machin is celebrating its 100th anniversary by unveiling a new waterfront pavilion.

The 13 hundred square foot log structure is located in Pine Tree Park, overlooking Eagle Lake.

The pavilion includes a set of interpretive panels the depict some of the important events in the last 100 years in the community.

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Contributed over 16 thousand dollars to help build
the structure.

OPP search for body near Sioux Lookout

The Underwater Search and Recovery Unit has been called in after a vehicle was reported going into a lake, just outside Sioux Lookout.

OPP received a report on Tuesday that a women had driven her vehicle from Vermillion River Road into Bindo Lake.

OPP are investigating and officers want to speak to anyone who may have witnessed this event.

No other details are available.

Greenpeace Launches Caribou Caravan

Greenpeace launched its "caribou caravan" campaign at Queen's Park.

The environmental group is pressuring Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle to save the woodland caribou.

Spokesperson Richard Brooks says the government can balance both environment and the forest industry.

The caravan will be heading to northwestern Ontario at the end of October.