New Board says Treaty Three Police Will Not Close Next Month

The new board of the Treaty Three Police Service is clarifying some previous statements about the possible closure of the police force.

The board held its first meeting yesterday and says if it decides to shut its
doors it would have to give at least a year's notice.

Yesterday the new board met with the police chief Conrad Delaronde, aswell as the financial comptroller and also a representative from the officers union.

The board says it plans to meet more frequently and expects to be able to come to some sort of resolution that all parties can agree upon.

Kenora Residents Love to Recycle

Kenora is setting the bar for e-waste diversion in the province.

City clerk Heather Kasprick says residents diverted almost 70 thousand kilograms of E-waste in 2012.

Kasprick says the community has really responded to some previous initiatives.

Kenora placed in the top 10 communities for e-waste diversion in Ontario.

Sobey's Selling Off Some Safeway Stores

Empire Company, which owns Sobey's stores in Canada, has struck a deal to sell some of its newly acquired Safeway properties in a sale-leaseback deal with property management company Crombie of Nova Scotia.

None of the stores impacted are in northwestern Ontario.

EFTO Supports Inquiry into Missing Women

An inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women is being supported by the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.

Local President Anne Saltel says it's unfair that the federal government has said no to the inquiry.

Saltel says the ETFO believes all people should be treated the same
, adding the government seems to be treating Aboriginal women like second-class citizens.

Aboriginal Groups Lobby Premiers

Addressing the needs of Aboriginals living off-reserve.

That's the focus as the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples meets with Canada's premiers at their semi-annual summit in Niagara On The Lake.

President of the Ontario Affiliate Brad Maggrah says one of their main concerns is affordable housing.

Maggrah says 70-percent of Aboriginals in Canada are living off-reserve.

New Gold Continues Pursuit of Rainy River Resources

New Gold says it now has 86-percent of all shares in Rainy River Resources in a planned take-over of the mining exploration company.

New Gold is giving shareholders, who have
yet to take a cash-and-stock offer, until August 8th to accept.

The company says if it has at least 90 per cent of Rainy River share, it will acquire the rest through a compulsory acquisition.

Men'sSoccer Tournament Underway

Day one of the Lake of the Woods Men's soccer tournament is in the books
and three teams have posted wins.

The Gunners started pool play off with a 5-0 win over the Legends,
while The Fury edged the Stingers 3-2 and the Centuries opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over the Playaz.

Day two of the tournament resumes tonight at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.

Gussy in First After Day One of Fort Bass Tournament

Anglers return to the water this morning for the second day of fishing at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

Jeff Gustafson of Kenora and John Peterson of Bemidgi led the field, pulling in over 19 pounds of bass yesterday.

Chad Adrain and Caleb Colwell are are half pound back in second.

Day 2 of the bass fishing tournament is already underway.

CYBF celebrates entrepreneurs in Kenora

Celebrating entrepreneurs in Kenora.

Scott Bowman with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation is in town today to meet with entrepreneurs who have started up with help from the CYBF.

He will also be performing a ribbon cutting at the Tangled Tree in the afternoon.

Bowman says passion is the 1 thing that all entrepreneurs have in contact.

Bowman encourages anyone interested in starting a business to contact the CYBF.

The foundations website is http://www.cybf.ca/.

And, you can also get information on the foundation through the Northwest Business Centre at http://www.nwbiz.ca/.

Union Pleased with Changes to the Treaty Three Police Board

A new police board for Treaty Three is bringing a new outlook on life.

Some changes to the board was made this week at the Treaty 3 Police annual general meeting

Judith Monteith-Farrell is with the Public Service Alliance of Canada and says the union is excited by the new boards commitment to save the force from closing

Monteith-Farrell says the new board is also open to disclosing the services finances with the union to ignite talks for a new employment agreement.

Downtown Revitalized by New Restaurants

Downtown revitalization is starting to pay off in a bit of a culinary explosion in Kenora.

About a half a dozen new eateries have opened up in the past year.

Mort Goss from Kenora Harbortown BIZ says he's encouraged by the number of new businesses opening up.

Goss says while the restaurants are enjoying good traffic this summer, they key will be able to survive during the leaner fall and winter months.

Goss adds that they'd also like to set up a restaurant association to provide some support to the
new restauranteurs.

Rain Helps Reign in Forest Fires

A large forest fire burning near Red Lake is now listed as being held.

The fire, 50 kilometrers northwest of the northwestern Ontario town has burned more than 18-thousand hectares.

It started July 3rd by a lightning strike.

Meanwhile, two fire ranger crews are continuing to work on a five hectare blaze in the Kenora area.

Kenora Fire 39 broke out Tuesday, but isn't posing any immediate concerns for the MNR.

Police Continue Investigation of Cycling Fatalities

Provincial Police continue to investigate the circumstances behind a tragic three vehicle collision in northwestern Ontario.

A group of 25-cyclists on a cross country tour were travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway and were passing through the area of Red Rock on Tuesday when 2-of the cyclists were struck by an eastbound truck.

The truck then hit two westbound vehicles.

The cyclists, 65-year-old Robert Booth and 69-year-old Irene Booth of North Glengarry, Ontario were pronounced dead at the scene.

Two residents of Austin, Texas in the eastbound truck were transported to hospital with injuries.

Two others in the involved vehicles were also sent to hospital.

Rallies Planned Today Across Canada

Seven rallies are planned around the country today to draw attention to recent news about nutritional experiments conducted on aboriginals.

Planner Wab Kinew from the Onigaming First Nation says he hopes the events will help people express their sorrow and show support for efforts to get the federal government to release more documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Cecillia Jeffrey  residential school in Kenora has been identified as one of the schools in northwestern Ontario that carried out the experiments.

Ottawa has said it could take 40-million dollars and 10 years to find and digitize all the required records.

Heart of the Continent Seeks Funding

A marketing initiative involving the National Geographic Society is being touted to communities along the Ontario-Minnesota border.

The Heart of the Continent partnership is trying to raise 256-thousand dollars, allowing the Society to create maps and a website for the area between Lake of the Woods, Thunder Bay and Duluth.

Committee Chair Frank Jewell says the Society wants to help promote the area.

Atikokan, International Falls, Koochiching County and Thunder Bay have committed to contributing money.

Men's Soccer Tournament Starts Tonight

Last weekend it was the women, this week men's soccer take center stage at the Tom Nabb Complex.

The Lake of the Woods Men's Tournament gets underway this evening with a field of 16 teams entered.

Pool play will continue tomorrow night and Saturday, with the finals slated for Sunday.

Teams from across northwestern Ontario and Manitoba will be competing for the first
prize money of 14 hundred dollars.

Delaronde Responds to Police Lay-offs

The chief of the Treaty 3 Police is blaming the federal government for the financial troubles that face the service.

Conrad Delaronde responded to questions during yesterdays police services AGM.

Delaronde says he never tried to pass blame to officers.

Delaronde was able to offer one positive note, saying that the province of Ontario would provide funding for the 7
officers that were recently laid off.

Petition Presented at Treaty Three Police AGM

Pushing for action.

Over 2,500 people signed a petition asking for action in saving the Treaty 3 Police Service.

Tania Cameron presented the petition yesterday at the police baords annual general meeting and says the petition shows how dedicated people are to save the force.

Numerous people took the opporunity to voice their concerns as well during a question and answer period at the AGM.

Campbell Urges Increased Oversight for Ombudsman

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell is in favour of having Ontario's Ombudsman look after the "MUSH" sector.

It stands for municipal, universities, schools and hospital, along with long term care homes and children's aid societies.

Campbell says it would make sense that he would look after those areas.

Campbell says people are concerned about oversight in those sectors, and when people run into a problem they feel like there's no where to go.

Warmer Temperatures Expected to Return Next Week

Don't worry, the warm summer temperatures will be back in Northwestern Ontario soon enough!

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the warm front is moving slowly east and temperatures
should move back into the high 20's by early next week.

Meanwhile there was a full-moon Monday night, and Laidlaw says don't be surprised if we get another one in late August that might bring a touch of frost.