Rainy River Resources aquires more property

Rainy River Resources is purchasing more property south of Kenora.


The company is paying out 100-thousand dollars and 50-thousand shares for a patented claim covering 160 acres from an unnamed owner.

Rainy River Resources is conducting gold exploration in the area of Black Hawk, 25 kilometres north of Barwick.

Huge hunting fine

An Iowa man has been handed a large fine for illegally obtaining Ontario hunting and fishing licences.


Stephen Grupe pled guilty fined 10 thousand dollars to having a void outdoors card, making false statements on an application and illegal hunting.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says Grupe bought a hunting and fishing camp on Wabauskang
Lake back in 2004, but his primary residence was still in Iowa.

He managed to purchase an Ontario resident Outdoor card and hunting and fishing licences
over the next four years.

The MNR says he saved over three thousand dollars during that period.

Union Gas rates going down

Good news for people who heat their home with natural gas.


The Ontario Energy Board has approved changes to the natural gas
commodity price that Union Gas Limited will charge its customers
effective July 1st.

Union gas says the average customer in northwestern Ontario will
pay about 32 dollars less a year.

The change is due to a decrease in what Union forecasts it will
have to pay for natural gas.

Summer Officially here

Does it feel any warmer yet?


Summer officially arrived in northwestern Ontario earlier this morning

The first day of the new season began at 6:28 this morning.

Environment Canada's long range forecast for the summer calls for both
above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation in this
region.

Busy weekend for fire crews

A busy couple of days for Ministry of Natural Resources fire crews in northwestern Ontario.

Friday's windy weather resulted in more than 16 small wildfires in the region.

The MNR says the blazes were caused by trees falling onto hydro lines.

All of the fires were small and most were located in the Fort Frances and
Dryden Districts.

Fire Ranger Crews have also been dispatched over the weekend to
northern Manitoba to help battle wild fires there.

Hospital using new technology

Lake of the Woods District Hospital says its made great strides in diagnosing
patients with infectious diseases.

The hospital is one of the few in the province that now has molecular genetics
testing equipment.

Dr. Kerry McDonald is the hospital's chief of staff and says they can isolate
certain infectious diseases in a matter of hours, rather than days.

McDonald says in the past a patient could spend up to 72 hours in isolation
before they could determine if they had any infectious diseases.

The new technology allows them to diagnose any problems within two hours.

Confederation College Graduation tonight

A big week for local students.


Graduation ceremonies will be taking place on three fronts over the next
four days.

This afternoon, graduating students from the Confederation College Campus
in Kenora will be holding their 2010 convocation.

The ceremonies will start at 4:30 at Pope John Paul the Second School.

On Thursday, both Beaver Brae and Thomas Aquinas will be holding their
graduation ceremonies for grade 12 students.

That will be followed by Safe Grad Celebrations at the Kenora Rec. Center.

More Fire Crews heading east

More fire crews from northwestern Ontario are heading east to battle wild fires

in Quebec.

On Friday, fire rangers from bases in Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, and Sioux Lookout were
dispatched to Val D'or.

Currently Ontario has 30- four person initial attack crews, four aircraft including two water
bombers and assorted support staff in Quebec.

Because of all the rain, there hasn't been any significant forest fire activity in northwestern
Ontario over the past few days.

Traffic meeting next week

Local residents will get not one, but two chances to give feedback about the
traffic design in downtown Kenora.

Public meetings will be held next Tuesday at City Hall after councillors
complained recently about everything from the length of the traffic lights to
left turns off of Main Street South and the pedestrian crossing.

The first meeting will take place at 8:00 in the morning in council chambers
followed by another session at 2:00.

People who can't attend the meetings can still submit their suggestions, in writing
to city hall by June 30th.

Hospital Wait Times Released

Lake of the Woods District Hospital still has some work to do in order to meet provincial targets for wait times.

In the most recent statistics released by the Ministry of Health, wait times in the emergency room were longer that the goal set by by the province.

For a minor medical condition, wait time in the Emergency room was
5.3 hours.

The provincial target is four hours.

For complicated conditions requiring more time for diagnosis, treatment
or hospital admission, the wait time was 9.6 hours.

The provincial goal is 8 hours.

HST exemptions for First Nations?

There are reports indicating continued point of sale HST exemption for Ontario's first nations will be

announced soon.

That's music to the ears of the Grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.

Stan Beardy says treaty rights give his people PST exemption and having that continued with
the provincial portion of the HST is great for his people.

Beardy says the official annoucement is expected to come by Friday.

Machin Budget Passed

Homeowners in Vermillion Bay are going to have to dig a little deeper to pay their

taxes this year.

Machin Town Council passed the 2010 budget this week and it includes a four
percent increase.

Mayor Garry Parkes says initially there were dealing with an 8 percent hike
in taxes, but were able to chisel that down.

Parkes says they had to cut a few things from their capital budget, including
extra road work this year.

Treaty Three Demands Action from OPP Commish

The commissioner of the OPP is being personally asked to address, what Treaty Three describes as social unrest, which is the result of the shooting of a 39 year old Grassy Narrows woman last week.


Grand Council Treaty #3 issued the challenge yesterday.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says the OPP promised to provide bias-free policing in the City of Kenora when they took over from the Kenora Police Service last year, but suggests the shooting is not a good start.

Kelly is also asking Public Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci to involve the Treaty Three Police as a partner or oversight agency in the SIU investigation of the shooting.

She says first nations people don't trust a fair investigation will happen, and have the
Treaty Three Police involved will provide some reassurance.

EQAO literacy test results

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is crowing about the most recent grade 10 literacy test results.

89 percent of Thomas Aquinas students who wrote the test were successful, which is a 14 percent improvement over last year, and 5 percent higher than the provincial average.

Assistant to the Director of Education, Murray Delorme says the results represent a lot of hard work and effort by their             teachers, parents and the students.

Over at Beaver Brae, the results weren't as positive.

68 percent of students who wrote the test were successful, down from 72 percent
last year.

Beware of Blue Green Algae

The Northwestern Health Unit is warning local residents to be on the lookout for blue/green algae blooms this summer.

The toxicpoisonous algae has shown up in recent years in local lakes and rivers.


Health inspector, Brian Norris says the algae is recognizeable by the smell of fresh mown grass in newer blooms and rotting garbage in older blooms.

Side effects in humans can range from skin irritation to vomiting.

If you think you have come into contact with the algae you should contact your doctor.

MaxMillions winner in Kenora?

                                                                                    A Northwestern Ontario resident may be a    million richer after buying a winning Lotto Max ticket.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation spokeswoman Sarah Kiriliuk says the identity of the winner has yet to be announced.

The five dollar ticket was purchased at a Kenora store.

The Maxmillions prize is one of twenty one-million dollar prizes associated with a bigger jackpot worth $50 million.

Kiriliuk said nobody has won the jackpot yet.

That means the $50-million jackpot is still up for grabs on Friday, along with an estimated 45 Maxmillions draws.

Human Remains still unidentified

Local police say they still don't know the identity of a woman whose body was

found near Miller's Rapids Road last year.

The human remains were found in a tent in a wooded area just off the D-2 one
year ago today.

The OPP say the woman was camping in the area no longer than a week before
her body was discovered.

She is described as a light-skinned female, between the ages of 26 and 50, about
5 feet 5 inches tall, about 110 pounds with shoulder length light brown hair.

She was wearing oval shaped eyeglasses with wire rims and three colored bead
necklaces.

Anyone who might have information as to her identity is asked to contact the OPP.

Parks, Beaches and Trails plans

Kenora's green spaces are due for some upgrades.


That's the feeling of the Lake of the Woods Economic Development
Commission.

Conceptual plans have been presented for local beaches, trails and
parks to upgrade them.

The city's economic development officer Jennifer Findlay says they want
to get some feedback from local residents on their plans.

Plans have been unveiled for Anicinabe Park, Coney Island, Garrow Park,
Portage Bay and Beatty Park.

Movie Gallery Closing outlets

Its going to be a little harder to rent a movie this weekend in Kenora.


The Movie Gallery has announced its closing all of its stores in
northwestern Ontario.

The company has 181 outlets across the country and says it will be
liquidating the merchandise from its stores over the next few weeks.

The Movie Gallery Corporation says its being affected by internet downloads,
video rentals from cable providers and subscription-based male delivery services.

American Hunters face hefty fine

Two American hunters face a huge fine for illegally hunting deer in the Kenora

area last fall.

Jamie Doucette and Jesse Caswell from Michigan have been fined a total of
over 11 thousand dollars for hunting deer at night.

The two were driving along Cynet Lake Road last Hallowe'en when a large
buck ran across the road in front of them.

One of the hunters turned the truck to point the headlights at the deer,
while the passenger got his rifle out to shoot at the buck out the side
window.

The shot missed its mark, but the gun discharged and the bullet ripped through the floor of the truck
as one of the hunters tried to put it back in its case.

Caswell and Doucette have also been banned from hunting in Ontario for three and six years
respectively.

Rickford defends FedNOR

The federal government is defending the FedNOR program.


Critics have said the Harper government is backing away from FedNor or has been mispending
funding.

But Keora M.P. Greg Rickford says the Harper government is still committed to the program.

Lakehead University, Confederation College and the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund recently
benefitted from 1.1 million dollars in FedNOR funding.

Van Wallenghem Not Running Again

There will be at least one vacancy on Kenora City Council this fall.


Councillor Chris Van Wallenghem says he doesn't intend to run in
the upcoming municipal elections.

Van Wallenghem made the announcement at the end of last night's
open council meeting.

Councillor's Dave McCann, Wendy Cuthbert and Jim Parson have
all submitted their nomination papers for the October 25th municipal
elections.

Councillors Charito Drinkwalter and Rory McMillan have not indicated if
they plan to run again.

School Boards gear up for All-day Kindergarten

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is gearing up for all-day kindergarten

this fall.

Two schools will be offering the day long junior and senior kindergarten classes.
Director of Education of the public school board Jack McMaster says they have been
working with the Kenora Catholic and the Northwest Catholic School Boards on the
roll-out of the program.

In Kenora the public school board will be offering all-day kindergarten at Evergreen
this fall, while the Catholic board will be using St. Louis for its program initially.

Local Services Board Proposed for Pellatt

The Pellatt United Fire Department is hoping to have a more reliable source

of funding soon.

Residents in four unincorporated townships west of Kenora are being asked to
support the creation of a local services board.

Barry Balteson is one of the people behind the proposal and says the goal is
to impose a small levy on each home owner in the area served by the fire
                                            department.

The first of two public meetings on the local services board will take place
tonight at the Pellatt Fire Hall at 7:00.

The actual vote will take place on August 14th.

Sioux Narrows fatality update

The name of a 22 year old man who died after jumping off the Sioux Narrows

Bridge over the weekend has been released.

Gerald Jonasson of Edinborough, North Dakota was killed after he jumped
off the bridge early Sunday morning and failed to resurface.

The OPP's Underwater Search and Recovery Unit as well as the Kenora Marine
Unit were able to locate the body later in the day.

No other details about the incident have been released.

Environment Committee releases annaul report

The City of Kenora is getting a passing grade for its work on environmental issues.


The city's Environmental Advisory Committee has submitted its annual report to council and its generally favorable.

Dave Schwartz is a member of the committee and says they are pleased with a number of initiatives undertaken by the city last year.

Schwartz says the implementation of an Electronics Waste Depot is a positive move, but suggests he would have liked to have seen solar power used in the building of the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

A new principal at Beaver Brae

A couple of schools will see administrative changes next School year.


Beaver Brae Secondary School will get a new principal next year.

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says Clinton Bruetsch will take over from Katherine McIvor.

Bruetsch is currently the vice-principal at Queen Elizabeth High School in Sioux Lookout.

Steve Poling becomes the new principal at Queen Elizabeth, while Wayne Mercer becomes the vice-principal.

Council decides against Parking changes

Parking could be at a premium in downtown Kenora over the next couple of months.


The big tent has gone up on the Harborfront, meaning that all monthly parking is being
moved to other lots in the downtown core.

City council has spent a long time debating how it wants to deal with the parking issue
and has decided against extending a two hour limit at the metered parking spaces
in the downtown area.

Recreation Manager Colleen Neil says she would like to see the time limit expanded
so visitors can spend more time touring Kenora.

The Tourism Office does issue visitor parking passes to tourists, but instead of day-long
passes, council says it would like them to be for two hours only.

Water Levels up

All the rain over the past couple of weeks has convinced the Lake of the Woods Control Board to

increase the outflow from the Norman Dam into the Winnipeg River.

Outflow rose from 150 cubic meters per second up to 200 on Friday.

The Control Board says water levels on the lake have increased two inches
over the past week and are expected to rise another two to three inches
over the next seven days.

The Control Board is also preparing for an open house in Kenora this
week.

It will take place at the Best Western Lakeside Inn on June 17th starting
at 7:30. 

Sioux Narrows Fatality

A bizarre incident in Sioux Narrows has resulted in the death of

an American visitor.
Just before 2:00 Sunday morning, the Sioux Narrows Volunteer
Fire department was called out to help look for a man who had jumped
off the Sioux Narrows Bridge.

There are reports that two people had jumped off the bridge, but only
one managed to make it to the surface.
The OPP's Underwater Search and Recovery Unit was called in and divers
managed to locate the body of the missing man around 5:00 yesterday
afternoon.

The deceased was a 27 year old man, but his name has not been released
yet.

IJC encouraged to assist Lake of the Woods

The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation says its pleased with a number of initiatives that have been taking place over the past couple of weeks on the political front.

Earlier this month, a motion was passed in the House of Commons urging the protection of waters on Lake of the Woods.

Todd Sellars is the executive director of the Foundation and says a similar bill has also been passed in Minnesota.

Sellars says they also met recently with representitives from the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department and says a reference has also been drafted for the International Joint Commission to work on water quality issues on Lake of the Woods.

A good year for Relay for Life

A record year for fundraising at the Relay for Life.


In the 10th year of the event, over 74 thousand dollars was raised for
cancer research.

Ralph Page was one of the organizers of this years event and says they
managed to smash the previous best for the Relay locally.

A total of 25 teams showed up to walk in support of local cancer patients
at the Relay for Life this year.

Hearings begin on Far North Act

Consulation sessions are scheduled to take place in remote first nation communities this week.


The hearings are on the Ontario Government's Far North Act.

Nishinawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy says they need more time to translate the Far North document.

The far north act recently passed second reading and is subject to further revision prior to the third reading which is scheduled to happen this fall.

HST Tolls Threatened

A number of First Nations communities are preparing to impose toll fees on traffic passing through their territories over the HST.


Anishinabek Nation Chiefs meeting at Fort William First Nation endorsed a resolution directing their bands to begin advertising their intentions for this summer.

Native leaders want a point-of-sale tax exemption now given to aboriginal people extended when HST kicks in July 1st.

Rainy River Resources results

Rainy River Resources has hit more high-grade gold mineralization on its Rainy River Gold project about 80 kilometers south of Kenora.


Company officials say the exploration program continues to demonstrate the potential for underground mining.

They add the Company will be aggressively pursuing a drilling and engineering program to look at an all-underground mining operation or an open pit and underground operation.

Go Electric Biker

A Southern Ontario man is travelling across Canada on an electric bike.


Art Burns left Dundas, Ontario at the end of May, and hopes to be in Langley, B.C. by June 22nd.

Burns is scheduled to ride through Kenora today and says he's promoting green transportation.

Burns is driving a bike which is equipped with a small generator to charge its lithium batteries.

Free Fishing for Military weekend

A big thank-you is going out to Canada's armed forces this weekend in Kenora.


About 30 members of the Canadian Military will be in town for a day of fishing
on Lake of the Woods tomorrow.

Woody Linton is one of the organizers of the fishing weekend and says it was
really the idea of a local guiding service.

Linton says most of the soldiers who have signed up for the day of fishing are
veterans of the Afghan mission.

They will be spending the night at the Kenora Armories before going back to
their home bases.

New Gateway Signage for Kenora

The City of Kenora is planning to spend about 100 thousand dollars for new
signs at the east and west boundaries of the municipality.

The funding for the gateway project is being included in the money earmarked for
the Highway 17 east and west rehabilitation projects.

The city's economic development officer, Jennifer Findlay says a request for
proposals for the new signs will be going out shortly.

The city is budgeting about 50 thousand dollars for each sign.

Relay for Life tonight

The 10th Relay for Life gets going this evening at Lakewood School.

Relay volunteer Ralph Page says they are looking forward to holding the event
at a new location this year.

Page says there is going to be lots of activities to keep people going all night long.

There are 25 teams registered for this year's event.

Electronic Waste Recycling Coming soon

The City of Kenora will soon have the only waste electronics recycling depot in
northwestern Ontario outside of Thunder Bay.

The city has reached an agreement with the Ontario Electronics Stewardship to
collect old computers, televisions, monitors, printers and cellphones.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says local residents will have to pay to
dispose of their old electronic equipment.

Perchuck says the recent electronic waste disposal day was quite successful
with two and a half semi loads collected in one day.

Action Plan on Policing Demanded by Treaty Three

Grand Council Treaty #3 is demanding an action plan to deal with
policing relations in the City of Kenora.

The aboriginal group says there have been several regretful incidents
involving use of force by police and First Nation residents over the years.
The most recent event took place on Monday when a 39 year old Grassy Narrows
woman was shot twice in downtown Kenora after brandishing a knife at police.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says she wants the OPP to take steps to assure
Treaty Three leadership that aboriginal citizans are safe to walk the streets
of Kenora.

Services Board to discuss Kenora Land Ambulence base

The Kenora District Services Board will be meeting later this month to decide what to
do about a new land ambulence base in the city.

Last month, city council rejected a re-zoning request on Railway Street for the base.

Chief Administrative Officer Sten Lif says the issue will be on their agenda for discussion at their
June 24th meeting, but at this point there is no back-up plan.

The Services Board has spent several years and thousands of dollars try to find a suitable
location for a new land ambulence base in Kenora, so far without any success.

Drug arrests in Kenora

Two Kenora men have been charged following a drug bust in the Rideout area of town.


The OPP say that last week the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau and the
Drug Unit conducted a search of a Mascott Avenue home.

Officers located about a kilo of marijuana, two grams of cocaine, and seven thousand
dollars in cash.

The value of the property seized is estimated at over 29 thousand dollars.

33 year old Trevor Triskle and 31 year old Travis Triskle have been charged with possession
for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

Evergreen Parents Lobby to Save School

The Evergreen Parents Council has made a pitch to the Keewatin-Patricia

District School Board to keep their school open.

A deputation was made at this week's open board meeting.

Patti Letourneau was one of the presenters and says even though no schools are
scheduled to close in the next five years, they want the board to know that
Evergreen School is valuable to the local community.

The board isn't expected to make any decisions on a report on the Kenora Accommodation
Review Committee until the fall, but Letourneau says they wanted to make a
presentation on behalf of Evergreen before the summer break.

Bill to scrap long gun registry stalled

A private member's bill to scrap the Federal long-gun registry has hit a snag.


A Common's Committee is recommending that it not move forward.

Another vote in the House of Commons could come this week and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says its hard to say how that will go.

Rafferty is among a dozen NDP MP's who have joined the Conservatives to support the bill.

More Nominations for Municipal Election

A couple of familiar names will be on the ballot in the municipal elections this

fall.

Both councillor's Dave McCann and Wendy Cuthbert have filed their nomination
papers for the council race.

They will join Jim Parson and Chuck Cadger on the ballot in the October 25th
elections.

The final day to submit nomination papers is September 10th.

Treaty Three responds to Shooting

Grand Council Treaty Three is questioning the use of excessive force
by the OPP in a shooting incident in downtown Kenora this past Monday.

39 year old Helen Proulx from Grassy Narrows was shot twice outside an apartment building
after brandishing a knife.
Treaty Three says the city is infamous for its poor relations between
aboriginal residents and the police.

A candle light vigil is scheduled to take place this evening on 1st Street South
in support of her family.

The investigation is now in the hands of the SIU and Treaty Three says it
wants the investigation into the shooting incident to be transparent and
procedurally fair.

New Sign By-Law ready for Council

The finishing touches are being put on the new Sign By-Law in the City of Kenora.

The by-law was initially drafted over a year ago, but was sent back for
revisions to make it more user friendly.

The city's special events co-ordinator, Buck Matiowski says he still has concerns with the by-law and how it will affect groups putting on events.

Chief Administrative Officer, Bill Presentanz also questioned the wisdom of
having an annual 25 dollar licence fee.

He says it creates unnecessary red tape and its also hard to enforce.

SIU takes over Shooting investigation

An investigation into a shooting incident in downtown Kenora is now in the hands of the
Ontario Special Investigations Unit.

On Monday night, a 39 year old woman was shot after police responded to a domestic
dispute on 1st Street South.

Monica Hudon is a spokesperson for the SIU and says it could take a month or more to
complete their investigation.

The woman is currently at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Center where her condition
has stabilized.

Human remains found in Sioux Lookout

Human remains have been found in Sioux Lookout.


OPP were notified yesterday morning that a body was found in a wooded area in the community.

Police attended and located human remains.

A post-mortem examination is scheduled for today but foul play is not suspected.

The identity of the victim is being withheld until next of kin are notified.

New location sought for Land Ambulence Base

The ball is back in the court of the Kenora District Services Board in its attempt

to find a suitable location for a land ambulence base in the city.

Last month, council rejected the re-zoning application for property on Railway Street,
and the 30 appeal period has expired.

Council asked fire chief Warren Brinkman this week whether its too late to build
a land ambulence base beside the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.
Brinkman adds that work on the new fire hall is currently progressing ahead of
schedule and on budget.

Progress on HST talks with aboriginal leaders

Nishnawbe Aski Grand Chief Stan Beardy says he's encouraged a solution may be reached in the HST point of sale controversy.

Beardy's comment comes in the wake of a meeting Monday between Ontario First Nations and the federal and provincial governments.


Beardy says both levesl of government have come a long way and is confident the point of sale exemption will continue for Natives when the HST comes into effect July first.

City Buys new Boat

The City of Kenora will soon have a new boat for its fleet.


Council has aproved the purchase of a 24 foot vessel with a
drop bow.

Councillor Dave McCann says the boat will allow them to take
over bear traps and other equipment needed to do work on the
island.

In the past, the city had to wait until the winter and use the ice
road to bring over material.

The boat will cost just over 42 thousand dollars.

Show Us Your Colors raises $$$

Organizers of the first ever Show Us Your Colors fundraiser for local cancer

patients proved to be a success.

Despite some wet weather, organizers says they managed to raise about
12 thousand dollars.
The dinner at Norman Community Club was sold out, and funds were also
generated through the sale of solar lights and a penny auction.

This weekend there will be another fundraiser for cancer.

The annual Relay for Life is scheduled to take place Friday night.

SIU to investigating downtown shooting

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has been called in to look into
a shooting incident in downtown Kenora.
Last night just after 8:00, the OPP say they responded to a domestic
dispute on 1st Street South.

An officer responding to the incident was confronted by a woman who was
wielding a knife outside of an apartment block.

The OPP say shots were fired and both on and off-duty officers provided
first aid to the injured woman at the scene.

She was then transported by ambulence to Lake of the Woods District Hospital
for treatment and then airlifted to the Winnpeg Health Sciences Center.

The name of the 39 year old woman has not been released by police.

Anti-Racism Rally Today

There's going to be an anti-racism rally today in Kenora.


Students in Beaver Brae's Canadian/Native Literature class
will be holding a march from the football field to the Harborfront
starting at 10:15.

The rally is called Bridging the Gap and is being held to promote
cultural awareness in the community and the school's student body.

The march is scheduled to wrap up around 12:30 this afternoon.

Woman shot in downtown Kenora

A section of downtown Kenora is still taped off by the OPP following an
incident on 1st Street South.

Around 8:30 last night there are reports that a woman armed with a
knife was shot by police.

So far, the OPP have not released any details of the incident, but
eye witnesses suggest a woman lunged at an officer with a
knife, before any shots were fired.

The whole section of 1st Street South is blocked off from Donny B's
to Matheson Street South.

Council debates Main Street Traffic issues

Some members of Kenora City Council aren't happy with the way traffic flows through

the downtown area.

Council spent a lengthy amount of time debating the merits of the current system, which
was brought in last year following phase one of downtown revitalization.

Councillor Jim Parsons says he's heard a number of complaints from local residents.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they hired a specialist to design the current system
and felt council agreed with the changes at the time.

Perchuck says a public meeting could be held to get feedback from local residents about
the current design, and possibly make changes, if warranted.

Bed shortage eases at Hospital

For the first time in over a month, the bed shortage at Lake of the Woods District

Hospital has started to ease.

On Friday, the Northwest Local Health Integration Network lifted the 1-A status, which
gave the hospital the first opportunity for any long term care beds that became available
in the community.

Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Marc Belcaen says there has been a slight improvement
in their situation in recent days.

Belcaen says they managed to place five patients from beds at the hospital into long term
care beds in Pinecrest and Birchwood Terrace over the past month or so.

Keewatin Break-in

Two male youth have been charged in connection to a break-in to a

business in Keewatin.

The OPP say they responded to an alarm at the Bigway grocery store on Ottawa
Street around 5:30 last Friday morning.

The suspects got into the building by smashing one of the windows out of
the front door.

Once inside, they stole the cash register.

A short time later officers noticed two youth in the area of Superior Street
and subsequently arrested them in connectin to the break in.

A 14 year old youth and a 16 year old have been charged with break, enter and
theft.

Rickford intoduces Water Quality Motion

Water quality on Lake of the Woods is apparently a motherhood issue for members

of parliament.

Last week, Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford introduced a motion calling on the government's
of Canada and the United states to work together to enhance and restore water quality.

The motion received unanimous support in the Commons.

Rickford says the resolution also calls on the International Joint Commission to become
involved in water quality issues on the lake.

Rickford says the motion will come back up for approval in the House in the Fall.

Clark Resigns from Hospital Board

A long time member of the Lake of the Woods District Hospital Board is calling

it quits.

Jim Clark has resigned after 16 years as a board member.

Chief Executive Officer, Marc Belcaen says Clark's expertise will be missed.

Clark served two separate terms on the hospital board and also served as chair
of the board for a couple of years.

CP overhead pedestrian bridge safety

Concern has been raised about the safety of pedestrians using the overhead pedestrian bridge over the CP rail tracks.

There have been complaints of people loitering in the area and students being roughed up.

Inspector Dave Lucas says the OPP are aware of the problem and are dealing with it.

Lucas says there have also been complaints about garbage in and around the bridge and
intoxicated people hanging around.

More awards for Buster's

The Vermillion Bay-based company, Buster's BBQ sauce, has won more awards for its Blueberry
Barbeque Sauce.

The company earned 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place ribbons at the Great American Sauce Contest in Kansas City.

They placed 5th overall out of a 130 entries at the contest. Buster's BBQ also took home a "People's Choice" award for their Blueberry Barbeque Sauce product line at the Great American Invitational and Open Contest.

These awards came after the company recently won the "Marketing Excellence" award at the Dryden District Chamber of Commerce.

Junior Constable Camp

OPP have changed the location of this year's Junior Constable Camp in August.

The camp will be held at Longbow Camp on Longbow Lake Road.


Constable Dave Cain says that there will be many things to do at this year's camp, with visits by
the Canine Unit, the Emergency Response Team and other specialized police units.

15 Boys and 15 Girls will chosen from various communities in the North West region.

The Camp will run from Monday August 9th to Friday August 14th.

Funding from Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Local residential school survivors will get a chance to attend a national event being put on

by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission later this month in Winnipeg.

The event will be taking place at the Forks between June 16th and 19th.

Grand Council Treaty Three says it has received funding to send 100 survivors and
their decendatants to the gathering.

100 bus tickets and free accommodations at the University of Winnipeg are being
offered.

Anyone interested in attending the national event is asked to call the Treaty Three
office in Kenora as soon as possible.

New Tourist Regions Imminent

It won't be long now before the provincial government officially announces the formation of 13 new tourism regions.


The Regional Tourism Organizations will effectively kill the three regions we now have in the northwest and bundle them into one.

Tourism Minister Michael Chan says it should be announced within a month.

The initiative has been widely criticized by the Sunset Country Travel Association because it means
that all tourism marketing for this region will include all of northern Ontario rather than just the northwest.

American injured in weekend Accident

A 74 year old man from Iowa is in good condition following a single vehicle accident

on Highway 502 south of Dryden.
On Saturday, the OPP say a car left the road about 47 kilometers south of Dryden and
rolled several time.

The driver was pinned inside the vehicle for some time.

The highway had to be closed temporarily while emergency crews from Dryden and
Oxdrift got the driver out.

Richard Beckham sustained only minor injuries and was released from hospital.