Former mayor faces impaired driving charges

The former mayor of Kenora will appear in court in May on impaired driving charges.

The OPP say they pulled over a vehicle in downtown early this morning because it was being operated in what they called a suspicious manner.

The driver of the vehicle was given a road-side breath test and failed.

74 year old Leonard Compton was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle with having over 80 milligrams of alcohol in his blood.

He's due to appear in court on May 2nd.

OPP says girl died of Hypothermia in Sioux Lookout

The OPP say hypothermia is the likely cause of death of an 11 year old girl last weekend in Sioux Lookout.

The girl has been identified as Chloe Matthews from the Big Trout Lake First Nation.

A post-mortem exam had been conducted earlier this week in Toronto.

Matthews had been reported missing last Friday and her body was found the next day on the grounds of Sacred Heart School in Sioux Lookout.

The OPP's Criminal Investigations Branch says it is continuing to look into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Small Communities interested in using Kenora's Landfill

The Kenora Municipal Landfill Site out at Silver Lake seems to be attracting a lot of interest.

A number of communities in the region have contacted the city about using the landfill to deal with their own garbage issues.

Mike Mostow is the city's solid waste manager and says the interest is a mixed blessing.

Mostow admits the life span of the landfill is going to be a lot longer than anticipated because local residents are recycling more than they used to.

The life span of the landfill was originally estimated at 35 years.

Museum submits budget request to council

Lake of the Woods Museum says it won't be seeking any increase in its budget from the city this year.

Chair of the museum board, Jan Lindstrom made a budget presentation

to council this week.

She says they are willing to hold their request from the city to 216 thousand dollars in 2011, even though their overall budget will be going up by about 24 thousand dollars this year.

The museum has three full-time employees says there will only increase in wages is if council approves a move on the salary grid for non-union employees this year.

Kenora Hydro Investigating power outage

The cause of a city-wide power outage is still being looked into by Kenora Hydro.

Shortly after 2:00, all residential and commercial customers in Kenora and Keewatin saw their electricity cut off.

Hydro service was finally restored around 3:00.

President and CEO of Kenora Hydro Dave Sinclair says there are a couple of possible causes for the massive outage, including software problems.

Kenora gets extra funding from the Province

Some good news for a couple of cash-strapped municipalities in northwestern Ontario.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle announced extra money, which is over and above what they normally get under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund

Kenora will get nearly 697-thousand dollars in additional funding, while Sioux Lookout has been promised 108 thousand dollars.

Local Candidates brace for Election Call

Members of Parliament are bracing for a possible election call this weekend.

A non-confidence vote is scheduled in the House of Commons tomorrow afternoon.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says he isn't impressed with the contempt of parliament

motion that is expected to topple the Harper government.

Meanwhile, the NDP candidate in the Kenora Riding says she understands why her party isn't supporting the Conservative budget, because it doesn't help out the people really in need.

All three parties in the Kenora riding say they are ready to hit the campaign trail, should

the election call be made this weekend.

SIU clears officers in Sioux Lookout fatality

The Special Investigations Unit says the death of a 63-year-old Summer Beaver Reserve man was unrelated to his arrest earlier this month.

Provincial police arrested Albert Moonias on the morning of March 15 and put him in a cell at the Sioux Lookout detachment.

The SIU says Moonias was later found to be in medical distress and was transported to Sioux Lookout Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A post mortem determined that Moonias had died as a result of a heart attack.

The police watchdog agency says there was no evidence of trauma to suggest that he was involved in a fight or restrained.

Director Ian Scott says the SIU has concluded Moonias died as a result of a condition unrelated to any actions by the police and has closed the file on the death.

Fiecek Splits Games on Day three of National Wheelchair Championships

The Wayne Fiecek Foursome has a 2-3 record through five draws at the National Wheelchair Curling Championships in Edmonton.

Yesterday, team Northern Ontario split its games.

In the afternoon draw, Fiecek downed Ontario 8-7, but then dropped an 8-4 decision to Quebec in the late draw last night.

The Fiecek Rink is back on the ice this afternoon against the host team from the Jasper Center Curling Club.

Broncos and Saints looking for first wins at OFSAA

 

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team and the Thomas Aquinas Boys will be looking for their first wins today at the All-Ontario A/AA championships.

The Bronco girls managed just one point in two games yesterday in Stratford.

In their afternoon game, Beaver Brae managed a 2-2 tie with St. Christopher Secondary School from Sarnia.

The Broncos wrap up the round robin at 11:15 this morning against St. Charles from Sudbury, which is also looking for its first win in the OFSAA tournament.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas Saints play their second game at the OFSAA championships in Timmins this morning at 7:00.

The Saints take on Jean Vanier High School from Toronto.

Yesterday, T.A. dropped a 6-2 decision to Timmins in its first game.

Three people arrested in downtown robbery

The OPP says it now has arrested three suspects in connection to a robbery in downtown Kenora over the weekend.

The incident took place at an apartment on 1st Street South around 10:00  Saturday evening.

Police say three men wearing masks forced their way into the residence and threatened three occupants with a weapon.

They then made off with a quantity of cash.

An investigation by the OPP and its Street Crimes Unit has resulted in the arrest of 28 year old Chris Jack of Washagamis Bay,  29 year old Vernon Jack and 26 year old Ricky Payash, both of Kenora.

They have been charged with multiple offences including Break and Enter, Robbery and Assault with a Weapon.

All three have been remanded into custody and are to appear in Kenora court later today.

Health Unit approves 2011 Budget

TheHealth Unit has passed its spending  requests on to local municipalities.

The Health Unit finalized its budget last month, and it calls for a three percent increase in spending.

The good news is that the province is picking up the lion's share of the increase.

Most municipalities in the Kenora and Rainy River Districts will see a decrease in their health unit levy of between 2.6 and 23 percent this year.

NAN Police reacts to Federal Budget

The Federal Government is giving more support to policing in aboriginal communities.

30-million dollars is being set aside in the budget for First Nations policing.

Nishnawbe-Aski Police Chief Claude Chum says it's not much when you look at the big picture.

The budget also includes 22-million over 2-years to help First Nations ensure fuel tanks that power their community meet environmental safety standards.

Local Liberal Candate pans federal budget

Don't trust the Conservative Government is the message today from the Liberal Candidate for the Kenora Riding.

Roger Valley is not in support of the Federal Budget.

Flaherty's new budget calls for total spending of 278.7-billion dollars.

Valley says the Liberals introduced a good chunk of the programs announced yesterday, including a tax credit for volunteer firefighters.

Rickford Reacts to Federal Budget

Kenora MP Greg Rickford is questioning the NDP's motives in suggesting they will vote against the Federal budget.

The New Democrats opposition to the budget is likely to pave the way for a Spring Election.

Rickford believes the Conservative Government struck a perfect balance in the budget.

Rickford says turning down the budget will result in a loss of funds for FedNor and Northern Ontario.

Council agrees to rate increase for Sewer and Water

Kenora City council continues to grapple with the harsh realities of

the budget process.

Council met for several hours yesterday to go over the Sewer and Water and

Solid Waste budgets.

Operations manager, Rick Perchuck says the city has a severe infrastructure

deficit, which is going to have to be addressed eventually.

Chief Administrative officer Karen Brown says the city spends about 500 thousand dollars each year to fix up aging sewer and water infrastructure, far short of the three million needed to properly maintain the system.

Northern Diabetes Network Opens Office In Kenora

More support is available for those with diabetes in the Kenora area.

The Northern Diabetes Health Network has set up a regional office in town in the Bannister Center.

Lauri Ann Marshall says while about 10 percent of the local population has diabetes, that number is much higher in aboriginal communities.

Marshall says the office in Kenora provides support services for primary care workers in the region, rather than diabetes patients themselves.

Broncos and Saints hockey teams at OFSAA

Two Kenora high school hockey teams are in southern Ontario today for the start of the OFSAA championships.

Beaver Brae's girls team is in Stratford for the All-Ontario Double "a" championships.

The Broncos first game is at 8:45 this morning against Kincardine.

Yesterday in an exhibtion game, Beaver Brae got by Listowel 4-1 in a warm-up for the OFSAA finals.

In Timmins, the Thomas Aquinas Boys teams is set to begin play in the All-Ontario single "a" championships.

The Saints first game is 8:00 this morning against the host team from Timmins.

Sharks win gold at Man/Sask Championships

A strong performance for the Kenora Sharks Swim Club at the Man/Sask championships in Saskatoon over the weekend.

Several Sharks won gold medals, with Paige Murphy leading the way with six first place  finishes.

Winnie Boucha also won seven medals, including three gold, three silver and a bronze, while Bryce Jones had four gold and two bronze.

Michelle Belcaen also won gold in the 50 meter freestyle and qualified for the senior nationals with her time.

Fiecek in the Win Column at National Wheelchair Championships

The Wayne Fiecek Foursome is finally in the win column at the National Wheelchair curling championships taking place in Edmonton.

In the late draw last night, team Northern Ontario got by Saskatchewan 9-4 to improve their record to 1-2 after three draws.

Earlier in the day, the Fiecek rink dropped an 8-1 decision to Nova Scotia, which is one of three unbeaten teams at the nationals.