Saints Court Sport Teams hit the road

Thomas Aquinas boys basketball and girls volleyball teams are on the road today for their second last road trip of the regular season.

Today the Saints will take on the Voyageurs in Atikoan, while tomorrow T.A. heads down the Highway 11 to face the Owls in Rainy River.

Thomas Aquinas is gearing up for the NorWOSSA play-offs which get under way next Thursday.

Both Bronco Hockey Teams win Tuesday night

Both of Beaver Brae's hockey teams won by identical scores last night.

The Broncos boys snapped a three game winless streak against Dryden, upending the Eagles 4-1 at the Rec. Center last night.

It was a similar story in Fort Frances, where the Bronco girls cruised to a 4-1 win over the Muskies.

The Beaver Brae Girls are back in action this Friday night against Red Lake, while the Bronco boys wrap up the regular season next Tuesday against their cross-town rivals from Thomas Aquinas.

Broncos lose three of four to Fort Frances in NorWOSSA Court Sports

Fort Frances continued its dominance on the hardcourt in NorWOSSA league play.

The Muskies senior boys basketball team picked up where it left off over the weekend after winning the Kenora Invitational Tournament.

Fort cruised to a 42-18 victory over Beaver Brae Tuesday afternoon.

It was much closer in the junior boys game, with the Muskies hanging on for a 31-30 win.

In girls volleyball, the Bronco senior girls won the lone game of the day, downing Fort Frances three sets to one.

The Muskie Junior Girls beat Beaver Brae in three straight sets.

Tax rates Going up Slightly in Kenora

Local residents are going to be faced with a small increase in their property taxes this year.

City council met all day yesterday and finally decided on a one percent increase in the mill rate.

Councillor Ron Lunny says the increase is a reflection that the city still needs to put money into reserves to fix up our aging infrastructure.

For the average homeowner, the tax increase will amount to about 21 dollars in 2012.

Council is expected to pass the budget next Monday.

New Adult Education Program Announced

A new partnership has been formed to improve graduation rates in the Kenora District.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board has inked an agreement with Seven Generations in Fort Frances to offer adult education programs in several area communities.

Director of Education Jack McMaster says the program will be rolled out in September.

Both partners are now in the process of securing classrooms in each community.

Programs will initially be offered in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout

Highway 17 Assault

The OPP are trying to find the culprit responsible for an assault on Highway 17 east of Kenora.

Police say a 15 year old youth was walking in the area of the Trans-Canada Highway Sunday night between 7:30 and 9:30 in the evening when he was attacked.

He was taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital for treatment of minor injuries by family members and later released.

The OPP say the youth was wearing a black and red "bush" style jacket, black gloves
and a black and red toque at the time of the attack.

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

Census for First Nations

First Nation communities in the Kenora area saw the biggest growth in the past five years.

Figures released from the 2011 Census show that the population of Rat Portage and Shoal Lake #39 both increased by 12 percent.

The number of people living on Rat Portage went up to 394 from 350 from the previous
census, while on Shoal Lake, the number of residents rose to 388 from 346 in 2006.

In the unincorporated areas surrounding Kenora the population actually shrunk slightly,
by 0.1 percent.

There are seven thousand and 31 people listed as living in the rural areas of the Kenora
District, down ten from the last census.

Kenora Census

New census data shows the population of Kenora fell below the national growth rate over the last five years

Statistics Canada released the first batch of numbers from the 2011 census this morning and the population of Kenora increased by 1.1 per cent since the last census in 2006.

The city's growth rate was below the national growth rate of 5.9 per cent, while the population of Ontario increased by 5.7 per cent.

When the 2011 census was taken last May 10, the population of Kenora was 15,348, compared with 15,177 from the 2006 census.

Digital Mammography Unit

Lake of the Woods Hospital Foundation says its getting closer to its goal of fundraising for a new digital mammography unit.

Donna Wallace is chair of the Foundation and says right now they are about a quarter of the way there.

Wallace says the good news is that the price on the digital mammography machines is starting to come down, so they hope to be able to purchase on for about a million dollars.

Abitibi Property

Expect to see more activity on the former Abitibi property in Kenora later this year.

That's the prediction of the chairman of the Lake of the Woods Economic Development

Commission.

Dennis Wallace says while only one business has re-located there, he's confident other

companies will follow suit.

Wallace says tourism has been a bright spot for the local economy with an 80 percent

increase in visitor traffic last year.

Mike Richards Charity Golf Tournament Coming Back for a 3rd Year

The Mike Richards Charity Golf Tournament is coming back for another year.

Its been announced that the one day tournament will be back at the Kenora Golf and Country Club on July 12th.

Over the past two years thousands of dollars has been raised for both the Canadian Cancer Society and the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation.

Last year RBC came on as a corporate sponsor.

Richards is a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

Council getting ready to set tax rate

Local residents will have to dig a little deeper to pay their property taxes this year, but how much deeper still isn't known.

Kenora City Council is reviewing its operating budget today.

Right now the city is proposing an increase of just 0.4 percent.

However, some councillors are worried that not enough money is being set aside for infrastructure projects.

Its possible the final figure could increase another one or two percent depending whether council feels like it can afford an increase in 2012.

Deliberations are continuing this afternoon.

NAN Report

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation is out with a report on the critical underfunding of First Nation schools. 

Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says the current funding system is inadequate and calls it a crisis. 

Waboose says the Federal Government needs to start matching education funds for First Nations at the same level the Province funds public school boards. 

Waboose says education under the Indian Act has failed remote First Nation communities.

The Kenora Skating Club

The Kenora Skating Club sent 5 skaters to the Festival of Stars competition this past weekend.

Julia Withers finished 2nd in the Jr. Silver Ladies and the Silver Triathlon event.

Kelsey Scribilo finished 3rd in the Gold Ladies Triathlon, both girls have now qualified to represent the Northern Ontario Section at the Trillium Provincial Starskate Championships in March.

 Emily Whiting won a Silver medal in the Introductory Interpretive and both Josh Cariou and Lauren Mack just missed qualifing finishing 4th and 5th in their events.

2011 Census

We should get a better understanding of life in northwestern Ontario beginning tomorrow.


That's when StatsCan will start releasing information from the 2011 Census.

First figures to come out will be population, how many people live in cities and rural areas, which areas are growing and which aren't.

The Hardy Dam

The Ministry of Natural Resources will conduct an environmental asssessment to halt seepage of an earthern dam near Atikokan.


The Hardy Dam was constructed as part of the former Steep Rock Mine's water diversion project.

Spokesperson Michelle Novak says they're aren't ruling out a complete collapse.

The condition of the Hardy dam is part of an ongoing study to rehabilitate the former Iron ore mine site.

Ring of Fire

The Federal Natural Resources Committee will meet for two days next week to discuss the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario.


The hearings were requested by NDP Natural Resources critic Claude Gravelle.

Gravelle says we have to be sure to do this project right and that the proposr consultations take place.

Gravelle says First Nations support the project but want to ensure that treaty rights are respected.

KMTS Citizen's Prosperity Fund

The City of Kenora will be dipping into the KMTS Citizen's Prosperity Fund once again to pay for a number of large capital projects.

Council yesterday agreed to borrow over 7.9 million dollars to pay for the new fire hall, the Discovery Center and a couple paving projects.

Councillor Ron Lunny admits the three percent interest on the loan is less than the city is currently making on their investments through the Prosperity Fund.

Council learned yesterday the Citizen's Prosperity Fund earned 5.37 percent in interest last year on the 42 million dollar trust.

Kenora's Deer Hunt

The city's inaugural bow hunt for deer is being called a success.


Councillor Sharon Smith says a total of 34 deer were killed during the
month long hunt last fall.

She says they also asked the hunters to fill out a survey to gather more information about the deer population in Kenora.

Smith says she'd like to bring the bow hunt back next year and possibly extend it by a couple of weeks into the last part of November and the early part of December.

Kenora District Municpial Association Conference

The MPP for Kenora-Rainy River is promising more cooperation with Municipal leaders.


Sarah Campbell addressed delegates attending the Kenora District Municpial Association conference last Friday. Campbell says she wants to broker a new infrastructure deal for area communities.

She also claims the Province has been delaying development in the Ring of Fire, which is preventing new jobs from reaching Northern communities.