Community Foundation Holds Spring Granting Ceremony

Kenora area residents continue to show they are a generous bunch.

Last night, the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation handed out over 146 thousand dollars during its spring granting ceremony.

The Keewatin Summer Splash received 15 hundred dollars and committee member Joyce Murray says they will use that money to help stage Canada Day Celebrations in their community.

The Minto Parent Child Resource Center was the big winner last night picking up over
16 thousand dollars worth of cheques.

Catholic School Board Projects Increase in Enrollment

The Kenora Catholic District School Board continues to defy education trends.

Enrollment is expected to be up slightly once against this fall.

Director of Education Phylis Eikre says its too early to say how many more students
might be enrolled in their schools this fall.

Eikre says they have managed to maintain their teaching staff numbers and adds
there will be no redundancies this year.

BB Gun Seized At Dryden Elementary School

A scary incident at a Dryden elementary school.

The Public School Board says a student brought an air-soft gun to Open Roads School yesterday and started shooting small, plastic BB's on the school yard during a nutrition break.

A few students were hit by the BB's but no one was injured.

Officials say staff were not aware the student had the air gun and it was confiscated immediately.

School administration contacted the families of students who were directly involved and the Dryden Police Service was also contacted.

Northwest M.P.'s on their Summer Break

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty is welcoming the summer break.

MPs adjourned Parliament earlier this week.

Rafferty says it was good news for Conservative MPs who were dogged by spending scandals.

Rafferty notes he'll be using his summer break to go door to door and listen to his constiuents concerns.

Triple Play Takes Kids Fishing this Weekend

There is still time to sign your child up for the 14th annual take your kid fishing day.

The event takes place this Saturday starting at 11:00

Organizer Debbie Novak from Triple Play says you can get registration forms from the Rec Centre, the Library, Minto Resource Centre, or by calling her at 466-2785.

Novak says the kids will go start fishing around 11:00 and then come back in for a Bar-be-que.

New Gold Starts Take Over Process from Rainy River

New Gold has started formal proceedings in its take-over bid of Rainy River Resources and its signature gold project south of Kenora.

The Vancouver-based mining company is offering 3-dollars and 83 cents a share for Rainy River, with the deal valued at about 310-million dollars in total.

Rainy River's board of directors has already supported the offer which closes July 24.

Ontario's Worst Roads Named

Northwestern Ontario didn't make the cut in the Canadian Automobile Association Ontario Worst Roads campaign.

More than 10-thousand votes were counted this year and Dufferin Street in Toronto topped the list for the second straight year.

Spokesperson Korey Kennedy says the closest road to us to make the list was Kraft Creek Road in Timmins at number 4.

Thunder Lake Road in Dryden was the most nominated road in this region.

Kennedy stresses the campaign is important as 90
percent of the roads selected have either been fixed or are about to be improved.

City Council Looking To Broadcast More Meetings

It might not be a ratings hit, but Kenora City Council is looking to
broadcast its open meetings.

Council says its willing to work with Shaw to air committee-of-the-whole and monthly council meetings.

It will set the city back about 12 thousand dollars to purchase and install
the technology.

Councillor Rod McKay says he has his reservations about spending that kind of money and wants to know how many people might actually watch their meetings, before supporting the expenditure.

Catholic School Board Expects More Red Ink

The Kenora Catholic District School Board expects to have a small deficit for a second year in a row.

Trustees with the Separate School Board approved the budget last night.

It calls for spending of just over 24.7 million dollars.

Finance officer, Allison Smith says their funding from the province is basically the same as last year.

The Board's deficit is expected to come in at 168 thousand dollars in the
2013/2014 school year.

Fire Hazard Rising Again

Five new forest fires have sparked in Northwestern Ontario.

The Sioux Lookout and Nipigon Districts each saw two, while one was reported in the Kenora area.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says the dry, warm weather helped fuel these fires.

The MNR adds while some rain is forecast, the hazard remains moderate to high in the region.

Hospital Foundation Transfers A Record Amount

A record breaking year for the Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation.

Last night at their Annual General Meeting the foundation announced they transferred a record 752 thousand dollars to the hospital in 2012-2013.

Managing Director Jess Rheault says it an amazing mark to achieve.

Rheault says the money helped cover a lot of needs on the hospital's capital side, as well as bring in digital mammography.

City Reaches Fire Protection Agreement With MNR

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the City of Kenora have reached
a tentative five year agreement for fire protection.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says they looked at six possible options.

He says in the end they decided the city would be best served if MNR fire crews were responsible for islands and the northeast quadrant of the
municipality.

Brinkman says while the agreement will cost the city just over 100 dollars
a year, the city will still be on the hook for some of the MNR's fire fighting
costs.

Kenora Forest Products Start Up Delayed

Red tape seems to be hampering the start up of the Kenora Forest Products Mill.

Mill manager Rod McKay says they had hoped to start producing studs and other wood products this summer.

But he says there have been a number of delays, including finding markets for their hog fuel.

McKay says they hope the MNR will be licencing the mill soon, and expects they could be
operational by the fall.

Con College Holds its Convocation in Kenora

A night of celebrating success for Confederation College.

Last night was the convocation ceremony for the Lake of the Woods Campus.

Acting Director Laura Christie says the 50 graduates were enrolled in a number of different programs
including business accounting, early childhood education, office administration, personal support worker,
native child and family services and practical nursing.

Craig Turgeon who graduted from the Native Child and Family Services Program won the Campus Award of Excellence.

Pikangikum Achieves Forestry Milestone

A major milestone for the Pikangikum First Nation.

The first nation has become the forst far north reserve to receive a Sustainable Forest Licence.

The Licence is for the Whitefeather Forest, 90 Kilometers North of Red Lake, and will require the Whitefeather Forest Cummunity Resource Management Authority to implement a Forest Management Plan.

Chief Dean Owen says he is thankful to the Elders, the Whitefeather Forest Initiative Team, the MNR staff who helped the community reach this milestone.

Owen added he is excited for the economic opportunities the licence will create for the people in the community

Matiowski's Farmers Market Starts Tomorrow

A summer staple in Kenora comes back to the Whitecap Pavilion tomorrow.

The Matiowski Farmers Market will be open tomorrow as of 8:30 under the Whitecap Pavilion.

Chrystal Stokes says the market will be as big as ever this year with the markets sold out with vendors through the the end of August.

Stokes said the market includes some well known vendors including Honeymill farms, Gerber Farms, Rainy River Meat, and also includes many different types of jewellery and art.

OPP Commissioner Defends Rising Costs

The Commissioner of the OPP is trying to put a positive spin on the cost of their service.

Chris Lewis was in Kenora last week and admits municipalities are concerned about an 8.5 percent increase in officer salaries that's slated to kick in next year.

Lewis says despite the increase, the OPP provides good value for the service.

Lewis says the OPP is currently 32nd in terms of police costs in Canada.

Enough is Enough Bikers Ride Into Kenora

Two people are trying to bring the issue of mental health into the open.

Ginny and Kerry Dennehy are riding across Canada as part of their Enough
is Enough Campaign.

Kerry says the ride is really in support of their son who committed suicide 13 years ago.

The Dennehy's arrived in Kenora yesterday to talk about the foundation they set up on behalf
of their son to tackle depression and mental illness.

Attawapiskat Residents Finally Returning Home

Residents of Attawapiskat First Nation evacuated to Fort Frances last month because of flooding are beginning to return home.

About 30 were flown back last Thursday.

Emergency officials are now looking honouring a request by the remaining thirty to relocate to towns closer to their community where family and friends may be.

The residents have been living out of a local hotel since May 11th.

Funding For Aboriginal Youth Announced

Helping Aboriginal people in Northwestern Ontario get off welfare.

That's the focus of a new plan being pushed by Canada's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford says 241 million dollars will go to help youth achieve the same job opportunities as other Canadians.

Aboriginals who choose to participate in the program will work with  the Income Assistance Program to undergo personalized case management.