Ontario Wood has new marketing tool

A new Ontario wood logo is supposed to make it easier for consumers to see if the wood they buy is manufactured in this province.

The Executive Director of Ontario Wood Works Marianne Berube says until now, people couldn't tell

Berube said the new branding is a welcome initiative.

Deer Lake Residents Evacuated

About 500 residents of a northwestern Ontario community have been safely evacuated because of nearby forest fires.

Two Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft from Winnipeg flew the Deer Lake residents to Greenstone.

The blazes, which were burning within 3.5 kilometres from the community, sent thick smoke across the area.

Ministry of Natural Resources crews are fighting the fires with water bombers.

Annual Ride for Memories Next Month

The Alzheimer Society of Kenora-Rainy River has started the planning for its annual Ride for Memories and poker derby.

Executive Director Lynn Moffitt says this year's motorcycle ride will have start locations in Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.

Registration packages for the August 27th event can be obtained at the Adventure Inn or by visiting the agencies website at alzheimer-k-r-r-dot-com.

OPP investigating two fatal accidents in the Kenora area

The OPP are investigating two fatal accidents this morning.

The first collision took place shortly after midnight on Highway 17 east of Kenora.

Police say a vehicle hit a rock cut about 10 kilometers east of the Highway 71 junction.

One man was killed in that collision.

The highway was closed overnight, but traffic is moving normally again in that area.

Meanwhile, one person is also dead in an accident that took place on Highway 71 in Sioux Narrows.

The OPP say they were called out around 6:30 this morning.

The collision took place near the intersection of Fickas Road, but so far no other details about that fatality have been released.

Highway 17 closed overnight

Traffic is moving normally again on Highway 17 east of Kenora.

The OPP closed the Trans-Canada overnight following a single vehicle accident just east of the Highway 71 intersection.

Police there was a rollover in the area around 1:00.

One lane of traffic was finally opened shortly before 5:00 and both lanes were re-opened around 7:30.

So far there has been no indication whether there were any injuries in the collision.

Young Pikangikum Joyrider arrested

A 12 year old girl faces a number of charges after going for a joy ride in the remote community of Pikangikum.

The OPP say they were notified about a pick up truck driving in an erratic manner around 5:00 Saturday morning.

Officers tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver refused to stop.

Because the driver appeared to be quite young, the OPP gave up the chase.

A short time later, the vehicle ran into a hydro pole, knocking out power to the entire community.

Police say there were 14 passengers in the truck at the time, including three ten year olds, four 12 year olds, three 13 year olds and three 14 year old youths.

Only one person sustained minor injuries in the collision.

Big Trout Lake votes to ban industrial activity

The residents of the Big Trout Lake First Nation are saying with one voice they want their watershed protected from the results of industrial development.

Band spokesperson John Cutfeet says that was the result of this weeks referendum on the issue and says it should send a message to companies

The environmental watchdog group Earthroots is calling on the McGuinty government to respect the results of the vote.

Rafferty Talks Cross-Border Issues with US Senator

There was a brief discussion over the weekend on how to improve access across the Canada-U-S border.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty says his talk with Minnesota U-S Senator Al Franken in International Falls set the stage for a much broader discussions in the near future.

Rafferty says Franken was well understanding of the issues, including the turn-back of American tourists with often decades old drunk driving charges.

Forest Fires Force Evacuation of Deer Lake

Nearly 500 residents of a remote community in northwestern Ontario are being evacuated because of an approaching forest fire.

Officials are working to evacuate Deer Lake residents as fires burning about 3.5 kilometres away send smoke into the area.

The province is coordinating with federal and military officials to evacuate residents whose health is most at risk.

It is expected that about 480 residents will be immediately airlifted by Canadian Forces aircraft to Greenstone.

Ministry of Natural Resources crews are fighting the fires with water bombers.

There are currently 78 forest fires burning in northwestern Ontario. 

Hydro One Crews Still Working to restore power to all customers

Still a smattering of homes southwest of Kenora without electricity this morning.

Hydro One made good progress yesterday, connecting most of its customers, who had been without power for more than a day, due to a violent thunderstorm.

There are about 100 homes still waiting to be re-connected.

Hydro One is hoping to have power restored to all its customers by around 4:00 this afternoon.

OPP investigate boating accident on Clearwater Bay

The OPP say they are continuing to investigate a boating accident on Clearwater Bay that sent a 15 year old girl to hospital.

Police say the girl fell out of a boat around 10:00 Sunday night.

Police say a 16 year old girl was operating the vessel at the time and lost control, throwing one of the passengers into the water.

The boat continued to circle around, until the operator was finally able to bring it under control.

The girl in the water was struck the propeller of the boat and sustained injuries to her head and neck.

Police and and ambulance arranged to meet the girls at Kendall Inlet, where the girl was transported to hospital.

She has been treated for her injuries and was later released.

Power out again in the City

Kenora Hydro says this morning's outage was likely a holdover from the storm that lashed the city earlier this week.

President and CEO of the utility, Dave Sinclair says they had an equipment malfunction that caused the 50 minute interruption in service.

Sinclair says residents in parts of the north end, as well as Lakeside, Tunnel Island and Coney Island were affected by the outage.

Hydro One working to power up one thousand customers

Hydro One says it hopes to restore electricity to all its customers in the Kenora area by this evening.

About a thousand homes in areas southwest of town are still without power following Monday night's wicked storm.

Hydro One spokesperson Danielle Gauvin says damage is fairly wide spread.

Most of the homes still without power are in the McKenzie Portage/Washagamis Bay area.

Lightning Starts new wild fires in northwest

The storm system that caused all the power outages is also responsible for a number of new forest fires in northwestern Ontario.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says yesterday was one of their busiest ever, with 27 new wild fires reported in the region, and more are expected to crop up today.

The MNR says it recorded more than 71 hundred lightning strikes in a 24 hour period.

Currently, there are 51 active forest fires in northwestern Ontario, 24 of which are classified as out of control.

OPSEU Developmental Workers Picket

Developmental Service Workers held information pickets at several locations across the Province yesterday to protest a stalemate in contract talks with the Government.

Local OPSEU President Erin Rice says they want the Finance Minister to open up negotiations.

OPSEU represents Community Living workers across northwestern Ontario.

Lakehead gets its law school

Northwestern Ontario is getting its law school.

The Provincial Government is helping set up the first law degree program at Lakehead University.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose says the new program will start in September 2013 with a strong focus in Aboriginal Law.

There are currently five law schools in the province, all located in central, eastern or southwestern Ontario.

Bootlegging charges laid

A 54 year old Kenora man faces bootlegging charges following a bust by the OPP's Street Crimes Unit.

Officers executed a search warrant on a home in the 3rd Street South area last Thursday.

Police say they seized a large amount of illegal alcohol and a quantity of illegal drugs with a street value of about 600 dollars.

Wayne Whitefish has been charged with Unlawfully Selling Liquor and Possession of an Illegal Substance.

He is to appear in Kenora Court on August 11th.

Blood Donor Clinic seeking more donors today

Canadian Blood Services wraps up its two-day blood donor clinic at Thomas Aquinas this  morning.

Yesterday, 141 people showed up to give the gift of life, which was about 17 fewer than hoped for.

Harvey Heather is a spokesperson for CBS and says this is a time of year they really need to build up their inventory of blood products.

He says they are hoping for 100 or more donors today to make up for yesterday's shortfall.

The blood donor clinic will run from 9:30 to 12:30 today.

MNR carries out spot checks on Lake of the Woods

An enforcement of fishing and camping regulations on Lake of the Woods has resulted in 26-charges and another 39-warnings.

Patrols conducted included the southern part of the lake toward Morson, Nestor Falls and the mouth of the Rainy River.

Over one hundred resident and 260 non-resident anglers were checked.

Charges included having too many fish, fishing without a license and fishing with an extra line.

At least one charge was laid for camping without a permit.

Blood Donor Clinic Today and Tomorrow

Time again to roll up your sleeves to give the gift of life.

Canadian Blood Services is holding a two-day clinic at Thomas Aquinas High School starting this afternoon.

Spokesperson Harvey Heather says they are hoping for a good turn-out.

The blood donor clinic starts at 4:30 and runs until 9:00 this evening and then again from

9:30 to 12:30 tomorrow.

 

Three Thousand Hydro One Customers without Power

Over three thousand customers of Hydro One are still without power this morning.

Crews have been dispatched to a number of areas north and west of the City of Kenora to deal with a number of outages.

Residents of Pellatt, LacLu, Ingolf, and Shoal Lake are affected, as are about 400 Hydro One customers in the Sioux Narrows areas.

Hydro One says it could be tomorrow night before all the homes affected will have their electricity back on.

Storms result in power outages for Kenora Hydro

Last night's wild storm caused an extensive outage for Kenora Hydro customers.

Power went off around 6:00 and wasn't restored until just after 11:00.

Kenora Hydro says a number of trees were knocked onto power lines and that cut electricity to several areas of the city.

Despite the severity of last night's storm, Kenora's Parks Supervisor Barb Manson says damage seems to be fairly minimal.

Manson says the high winds did managed to free the Portage Bay pedestrian bridge from its moorings.

Dufresne's Launches Charity Challenge

Dufresne is marking its 25th Anniversary in Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba by helping local charities.

CEO Mark Dufresne says the company has launched the 1-Million dollar charity challenge.

Dufresne says they hope to help up to 50-charities.

The deadline to apply is August 8th.

Free Family Fishing

Its time to get your family hooked on fishing.

Licence-free fishing began on July 2nd across Ontario.

Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Spokesperson Alesha Caldwell says the free fishing week lasts 9-days.

Anglers are reminded to follow the conservation rules.

Two injured in Pikangikum accident

A Pikangikum woman is in critical condition in Winnipeg Hospital after her and a friend were struck by a vehicle in the First Nation community.

Police say the two women were walking on Fishhouse Road when a car hit the two.

OPP say 19-year-old Mordina Turtle has been charged with impaired operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm.

Pickle Lake Wild Fire Continues to Grow

The forest fire burning 9-kilometres away from New Osnaburgh First Nation has grown in size.

The blaze is now over 78-thousand hectares in size and is not under control.

However, crews are doing a good job keeping it away from the community.

There were 4-new fires in the District yesterday.

There are 17-active fires, 4 of which are not under control.

Northwest LHIN's promotes Home First

The Northwest Health Integration Network says its trying to find ways of dealing with the shortage of long term care beds in the region.

The LHIN's is trying to expand its Home First initative into communities outside of Thunder Bay.

Chief Executive Officer, Laura Kokochinski says they have been meeting with stakeholders in Kenora about improving access to home care.

Kokochinski says by offering home care services, they hope to free up Alternate Level of Care beds at the hospital, which has been faced with overcrowded beds for months now.

Support for Keewatin Library

The Kenora Public Library is being taken to task for threatening to axe services at the Keewatin branch.

Councillor Sharon Smith is reacting to a report released last month by the Library Board about its funding.

Smith says the Keewatin Branch of the Library isn't the problem.

Smith says the community of Keewatin has raised money for the Keewatin Library and the Library has also benefited greatly from a trust fund set aside for library services in the community.

Land Ambulence Funding increased for KDSB

The Kenora District Services Board is getting closer to a 50/50 funding arrangement with the province for land ambulence service.

Dan McNeill is the CAO of the Kenora District Services Board and says they are about 75-thousand dollars short of a Ministry of Health commitment made 4-years ago.

The surplus will be kept in reserves for future projects.

More Forest Fires reported in the Region

There were seven new forest fires reported over the weekend across Northwestern Ontario.

3 of the fires were in the Sioux Lookout District, one in Dryden and one in Red Lake.

The Ministry of Natural Resources continues to pay close attention to the nearly 66-thousand hectare fire burning near New Osnaburgh First Nation.

Although, residents have returned home, an Emergency Area Order remains in effect with some travel restrictions.

The fire is still not under control.

Men Fined for Camping on Crown Land

Two Atikokan have been fined a total of 12-hundred dollars for camping on Crown land for more than 21 days.

Dennis and Robert Lacosse were charged after Ministry of Natural Resource conservation officers had found their trailers parked in a restricted camping area at Eye Lake in April 2010.

After leaving notices on the trailers, officers returned in mid-May to find the trailers had not been moved.

CJRL becomes the Lake

CJRL is enjoying a bit of a make over.

Kenora's radio station is being re-branded as 895 The Lake.

Station manager Mark Duggan says that also includes a change to the music format.

Duggan adds that the station will continue to be a major supporter of local community events.

The official change in format took place Thurday afternoon.

Treaty Three Opens New Office in Whitefish Bay

The Treaty Three Police has officially opened its newest detachment.

A special ceremony was held yesterday afternoon on the Whitefish Bay First Nation, southeast of Kenora.

The federal government contributed 256 thousand dollars towards the project, while the province added another 237 thousand.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says the investment has helped the local economy and will help to improve the safety  on Whitefish Bay.

Kenora Public Library to Conduct External Review

The Kenora Public Library is planning to carry out an external review this year to try to deal with its financial difficulties.

The Library is projecting a deficit of 52 thousand dollars this year.

Councillor Ron Lunny agrees the Library has to do something about its finances, but isn't sure an operational review is the route to go.

The Library says it will pay for the external review, which will look at issues such as governance, internal staff stucture, service levels, and a financial review.

OPP Investigating Assault on CP Pedestrian Bridge

The OPP is searching for two suspects in connection to an assault on the C.P. pedestrian overpass.

Police say a woman was walking over the bridge Monday night around 11:00 when she was  accosted by two men, who tried to hit her up for a cigarette.

An altercation ensured, and the woman sustained minor injuries, which did not require medical attention.

The OPP say they are looking for two aboriginal men, with dark hair.

One man had short hair, while the other had longer, unkempt hair.

Anyone with information about the assault is asked to contact the OPP or Crimestoppers.

City Insurance Premiums Going Up

The City of Kenora is going to have to pay a bit more for its insurance coverage this year.

Council approved a one year tender from the Standard for 317 thousand dollars for the period running from July 1st, 2011 to July 1st, 2012.

That's an increase of about 10 thousand dollars from last year.

The city's chief administrative officer, Karen Brown says the increased premiums are largely due to the number of new buildings the city has, incuding the new fire hall and the Discovery Center on Lakeview Drive.

She adds that there are some new vehicles up at the Waste Transfer Station which also pushed up their premiums this year.

Winnipeg Symphony in Town

The Winnipeg Symphony will kick off a very busy weekend in Kenora.

The Symphony will be playing under the big tent on the Harborfront this evening.

Musical Director, Alexander Micklethwaite says they look forward to hitting the road each summer.

While all the seats have been sold, there will still be space to set up your own chairs in the free section at the back of the tent.

The concert is scheduled to get underway at 7:30.

Snapping Turtles Seized

A Fort Frances man has been fined 17-hundred dollars for keeping live snapping turtles in his home.

Donald Cameron was charged back in February after Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers, acting on a public tip, found the reptiles hidden in the tank of a toilet.

Cameron had been convicted of a similar offence back in 2010.

Snapping turtles are a special concern species under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.

Kenora OPP present Crime Stats

The OPP says it saw a decrease in the amount of crime in the Kenora area last month.

There were just over 11 hundred calls for service, which was about 160 incidents less than in April.

Staff Sergeant Bryan McKillop says they saw a big drop in the number of break, enter and thefts during the month of May.

McKillop says there were more drug charges laid last month, but that's largely due to new pro-active investigations being carried out by local officers.

New Osnaburgh Residents Returning Home Tomorrow

Good news for residents of New Osnaburgh First Nation as they are being allowed to return home on Friday.

The decision was recommended by the Ministry of Natural Resources based on ongoing fire suppression efforts and forecasted weather.

The MNR is working with First Nation officials on organizing transportation as well as securing health services for the elderly and children.

Meanwhile, Fire Information Officer Debbie McLean says an Emergency Area Order remains in place until at least tomorrow morning.

McLean says firefighters continue to make excellent progress on the nearby fire.

Pat Lang Calls it a Career

The Pat Lang era at Confederation College is coming to a close today.

After 11 years as president of the college she is retiring without any regrets

Lang hopes she her legacy will be the people she met and helped during her presidency.

OPP Out in Force Canada Day Long Weekend

The O.P.P say it will be out in full force over the Canada Day long weekend, including on the water.

Cameron Taylor of Boatsmart Canada says one of the most important safety considerations is getting a Pleasure Craft Operator Card .

Taylor says whether alcohol is involved or not, the overwhelming majority of boating accidents are preventable and all people should wear a life jacket or personal flotation device.

Habitat for Humanity to get a boost this month

Kenora's fledgling Habitat For Humanity chapter will be getting a bit of a shot in the arm next month.

The annual Cycle of Hope begins this weekend, with funds raised going towards the Winnipeg chapter of Habitat.

Gord Taylor is a local cyclist and says some of the proceeds of his ride will go towards the Kenora housing project.

Taylor says Habitat hopes to start building its first home in Kenora by next Summer.

Council Approves Additional Cash for the Library

The Kenora Public Library will receive an extra 98 thousand dollars this year to help cover off a projected deficit.

But city council isn't very happy about advancing the extra cash.

Councillor Ron Lunny supported the resolution to give the additional funding, but questioned how the Library consistantly managed to operate with a deficit over the past couple of years.

Council has agreed to provide an additional 52 thousand dollars this year to help cover the Library's budget deficit in 2011, and another 46 thousand to address an accumulated deficit over the past couple of years.

Hampton Touts NDP Platform

The MPP for Kenora-Rainy River says its time to put an end to damaging McGuinty policies.

Howard Hampton is about to embark on a tour of the Riding to promote the NDP Election platform.

Hampton outlines some of the highlights.

He says the NDP will also take the HST off hydro and heating bills as well as prices at the gas pump.

KDSB to lease new Defibrilators

The Kenora District Services Board has agreed to enter into a lease agreement to purchase 23-defibrillators for ambulances across the District.

The Board will spend 90-thousand dollars this year and 71-thousand dollars for each of the next 4-years to secure the new machines.

The move will save the Board about 46-thousand dollars compared to puchasing 5-machines per year.

14 of the current AED's are more than 10-years-old, well past the typical life of 5-years.

The KDSB says over the past 5 years they have had at least 3-major failures per year.

Village Corner Site in Vermillion Bay being Cleaned up

The clean-up of the Village Corner fire site in Vermillion Bay is underway.

Crews started demolition of the structure yesterday morning.

A fire ripped through the area landmark last Labour Day, leaving only the Casually Hip and Way North stores still standing.

Kenora BIZ ready to Celebrate Summer

A busy long weekend in Kenora.

Canada Day festivities will be book-ended by a couple of special events under the big tent on the Kenora harborfront.

Thursday night, the Winnipeg Symphony is in town and Saturday, Celebrate Summer makes a return.

Mort Goss is one of the people spear-heading the day-long event and says Harbortown BIZ is really the impetus behind Celebrate Summer.

Celebrate Summer will get underway at 1:00 on Saturday and wrap up just after 11:00 with a fireworks display.

OPP Summer Camp Taking place this week

Ontario Provincial Police have kicked off their annual youth summer camp in northwestern Ontario.

Forty young people aged 11 and 12 from across northwestern Ontario have gathered at Sunny Cove near

Fort Frances.

Constable Anne McCoy says they've plenty of activities to partake in.

McCoy says the camp aims to help youth through team building, mentoring, self-esteem exercises with police.

Residents Evacuated from New Osnaburgh prepare to return home

About 500 residents of the New Osnaburgh First Nation could return home as early as Friday, if the air quality continues to improve.

They were evacuated from the community near Pickle Lake a week ago to avoid smoke from a large forest fire.

A community official says the residents are anxious to go home.

About 300 firefighters are working on the fire, which officially remains out of control but did not reach the community.