Business Plan Unveiled for Proposed Adult Training Center

A proposed adult training center at Lakewood School is getting the thumbs up in a new report.

Grant Thornton was asked by the Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission to provide a business plan for the training facility.

Geordie McEwan is the vice-chair of the commission and says the initial numbers are very promising.

McEwan admits there are still lots of hurdles to cross, including the fact the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board owns the school and has not declared it surplus to its needs.

McEwan says they will be making a presentation to the school board trustees next month.

Drunk Driving Charges Higher in Kenora

A published report suggests northwestern Ontario has the worst drunk driving rates in Ontario.

The Global News report based its findings on the number of convictions of impaired driving between June 2010 and June 2011.

The Kenora area came in with a rating of almost 12 convictions for every one thousand drivers.

Dryden's came in at 3.8, while Fort Frances was 2.6.

The provincial average was 1.7.

Local First Nations want more Consultation on Twinning Highway 17 West

Four first nations in the Kenora area say they are still concerned with the lack of consultation on the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Kenora.

Shoal Lake Bands number 39 and 40, the Dalles and Washagamis Bay met recently and shared their common concerns with the project.

Chief Lorraine Cobiness from the Dalles says the consultation process carried out by the Ministry of Transportation so far has been deeply flawed.

They say the government's of Canada and Ontario are not respecting their treaty rights.

The band chiefs says they want their interests addressed befor any work on the twinning project begins.

Bastone Elected Chair of Catholic School Board

A new face at the helm of the Kenora Catholic District School Board.

Frank Bastone takes over as chairman, following last night's board elections.

He beat out Theresa Gallick for the position.

Bastone admits their biggest challenge these days is a good one, and that's dealing with an increasing enrolment.

Bastone is joined on the board's executive by Paul Landry who was elected vice-chair.

Catholic School Board Buys Pinecrest

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is getting into the community club business.

Last night the board agreed to buy the Pinecrest Community Club from the city for 122 thousand dollars.

Phylis Eikre is the director of education and says they don't plan any changes to the operation of the outdoor rink at this time.

Eikre says the city will be tearing down the clubhouse in the spring because its no longer deemed to be safe to use.

OPP disappointed with RIDE numbers

Disappointment from the OPP with the number of people still drinking and driving this holiday season.

Thirty-one drivers have been charged with impaired since the OPP Festive Ride program started at the end of November.

Traffic Staff Sergeant Ken Mantey says people need to make smarter choices.

The charges stem from over 500 RIDE checks conducted by Police so far.

Solar Panels for Non Profit Housing Units in Kenora

Solar pannelling for seven housing units in the Kenora District.

Services Board CAO Dan McNeill says 3-project have been approved for Dryden, three for Kenora and one for Red Lake.

McNeill says two more units in Red Lake were turned down.

The housing units must be connected to the energy grid by mid-April.

No word on future of Zeller's in Kenora

Hudson's Bay Company says it hasn't decided on the fate of the Zeller's department store in Kenora.

HBC says there are 84 stores across Canada that were not included in the sale to Target last year.

The company says its currently doing a review of the Zeller's outlets and will likely decide early in 2012 what to do with them.

Target is planning to take over more than 100 Zeller's stores starting in 2013.

Bronco and Saints court teams have mixed results

The Thomas Aquinas court sport teams made it a clean sweep over Sioux Lookout.

The Saints Senior boys basketball team got 20 points from Devon Luby to cruise to a 59-39 victory.

The T.A. junior boys earned a 57-42 win over the Warriors.

Tristan Argue had 14 points for the Saints.

In girls volleyball, the Thomas Aquinas senior girls continued their dominance early in the season winning three sets to none over Sioux Lookout.

The Saints junior girls capped the day with a three sets to one win over the Warriors.

Meanwhile, up at Beaver Brae, the Broncos boys basketball teams split their games against Dryden.

The Beaver Brae Juniors trailed at the half, but allowed the Eagles just eight second half points en route to a 37-28 decision.

The Broncos senior boys lost their first league game of the regular season 39-25 to Dryden.

In girls volleyball action, the Bronco seniors and juniors lost to Dryden three sets to one.

Saints boys win on the road

The Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team head into the Christmas break on a roll.

The Saints won their third in a row last night, a 6-3 decision over Sioux Lookout. Erik Davidson led the scoring attack with three goals and an assist.

T.A. holds down first place in the Single "a" division.

Meanwhile, the Saints girls hockey team took Fort Frances to overtime, but lost in a shootout 3-2.

Beaver Brae's girls team was the latest victim of the Dryden Eagles.

The Eagles remain unbeaten in league play following a 4-1 win over the Broncos at the Rec. Center.

Ainsley Lindquist scored the lone marker for Beaver Brae.

Impaired Driving Charges up During 2011 RIDE Campaign

The number of impaired driving charges are up so far during the seasonal RIDE campaign.

The OPP in northwestern Ontario say they have laid 31 impaired driving charges in the first three weeks of their holiday blitz.

That's up from 29 for the same period last year.

There were also five three-day suspensions issued, compared to just one in 2010.

There have also been 260 motor vehicle accidents investigated with seven involving alcohol.

Broncos Hockey

The 2011 season closes today in Boys High School hockey with 2-games on the docket.

The Fort Frances Muskies are in Kenora to face the Beaver Brae Broncos in a battle of the top two teams in the league.

The other match-up is in Sioux Lookout where the Queen Elizabeth Warriors face the Thomas Aquinas Saints.

Both games start at 7:30.


Girls Hockey:

A big test for the Dryden Eagle Girls High School Hockey team today.


The Eagles are in Kenora to face the Beaver Brae Broncos.

Dryden is undefeated this season, but the Broncos aren't too far behind.

Game time is 4:30.

Kenora's other team is also in action as the Thomas Aquinas Saints take on the Muskies in Fort Frances tonight at 7:15.

Corrine Owen

The Kenora District Services Board has filled an important vacancy.

Corrine Owen has been hired as the new Director of Finance.

Owen brings roughly 15-years of senior accounting and auditing experience to the Board.

She spent the last 4-years as Director of Finance for Community Living Dryden and Sioux Lookout.

Her first day on the job is January 16th.

Trans-Canada Highway

More highway upgrades in Northwestern Ontario.


The Province says a 20-kilometre stretch of Highway 17 near Ignace is going to be repaved in the New Year.

The project is being carried out by Pioneer Construction and will employ about 40-people.

Work is expected to begin next Spring and is scheduled for completion in Fall 2012.

Jaffray Melick Arena

Its official: there won't be any ice at the Jaffray Melick Arena this winter.

Kenora City Council has decided to shut the facility down for the season, after receiving an engineering report.

Recreational Services Manager, Colleen Neil says a strcuture assessment found some issues with the building.

Neil adds the decision to take the arena off-line this winter will give the city a chance to
decide what it wants to do with the facility.

KMTS Prosperity Trust Fund

The City of Kenora is lending itself 800 thousand dollars to help pay for

a municipal infrastructure project.

Council voted last night to borrow the money from the KMTS Prosperity Trust Fund
to cover the city's costs of installing the new submarine sewer and water line.

Councillor Ron Lunny says even though the water line was installed two years ago,
they still had to arrange long term funding for it.


Lunny adds he would also like council to borrow from the KMTS Prosperity Trust Fund for
a long-term debenture on the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

Resolute Forest Products

Some workers at Resolute Forest Products in Thunder Bay are getting an unexpected Christmas break.


Spokesperson Pierre Choquette says market conditions are forcing the company to temporarily halt kraft operations for 10-days starting on Friday.

The newsprint mill will continue to operate during the period.

Rickford Opens new Office in Kenora

Just in time for the holiday season, Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford is opening up a new office in Kenora.

Rickford has moved over into the Optomistist Building on Main Street South.

He's holding his official opening today and says he likes his new digs.

Rickford held an open house this afternoon for his constituents.

Union Gas Rates to Drop in the New Year

A nice gift of savings for Union Gas customers in Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Energy Board has approved changes to the price Union Gas charges its customers for natural gas.

Local residential consumers who use 26-hundred cubic meters a year will pay about 28-dollars less per year.

The changes go into effect January 1st.

Lower natural gas prices in North America are credited for the drop in price.

28 Year old man killed in Fort Frances

A 28-year-old man is dead after he was struck by a freight train in Fort Frances on the weekend.

OPP say the man was hit near the Canadian National Railway main yard just after 2 o'clock Sunday morning.

Police say the westbound locomotive was leaving the rail yard when it hit Justin Degagne.

OPP and CN Rail Police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Foul play is not suspected.