NDP Complain about public access to remote lakes

The NDP are concerned about reports of tourist outfitters being given exclusing access to Northern lakes and crown land.


People have been contacting Natural Resources Critic Gilles Bisson stating signs have been posted saying only Tourist Outfitters can access the lake.

Bisson says he's been raising the issue with Minister Linda Jeffrey.

Bisson says most of the closed off lakes are in the Wawa area but notes it's probably happening in the rest of the Northwest as well.

NorWOSSA Second Season Begins today

The second season in NorWOSSA court sports begins today.


Thomas Aquinas boys basketball and girls volleyball teams are heading
to Whitefish Bay today to take on the Winterhawks.

This weekend, the senior girls are in Dryden for the annual Eagles High School
Volleyball Tournament.

Festival of Trees Starts Tonight

The Festival of Trees turns seven years old this weekend.

The annual event is a major fundraiser for the Kenor and Lake of the Woods
Regional Community Foundation.

Darlene McGilvary is the executive director of the foundation and says they
will have 25 christmas trees decorated, three wreaths and three gingerbread
houses on display at the museum over the next three days.

She estimates the foundation will be able to raise about 25 thousand dollars
during the three day event.

Tonight is seniors night, which will be followed by the gala tomorrow night and
family day on Saturday.

Funding to pave Rabbit Lake Trail

Plans to complete a paved trail along Rabbit Lake are starting to come together.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has promised the Kenora Trails Committee
68 thousand dollars for the project.

Barb Manson is the City's Parks Supervisor and says they want to create a
fully accessible loop.

The next phase of the project will see the section of the paved trail expanded
to Garrow Park.

Manson says they hope to complete the work next summer.

Bearskin Sale Delayed

It may be another month before the acquistion of Bearskin Airlines is completed.

Winnipeg-based Exchange Income announced its intentions to purchase the Northwestern Ontario airline back in September.

President Michael Pyle says the deal is moving along but notes it may be another 30-days until its finalized.

Pyle notes they are waiting on a number of things to happen, including Government approvals, but he doesn't anticipate any problems.

Airline officials were hoping to have the deal completed the first week of December.

Right to Play heads north

The Provincial Government has committed 490-thousand dollars over 4-years to support the Play Hockey Program in northern Ontario.


Aboriginal children in Sandy Lake and Moose Cree First Nations will be hitting the ice to receive hockey lessons and compete in hockey games.

The pilot progrem helps aboriginal youth improve their health and self-esteem through sports.

Canfield takes over mayors chair today

There has been a quiet changing of the guard at city hall.


The new edition of council is officially in charge.

Mayor Dave Canfield says while their official swearing in ceremony doesn't take place
until next week, council members have taken their oath of office and are ready to start their new duties

The official swearing in ceremony will take place on Monday, December 6th.

Old Firehall to become a Micro-Brewery

One of Kenora's oldest heritage buildings is going to be transformed into a brewery.

The City of Kenora has accepted a proposal from Lake of the Woods Brewing Company
to take over the old fire hall on Second Street South.

Jennifer Findlay is Kenora's Economic Development Officer and says the committee that
put out the RFP was very impressed with the proposal.

Findlay says complete details of the business proposal which includes a brew pub, won't
be made until a 90 day due diligence period has expired and the property has been
officially transferred.

Trillium Foundation Funding announced

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has awarded 820-thousand dollars in grants to 19 not-for profit organizations across Northwestern Ontario.

Two Kenora groups are getting funding.

The Kenora Trails committee is getting 68 thousand dollars to finish paving a section of the Rabbit Lake
Trail to Garrow Park.

The Lake of the Woods Aeromodellers have been promised 45 hundred dollars to install fully accessible
portable washroom at its facility out on the east highway.

Police Crackdown on Prescription Drug Trafficking

The war against prescription drug use in Northwestern Ontario continues.

Drug Enforcement Officers showed up at the Thunder Bay Airport on Monday and arrested twi men from Toronto for possessing oxycodone tablets.

Police say one of the men concealed the drugs internally.

Officers believe the tablets were destined for Fort Hope and Martin Falls First Nations.

The value of the drugs is 44 thousand dollars, however the value is higher in the Far North, putting it at roughly 176 thousand dollars.

Police say 37 Shawn Baxter faces counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and breach of recognizance.

36 year-old Steven Armstrong has been charged with possession and trafficking in a controlled substance.

Rainy River Resources to move to TSX

Rainy River Resources is looking to make a move to the main board on the T-S-X.

C-E-O Raymond Threlkeld says they'll looking at the change from its position on the TSX Venture Exchange in the first quarter of next year.

Rainy River’s stock has catapulted from 2-dollars a share a year ago to just over 11-dollars in trading last week.

Schools buses running today

Despite some snow overnight, its going to be business as usual for local schools.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says its buses will be running in the Kenora area this morning.

Already, road crews are out plowing local streets and highways.

The Kenora area has been hit with about five centimeters of snow so far, and Severe Weather Specialist, Geoff Coulson says about the same amout of snow will likely fall today.

Roads in the Kenora area are listed as snow-covered with some slushy sections and

poor visibility.

The OPP say further to the east in the Dryden area, travel is not advised this morning.

Bell admits problems with PST rebates

Bell Canada is working with the Union of Ontario Indians to provide PST rebates to its first nation customers.

Spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis says they were overwhelmed with the amount of calls they received about the refund.

The rebates will be retroactive to September 1st when the PST was to be exempt from phone, satelite and cable bills for first nation residents.

Kenora Figure Skaters medal in Winnipeg

The Kenora Figure Skating Club took part in its first major competition of the year and had a strong showing at the Super Skate in Winnipeg.

The club brought home 23 medals including nine gold, nine silver and five bronze.

Josh Cariou ended up with four gold, finishing first in every event he was entered in.

Julia Withers, Haylee Creed, Cassandra Moncrief and Emily Whiting also medaled in every event coming back with multiple medals.

Fort Frances Man charged in connection to stand-off.

A man remains in police custody, facing a number of charges including attempted murder in connection to an incident in Fort Frances over the weekend.

Richard Kabatay is to return to court next Monday after making a brief court appearance yesterday.

Police have not confirmed whether Kabatay is connected to a weekend incident in which one man was sent to hospital with serious injuries while another was holed up in a home on Scott Street in Fort Frances for much of the day Saturday.

More Money for Winter Roads

The Provincial Government has increased the funds for this year's winter roads network.

4.5 million dollars is allocated for the road network that spans 3-thousand kilometres.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle doesn't foresee a problem with the warm weather we're experiencing.

Gravelle notes the winter roads will connect 31 northern First Nation communities.

New Fire Hall Officially Open

Kenora's fire and emergency services department is hoping the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill lasts as long as the century old fire hall on Second Street South.

The grand opening for the new fire hall took place yesterday with more than 100 guests on hand for the ceremony.

Charito Drinkwalter is the chair of the emergency services committee and says it was exciting to see the new building opened.

Meanwhile, Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says even though they had their ribbon cutting yesterday, its going to be a couple of more weeks yet before they can move into their new digs.

Brinkman is hoping they can move in by the middle of December at the very latest.

Police Arrest 38 people in Project Ghost

A six month undercover investigation involving four police agencies has resulted in the arrest of 37 individuals and 153 drug related offences.

Raids were carried out yesterday morning in Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Ignace.

Officers seized over two thousand oxycodone tablets, 185 grams of cocaine and 14 pounds of marihuana worth an estimated 245 thousand dollars.

Inspector Tom Dirling is the Program Manager of the OPP Drug Enforcement Unit and says they are being proactive in keeping drugs off the street.

The suspects arrested during Project Ghost include residents of Dryden, Eagle Lake, Wabigoon,
Fort Frances, Ignace and Sioux Lookout.

More Snow on the Way

Northern Ontario is going to be getting all kinds of precipitation over the next few days.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the region, stretching from the Manitoba border to North Bay.

North and west of Lake Superior and east of Kenora will get more than 10 centimetres of snow.

But ice pellets and wet snow are expected to hit Atikokan to Geraldton.

Thunder Bay and the north shore of Superior will see some wet snow changing to rain and eventually a change back to snow tomorrow.

Stand-Off in Fort Frances ends Peacefully

One man in is custody while another taken to hospital following a stand-off with police in Fort Frances that lasted nearly 12 hours.

The OPP were initially called to an assault involving two men about 4:30 Saturday morning.

One man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

His condition is not immediately known.

The other man barricaded himself inside a home on Scott Street, forcing police to close a section of the road to traffic and evacuate some nearby homes.

The Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service was also called to the scene.

The man eventually surrendered to police without incident.