Rec. Center Parking lot ready for paving

Not a lot of parking space available at the Kenora Rec. Center this week, but that's about

to change.

Pioneer Construction is in the process of re-paving the parking lot in front of the Thistle Rink.

The work is being done in conjunction with other construction which is being carried out in the

area.

A new storm water system is being installed along Mike Richards Way.

The warm weather this month, has meant, construction is pretty much on schedule.

Public School Trustees Honoraria Frozen

Trustees with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board won't see any increase in their pay for the next two years.

The honorarium for the elected school board members will be frozen at 59 hundred dollars a year.

Superintendant of Business, Dean Carrie says under the provincial government's restraint legislation, trustee salaries have to be frozen until April 1st, 2012.

After that, the honorarium will go up to almost 63 hundred dollars a year.

The chair will continue to receive another five thousand dollars a year, while the vice-chair

is eligible for an additional 25 hundred dollars.

CHAP is danger of shut down in Kenora

A popular community-based health program is in danger of being shut down due to a lack of funding.

The Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program, or CHAP for short, has been operating in Kenora since 2006 and is one of 16 communities across Ontario providing the service.

Randy Belair is with the Sunset Country Family Health Team, which operates the program and says they have been trying to convince the provincial government to continue funding CHAP.

Belair says unless they get additional funding, they will have to wrap up the program at the end of the month.

Canadian Bass Championships Seeking Help

For the second straight year, the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is faced with the prospects of coming to an abrupt end.

The board says it needs someone to replace Tom Fry, who's stepping down as chair after three years.

Fry is hoping someone will take over by the time a public meeting on the tournament happens October 21.

The board has been trying to find a replacement for the past year.

Missing Man found near Ontario/Manitoba Border

A Manitoba angler is safe and sound after being lost in the bush near the Ontario border.

The RCMP say a 50 year old Winnipeg man took his canoe out last Friday on Mink Lake in Nopiming Provincial Park.

He walked to a nearby lake to do some fishing, and when he returned, he couldn't locate

his canoe.

He managed to place a call to the RCMP, but they couldn't locate him using GPS tracking.

The angler ended up making a temporary shelter and spent the night in the bush.

The next day, an RCMP helicopter and search team manage to find the missing

man.

He had made a large fire and searchers were able to see the smoke.

The angler is said to be in good condition and is making arrangements to

pick up his canoe.

Beaver Brae Scholarships Announced

Six former students at Beaver Brae Secondary School have received

lucrative scholarships.

The Ministry of Education has announced the winners of the Queen Elizabeth

Aiming for the Top scholarships.

Nicole Campbell, Montana Lomnicki, Erin Van Breda, Kelsey Craven, Ashley McDonald and Jamie Warkentin will receive as much 35 hundred dollars a year for up to four years.

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, the students have to maintain at least
an 80 percent average at the post-secondary level.

Council meets one more time

Member of Kenora City Council will be taking time off the campaign trail this morning for a special meeting.

A number of items are on today's agenda, including the expenditure of 30 thousand dollars

to do repairs to Rideout Community Club.

Council is also expected to pass a resolution to make the Fire Hall on Second Street South

surplus, so the city can get ready to sell it.

The special meeting of council is scheduled to start at 9:00 this morning in the Second Floor

Meeting Room of the Kenora Rec. Center.

Kenora Metis Council Receives Funding

The Kenora Metis Council is getting some help in its attempts to launch a traditional language training program locally.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford presented a cheque for 20 thousand dollars yesterday on behalf of the Minister of Official Languages.

The funding will help the Kenora Metis Council work with local school boards and enable them to set up a lending library at their office beside the old

Fire Hall on Park Street.

Local Schools Get new Smart Boards

A number of classrooms in the public school board are getting smarter and more technologically savvy thanks to 11 school board trustees.

Under a new initiative, trustees have asked to have Smart Board's installed in local public schools as part of a legacy project.

Sean Monteith is a superintendant of education with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and says smart boards are revolutionizing the education system.

Beaver Brae, Keewatin Public, Evergreen and Valleyview Schools in Kenora have all been beneficiaries of the Smart Board Legacy Project.

Other schools in the region getting new Smart Boards include New Prospect, and Riverview, Ignace, Lilian Berg in Vermillion Bay, Ear Falls, Red Lake, and Sioux Mountain in Sioux Lookout.

Air Ontario Crash in Dryden Re-Visited

The worst air disaster in northwestern Ontario history will be relived tonight on television.

The Discovery Channel will take a look at the Air Ontario Flight 13-63 crash that killed 21 of 65 passengers and 3 of 4 crew members on March 10th, 1989.

The plane crashed into a wooded area about 15-seconds after take-off at the Dryden Airport in snowy and icy conditions.

The incident will be the feature of the Discovery Channel's Mayday program at 9 o'clock central.

Aboriginal Student Voices Report Released

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is looking for ways of creating a better learning environment for aboriginal students.

Recently, a the board held a forum called Aboriginal Student Voices to get feedback and generate some ideas on how to improve the learning environment in local schools.

Beaver Brae student Will Landon presented a report with five recommendations to the board last night, it included ideas how to help students who are struggling.

The recommendations also include cultural awareness training for new teachers to the board, an aboriginal sports program, and a fundraising program to help students to go on school trips.

Hampton Blasts government for another Flip-Flop

The New Democrats warn property tax payers will be on the hook for the Ontario government's decision to scrap eco fees that were slapped on thousands of household products July 1st.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says the government's decision to back off the eco fees is yet another flip-flop by the Liberal government.

There was no public warning that eco fees would be put on thousands of household items on July 1st, and the government faced a major backlash from consumers and retailers.

OPP Investigate Several Drug Busts in Kenora

The OPP's Organized Crime and Drug Units were involved in a number of busts in the Kenora area over the weekend.

In one incident, about 35 thousand dollars worth of drug were seized in a raid of a local home.

Police say they seized 31 grams of cocaine, over 15 hundred grams of marijuana, as well as codeine and oxycodone pills.

52 year old Lorne McGuffin faces charges of trafficking and possession, while 52 year old Lea Cameron has been charged with trafficking, and 57 year old Robert Roy has been fined

with possession.

Two other people were charged with possession of marijuana following separate RIDE

check stops in the Kenora area.

Support Staff Strike at NOSM Continues

Support staff at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine have voted not to accept a tentative deal.

Tuesday's vote was a decisive 76.8-percent against.

Tyler England of Local 677 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says the members made it clear that the deal was not good enough.

Turnout for the vote was 94 per cent.

The 150 clerical, technical and administrative workers have been on strike in Thunder Bay and Sudbury since August 16th.

Issues include wages, hours of work and overtime.

Rainy River Resources Expands Exploration Work

Rainy River Resources is hoping to advance its gold exploration program south of Kenora early next year.

Kyle Stanfield, Director of Environment and Sustainability, says the company is working toward applying for some key permits from government by the end of this year.

Stanfield says they'll also hoping to secure permits with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and does not expect any difficulty in approvals.

OPP make arrest in Rec. Center Mischief Incident

A 19 year old Kenora man faces charges in connection to a mischief incident last month at the Rec. Center.

The OPP say that in the early morning hours of September 30th, someone used an excavator from the construction site on Mike Richards Way and bashed a fence at the large ball field and also destroyed one of the bleachers.

When officers arrived, they saw a couple of suspects running away from the scene.

Dylan Parisian has been charged with michief over five thousand dollars.

He scheduled to appear in Kenora Court on the charges on November 15th.

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.