Common Ground at an Impasse

The once-promising Common Ground Initiative has hit a bit of a roadblock.

Common Ground is a partnership between the City of Kenora, four local first nations and Treaty Three, but development of a management plan has reached an impasse.

Kenora Mayor Len Compton says they haven't been able to agree with Treaty Three on whether to include a dispute resolution mechanism in the plan.

Compton says Treaty Three doesn't seem to feel a dispute resolution mechanism is needed, and that's held up development of the management plan for months now.

Greenpeace and CEP unveil Green Jobs Report

Greenpeace and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union are teaming up to create green forestry jobs.

The environmental group released it's green jobs report for northern forestry on Friday.

CEP Spokesperson Kim Ginter explains why the union is getting involved.

Ginter hopes by launching the report in northwestern Ontario, Minister of Northern, Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle and the Liberals will sit up and take notice.

New Fire Hall Almost Ready to Open

The new Fire Hall on Barsky's Hill will be officially opened at the end of this month.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says while almost all the work on the building is complete, there are still a few minor details that have to be finalized before they can begin moving their equipment in.

The new fire hall opened its doors last week to Kenora City council so they could tour the building and hold their special meeting of council in the second floor training room.

No Free Parking This Christmas

Don't expect any free parking in downtown Kenora this holiday season.

Kenora City council has turned down a request by the Business Improvement

Zone for five days of free parking in the week leading up to Christmas.

A representitive from the BIZ had suggested allowing free parking at all
metered stalls from December 20th to 25th.

But councillor Dave McCann says that could cost the city anywhere from 18 to
23 thousand dollars in lost revenue.

Council voted unanimously against the free parking initiative.

Kenora Cleans up after Snow Storms

Don't put away your snow shovels just yet.

After getting anotehr 10 centimeters of snow yesterday, another system is expected to drop couple more centimeters of white stuff over night.

Yesterday's snowstorm caused some travel problems in the Kenora area.

The Kenora By-Pass was closed down for a couple of hours due to a number of accidents involving tractor-trailor units.

Over the past four days, the Kenora area has received over 25 centimeters of snow, but road conditions are slow starting to improve as city crews are out this morning clearing major routes through town.

Most of the major highways in the area are listed as bare and wet with slushy
sections.

Confederation College signs deal on Aborignal Education

Confederation College is again getting involved with educating our First Nations communities.

College President Pat Lang says they're partnering with Matawa to try to make a difference in educating young Aboriginals.

The two organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding to achieve their objectives.

Matthyson tours Northwestern Ontario

The Women's critic for the NDP feels the federal government isn't doing enough

to ensure the safety of aboriginal women in Canada.

Irene Mathyssen was in Kenora last week and spoke with representitives with local women's groups.

Mathyssen says the National Status of Women committee has been touring the country looking into the issue of violence against women.

Mathyssen says her committee has been fighting the federal government for funding to complete their report which will look at the disappearance and murder of  aboriginal women across Canada.

Senior Thistles Win Opener

The Kenora Triple "a" Senior Thistles started their march to the 2011 Allan Cup with a victory.

The Thistles played their first game of the season on Saturday night and blanked the Southwest Prairie Thunder 3-0.

Jeff Richards, Jeff Heringer and Ryan Bowen scored for the Kenora Seniors, while Tyler Gordon back-stopped the team with the shutout.

The Thistles next game is at home against Fort Frances on December 10th.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Triple "A" midget Thistles snapped a seven game winless streak Saturday night.

The Thistles wrapped up their road trip to Thompson, Manitoba with a 3-2 shootout

win over the Norman North Stars.

On Friday, the North Stars upended the road weary Thistles 5-1.

And Beaver Brae's girls hockey team improved its record to 3-0 in the young NorWOSSA

season.

The Broncos shutout their cross town rivals, the Thomas Aquinas Saints 4-0 Friday night.

Alberta Clipper hits Kenora

Motorists might want to give themselves a few extra minutes to get to get around town today.

An Alberta clipper continues to blow across northwestern Ontario.

About 15 centimeters of snow has fallen so far and another five more are expected throughout the day.

Crews are currently working to clear area roads and highways.

Highways in the Kenora area are described as snow-covered, with some slippery sections and poor visibility.

Meanwhile, Severe Weather Specialist Geoff Coulson says he expects the snow to hang around for the rest of winter.

Coulson says another weather system could bring another five to ten centimeters of snow to the Kenora area on Monday or Tuesday.

Funding for homeless shelters announced

The Kenora District Services Board has handed out nearly 68-thousand dollars in funding to support four homeless programs.

The Kenora Fellowship Centre will see 15-grand, while the Dryden Food Bank is welcoming 5-thousand dollars.

The Sioux Lookout Out of the Cold Shelter is receiving roughly 28-grand to help the 489-clients it serves a year.

KDSB Chair Rory McMillan says this only scratches the surface of what is needed to improve the homeless issue in our District and he's urging the incoming Board of Directors to keep the pressure on the Government for more funding.

Province Announces Electricity Rebate for 2011

You can ring in the New Year knowing that your electricity bill will be cut by 10 percent.

The McGuinty Government announced the rebate on Thursday, and opposition members are saying it's nothing more than an election gimmick.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle says that's not the case.

Gravelle says rebates may not show up on bills immediately in January, but they will be reimbursed on later bills.

Treaty Three Applauds U.N. Declaration

Grand Council Treaty Three is applauding the United Nations for approving its

Declartion of rights for Indiginous People.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says Canada was a major architect of the declaration, which
was signed on November 12th.

She adds that the expectations of Treaty Three residents has been raised by Canada's
move to endorse the declaration.

Kelly is hoping this marks a new era in the relations between Treaty Three and the crown and will create a new, better and strenghened economy in northwestern Ontario.

Infrastructure projects on Budget

Infrastructure projects currently underway in the City of Kenora are all running pretty much on budget.

Councillor Dave McCann provided an update to council at its final open meeting yesterday.

McCann says the second phase of downtown revitalization will wrap up by next spring.

McCann says they have written to the federal and provincial government's to ask for an extension to complete the Discovery Center at Cameron Bay

and also to spend about a million dollars in the paving budget that wasn't spent this year.

Snow Day today

Students will get their first snow day of the year today.

Excel Coach Lines says all school buses have been cancelled today because the roads have not bee plowed yet.

Excel adds that the bus cancellation also applies to the city's Transit system.

All buses have been cancelled this morning, but Excel says it will review the situation this afternoon.

Bernier Honored at Queen's Park

The King of the North is still being talked about at Queen's Park.

Members from all parties paid tribute to Leo Bernier yesterday.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak stood up in the legislature and touched on his legacy.

Bernier past away at the age of 81 this summer.

The provincial government announced yesterday that Highway 664 from Bernier's hometown of Hudson to Sioux Lookout would be named in his honor.

Evergreen Parents petition against school closure

Parents at Evergreen School are planning to launch a campaign to keep the elementary school open.

The petition is aimed at appealing the decision by the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board to close the facility at the end of this school year.

Supporters say they need about 60 signatures on the petition so they can take their appeal to the to the Ministry of Education.

The parents want the Ministry to review how the whole process was conducted.

The decision to close the school means most students would be tranferred to Lakewood School next

fall.

CHAP program extended for a month

The Cardio Health Awareness Program, or CHAP for short, has been given a bit of a reprieve.

The volunteer blood pressure clinics were supposed to wrap up at the end of October, due to a lack of funding.

However, co-ordinator of the program, Shirley Hanslip says they will be able to continue on for another month.

Clinics have been set up at a number of locations across the city for the rest of this month.

Hanslip says they are still hoping for some long term funding from the provincial government.

Community Foundation hands out more grants

The Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation is playing Santa Claus, handing out 45 thousand dollars in grants to 20 different local groups.

A granting Ceremony took place last night, the Kenora District Home for the Aged received the largest grant of 45 hundred dollars from the Jim and Leney Richardson Community Fund.

Don Parfitt is chair of the foundation and says they continue to grow despite tough economic

times.

Other recipients last night were Its a dogs life, collecting two separate grants totallying 26 hundred

dollars, while the Lake of the Woods Hospital Foundation picked up two separate grants worth

65 hundred dollars.

Council meets one final time

The out-going edition of Kenora City Council will meet for one final time.

A special meeting of council is scheduled to take place tomorrow in the Training Room of the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

Council has a number of routine resolutions to deal with.

A day after the open meeting, the new edition of city council will get a crash course in municipal politics.

A training session is set for Friday for the incoming council members.

Three members of the new council are raw rookies and will be sworn in on December 6th.

Thistle Midgets lose Another Game at Home

The Kenora Triple "a" Midget Thistles wrapped up a five game home stand with just a single point to show for their effort.

Last night, the Thistles dropped a 5-3 decision to the Winnipeg Thrashers at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Bowen Alcock, Brennan Dubchak and Grant Valiquette scored for the Thistles.

This weekend, the Kenora Midgets head out on their longest road trip of the season when they travel to Thompson, Manitoba to take on the Norman Northstars for a pair of games.