Saints Boys and Girls Advance to OFSAA Championships

Thomas Aquinas boys and girls soccer teams are heading to the All-Ontario Single "a" championships.

The Saints Boys swept Manitouadge in it's best-of-three NWOSSA final on Friday.

T.A. won the first game in penalty kicks and then dominated the second and deciding game 3-0.

Ryan Landon scored a pair of goals in the win.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas girls had an easy time with Terrace Bay winning that best-of-three
NWOSSA final two games to none.

The Saints Boys head to London next week for the OFSAA champinships, while the T.A. girls travel to
Windsor.

Bimose Students Celebrate Turning Points

The Turning Points Program from the Learning Partnership is celebrating students in the Bimose Tribal Council.

15 students wrote essays reflecting on a turning point in their lives.

Oliver Ridler is the Ontario North Program Manager and said 5 essays were chosen for awards.

This is the first year that Turning Points has been offered in Kenora.

It's open to all high school students.

The top 3 essays were written by Scarlett Scott, Gillian Prouty, and Danielle McDonald

Sketch of Break In Suspect Released

The Kenora Provincial Police are continuing their search for a break and enter suspect.

A sketch has now been released following 2 break-ins between May 16 and 19.

The first break in was in the South Park area while the second occurred in the Lakeside area.

In both cases the residents waking up caused the suspect to leave.

Anyone who may have information on these break ins is ask to called the OPP or Crimestoppers.

Saints Off to OFSAA

No stopping the Thomas Aquinas girls offense.

The Saints cruised to an NWOSSA gold medal today in in Terrace Bay.

Last night the Saints ran up an 8-2 win.

TA continued it's strong play with a 4-0 win this morning.

The girls will now head to Windsor for the OFSAA "A" championship from June 5-7.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas boys went 4 to 2 in penalty kicks to take game one against Manitouage.

Game 2 goes at 3:30.

Wagamese To Earn Honorary Degree From Lakehead

A former Whitedog resident is being honored this weekend by Lakehead University.

Award winning author Richard Wagamese is one of four people who will have honorary degrees bestowed.

President Dr. Brian Stevenson says it's a wonderful time of year with more than two thousand degrees being awarded.

Bob Rae, Frank Iacobucci and Former MPP Mary Anne Chambers will all receive honorary degrees.

Transit Services To Be Affected By Downtown Revitalization

Local residents can expect not only some traffic delays, but some disruption to transit services over the next couple of months due to Downtown revitalization.

The city says four buses routes will be cancelled during the duration of
construction work on Second Street South.

First Student says it will be cancelling the 9:30 and 4:45 Pinecrest run, as well as the  11:30 and 1:30 Keewatin Express buses.

Those routes will be cancelled June 2nd until construction work is complete
in September.

The bus stop at Market Square is also being moved a little bit north to accommodate construction.

Two Arrested In Ear Falls Crime Spree

Two teens have been arrested following a crime spree in Ear Falls.

Provincial Police received several complaints of thefts from vehicles and property crimes at local residences and businesses.

Police say 19-year-old Brandon Banning and a 15-year-old boy have both been charged with 15-counts of theft under 5-thousand dollars and failing to comply with a probation order.

Banning also faces counts of possession of a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.

Voter Cards Mailed Out for June 12th Election

Voters across the Kenora-Rainy River riding are beginning to receive find their notice to vote cards in their mail boxes.

It includes the polling station you vote at on election day.

Returning Officer Ian Simpson says check the cards closely to ensure they are accurate.

Voting can now be done at returning offices by special ballot with advance polls opening this weekend.

Fire Situation Heating Up

The Ministry of Natural Resources is shuffling it's fire fighting staff a bit
this week.

Water bombers, pilots and air attack staff that were sent out west to northern Saskachewan have now returned home.

However, the MNR has sent a quick attack team to Minnesota to help battle a wild fire in that state.

The team includes two water bombers, a bird dog aircraft and an air attack officer.

Meanwhile, the MNR says the fire situation is starting to heat up with six new forest fires this week, two of those caused by lightning.

Dryden Council Votes For Zero Tax Rate Increase

It appears there won't be any tax increase in Dryden this year.

Mayor Craig Nuttall and three Councillors stated yesterday at a special open meeting that they won't support a proposed 1.5-percent tax increase.

Although the vote won't be made official until probably next week, Nuttall broke a 3-3 straw vote by standing behind a zero
percent hike.

An official meeting date to approve the 2014 balanced budget hasn't been set.

Fort Mill Workers To Benefit From Unifor Deal

Laid-off mill workers in Fort Frances are being recognized in a new contract between Unifor and Resolute Forest Products.

The union says the deal allows for preferential hiring of workers for a new sawmill in Atikokan.

Unifor's Mike Lambert says it also impacts workers if someone happens to reopen the Fort Frances mill.

Resolute has not said if someone is interested in buying the now shuttered mill.

Former PMO Chief of Staff Urges Action on Ring of Fire

One of Northwestern Ontario's famous son's is urging the federal government to get involved in the Ring of Fire.  

Derek Burney, the former chief of staff for Brian Mulroney, says the giant mining project is important for the north and plans to speak with Greg Rickford about it.

Burney was in Thunder Bay to make a donation to Lakehead Universtiy.

Walk For Survivors Arrives in Kenora

A British Columbia man is halfway through his trek across Canada in remembrance of those who died in Canada's Residential Schools.

James Taylor arrived in Kenora Wednes day and suggests it's likely more than six thousand aboriginal children were killed in the residential school system.

Taylor will continue his journey eastwards on Sunday.

He plans to be in Ottawa by June 21st in time for National Aboriginal Day celebrations.

Saints Girls Soccer Team Win Away from OFSAA

An easy win to start the NWOSSA girls soccer championships for Thomas Aquinas.

The Saints cruised to an 8-2 win over Terrace Bay last night.

Kiera Riel and Lisle Compton each scored a pair of goals to lead the offense.

T.A. is back on the field this morning at 8:00 to try and wrap up the best-of-three final.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Aquinas boys will be on the field at 9:30 this morning to take
on Manitouadge in game one of their best-of-three NWOSSA championship series.

Game two goes at 3:30 and game three is necessary will be played tomorrow morning.

All games are up at the T.A. field.

OPP Investigate Hit and Run

The Kenora OPP are investigating a hit and run in the Veterans Drive area on Wednesday around 11:30 in the morning.

Police say a cyclist was hit by a grey GMC or Chevrolet pick up truck which then took off.

The cyclist suffered minor injuries in the accident.

The vehicle is missing a side mirror.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the OPP or Crimestoppers.

Justice Sinclair Addresses Residential School Abuse

After five years listening to the abuse in Canada's residential school system, the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission admits he's still shocked by some of the revelations coming out of the hearings.

Murray Sinclair is chair of the Commission and says at least six thousand
aboriginal students never made it out of the residential school system alive.

Instead, Sinclair says the residential school system continued to operate
in Canada for another 67 years after the first revelations about wide-spread abuse were raised.

Sinclair was in Kenora last night as part of a series on the exhibit called We Were Taught differently put on by the Lake of the Woods Museum.

Work Schedule Released for Whiskey Jack Forest

A large section of the Whiskey Jack Forest north of Kenora will be off-limits to logging activity this summer.

The Annual work schedule has been released and an Individual Environmental Assessment will prevent work from taking place in the Grassy Narrows Traditional Land Use Territory.

District manager with the Ministry of Natural Resource Deb Weedon says they hope to begin work in the area within four months time.

In the interim Weedon says forest management activities are taking place in lands outside of the IEA guidelines.

Cancer Society Releases New Data on Skin Cancer

Some alarming news regarding skin cancer rates.

New data indicates skin cancer is the most common cancer in Canada with an estimated 6,500 new cases expected to be diagnosed this year.

Canadian Cancer Society spokesperson Kelly Cull says people are spending more time in the sun or tanning beds and not using sunscreen.

Cull says skin cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer.

During the summer, the Canadian Cancer Society will begin an awareness campaign to talk about the dangers of tanning - they will target adults between 15 and 39.

Hudak Expected to Skip NWO

Don't expect to see PC leader Tim Hudak in northwestern Ontario before the televised election debate next week.

And local party organizers won't say if Hudak will visit here before the June 12th vote.  

A Conservative spokesperson says that party organizers in southern Ontario are going to be sizing up their leader's performance on Tuesday against the Liberal's Kathleen Wynne and Andrea Horwath of the NDP.

After that Parks says they will try to determine what areas of the province a visit will give them, the biggest bang for their buck

Northwest OPP Officer Faces Theft Charges

The OPP are charging one of their own with several criminal offences.

It stems from an investigation into incidents occuring between October 2012 and March 2014.

Detective Constable Rory Thompson based out of Thunder Bay, is a ten year member of the force is charged with 8 counts of theft under 5-thousand, and one count of fraud under 5-thousand.

Thompson has been suspended with pay and will appear in court on July 11th.