Impaired Driving Charges in Kenora

Impaired driving continues to be an ongoing issue in the city.

O.P.P say 2 people were charged in separate incidents in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police say 42 year old Hassan Mohamed of Kenora was charged with exceeding the legal limit, while 50 year old Dennis Halverson of Rat Portage was charged with impaired driving.

Both will answer to the charges on April 11.

MNR Issue Fines for Fishing Violations

A Winnipeg man has been fined for fishing violations on Shoal Lake.

In court last week, the Ministry of Natural Resources say they found Ryan Jeron Smith using live bait which is prohibited on the lake, and that he was in possession of a walleye which is in a closed season.

Smith was also found to be fishing without a licence.

The MNR has fined Smith a total of 950 dollars.

Higher Then Expected Cost to Fix City Hall Roof

Its going to cost a lot of money to keep the mayor's office at City Hall dry.

The cost to replace the heritage roof at city hall has been estimated at over 500 thousand dollars.

Facilities manager John Nabb says there are only a few contractors who are actually capable of doing the project.

City council has agreed to go ahead with the project, even though it will have to come up with the lion's share of the money.

The federal government has agreed to provide 200 thousand dollars in funding.

MPP Sarah Campbell Against Declawing of Cats

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell is supporting a petition to ban the declawing of cats.

The petition has been spearheaded by Camille Cox from the Second Chance Pet Network.

Campbell read the document at Queens Park last week.

Campbell notes declawing a cat takes away their natural defense and leaves them helpless.

The petition has gathered around 600 signatures.

Bob Stewart Million Dollar Draw to the Button Contest

Bob Stewart from Longbow Lake got his chance to be a national curler last night during the Brier final in Edmonton.

Stewart was the selected contestant in the Capital One Million Dollar Button contest.

Unfortunately, Stewart was unable to draw to the button on to win the million dollar prize, but he did walk away with 5-thousand.

Stewart says the contest that saw him compete at the Scotties and the Brier was an unbelievable experience.

Lakehead University Law School Offers New Aboriginal Course

Lakehead University's Law School is hoping they've pleased the students that are staging a sit-in outside the presidents office, as well as the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation.

The school is offering a new course called Aboriginal Perspectives that will be a mandatory half credit component to their first year.

Spokesperson Rod Handley hopes things can move forward in a positive manner.

The course complements the already existing Native Canadian World Views & Law, which was previously approved by Lakehead University Senate.

Paul Elliot to Lead OSSTF

The new leader of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation of Ontario is from Fort Frances.

Paul Elliott was voted to lead the 60-thousand member union in Toronto yesterday.

Elliott, a teacher from Fort Frances High School, was first elected to the Provincial Executive as Executive Officer in 2005, and is a former Vice-President three times.

Sue Doughty-Smith, an Educational Assistant from Thunder Bay, will serve as Executive Officer for the upcoming term.

Senior Thistles Defeat Thunder

Redemption for the Kenora Triple "A" Senior Thistles.

The Thistles overcame a 3-1 deficit to earn their first victory of the year over the Southeast Prairie Thunder.

Ross Johnson scored 2 third period goals giving Kenora the game winner with under 3 minutes remaining.

Coach Brian Olson says he was happy with the play of both his goaltenders.

The Thistles will play a road game against the Thunder next weekend as the final tune up for the Renwick Cup.

Heartbreak for Bantam Thistles

A heartbreaking end for the Kenora Double "A" Bantam Thistles.

The Thistles lost the Eastman Championship last night to the Seine River Snipers 3-0.

Coach Dave Withers says he's proud of the team and the unbelievable season they had.

Withers passed his congratulations on to the Snipers for a very hard fought championship series.

Hospital Expects to File Deficit for Upcoming Year

Funding changes are affecting the Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

The province is going away with global funding and changing to a Quality Based Practices model.

The QBP model tracks the amount of procedures performed at hospitals and takes away funding to provide back over time.

As a result the Lake of the Woods District Hospital is expecting to file a deficit for the upcoming year of $887,000.

However, the board says they are not currently expecting to cut any services provided at the hospital.

Dragon Boat Festival Cancelled

Dragon boats won't be plying the waters of Rabbit Lake this
summer.

The Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation
has announced that it will be cancelling the popular Dragon Boat
Festival.

Chair of the foundation, Don Parfitt says they just don't have enough
volunteers to keep the event running.

Parfitt says the Dragon Boat festival has averaged about 20 thousand
dollars in revenue each year.

Development Commission Appears Before Budget Committee

The Lake of the Woods Development Commission is being grilled
about its spending.

Members of the Commission appeared before the city's budget committee yesterday.

Fred Wright is one of the directors and admits it was a learning year with
both the Whitecap Pavillion and Discovery Center coming on line.

He says their goal going forward is to better match their costs with their
revenues.

Wright says the Discovery Center cost about 30 thousand dollars more to operate than expected, in part because they handed out more tourist brochures due to the closure of the Tourist Information Center at the
Ontario/Manitoba Border.

Health Unit Supports Report on Childhood Obesity

A registered dietician with the Northwestern Health Unit has some healthy eating tips following this week's report on childhood obesity.

Julie Slack says children tend to copy what their parents do.

Slack also recommends keeping healthy foods, like cut-up veggies in fruits, in the fridge at eye level.

Slack says schools have really stepped up their game in promoting healthy food choices and parents
need to follow suit.

Campbell Supports Changes to Gas Tax Revenue

Call it the first step to correct infrastructure funding.

Kenora Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell spoke in the legislature about a new bill that will change how the gas tax is divided.

Campbell says she supports the bill even though it doesn't solve all the issues.

Campbell says the bill is a good step in pressuring the government to set up a dedicated fund for infrastructure maintenance that will benefit rural and Northern Ontario.

New MNR Minister Addresses Job Cuts

The new Minister of Natural Resources is commenting on any future job cuts in his ministry.

The province talked in September of 2012 of possibly closing the Ignace MNR office, as well as cutting positions at several area Provincial Parks.

David Orazietti says he'll try to balance providing first line MNR service with cost efficiencies.

Orazietti says all Ministries are facing financial pressures.

Police at Norman Dam

Some details have been released after police and emergency crews responded to a call in the area of the Norman Dam this morning.

Kenora O.P.P have confirmed that with the assistance of emergency crews that a body has been recovered from the intake area of the dam.

Police says the body has been transported to the Lake of the Woods District Hospital and that a post mortem is schedule for Friday.

Campbell Demands Action on MPAC Assessments

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Sarah Campbell is demanding
the government hold off on property assessment changes.

In the Ontario Legislature today, she says communities across the north
are facing hardship as a result of the decisions being made by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

Finance minister Charles Sousa confirmed that his department is reviewing
the situation.

Canfield Speaks Out Over Policing Costs

There needs to be a level playing field when it comes to policing costs.

That's the suggestion of Kenora mayor Dave Canfield.

He was speaking at the Police Service Board meeting yesterday
and says Kenora continues to pay more than twice as much as the
provincial average.

Canfield says he did bring the issue back up in Toronto last week in his
meetings with provincial cabinet ministers and hopes they were taking
note.

Council Resumes Budget Talks Today

Kenora's budget committee will be hitting the books today.

A day long budget meeting is scheduled at city hall.

Councillor Ron Lunny admits the city faces some financial hurdles, partially
due to changes in the Municipal Property Assessments.

Lunny says while residential waterfront property assessments continue to go up, industrial and commercial assessments are going down.

NTAB Embraces Mining Report

A new report on employment needs in the Kenora District is being welcomed by the Northwest Adjustment and Training Board.

The document calls for the need of 32-hundred workers in the mining sector, 17-hundred alone in the skills trades industry.

NTAB Executive Director Sonja Wainio says this report will pay off in the long run.

Wainio stresses it's important to work with area schools to promote the opportunities facing the area.