CJRL News

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Council gets to work on 2012 budget today

Councillors say they will be keeping an eye on the bottom line when they begin the budget process today.

Council has a pair of budget meetings scheduled at City Hall.

The first will deal with the 2012 capital budget.

That will be followed by a look at the solid waste and Sewer and Water budgets this afternoon.

Council has already decided that it will have to raise sewer and water rates by at least 10 percent this year to start to address an infrastructure deficit in the department.

Clarification provided on Eco Energy program

Some clarification about the Eco-Energy efficiency program.

Reaction was swift after a Sunday announcement that the retrofit program would not continue until March.

The Office for Kenora MP Greg Rickford says the program has ended because it has reached its original target of 250-thousand registered homeowners.

Officials add that the Conservative Government is spending an additional 117-million dollars on grants for successful applicants.

People already signed up for the program have until June 30th to have their follow up home evaluation.

IJC Submits final report to the federal government

It took about a month longer than expected to complete, but the

International Joint Commission has submitted its final report on the management of the Lake of the Woods Watershed to the government's of Canada and the United States.

Kelly Saunders was on the initial Task Force and she like a number of the recommendations that have been made in the report.

The report calls for a joint management board for the Lake of the Woods Watershed, as well as a summit meeting by 2015.

The final report still has to be approved by both the government's of Canada and the U.S.

Three people fined for Illegal moose hunting

Three Dryden residents have been fined a total of 42-hundred dollars for illegal moose hunting.

Court heard that the three were hunting southwest of Dryden in December 2010 when they came upon a bull moose.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says Edward Smith left the vehicle and shot the moose while standing on the road.

The animal ran into the surrounding bush and was retrieved by the hunting party.

Edward Smith has been banned from hunting in Ontario for 2-years.

Lisa and Russell Smith are both banned from hunting for 1-year.

Ignace Mayor resigns

A major vacancy to fill in Ignace.

Mayor Lee Kennard has announced his resignation.

Kennard was elected as a first term Mayor in 2010.

He adds it won't be easy leaving the community where he's lived for 35-years.

Saints lose in Overtime to the Muskies

A heart-breaking loss for the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team.

The Saints skated into Fort Frances last night and tied the league leading Muskies 6-6 after 60 minutes.

Overtime didn't settle anything, and Fort finally won in a shootout, which went to seven shooters.

Tanner Kapera had a pair of goals for the Saints, while Duncan McGilvary added a goal and two assists.

T.A. is back in action tomorrow night against the Sioux Lookout Warriors.

Beaver Brae splits with Fort

Beaver Brae earned a split of its games against the Fort Frances Muskies in their first NorWOSSA Court sports activity since the exam break.

The Broncos senior girls volleyball team swept Fort yesterday at home, while the Beaver Brae junior girls needed five sets to subdue the Muskies.

It was a different story on the basketball courts as the Musky boys domintaed.

Beaver Brae's senior boys trailed by just one a the half, but ended up losing 40-26 to Fort.

The Bronco junior boys were able to keep it close, but dropped a 35-32 decision to the Muskies.

Increase in Fishing Violations South of the Border

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is seeing a jump in fishing violations on Lake of the Woods this winter.

The DNR recently seized 234 walleyes and sauger for various violations on the Minnesota side of the lake.

Conservation officers investigated over 50 incidents last week ranging from over-fishing, to anglers fishing without a license.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

NAN holds Conference on Energy

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation is hosting a three day conference on First Nation energy needs.

Area Chiefs will talk about energy issues, and what needs to be done to improve the energy distribution.

Speakers at the conference will include reps from the Federal and Provincial Governments and First Nations.

Northwest LHINs ready fro expanded role

Ontario's Liberal government will give more power to local health agencies as it looks to overhaul the health system to lower costs.

Local health integration networks, or LHINs, will be given responsibility for family doctors.

Laura Kokocinski is CEO of the Northwest LHINs and says they are will to take on an

expanded role.

Kokocinski, says the organization is prepared to make it work.

Relay for Life Town Hall Wednesday night

Wanted: volunteers for the annual Relay for Life in Kenora.

Tomorrow night a town hall style meeting will take place for anyone interested in helping out.

Lois Bailey is one of the co-chairs and says they have a number of positions that need to be filled.

The meeting will take place in the Kenora Rec. Center starting tomorrow night at 6:30.

Comfort Inn re-opens following flood

The Comfort Inn in Kenora is getting an unexpected makeover.

The Sunset Strip motel sustained extensive water damage over the weekend after a water main broke causing extensive flooding.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department was called out around 5:00 Sunday morning to help deal with the situation.

In the meantime, crews have been called in to replace damaged drywall and carpeting.

The motel has since re-opened its doors.

Kenora Residents Digging out from overnight snowfall

It took a while, but Old Man winter has finally hit northwestern Ontario.

The Kenora area has received about 10 centimeters of snow since last night.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the good news is the winter weather will be short-lived with warmer weather on the way.

Local highways are described as snow-covered with some slippery sections.

Crews are out this morning clearing local roads and sanding.

Caution is still advised, especially on secondary roads and side streets which haven't been plowed yet.

Feds pull the Plug on the EcoEnergy Program

Environmental groups in northwestern Ontario say they are surprised that the Federal Government has cut short its registration period for the ecoEnergy for Houses program.

The program provides money to homeowners who make improvements to their home that will save energy.

Ellen Mortfield of EcoSuperior says the program was supposed to end in March.

People already signed up for the program have until June 30th to have their follow up home evaluation.

Tourism Kenora gets new sign

Tourism Kenora now has a little higher visibility outside the city.

A large sign was erected at the Ontario Tourism bureau at the Manitoba border last week advising motorists that they can get visitor information at the Discovery Center in Kenora.

The sign was jointly funded by Tourism Kenora and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership.

Its hoped the new sign will bring visitors into town, who would normally just stay on the by-pass and sell them on the local attractions.

New Federal Riding Boundaries Expected this year

New boundaries for federal ridings could be re-drawn later this year.

The federal government passed third reading of legislation to increase the number of ridings across Canada just before the Christmas break.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says its too early to say how the riding re-alignment will affect northwestern Ontario.

The Federal Riding Boundaries Commission is expected to begin the process of riding redistribution in February following the release of the Census.

Fort Club Wins Sunset Country Figure Skating Competition

A good weekend for local figure skaters.

Kenora hosted the Sunset Country Regional Interclub Figure Skating competition.

The host Kenora Skating Club won 14 individual gold medals, five silver, six bronze, while the Keewatin Figure Skating Club earned 9 gold medals, 14 silver, nine bronze.

The Border Figure Skating Club from Fort Frances won the high point total trophy.