Midget Thistles host the Southwest Cougars this weekend

The Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles will look to regain their winning ways at home this weekend.

The Thistles won a pair last weekend, but lost to the Winnipeg Wild in a mid-week contest.

Tonight, the Southwest Cougars are in town for the first of two games.

Game time is 8:00 tonight at the Kenora Rec. Center.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Double "a" PeeWee Thistles are hosting their annual tournament this weekend.

The Thistles first game is at noon against Sioux Lookout.

They are then back in action at 4:15 against Beausejour.

OPP tackles local Break and Enters

The OPP says its seen a dramatic increase in the number of break and enters in Kenora.

Inspector Dave Lucas presented his monthly statistics to the Police Services Board this week and it shows there were 22 B and E's during the month of October.

That's a big increase from 8 for the same month the year before.

Lucas says they have identified a group of people who were responsible several of the break-ins and they have since been charged.

The were over 11 hundred calls for service in October.

Police Board to get an increase in Per Diem

Members of the Kenora Police Services Board won't be getting a raise next year, but they will be getting more money when they go out of town on business.

The Police Board has approved an increase in its per diem.

It increases to 163 dollars a day, up from the current level of 125 dollars.

Board chair Colin Wasacase says their board policy states that their per diems shall keep up with with the city's rates.

City council approved an increase in its per diems last month.

Canfield says Police Increase Reasonable

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says he can live with a proposed two percent increase in the policing budget next year.

Canfield says the OPP has been doing a good job of coming in under budget over the past couple of years and hopes they can continue that trend next year.

Canfield says considering salaries for OPP officers are going over five percent, the increase is reasonable.

A new tourism brand being developed for Kenora

The City of Kenora should have a new image to project to tourists by next spring.

Roger Brooks is helping spearhead the new branding exercise.

He says the goal is to come up with a unique vision for Kenora that can be sold to visitors.

Brooks is asking local residents to fill out an on-line survey on the city's web portal.

That information will be used as the base for the whole branding exercise.

New Stop lights for Rail Crossing

The City of Kenora is taking steps to make the 16th Avenue North Railway Crossing safer for motorists.

An extra set of stop lights have been erected on the north side of the tracks and a new sign has also been installed.

It warns drivers not to block the railway tracks.

The city says the OPP will be out monitoring the railway crossing and will ticket anyone who stops on the tracks or fails to stop at the tracks before crossing.

New Detachment Manager at Kenora OPP

The Kenora Detachment of the OPP has a new manager.

Paul Van Bellingham has been selected to take over as second in command of the detachment office.

He replaces Brian McKillop, who has been promoted as the detachment Commander in Hawksbury in Eastern Ontario.

Van Bellingham has also been promoted to Staff Sergeant.

Campbell speaks out over Doctor Shortage in Ear Falls

Health care concerns in Northwestern Ontario continue as Ear Falls is expected to lose its only doctor at the end of this month.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell raised the issue in the Legislature today and says the Government is ignoring the needs of the North.

Minister of Health Deb Matthews says the Government has made it a high priority to increase physician coverage in the North.

Campbell claims the Minister has been ignoring Ear Falls by not returning phone calls or e-mails.

Another Drug Bust in Northern Ontario

A search of a Moose Cree First Nation home payed off for the Combined Forces Organized Crime Unit.

Police sezied 91-grams of cocaine worth an estimated 14-thousand, 600-dollars.

Officers also found over 13-thousand dollars in cash, 29-firearms, 18-bottles of alcohol as well as drug paraphernalia and communication devices.

Four people from Moose Factory face numerous charges.

The ages of the accused range from 27 to 65.

More on Attawapiskat

The Federal Government is forcing the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation to pay a private-sector consultant about 13-hundred dollars a day to run its finances.

That's despite the fact the Government's own assessments say the third-party management system is not cost-effective.

The money to pay Jacques Marion of BDO Canada comes straight from the Attawapiskat First Nation's budget.

Grand Chief Stan Louttit says that amount over the course of a year would run up to 300-thousand dollars and easily pay for at least one nice, solid house.

He says Ottawa should cover the costs.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus fears the band will have to cut funding for educational assistants in order to pay for the government appointee.

Wasaya Airlines Plays Santa

Over 2 thousand turkeys and 4 thousand bags of goodies are being delivered to remote First Nation communities for Christmas.

Wasaya Airways is doing the delivering and providing of the gifts and Spokesperson Jennifer Mihalcin says it's their way of giving back.

Christmas turkeys and goodie bags will be delivered to Cat Lake, Pikangikum, Bearskin, Fort Hope and Deer Lake First Nations.

Bisson Critical of Winter Road Maintenance

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson says Highway 17 and our secondary roads are being closed more frequently due to bad weather because there are fewer plows on the road.

Bisson says the Province needs to re-work the contract to ensure motorists keep safe and to ensure a steady flow of goods.

The NDP member says the Government has changed the terms of its plowing contracts, which means there's 25-percent less equipment being used to clear highways.

KACL Strikes a deal with its employees

The Kenora Association for Community Living should have labor peace for the next two years.

KACL and members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union have tentatively agreed on a new four year agreement.

Members of OPSEU local 702 have ratified the agreement, and are just waiting for the board of KACL to endorse it.

The deal will expire March 31st, 2014.

The workers had been without a contract since April 1st, 2010, and the deal is retroactive to that date.

Saints boys back in action tonight

A tall order for the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team. They host the Fort Frances Muskies

tonght at the Kenora Rec. Center. The Saints dropped their last game 4-1 to Sioux Lookout.

Game time is 7:30 at the Thistle Rink.

NOMA

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is tearing a strip of Ontario's

Environmental Commissioner.

In his most recent report, Gordon Miller suggested the Caribou Conservation Plan would
have only a limited impact on local communities.

NOMA vice-president, Dave Canfield says Miller has his facts wrong.

Canfield says the Caribou Conservation Plan is already reducing the available wood
supply by up to 65 percent in some Forest Management Plans.

Kenora Substance Abuse and Mental Health Task Force

Prescription drug abuse is the biggest concern these days of the Kenora Substance Abuse and Mental Health Task Force.

The Task Force has just unvailed a new billboard to tackle the issue.

Constable Bob Bernie says the problem isn't just about dealing drugs, it's also about the people who are abusing the pills.

Bernie says the Task Force raised most of the money for the new billboard through a charity slo-pitch tournament this past October.

Policing costs going up next year

Its going to cost a bit more to police the City of Kenora next year.

Inspector Dave Lucas presented his 2012 costing to the Kenora Police Services Board this morning.

The proposed budget for OPP service next year is just over 6.8 million dollars, which is about 130 thousand dollars more than this years estimated costs.

Lucas says they've reduced the overtime estimates for next year, because they have been coming in about 2.5 percent less than the nine percent they budgeted for over the past couple of years.

Campbell Speaks out on Auditors Report

NDP Critic Sarah Campbell is weighing in on the findings of Ontario's Auditor General.

The audit shows that it's taking us longer than expected to pay off the Province's hydro debt and that our bill payments don't always go towards paying down that debt.

Campbell says we can't afford to mess around with an essential service like electricity.

Home First Launched at the Hospital

Home is where the heart is.

That's the philosophy behind the Home First Program.

Leslie Brown is the head of patient care at the local hospital and says

Home First allows older patients to recuperate at home, rather than a hospital bed.

Brown says they have been rolling out the Home First program over the past couple of months.

Kenora and Thunder Bay are the first communities in the region to start it up.

Saints Girls Hockey Team hits the road

The Thomas Aquinas girls hockey team will try to get back on the winning track tonight.

The Saints travel to Dryden to take on the Eagles.

These same two teams met this past Friday in Kenora and Dryden skated to a 3-0 win. Game time is 6:30.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team had a hard time scoring last night.

The Saints outshot Sioux Lookout 47-10, but still lost 4-1 to the Warriors.

The final two goals of the game were into an empty net. Tanner Kapera scored the lone goal for T.A.

The Saints next action is tomorrow night at the Thistle Rink against Fort Frances.