JM arena petition being circulated

A petition is being circulated trying to get support for an

artificial ice plant at the Jaffray Melick arena.

Organizers say they had good support last night for the
petition, and it will be doing the rounds some of the other
arenas in town over the next few days.

The plan is to present the petition at the next committee of the
whole meeting of council.

Due to volunteer burn-out and unseasonably warm weather
in February, use of the natural ice surface was cut short. 

Hampton Lashes out at Energy Retailers

Beware of signing any long term contracts with energy retailers.

That's the message Howard Hampton says he wants to present at a pair of town hall meetings tomorrow.

Hampton says his constituency office regularly gets complaints about the unscrupulous practices of energy retail agents who go door to door.

Hampton will be holding information sessions at the TraveLodge at 2:00 and 6:00 tomorrow.

Saints boys hockey team losing game two of final

A third period collapse by the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team has forced a third and deciding game in the NorWOSSA single "a final.

The Sioux Lookout Warriors scored four unanswered goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to earn a 5-1 victory last night.

Game three is scheduled to take place tonight at 7:00 at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Treaty Three Police Opens New Detachment

First Nations leaders and other dignitaries gathered yesterday to celebrate the opening Treaty Three Police Services new detachment in Couchiching First Nations.

It's home to twenty officers policing First Nations in the Rainy River district.

Police Chief Conrad Delaronde says it provides them with some facilities they didn't have before.

Delronde says the move from offices in Emo also provides with them with more visibilities to the people they directly serve.

All Kindergarten expanding to two more schools in Kenora

Premier Dalton McGuinty says 900 more Ontario schools

will start offering full-day kindergarten in 2012.

Both Lakewood School and Pope John Paul II school will be opening

their doors to the all-day kindergarten programs in 2012.

Jack McMaster is the director of education with the Keewatin-Patricia

District School Board and says he been very encouraged by the program.

The Public school board will also be offering the program at Riverview in Dryden, Red Lake/Madsen Elementary School and at Sioux Mountain in Sioux Lookout by the fall of 2012.

Fatal Snowmobile Accident near Ear Falls

A Geralton resident has been killed in a snowmachine accident in northwestern Ontario.

The OPP say three men were riding their snowmobiles south of Ear Falls yesterday when the accident took place.

23 year old Marcel Santerre was injured in the collision and died a short time later.

Police say they are not releasing any other details about the fatality at this time.

Control Board begins Snow Monitoring Program

The Lake of the Woods Control Board says its beginning its

winter snow monitoring program this month.

Communities across the drainage basin have received higher than

average snow falls this winter.

Spokesperson for the Control Board Rick Cousins says its too early to

say what impact all the snow will have.

Cousins says realistically, spring rains have a bigger impact on water levels on the lake than the snow.

Government Evasive on Ring of Fire Blockade

The McGuinty government is saying very little about a planned blockade of the Ring of Fire area this week. The Marten Falls First Nation plans to stop access to the proposed chromite mining project.

In the legislature Aboriginal Affairs Minister Chris Bentley says Michael Gravelle is familiar with their concerns

Bentley says there are northern First Nations that are working on economic plans with the help of the government

A colder than normal February

Much of Northwestern Ontario experienced normal temperatures last month.

The exceptions being Thunder Bay and Fort Frances.

Meterologist Bill Laidlaw says they were hit with bitterly cold weather.

Laidlaw says snowfall amounts vary throughout the region as well with Ear Falls getting less than other areas.

Ultimate Fishing Town Nominations open

Nominations are now being accepted to the World Fishing Network's contest to find Canada's Ultimate Fishing town.

Towns can submit their bids in until April 8th.

Several northwestern Ontario communities were nominated in last year's contest with Nestor Falls coming in second to Port Alberni, British Columbia in the on-line contest.

IJC Task Force Seeks input on Interim Report

It's not making making any recommendations, but a Task Force examining the management of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basins has put forward plenty of ideas for discussion.

The Task Force has to submit a final report back to the International Joint Commission by July.

Canadian Secretary Kelli Saunders says they're now looking for public comment.

A least two more rounds of consultations are expected, including one in April.

More Downtime at the Abitibi Mill in Fort Frances

More downtime is planned for workers at the AbitibiBowater mill in Fort Frances.

The company says both the paper and kraft mills will be halted for fourteen days beginning March 28th because of poor market conditions.

More than 500 employees will be effected.

The news comes as about 230 employees are in the middle of a shutdown of the mill's paper machines that is to end March 7th.

NorWOSSA Hockey Finals set

Beaver Brae hockey teams now know who they will play in the

NorWOSSA Double "a" finals.

The Bronco boys will travel to Fort Frances Friday for game one of their

best of three final against the Muskies.

Fort advanced after beating Red Lake 6-1 last night in the third and deciding

game of their series.

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team will face-off against their nemesis from

Dryden.

The Eagles trounced Fort Frances 6-1 last night to win their best-of three semi-final two games to one.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team travels to Sioux Lookout tonight for game two of their best-of-three Single "a" final against the Warriors.

The Saints took game one last week and a win will advance them to the OFSAA championships.

March comes in like a Lion

In like a lion.

That's the way March has blown into Kenora.

A sudden snow system blew into town this morning, but we're not expecting a lot more snow today.

Severe weather specialist Geoff Coulson says areas to the east of Kenora are being harder hit.

Coulson says high winds will create low visibility due to blowing snow, and will also drive the temperatures down over the next few days.

Drug Bust in Rainy River District

Four Rainy River district residents face drug charges.

Provincial Police seized over 37-thousand dollars worth of drugs, including 36 marihuana plants, a quantity of marihuana bud and a quantity of prescription pills from two homes in LaVallee township and Chapple township last Thursday.

A 26-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man from LaVallee township each face production charges.

Two men, aged 27 and 23, from Potts Township, face charges of possession and Insecure storage of a firearm.

Countdown begins for Kenora Winter Carnival

Organizers of the Kenora Winter Carnival have officially begun the count down.

The carnival takes place over the weekend.

Heather Paterson is the tourism development officer for the city and says even before the event gets underway, one competition has already been a success.

Eight local charities have been busy selling their carnival buttons.

The charity challenge will wrap up as one of the final events of the winter carnival on Sunday.

Paterson adds that they are still looking for teams to enter the Great Canadian Canoe Race on Sunday afternoon.

Frank Symonds Classic Results

A good weekend for the Kenora Nordic Trails Ski Club.

It hosted the 21st annual Frank Symonds Classic out at the  Mount Evergreen Ski Club and members took home hardware in three different categories.

Carl Peever finished first in the men's 10 kilometer race, while

Jennifer Findlay was the top female racer.

In the 9 kilometer freestyle event, Dan Morwood took top honors, while Janet Findlay was the top female racer.

In the kids two kilometer race Jakob Rasmussen set the pace, with Elise Hummelbrunner the top female.

Ring of Fire Blockade Planned

A First Nation is planning to set up a blockade Thursday near the massive chromite deposit in northern Ontario known as the Ring of Fire.

Marten Falls First Nation is planning to block access to the deposit near James Bay because its members feel excluded from negotiations on its development.

Aboriginal communities in the area have complained that mining companies aren't consulting them in their plans to develop the deposit.

Schaeffer Inquest Begins this week

An inquest gets underway in northwestern Ontario this week to look into the shooting death of a Peterborough man.

The O-P-P's use-of-force policy is under the microscope as a coroner probes the 2009 shooting death of Levi Schaeffer near a remote First Nation community.

The inquest will also look into the circumstances that led to Schaeffer being shot by officers in the Osnaburgh Lake-area.

O-P-P officers and members of Schaeffer's family are expected to testify at the inquest, which is expected to run through Friday.

Kenora Hydro Undecided on New increase

Hydro rates in the City of Kenora will be going up as of May 1st, but

by exactly how much is still a question mark.

Kenora Hydro has to decide by the end of the week whether to apply

for another rate increase to cover their portion of a court ruling

last week.

An Ontario court Justice decided that Hydro companies had overcharged on the amount of interest they paid on overdue accounts.

The fine was 18 million dollars.

President and CEO of Kenora Hydro Dave Sinclair says they are eligible to apply for a rate increase to cover the cost of the fine, but he's not sure whether they will or not.

Kenora Hydro already has a rate increase before the Ontario Energy Board and Sinclair isn't sure how a second increase would affect their application.