Council to hold special meeting on Harborfront Tent

The Harborfront Tent is still posing some financial challenges for Kenora City Council.

A special meeting is being held this morning to approve an increase in the budget for the project.

Initially, council approved 1.4 million dollars for the festival site covering.

Now, its looks like the price tag is going to slightly higher.

Council is being asked to approve 1.6 million dollars in funding for the tent, so that side panels can be included on the structure.

Council is scheduled to meet at 10:00 this morning.

Health Unit Launches a mobile dental clinic

The Northwestern Health Unit has a new vehicle at its disposal.

Yesterday, a mobile dental clinic was unveiled.

Dawn Sauve is the Health Unit's manager of Dental Health and says they will be doing a pilot project with the van, which will allow them to help out residents in underserviced communities across the region.

The van has the logo, Miles of Smiles etched on the side.

Funding for the van was made available through the Ministry of Health.

Classes set to Resume at Beaver Brae following Fire

It will be classes as usual at Beaver Brae Secondary School this morning.

Yesterday students were sent home early, after fires were reported in two of the school's washrooms.

The blazes were quickly extinguished and damage was minimal, but students were given the rest of the day off to allow the building to be properly ventillated of the smoke.

Its believed the fires were deliberately set.

Valley Sad to See Iggy Leave

The Liberal candidate in the Kenora Riding is backing the work done by Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Ignatieff announced yesterday he is stepping down following his party's rout at the polls on Monday night.

Roger Valley, who finished third in this Riding, says Ignatieff can leave with his head held high.

Valley believes the leadership will be between Bob Rae and Ralph Goodale.

Hampton reacts to federal election results

This week's federal election results should be a warning for the Liberals in Ontario.

That's the feeling of Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton.

The NDP member of the Ontario Legislature says its clear voters are trying to send a message.

Hampton believes the Liberals will be hard-pressed to win any seats in northern Ontario in the upcoming provincial election.

Health Unit Opens New Offices in Market Square

The Northwestern Health Unit has opened its new offices in Market Square.

A ribbon cutting ceremony took place yesterday morning on the second floor of the building.

Dr. Jim Arthurs says one of the programs they have located in the new office space is a dental program for children.

Health Unit Holds All-Staff Conference in Kenora

About 150 employees of the Northwestern Health Unit are in Kenora today for a two day retreat.

The All-Staff Conference brings together staff from all the Health Unit offices in the region.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jim Arthurs says they try to bring everyone together at least every 18 months.

The conference is being held today and tomorrow at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Bronco Soccer Teams begin season in Fort

The High School Soccer season begins today for the Beaver Brae Broncos.

The Boys and Girls teams will make the trip to Fort Frances for the first round of League play with the Muskies and the Dryden Eagles.

In NORWOSSA Single A play, the Sioux Lookout Warriors are hosting a Tournament at Queen Elizabeth High School.

Beaver Brae Evacuated due to a small fire

A fire drill at Beaver Brae Secondary School proved to be the real deal.

Staff and students were evacuated this morning due to a small blaze at the high school this morning.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says the fire was quickly extinguished  and damage is said to be minimal.

Classes have been cancelled for the rest of the day to allow the smoke to be fully ventilated from the school.

The public school board says it has sent a number of buses to the school to take students home.

The Board says all other school bus transportation will operate as usual this afternoon.

Census Forms Being Distributed this Week

Local residents should begin receiving their census forms this week.

Statistics Canada has begun the census process and has enumerators going door to door in the Kenora area.

Gary Dillion is the regional co-ordinator for Stats Can and says its important for all households to fill out the census form.

While every household is required to fill out the 10 question mandatory short form census, only one in three households will be given a long form survey.

Good Turn-Out for the Federal Election

It may have been the fourth federal election in seven years, but that didn't stop local residents from coming out in pretty good numbers.

With 154 out of 155 polls reporting, the voter turn-out for yesterday's federal election was just over 60 percent.

That means almost 25 thousand people came out to cast their ballots.

Incumbant Conservative M.P. Greg Rickford held onto the riding, increasing his margin of victory, by over two thousand votes.

Rickford re-elected easily in the Kenora Riding

Its wasn't a landslide, but it was a convincing win for the Conservatives in the Kenora Riding.

Incumbant M.P. Greg Rickford easily held onto the riding with a 45 hundred vote margin of victory over Tania Cameron of the NDP.

Rickford says while he's pleased there will be a Conservative majority government in the House of Commons, he won't speculate on what his role might be.

Roger Valley slipped to third place in the polls yesterday and says the party is going to have to take a close hard look at the results not only in this riding but nationally as well.

The other two candidates finished well back, with the Green Party Candidate, Mike Schwindt garnering just 2.6 percent of the vote, while Independant candidate collected just 146 of the almost 25 thousand votes cast.

Ministry of Labor Investigates Fatality in Stratton

The Ministry of Labour is looking into the death of a man at a garage in Stratton what OPP describe as a workplace accident.

Emergency personnel were called to Stratton Service Thursday afternoon where they found 42-year-old Shawn McDonald inside unresponsive.

He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem exam was conducted on Friday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

Canfield back as Vice-President of NOMA

No major announcements for Kenora at the annual Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Thunder Bay.

The convention wrapped up on Saturday and Kenora mayor Dave Canfield was acclaimed again as vice-president of NOMA.

Canfield also hosted a forum on the forest industry and says they did get some clarification on what's  going on with the Forest Tenure Act.

Canfield adds that both the resolutions submitted by the City of Kenora, one dealing with funding for roads and bridges and the other dealing with the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway from Kenora to the Manitoba Border, were unanimously approved by the delegates.

Training Funding Announced by the Province

83 sites in Northern Ontario will be offering literacy training thanks to the Provincial Government.

Minister of Training and Colleges John Milloy says they'll be offering basic skills training.

Two million dollars will go towards local programs.

Milloy made the announcement at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Conference.

Rickford back as MP for the Kenora Riding

Conservative Greg Rickford is back as MP of the Kenora Riding.

Rickford finished the election in first with about 45 percent of the vote, while NDP  candidate Tania Cameron second and Liberal Roger Valley third.

Despite some mud slinging in the campaign, Rickford says he decided to take the high road.

Like his party, Liberal Roger Valley finished in third place, and he admits they are going to have to take a hard look at what went wrong this election.

Green Party Candidate Mike Schwindt was a distant fourth place with just over
two percent of the vote, while Kelvin Chicago-Boucher collected less than 200 votes.

To the east, John Rafferty of the NDP was re-elected in Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

Bruce Hyer of the NDP is also back in the riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North.

LOWDPOA Holds Annual General Meeting Today

It may be election day across Canada, but the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association is also taking time to meet with its members.

The Property Owners Association is holding its 49th annual general meeting in Winnipeg.

In addition to the AGM, their annual cottage show is being held at the Victoria Inn.

A number of businesses and agencies from Kenora area attending the afternoon and evening event.

It runs from 2:30 to 8:30 this evening.

Polls open today

It should be a good day, weather wise to go out and cast your ballot.

Today is election day across Canada, with the polls opening at 8:30 this morning right across the Kenora Riding.

Gerry Oulette is the returning officer and says polling stations will be open right across the region.

The polls will close at 8:30 this evening, and CJRL will be providing live election coverage starting at 9:00 this evening.

Another OPP Drug Bust

Two Kenora residents face charges following a bust by the OPP.

Last Thursday, members of the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, the Drug Enforcement Unit, assisted by Kenora Detachment Street Crimes Unit  executed a search warrant on a 12 Street north residence.

Police seized about 50 grams of marijuana.

42 year old Darren Coughlin and 42 year old Lori Powell have been charged with possession of narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.

They are scheduled to make an appearance in Kenora Court in June.

Atikokan Approves 2011 budget

Atikokan town councillors have finalized a budget that will include a 2-point-four per cent tax increase.

Mayor Dennis Brown says it amounts to about a 30 dollar increase to the average homeowner's tax bill.

The township will spend just over 8-million dollars over the next year.