Northwestern Ontario offers flood aid to Manitoba

Northwestern Ontario is lending a helping hand to flood ravaged Manitoba.

Thunder Bay's HMCS Griffon is sending 5 members and two inflatable boats.

Lieutenant Commander John Bell says they'll be helping to evacuate residents and bring in supplies.

The group left Tuesday but more personnel are expected to be sent within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Council Ready to Move Ahead with Common Ground

The long-dormant Common Ground Initiative on Tunnel Island may soon wake out of hibernation.

Kenora City council is trying to get the ball rolling again, agreeing to waive the need for a dispute resolution process in the By-Laws of Common Ground.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says it didn't make sense to continue to hold up the process any longer.

The Common Ground Initiative had been on hold for the past three years because the City of Kenora couldn't agree with its first nation partners on a dispute resolution process.

Canfield says now that issue has been resolved, he's hoping all sides can get together and pass By-Law #1.

Police Arrest Agressive Driver

A short temper has ended up costing a 50 year old Welland man.

Kenora OPP stopped a vehicle on Highway 17 on the weekend for a traffic violation.

Police say the driver became aggressive towards the officer causing a stuggle on the Highway.

An off-duty Treaty 3 officer witnessed the altercation and assisted the officer in apprehending the accused.

Police say Wallace Buss has been charged with assault with intent to resist arrest.

Youth Arrested in Evergreen Break-In

The OPP say they have arrested seven male youth in connection to a break-in at Evergreen School.

Police say the school was broken into Friday evening.

The culprits made off with a safe containing an undisclosed amount of money.

The OPP say the suspects are between the ages of 13 and 17 and will appear in

Kenora Court on June 11th.

They will face charges of break, enter and theft and possession of stolen property.

Police say a portion of the stolen cash has also been recovered.

Youth Charged with Arson in Beaver Brae Blaze

The OPP say they have charged a 14 year old youth in connection to a fire up at Beaver Brae Secondary School last week.

Police say fires had been set in two bathrooms, and the school had to be evacuated as a result.

Classes were also cancelled for the day to allow the smoke to be  properly ventilated and to allow officers to investigate the incident.

A male suspect is due to appear in Kenora Court next month on arson charges.

Hampton Attacks government over Missing Youth

The NDP is attacking the Liberal Governments inaction over the disappearance of 7-First Nation High School students in Thunder Bay.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton brought the issue up in Monday's Question Period.

Hampton is pushing for increased attention to the conditions of First Nations youth living off-reserve.

Fraser Institute Rates Local High Schools

Not a great report card for local secondary schools from the Fraser Institute.

Its released annual survey of high schools across the province, and only two from northwestern Ontario finished in the top 200.

Thomas Aquinas placed 181 out of 727 schools rated.

It had a rating of 7.2 out of ten, which was up from 6.8 last year.

The other top scoring school in this region was Atikokan at 161 overall.

Beaver Brae finished in that lower end of the scale with a score of 3.8 out of ten.

It was rated 655th, down from 588 last year.

Vermont Hunters Fined

Two men from Vermont have been fined a total of 1-thousand dollars for shooting a deer on private land near Kenora.

Court heard that in November of 2009, conservation officers investigated a deer that had been shot on private property and dragged onto Crown Land off Highway 596.

The following year, officers came in contact with 2-hunters in the same area.

While questioning the men, the officers learned they were involved in the 2009 incident.

Peter Flood had shot the deer and Ronald Comette helped move the animal onto Crown Land.

Police Investigate Shoal Lake #40 Fatality

The Treaty Three Police and the OPP are continuing their investigation into the death of a  21 year old Shoal Lake #40 man.

Daniel Green was found lying on a road in the island community the morning of April 30th.

He was airlifted to Lake of the Woods District Hospital but succumbed to his injuries there.

A post-mortem exam was conducted last week, but the cause of death has still not been released.

Anyone with information about the fatality is asked to contact the Kenora's Criminal Investigations Unit,

or the Treaty Three Police.

PC's Critical of Forest Tenure Amendments

The Progressive Critic for Northern Development is condeming the McGuinty Liberals for voting against crucial amendments to the Forest Tenure Reform Bill.

Randy Hillier says the PC and NDP amendments were turned down after 45-minutes of discussion on Wednesday.

Hillier says if Northerners want to have a voice with this Government, they had better join Greenpeace or the World Wildlife Fund.

He notes Bill 151 could come for third and final reading at any time now.

MNR releases new on-line database

It may not make catching fish any easier, but the Ministry of Natural Resources is putting all its resources at the finger tips of local anglers.

A vast data base of fishing information in Ontario has been posted on-line.

Matt Garvin says its a pretty extensive data-base.

Garvin says the Ontario Fishing data-base also includes, maps, directions to lakes, the guide to eating sports

fish in Ontario and fishing regulations.

LHIN's Announces a new Board of Directors

The Northwestern Local Health Integration Unit has a new board of directors.

Joy Warkentin of Thunder Bay is the new chair of the LHIN's.

She takes over from Jan Beasley of Fort Frances, who has been chair of the LHIN's board since its inception.

A familiar name has been appointed as vice-chair of the board.

Anne Krassilowsky says she's looking forward to taking on the challenge.

JM Judo Club win 12 medals at their own Tournament

The Jaffrey Melick Judo Club earned an even dozen medals at its annual Lake of the Woods Judo Tournament at Beaver Brae.

Over 100 fighters, representing 14 judo clubs across northwestern Ontario and Manitoba took part in the
day long event up at Beaver Brae on Saturday.

The local club won five gold, five silver and two bronze medals, with Lyndon Hensrud leading the way with a pair of medals, a gold and a silver.

Three members of the JM Judo Club will continue to train for the National Junior Judo, which will be held
in July in Sept-Iles, Quebec.

Northern Groups still upset with Forest Tenure Legislation

Groups across northwestern Ontario are speaking out against the provincial government's decision to move forward with its Forest Tenure Reform legislation.

The Standing Committee on General Government met Wednesday to make its final amendments to Bill-151.

The Ontario Forest Industries Association says the act is still flawed and will create uncertainty in the forest sector.

Despite recent assurances from the Minster of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, the OFIA says the government hasn't really addressed its concerns.

The Northwestern Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association have expressed similar concerns. 

Sioux Narrows to get a new municipal building

The Town of Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls is expected to begin work soon on a new municipal building.

The federal and provincial governments promised 165 thousand dollars towards construction of the half million dollar building.

Bill Thompson is mayor of the community and says it will really be a multi-purpose facility.

The federal government has extended the deadline for completion of all infrastructure projects until October of this year.

Bronco Soccer Teams Struggle in the Fort

Not a good start to the season for Beaver Brae's soccer teams.

Both the Bronco Boys and girls teams were in Fort Frances yesterday.

Beaver Brae's boys lost 3-1 decisions to both the Muskies and the Dryden Eagles.

The Bronco girls were upended 2-0 by the Eagles.

Their next action is in Kenora next Wednesday at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.

Council agrees to more money for Harborfront Tent

Its going to cost 100 thousand dollars more than expected to put up a new tent on the Kenora Harborfront.

Council held a special meeting yesterday to decide whether to spend the extra money to install permanant, retractable sidewalls on the tent, rather that the seasonal, removable ones, which had been proposed in the original tender.

Councillor Ron Lunny says in the end, it made sense to spend the extra money.

The extra 100 thousand dollars will be taken from the city's contingency reserve fund.

Only councillor Louis Roussin voted against the decision to install the permanent sidewalls.

Firearms Seizure on Kasabonika Lake

The Northwest Regional Guns and Gangs Unit has charged a 45-year-old man in Kasabonika Lake First Nation.

Police executed a search warrant last Friday and seized 10-firearms and 4-prohibited devices.

Officers found semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and 4 high-capacity rifle magazines.

Police say John Winter faces 3-charges including weapons trafficking and careless storage.

Winter will appear in court on June 16th.

OFAH Happy with Majority Consevative Government

The Vice-President of the  Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters sees a Majority Conservative Government as a good thing for the future of the long gun registry.

Glenn Rivard says the PM has promised them he'll scrap it and the OFAH will hold him to that

promise.

Rivard notes the Harper Government has also promised to form a National Advisory Panel on Fish and Wildlife Management.

NAN Chief Weigh In on Federal Election Results

The Grand Chief of Nishanawbie-Aski Nation is congratulating the Conservative and NDP parties for their successes in the Federal election.

However, Stan Beardy is concerned that NAN issues may get lost in the shuffle.

Beardy is hoping that between the two parties; NAN will have some of their issues adressed.

Like most Canadians, Beardy says he was surprised at the final results from Monday's vote.