Hospital moving towards a year-end surplus

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is still in the black with just one month left in its fiscal year.

The hospital was running a surplus of 204 thousand dollars through the first 11 months of the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says they still expect to have a very small surplus

once all their bills are paid this year.

He adds that a freeze on travel and education for the hospital staff this year, helped keep

them in the black.

Common Ground Story Sharing this weekend

The 6th annual Common Ground Story Sharing Celebration will take place this weekend.

A number of new stories about the Lake of the Woods area will be presented during the day long event.

Barb Manson is one of the organizers and says they never seem to have a shortage of stories to share.

Manson says there are still a few tickets left for Common Ground, which will run from 9:00 to 3:30 tomorrow at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Grassy Narrows and Province sign Memorandum

Ontario continues to work with the Grassy Narrows First Nation towards a logging agreement in the Whiskey Jack forest north of  Kenora.

Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey signed an agreement with Chief Simon Fobister in Thunder Bay yesterday.

Jeffrey says they'll work on creating sustainable forest practices with the first nation.

Chief Simon Fobister says the agreement is a step in the right direction but notes they will not dismantle their blockade.

Children`s Aid Merger in Kenora and Rainy River ready to proceed

Kenora Patricia Child and Family Services says it has received assurances from the provincial government that it will cover the costs of the merger with Family and Children's Services of Rainy River.

Bill Leonard is the executive director of the new child care agency and says they were supposed to join forces last week, but they were waiting for word from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services that it would cover the costs of the amalgamation.

Leonard says transition costs were about 180 thousand dollars.

The merger of the two child care agencies is expected to take another six to eight weeks to complete.

Hospital Board Chair resigns

The chair of the Lake of the Woods Hospital Board is calling it quits.

Debbie Baldwin is moving out of the community and tendered her resignation to the board last night.

Marc Belcaen is the hospital's chief executive officer and says they will have to shuffle their board duties, with

vice-chair, Fred Richardson taking over as chair on an interim basis. 

Richardson says the board will have to decide whether to fill the vice-chair's job for the next two months, or leave the position vacant until the annual general meeting in June.

Envirothon takes place today at Blue Lake

High School students from Kenora and Dryden are putting their environmental smarts to the test today for the first ever Envirothon Regional Competition.

Environmental Curriculum coordinator for the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, Kathy Boone says teams of 5 will take part in various challenges.

Boone says the 15-participating teams will have to be experts in forestry, aquatics, wildlife, soils and salt water.

10 of the teams will be from Beaver Brae, the other from Dryden High School.

Envirothon is being held at Blue Lake Provincial Park in Vermilion Bay.

More calls for the Far North Act Hearings to be moved out of Toronto

The McGuinty government is being called out of touch, arrogant and uncaring about the north.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath is still hounding the government over it's refusal to hold forest tenure committee hearings outside of Toronto.

Horwath predicts however, the government won't change it's mind about the issue

The Real McCoys the final team to Qualify for the Allan Cup

The Dundas Real McCoys will be making their four straight appearance at the Allan Cup this year.

Dundas won the Ontario men's senior championship last night with a 8-5 victory

over the Norwood Vipers in the seventh and deciding game of their series last night.

The Real McCoys are the last of the six teams to qualify for next week's national championships.

Dominion Curling Club Playdowns start today

Lori Hoppe's Kenora Foursome will be in action today at the Dominion Curling Club Playdowns in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Kenora rink is one of six competing at the Northern Championships.

The Kenora foursome will take on Kakebecka Falls at 1:30 this afternoon in their first game.

Grassy Narrows to meet with Minister of MNR on forestry issues

After years of negotiations, it looks as if an end in the impasse between the Grassy Narrows First Nation and the provincial government over forest activity in their Traditional Land Use Area could be coming to an end.

A press conference is scheduled this morning in Thunder Bay with Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffray and Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister.

A press release issued by the MNR only says the two sides will discuss plans to move forward on forestry talks.

Former Supreme Court Justice, Frank Iacabucci will also be on hand.

He was hired by the province to help find a resolution to the impasse over

harvesting rights in the Grassy Traditional Land Use Area.

Police Use Spike Belt to Stop Pick-Up

A 33 year old Calgary man faces dangerous driving charges after a short police chase.

The OPP say officers tried to pull over a vehicle last night around 7:00 for speeding, but the driver refused to pull over.

A spike belt was deployed on Highway 17 east near Transmitter Road and a pick-up truck was finally forced off the road.

Police say the driver was taken to hospital for treatment of minor abrasions and was released a short time later.

Robert Reid remains in custody while the OPP continue to investigate the incident.

Voter Cards for May 2nd Election in the Mail

Voting cards for the May 2nd federal election should start showing up in local mail boxes over the next couple of days.

The returning office in Kenora began mailing out the cards last night.

Gerry Oulette is the returning officer and says while the vote is still four weeks away, local residents will be able to cast their ballot at three advance polls.

Oulette says local residents can also drop by the returning offices in Kenora and Dryden at any time to vote using a special ballot.

OPP Start Positive Ticketing Campaign Next Week

Who says it doesn't pay to be nice.

The OPP in conjunction with the Northwestern Health Unit are launching a positive ticketing program for local youth starting next week.

Constable Dave Cain says they want to reward kids who perform random acts of kindness.

Cain says the Health Unit managed to secure funding for the campaign, which will be carried out over the next couple of months in the Kenora area.

Police Board Concerned about Wild Dogs in the Community

Kenora's Police Services Board has raised concerns about a number of wild

dogs that have been roaming freely across the city.

Three dogs have been seen hunting down and killing deer all winter long.

Board member Glenda McMillan suggests as many as 18 deer have been killed by the dogs.

However, animal control officers haven't been able to get close enough to them to capture them.

She says the dogs are a real concern and wants to get an update from police next month about what's being done to deal with them.

Nurses Recommend Health Care Solutions for Northern Ontario

The Ontario Nurses' Association is urging the Provincial Government to act on a list of 13-recommendations on improving Health Care in Northern Ontario.

First Vice-President Vicki McKenna says a new ONA report on health services can't sit on the shelf and collect dust.

The ONA is demanding that socio-economic and environmental issues in Northern Ontario be examined in order to address the root causes of lower life expectancy.

NAFN Tournament Begins Tonight

A busy weekend at the Kenora Rec. Center.

The annual North American First Nation Tournament of Champions

gets underway this evening.

Jason Stevens is one of the organizers and says some big money is being offered up to the winners, 20 thousand dollars for the Open Division Champs and five thousand for the Oldtimer winners.

The old timers tournament begins this evening at the Thistle Rink, while the open tournament starts tomorrow morning.

The finals will take place Sunday evening.

Health Unit Moves Clinical Services Downtown

The Northwestern Health Unit is shuffling some of its services around in the community.

As of Monday, all of its clinical services have been centralized into office space in Market Square.

Mark Perreault is the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Unit and says the move just made strategic sense.

The news services available in Market Square include the needle exchange, sexual health clinics, travel information, infectious disease control and the tuberculosis program.

Council Members won`t get a raise in 2011

Members of Kenora City council won't be getting a pay raise this year,

but they will begin to look at the issue of their remuneration.

The city's finance committee is expected to hold discussions about

whether to raise councillor wages starting in 2012.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says there hasn't been any increases in

more than a decade.

He adds that it will become increasingly difficult to get people to run

for office if they don't address the issue.

Council has at least decided to increase the travel budget of councillors this year.

It previously had been capped at 500 dollars per council member.

Forest Tenure Bill Draws Ire of Northern Groups

The Provincial Government is getting an earful for its decision to not hold committee hearings on its new Forest Tenure Legislation in Northern Ontario.

Ontario Forest Industries Association spokesperson Scott Jackson says the McGuinty Liberals don't seem interested in the opinions of Northerners.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle says they still want to hear from area residents.

Hearings will be held in Toronto on April 11th and 13th.

Con College to Offer new Course in Kenora

Confederation College has received funding to offer a new pre-apprenticeship program in automotive and heavy equipment mechanics at its campuses in Fort Frances and Kenora this spring.

Don Bernosky, executive director of Innovation and Skills Development says it addresses a local demand.

The 275-thousand dollars in government money allows the College to begin offering the 40-week program this May.