Thistles Drop High Scoring Affair

The Kenora Triple A Senior Thistles have dropped another high scoring affair at the Allan Cup.

With the Clarenville Caribous up 1-0 to start the third the teams opened the flood gates.

5 goals were scored in 8 and a half minutes.

Unfortunately Kenora only scored 2 of them as Clarenville would also add an empty net goal for a 5-2 win.

The Thistles went 0-2 in the round robin and will play their quarterfinal Thursday.

New Fire Base Opens in Sioux Lookout

The Ministry of Natural Resources is celebrating a new fire base in Sioux Lookout.

The province spent 13.7-million dollars on the facility as well as 5.7-million to upgrade living accommodations for staff.

Construction of the fire management headquarters also created about 25-local jobs during construction.

 The government says the energy-efficient building includes modern firefighting equipment and is strategically located so that water bombers, supplies, and firefighters can get to forest fires quickly.

Kenora Crime Rate Continues to Tumble

There has been a noticible decrease in the crime rate over the past five years in the City of Kenora.

Figures released by the OPP show the number of calls for service has dropped by about 43 hundred
since 2009.

Inspector Dave Lucas says they have adopted a three pronged approach to reducing crime.

Lucas says drug and alcohol addiction also contributes to the city's crime rate, and it's something they've
focused on in recent years.

Green Ousted from MasterChef

Kenora's Mike Green will not be Canada's first Master Chef.

Green was cut from the show last night after failing to perfectly
cook his steak frites.

Green, who now lives in Winnipeg, made it to the final five and says he post-poned his honeymoon to take part in the TV show.

Rickford Announces Funding For Fort Hope Police Station

The federal government is coming on board with funding to construct a new police station in the remote northern community of Fort Hope.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford made the announcement yesterday.

Rickford says the government has committed 1.82-million dollars for the project, while the province is on board with 1.68-million.

He notes since 2009, the Conservative Government has invested in new police stations for 8 First Nations communities in the Kenora riding alone.

Suspect Arrested for Vehicle Break-ins

A 20 year old Kenora man faces theft charges after a number of
vehicles were broken into in the north end of town.

The OPP say they were notified early Sunday morning that someone was breaking into cars in the 11th Street North area.

Police say the suspect was located a short time later along with some of the stolen items.

Brandon Savoyard has been charged with possession of property obtained by crime under five thousand dollars.

He's due to appear in Kenora court next month.

Premier Announces A Major Infrastructure Program

The Wynne government has announced a new infrastructure plan for the province.

Premier Kathleen Wynne made the announcement yesterday and says she is committing 29 billion
dollars towards the fund.

Wynne stresses that the Moving Ontario Forward fund will not see increase to the Gas Tax, HST, or income taxes.

The plan includes two funds, one for the Greater Toronto Area and the other for the rest of the province.

The money will be spent over 10 years.

Dryden Mayor Scheduled to Return to Work

The Mayor of Dryden is returning to work.

Craig Nuttall is expected to return to City Hall this morning at 9 o'clock after taking a leave of absence.

Nuttall has been off since the start of the month.

Chief Administrative Officer Andre Larabie says he's spoken with Nuttall and he's anxious to return to work.

He adds he's looking forward to his return.

NOSM Launching New Strat Plan

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is continuing to work towards creating their 5 year Strategic Plan.

They've created a 28 person group that will oversee the planning process.

Dr. Roger Strasser says you can also have your say by logging onto their website and follow the links.

NOSM will start to form their plan this year and implement it from 2015 to 2020.

Lakerun Challenge Launched

Promoting a healthy lifestyle.

That's the goal of Clay Hammett and the newly established Lakerun event.

Hammett says the first weekly run is just around the corner.

It will see participants run a five kilometer route from the Harborfront to the Hospital and back.

He says they will be starting April 19th and going right until the Thanksgiving long weekend.

He notes anyone can join Lakerun as there is no competition involved.

Temperature Record Set

Not a record to be proud of.

We've officially smashed the previous record for the coldest April 15th since
Environment began keeping track.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the thermometer this morning was
five degrees colder than the previous record low.

Back in 1962, the temperture dropped to -12.2.

This morning it hit -17.

Laidlaw says we will be staying unseasonably cold until at least Easter Sunday.

Jets Seeking Input on Re-Location of It's AHL Team

True North Entertainment and Sports is looking to hear from the public on their interest in having the Winnipeg Jets American Hockey League team re-located to Thunder Bay.

They have created a survey with the program Survey Monkey.

The company is looking for support for their venture in the proposed event centre.

The Jets farm team is currently located in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Take the survey here.

Thistles Drop Game 1

Game one at the Allan Cup has ended in confusion for the Kenora Triple A Senior Thistles.

The team has to solve how a 4-1 lead got away from them against the Brantford Blast.

Kenora saw the 3 goal lead disappear in only 2 minutes late in the 1st period.

The Thistles then went behind 5-4 for good as Dave Russell scored the winner for the Blast in the second making it 5-4.

A valiant comeback effort proved unsuccessful for the Thistles.

Kenora needs a quick lesson as they face the Clarenville Caribous tomorrow afternoon at 2:30.

Once again we will provide up to the minute updates on twitter @CJRLnews.

One other game at the Allen Cup last night saw the host Dundas Real McCoys edge the Southeast
Prairie Thunder 4-3 in the night game.  

Drug Charges Laid Following Traffic Stop

A Calgary man is facing drug and weapon charges following a traffic stop in Kenora.

On Friday evening police pulled over 44 year Owen Czech on highway 17-A.

OPP searched the vehicle and found cocaine and methadone inside.

Czech is now facing 2 counts of drug possession and possession of a weapon for a dengerous purpose.

He will answer to the charges in June.

New Gold Named Developer of the Year

New Gold has been named Developer of the Year by the Ontario Prospectors Association.

It was selected for its Rainy River gold project, near Barwick.

The project, acquired in a buy-out of Rainy River Resources, is in the Environmental Assessment Stage with construction projected to start next year.

Rotary Pleased With Auction Results

Going...going...gone.

The annual Rotary Auction is in the books and it proved to be
a good fundraiser.

Rotary officials say they raised over 30 thousand dollars during the
nine day on-line auction of goods and services.

People who have not picked up their winning items yet are urged to do
so this week at the Safeway Customer Service Desk.

A New Judge Appointed In Kenora

The provincial government is appointing a new judge for the Ontario Court of Justice in Kenora.

A managing partner at McAuley and Partners in Dryden has been appointed to the bench.

Sarah Trach has been working at McAuley & Partners for the past 10-years, focusing on family law.

She has also practised general litigation, including small claims court matters, employment, criminal and civil litigation in both the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice.

Hockey For Health Another Big Success

Another Successful hockey for heath tournament in Kenora.

Dean Caron started the event in 2009 and says Jess Rheault did a great job taking over as organizer this year.

Caron stepped aside from organizing this y
ear so he could play with his sons in the open division.

Overall hockey for health raised just under 34 thosuand dollars.

Lakehead Expanding It's Virtual Classroom

Lakehead University is trying to reach more students across northwestern Ontario.

President Brian Stevenson says they are currently at work on expanding their vitural classroom.

Stevenson says the technology involved in the new virtual classroom makes it the next best thing to being in the same room as the professor.

He says they are working with Confederation College in Kenora on the project.

Health Unit Warns of Needle Disposal

With the snow melting, there are plenty of reports of old needle
s being found on local streets.

Public Health Nurse Brittni Trudgen with the Northwestern Health Unit is offering tips to protect yourself if you find discarded needles.

She say when disposing of needles include wearing gloves, place it in a hard sided container, and washing your hands immediately after.

Trudgen notes the health unit does provide free pick up kits.