Hampton weighs in on Grassy Narrows Court ruling

The provincial government doesn't have a good track record when it comes to aboriginal affairs.

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

He was responding to a decision by the Ontario Superior Court this week in favour of Grassy Narrows in its battle against clear cut logging.

Hampton says the Far North Act and the decision to jail the leaders of Big Trout Lake two more examples ofthe McGuinty government failing to listen to the concerns of aboriginal communities.

Impaired Driver has vehicle impounded

An impaired driver is going to lose more than his license.

The OPP they stopped a vehicle on the Kenora By-Pass yesterday afternoon around 1:30 travelling at more than 50 kilometers faster than the posted speed limit.

After talking to the driver, officers noticed he had been drinking.

A 39 year old Steinbach man was arrested and taken to the Kenora Detachment.

Isaak Buehler-Buerkert has been charged with impaired driving and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

His vehicle has also been impounded for seven days under the provisions of the province's stunt driving legislation.

Conservatives in Kenora-Rainy River to select candidate

A big weekend for the Conservatives in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

A travelling ballot box will visit Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora tomorrow to select a candidate for the upcoming provincial election.

Kenora City Councillor Rod McKay says he's been energized by the whole process.

McKay's seatmate on council, Louis Roussin is the only other candidate.

He says he likes what he sees in the Conservative platform.

The ballots will be counted just after 8:00 tomorrow night.

New VP for PJP

Another school year is less than two weeks away and local school boards are finalizing their staffing.

Over at the Kenora Catholic District School board, they have filled a vacancy for vice-principal at Pope John Paul School.

Jaqueline Robinson has been appointed the new vice-principal.

She takes over from Michelle Sawa, who has moved back to Red Lake to take a similar position there.

Robinson was the acting vice-principal at King George last year.

Health Unit Posts more Beach Signage

Its a sign of the times.

The Northwestern Health Unit has posted signage at every beach in the region warning of the potential of high bacterial levels following thunderstorms.

Jennifer McKibbon is the Manager of Enforcement and says they also have special signage for beach closures.

McKibbon says even though they regularly test the water at the beaches, it can days days to get the results back, so they don't always know if the water is safe to swim in or not.

Plane Crash Closes Trans-Canada near Marathon

Only minor injuries after a plane crash in Marathon. 

OPP say a pilot ran out of runway and clipped a poll yesterday afternoon and crashed in the ditch on highway 17. 

The man was taken to hospital and released but the crash forced the closure of the highway for several hours. 

SIU Investigates incident in Longlac

S-I-U investigators are expected in Greenstone after a

20-year-old woman suffered a minor injury during an ``altercation'' with police.

Police say two provincial police officers went to a Longlac home after someone called 911 and hung up.

At the home, police found a 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old female who, according to the police, became combative.

Men's Soccer Play-offs Winding down

The Sure Thing Centuries have booked their ticket into the championship game of the Hap's men's soccer league.

The Centuries earned a 2-1 win over the Stingers last night in the first of two semi-finals.

They will play the winner of the other semi tonight between the Playaz and the Gunners.

The final is set for next week on Tuesday night.

In Casey's Men's Ball Hockey action last night the finals are set as the Aces beat High Havarti to advance and the Jets got by the Gold Diggers

OPP locate body of missing swimmer

The body of a missing 28 year old Winnipeg man has been found in Shoal Lake.

Lucas Janz was last seen swimming on Sunday and failed to return to the camp he was staying at.

OPP say Janz's body was found not far from the camp on Galt Island Wednesday afternoon.

A post-mortem took place yesterday at Lake of the Woods District Hospital but the cause of death hasn't been released.

NAN rejects National Educational Review

The Nishnawbe-Aski Nation is joining a growing movement by announcing it will not participate in a national education review process by the Harper Government.

Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says they plan to conduct their own educational review process

for communities in northern Ontario. 

Waboose says the national panel was established without input from NAN and other First Nations.

Environment Canada Confirms Dryden Tornado

Environment Canada has released more details on Tuesday's tornado that touched down Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say the tornado tracked roughly 80-kilometres from Oxdrift, north of the Dryden Airport and northeast between Lac Seul and Sioux Lookout.

The tornado is being rated as a Fujita scale zero event, which is the weakest on the scale.

Environment Canada says peak winds likely reached 110-kilometres an hour.

Both Environment Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources are reporting no significant damage.

Council Rejects Zero Based Budgeting

Zero-based budgeting isn't coming to Kenora City hall any time soon.

Councillor Louis Roussin made a motion this week to go to the zero based approach.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says while council voted the idea down, he feels it still has merit.

The Kenora District Services Board has gone to a zero-based budgeting system, and council says it want to see how that works before jumping on the bandwagon.

Boy dies in ATV accident near Rainy River

A 10 year old youth is dead following an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle near Rainy River.

The OPP say the incident took place Tuesday night on Worthington Road in Dawson Township.

Police say the boy lost control of the ATV and then struck a barbed wired fence.

He was taken to the Rainy River Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Technical Traffic Collision Investigators Kenora and Dryden are helping out with the investigation.

Ball Hockey Play-Offs begin

In Casey’s men’s ball hockey action last night the Aces beat  High Havarti 4-3 in a shoot out in game one of their play-off series.

 In the other game last night, the Jets tied their series with a win over the Sangold Digger.

Grassy Narrows Claims Court Victory

The Grassy Narrows First Nation is claiming victory in a court case involving clear cut logging activity on its traditional land-use terrritory north of Kenora.

Justice Mary-Anne Sanderson released a 300 page decision yesterday which finds that the Government of Ontario does not have the power to take away the rights in Treaty 3 by authorizing development including logging and mining.

The decision effectively ends a decade long battle against logging on Grassy.

Grassy Narrows Chief and band council held a press conference this morning in Toronto and say they welcome the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, as it protects their treaty rights.

Treaty Three Hosts Youth Conference

Grand Council Treaty #3 is hosting a two day youth forum.

The Conference gets underway today on Pow Wow Island on the Rat Portage First Nation and features a number of guest speakers.

Actor/dancer Waawaate Fobister, olympic athlete Waneek Horn-Miller and health activist, Jessica Lee will be addressing youth between the ages of 15 and 29.

Youth leadership is the theme of the conference.

STR to Get a New Trail Groomer

Kenora City Council says its willing to help the Sunset Trailriders get a new groomer on the trails this winter.

STR says someone is willing to donate a Bombi Groomer, and it wants the city to issue a donation reciept based on the cost of the vehicle.

Council has agreed to issue the reciept, but says it wants STR to submit a propsal, which includes a plan on how the groomer would be used to enhance snowmobiling and ultimately enhance snow machine related tourism in the Kenora area.

STR needs a new groomer after one of their machines was destroyed by fire last winter.

Councillors Panned for Running for Tories

A couple of members of city council are being taken to task for their decision to run for higher office.

Both Rod McKay and Louis Roussin are seeking the Conservative Nomination in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Gregory Potvin ran unsuccessfully in the last municipal election for council and doesn't think its appropriate for members of council to continue to sit at the council table, while running for provincial politics.

Potvin believes they should take a leave of absence until the election is over.

The Conservatives will nominate their candidate this weekend.

Kenora District Services Board Worried About State of Housing

The Kenora District Services Board has been warned that it needs to come up with nearly 490-thousand dollars to fund non-profit public housing units.

The Board's Housing Director says capital reserves are running dry and notes 2-providers may have nothing in the bank as early as next year.

CAO Dan McNeill says this has been a problem for some time now.

The KDSB services 8 non-profit providers for a total of 560-units.

West Nile Confirmed in the region

For the first time in a couple of years, a mosquito in this region has tested positive for the West Nile Virus.

The Northwestern Health Unit says a number of mosquitoes were identified in a trap in the Fort Frances area.

West Nile can be spread to humans through the bite of mosquito.

The Health Unit ceased its west nile bird collection program last year, but continues to trap mosquitoes in several areas of the Kenora and Rainy River Districts to monitor for the presence of the virus.