Kenora Rockets win two medals at Manitoba Juniors

The Kenora Rockets badminton Club had its best ever showing at the Yonex Manitoba junior championships this past weekend in Winnipeg.

The Rockets brought back a pair of medals.

Andrew Neil and Jonny Houlden won a silver medal in the boys under 14 doubles division.

Tyler Neil won the bronze medal in the 16 and under singles competition.

Prior to this weekend, the best finish for a Kenora badminton player had been 5th at the Manitoba juniors.

Sharks medal at Man/Sask Swimming Championships

The Kenora Sharks Swim Club brought home a number of medals from the Manitoba/Saskatchewan

championships this past weekend at the Pan/Am Pool in Winnipeg.

12 year old Winnie Boucha led the medal parade with a gold, a solver and two bronze, while Bryce Jones collect a couple of silve medals in the boys 14 year old division.

Alex Olson had two third place finishes in the 50 and 100 meter breast stroke.

Other medalists included Michelle Belcaen with a silver in the 100 free, Alyson Stolicker a bronze in the 200 meter back stroke and Gabe Mastromateo with a third in the 100 breast stroke.

Tourism Kenora gets Funding for Winter Carnival

Tourism Kenora has been working to raise the profile of the Winter Carnival.

This year, the city receive a five thousand dollar grant to help promote the event in Winnipeg.

Councillor Sharon Smith says the money came from the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Fund.

It was used primarily for a radio advertising campaign in the Manitoba capital.

Council is expected to approve a by-law authorizing the funding arrangement at tonight's open meeting.

OPP Investigate Rideout Break-In

The OPP are investigating a break-in to a home in the Rideout area of town.

Police say three men entered a home on Mikado Avenue around 10:00 Saturday night.

The culprits were apparently scared off the by owner, who was at home at the time.

The OPP say there were no injuries and nothing was stolen during the break and enter.

Anyone who might have information about the incident is asked to contact the Kenora Detachment Office or Crimestoppers.

Bill introduced to scrap the Far North Act

A Progressive Conservative MPP wants to see the Provincial Government's Far North Act repealed.

Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro says bill 44 was introduced in the Legislature last week, but he's not planning to support it.

He says the bill bill undo a number of new initiatives untaken by the McGuinty Government.

Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller introduced the legislation that aims to scrap the far north act.

Fort Kraft Mill experiences downtime

More bad news for Mill workers in Fort Frances.

A lack of qualified personnel has put a halt to production at the Resolute Forest Products kraft mill.

Company spokesperson Pierre Choquette says the mill doesn't have enough second class stationary engineers needed to run the plant.

Such personnel are often trained in several areas as mechanical, chemical and electrical.

Choquette says they're evaluating operations to determine their best course of action.

Production on the paper side is not effected.

Northwest LHIN's Defends its Record on Chronic Disease

The head of the Northwest Local Health Integration Network says she's well aware that the organization is struggling when it comes to coordinating health care services for chronic diseases.

The problem is highlighted in a Hamilton Specator report on the LHINs in Ontario.  Laura Kokocinski says the challenges to overcome here are numerous.

Kokochinski says the results show why it's important for health care planning to take place as close to home as possible.

Doctor Raises Awareness of Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease may be one of the most under-reported diseases in Canada.

That's the feeling of Dr. Ernie Murakami, a specialist in the disease.

Murakami will be in Kenora tomorrow to talk about the tick-borne illness and says it doesn't make sense that there are a thousand cases reported each year in Minnesota, yet in northwestern Ontario the disease is considered almost non-existant.

Murakami has made it his life's work to raise awareness of Lyme Disease and will be speaking at Knox United Church tomorrow night about the problem.

The presentation will take place in the lower Hall starting at 6:30. 

Weather Records Smashed over the Weekend

Northwestern Ontario didn't just set a number of temperature records over the weekend, it smashed them.

In Kenora yesterday, the thermometer topped out at 22.7 degrees, beating the previous high by over 12 degrees.

It was the same situation Saturday, with daytime highs hitting 20.2, breaking the previous record by 10 degrees.

Fort Frances was the hot spot in northwestern Ontario over the weekend, hitting highs of 26.4 yesterday, and 24.8 on Saturday.

More records are expected to fall this week, as temperatures will remain well above normal.

Midget Thistles Win in Thunder Bay

A huge victory for the Kenora Triple A midget program.

The Thistles skated into Thunder Bay over the weekend for the Northwest Branch Playdowns and beat the host Kings two games to one, to advance to the Telus Regional Playdowns in Virden next month.

The Thistles won the third and deciding game of the playdowns yesterday afternoon 2-1.

It was the Kenora midgets first win at the Branch playdowns in 11 years and only the third time they've managed to beat Thunder Bay in 27 years.

Meanwhile, the Kings took the other two playdowns over the weekend, winning the Triple A Peewee championship with a 5-2 win over the Northwestern All-stars yesterday morning.

Thunder Bay also won the Bantam Triple "a" final two games to one.

Kenora Broomball Finals Underway

The Flying V's drew first blood in the final of the Kenora Broomball League.

The V's shutout the Pink Pirates 1-0 last night in game one of their best of three championshps series.

Jordan Redsky scored the lone goal of the game, while Matt Skead earned the shutout.

Game two will go Thursday night.

A record Warm Weekend Expected

It's the middle of March, but its going to feel more like the middle of May this weekend.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says temperatures will soar into the 20's by Sunday.

Kenora set a record high yesterday of 11.2, and is expected to smash the temperature record again today and tomorrow.

Mount Evergreen Scheduled to Open this Weekend

Despite the warm weather, Mount Evergreen plans to be open one final weekend.

The ski hill has been closed the past few days because of heavy rain on Monday and warm temperatures the rest of the week.

There is snow cover on all the runs, though the base is soft.

On Sunday, the annual slush pit will open up at noon for anyone who wants to try and jump the 15 foot wide pool of water.

Rickford Defends Safe Streets Act

The Safe Streets and Communities Act has passed in the House of Commons despite the objections of a local lawyers group.

The Kenora Lawyers Sentencing Group has opposed changes to bill C-10 saying it will result in more youth and aboriginal people ending up in jail.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford is defending the act and says they did consult local residents.

Rickford says the government plans to phase in a number of elements in the bill, so the provinces will have time to absorb some of the increased costs resulting from the legislation.

Major Oxy bust in two First Nation Communities

A major prescription drug bust for Nishnawbe-Aski Police.

Police searched two homes in Webequie First Nation and Deer Lake First Nation and officers seized nearly 62-thousand dollars worth of oxycodone pills.

Officers also seized nearly 3-thousand dollars cash and several firearms.

Police say 41-year-old Ricky Jacob, 33-year-old Valerie Shewaybick and 24-year-old Purvis Crowe all face possession for the purpose of trafficking charges.

Police say 54-year-old Wesley Shewaybick has been charged with careless storage of a firearm.

Coney Shuttle To Operate Again this Summer

You should be able to enjoy a day trip to Coney Island once again this summer.

Kenora City Council has given approval for the Coney Shuttle to operate once again in 2012.

The only hitch is that the city is reducing the annual grant to operate the service.

This year, the company that operates the shuttle will get 25 hundred dollars, which is half of what the city paid last year.

The MS Kenora had also expressed interest in operating a daily shuttle service to Coney, but raised concerns about the structural safety of the municipal docks on the island.

Non-Union Staff at City due for a pay raise

The City of Kenora's Non-Union employees will be getting a pay raise this year.

City Council is expected to approve a 2.75 percent wage increase in 2012 on Monday night.

Councillor Ron Lunny says they are just trying to keep administration at the same level as unionized workers.

He suggests the pay raise is fair and necessary.

OPP step up Oxy enforcement

OPP in the region are helping to educate the public of the steps they can do to avoid their prescription drugs from ending up on the streets.

The removal of oxycontin in Ontario has some thinking addicts will seek out alternatives.

Constable Anne McCoy says safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs can avoid problems for residents.

Police area also promoting crime prevention with area pharmacies.

Injured Workers Upset with WSIB

The salary of the head of a government organization is not sitting well with injured workers groups.

They are upset David Marshall's gig as the President of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board includes a bonus of up to 400-thousand dollars on top of his annual salary of 400 thousand.

Local spokeserson Steve Mantis says it's absurd to think Marshall is being paid to cut injured workers benefits.

Ontario's Injured Workers have sent a letter to the Premier to stop making cuts to the WSIB and scale back the President's pay.

Fishing Fine on Lake of the Woods

Taking one for the team!

A Rainy River man has been fined 1-thousand dollars for possessing 10-walleye over the legal limit.

Dorion Ozykowski was found by U.S. authorities at the Baudette-Rainy River International Bridge.

The man told officers that he didn't know how many fish he actually had or was entitled to.

He went on to say he was fishing with a group on Lake of the Woods and they gave him the fish.

He refused to give up any names.