Ronnebeck adds local Flavour to Homan Rink at Scotties

No local teams are in competition this week at the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but there is a Kenora flavour to the Rachel Homan rink from Ottawa.

Homan is the defending Ontario Ladies champions and their coach is Kenora resident Andrea Ronnebeck.

Ronnebeck admits its going to be a tough week of curling for her squad.

Homan won her first draw last night against Thunder Bay's Krista McCarville.

Homan takes on Kathy Brown at 2:00 this afternoon in the only battle between 1-0 teams.

Dennis Wins Bronze in Wales

A bronze medal for a Kenora Judoka at the 2012 Commonwealth Judo Championships taking place in Cardiff, Wales.

Kaitie Dennis won her final match this morning, defeating a Welsh fighter for third place in her division.

Dennis lost her semi-final match against a girl from Northern Ireland earlier in the day.

So far Canada has won three bronze medals, and three fighters will be going for gold later in the day.

Next up for Dennis is the Belgium Open Ladies Judo Championships this weekend.

Scotties results day one

Former Ontario champions Sherry Middagh and Jenna Hanna were among first draw winners at the provincial women's curling championship opening last night in Kenora.

Thunder Bay's Krista McCarville lost her opening game, 7-4 to defending Ontario champ Rachel Homan of Ottawa 7-4. 

Cathy Auld from Mississauga and Kathy Brown from the Toronto area were also first round winners.

Second draw action goes this afternoon at 2:00 at the Kenora Curling Club.

The third draw is at 7:00 this evening. 

Nations Aboriginal Leaders in Ottawa

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says he's eagerly awaiting today summit in Ottawa with the nations aboriginal leaders.

Rickford is the parliamentary secretary for Aboriginal Affairs and has a major role in the event.

He says there are some substantial issues up for discussion such as education and housing.

Rickford is acting as co-emcee for the opening ceremonies.


He adds that the drummers at the opening ceremonies are all from Treaty Three.

The Poverty Challenge

50 dollars in seven days.


That's how much participants in this year's Poverty Challenge will have to live on this year.

Dan Jorgensen is spokesperson Making Kenora Home and they want to give local residents an idea on how hard it is to live on a fixed income.

The Poverty Challenge will start February 9th and run to the 16th.


Making Kenora Home is just finalizing the 12 participants who will be

taking part next month.

The NeeChee Friendship Center

The NeeChee Friendship Center is getting funding from the provincial government for renovations.

The province has earmarked eight million dollars over three years to fix up 17 native
Friendship centers across Ontario.

NeeChee will be getting 250 thousand dollars to fix up its building on Railway Street.

The funding is part of a provincial infrastructure initiative.

Keewatin Mischief

For the second weekend in a row, the OPP are investigating a mischief incident in Keewatin.

On Friday, Police were called out to a home on Wharf Street.

The OPP say someone gained access into the crawl space of the home and unplugged
a couple of heaters.

As a result the water pipes froze and then broke.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the OPP or Crimestoppers.

Jon Thompson

A Kenora writer has been honored as one of the top 20 under 40 years of age in Northwestern Ontario.

Jon Thompson was one of six regional award winners at the 1st Annual Visionary Awards Ceremony held over the weekend in Thunder Bay.

A total of 66 people were nominated for the awards.

Thompson is a reporter for the Kenora Daily Miner and News.

Fall Airport Commission

Fall Airport Commission wants to know your opinion of air service out of International Falls.


Commission Chair Bob Anderson says they're in the midst of a survey as they await a federal decision regarding Great Lakes Aviation's plans to take over service from Delta.

Anderson says the survey has been distributed to thousands of users across Minnesota and northwestern Ontario.

Ontario Scotties Gets Underway this Evening

Teams are warming up for the start of the 2012 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Curling gets underway this evening at the Kenora Curling Club with the first draw.

 

Rachel Homan of Ottawa is the defending Ontario Ladies Curling Champion, but doesn't feel

she's the favorite this week. 

A total of 10 teams are seeking a berth to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer, Alberta in February.

The opening ceremonies will start at 6:30 this evening, with the first draw at 7:00.

OPP Release Name of Thunder Bay teen killed in Crash

A 17-year-old is dead following a two vehicle collision on Highway 11-17 east of Ignace.

Thunder Bay OPP say a Chevy Uplander collided with a transport just before 5 o'clock Sunday morning.

Police say the driver of the car, Matthew Gibbons of Thunder Bay, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two occupants of the tractor trailer were not hurt.

No charges are expected to be laid.

HNO Receives Funding for Head Injuries

The Federal government is providing money to help reduces the severity of head injuries in kid's sports in Canada and across this region.

Director of Hockey Northwestern Ontario Trevor Hosanna says the Feds are providing 1.5 million dollars for a new project.

Hosanna says the APP will give information on preventing and identifying concussions.

Police Lay more Drug Charges

A 31 year old Kenora man faces drug charges following a bust by the Kenora Drug Unit and the OPP's Criminal Enforcement Bureau.

Police say they executed a search warrant on an Ottawa Street home in Keewatin on Friday.

Fifty codeine pills, some Methadone and small amount of Morphine was seized.

Joey Icton faces counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession  for the purpose of trafficking.

Dennis in Wales for Commonwealth Championships

A local member of the Jaffray Melick Judo Club is getting some international fighting experience this week.

Kaitie Dennis is in Cardiff, Wales this week for the 2012 Commonwealth Judo Championships.

She's competing in the 20 and under division and will see her first action tomorrow.

She received a first round bye in today's opening round.

Following the Commonwealth Championships, Dennis will heading to the 2012 Belgium Ladies Open Judo Tournament in Arlon.

Manitoba Hunting Ban

Conservation officials have widened a temporary ban on moose hunting in eastern Manitoba to allow the animal's population to rebound.

The ban stretches from Lake Winnipeg to the Manitoba-Ontario boundary.

Officials say the region's moose population has declined by almost half since 2006 due to disease and predation by wolves and bears.

The ban also applies to aboriginal hunters.

Last March, the province announced $800,000 for a population recovery plan to restore moose numbers to sustainable levels.

Stan Beardy heads to Ottawa

First Nations Leaders are heading to Ottawa for Tuesday's meeting with Stephen Harper.


Nishnawbe Aski Grand Chief Stan Beardy will be there to discuss treaty rights.
 
Beardy says they hope to establish what he calls a renewed and meaningful relationship with the Government of Canada.

Beardy adds that when they signed treaties, they expected to be treated as equals. 

Trans Canada Highway Collision

A 17 year old Thunder Bay resident is dead following an accident on the Trans Canada Highway near Pineview Rd.


OPP say the teen was the driver of a Chevy Uplander van which collided with a tractor trailer unit just before 5 o'clock early Sunday morning.

The youth was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two occupants of the tractor trailer were not hurt.

Police say it's speculated that no charges will be laid.

Bus Crash in Sioux Lookout

Everyone on board a school bus in Sioux Lookout escaped injury following a collision on Friday afternoon.


The Northwestern Ontario Student Services Consortium says a bus was travelling on 7th Avenue and a car didn't stop at the intersection.

The vehicle clipped the back end of the bus.

The students were checked by paramedics and transfered to another bus.

Centennial Centre in Sioux Lookout

The old Sioux Hotel is now the new Centennial Centre.


Brian MacKinnon is Sioux Lookout's Community Development Coordinator and says thousands of dollars was spent on revamping the downtown building.
 
MacKinnon adds that Council's vision for the facility involves the fusion of youth, arts and cultural development.

Ontario Scotties ready to Rock the Kenora Curling Club

A bit of an economic boost for the City of Kenora.

The 2012 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts comes to town next week.

Sue Loewen is co-chair of the event and says while their reserved seating is sold out, there are still lots of good seats available.

Curling will begin on Monday night, with the finals set for the following Sunday at the Kenora Curling Club.