Council Rejects Zero Based Budgeting

Zero-based budgeting isn't coming to Kenora City hall any time soon.

Councillor Louis Roussin made a motion this week to go to the zero based approach.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says while council voted the idea down, he feels it still has merit.

The Kenora District Services Board has gone to a zero-based budgeting system, and council says it want to see how that works before jumping on the bandwagon.

Boy dies in ATV accident near Rainy River

A 10 year old youth is dead following an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle near Rainy River.

The OPP say the incident took place Tuesday night on Worthington Road in Dawson Township.

Police say the boy lost control of the ATV and then struck a barbed wired fence.

He was taken to the Rainy River Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Technical Traffic Collision Investigators Kenora and Dryden are helping out with the investigation.

Ball Hockey Play-Offs begin

In Casey’s men’s ball hockey action last night the Aces beat  High Havarti 4-3 in a shoot out in game one of their play-off series.

 In the other game last night, the Jets tied their series with a win over the Sangold Digger.

Grassy Narrows Claims Court Victory

The Grassy Narrows First Nation is claiming victory in a court case involving clear cut logging activity on its traditional land-use terrritory north of Kenora.

Justice Mary-Anne Sanderson released a 300 page decision yesterday which finds that the Government of Ontario does not have the power to take away the rights in Treaty 3 by authorizing development including logging and mining.

The decision effectively ends a decade long battle against logging on Grassy.

Grassy Narrows Chief and band council held a press conference this morning in Toronto and say they welcome the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, as it protects their treaty rights.

Treaty Three Hosts Youth Conference

Grand Council Treaty #3 is hosting a two day youth forum.

The Conference gets underway today on Pow Wow Island on the Rat Portage First Nation and features a number of guest speakers.

Actor/dancer Waawaate Fobister, olympic athlete Waneek Horn-Miller and health activist, Jessica Lee will be addressing youth between the ages of 15 and 29.

Youth leadership is the theme of the conference.

STR to Get a New Trail Groomer

Kenora City Council says its willing to help the Sunset Trailriders get a new groomer on the trails this winter.

STR says someone is willing to donate a Bombi Groomer, and it wants the city to issue a donation reciept based on the cost of the vehicle.

Council has agreed to issue the reciept, but says it wants STR to submit a propsal, which includes a plan on how the groomer would be used to enhance snowmobiling and ultimately enhance snow machine related tourism in the Kenora area.

STR needs a new groomer after one of their machines was destroyed by fire last winter.

Councillors Panned for Running for Tories

A couple of members of city council are being taken to task for their decision to run for higher office.

Both Rod McKay and Louis Roussin are seeking the Conservative Nomination in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Gregory Potvin ran unsuccessfully in the last municipal election for council and doesn't think its appropriate for members of council to continue to sit at the council table, while running for provincial politics.

Potvin believes they should take a leave of absence until the election is over.

The Conservatives will nominate their candidate this weekend.

Kenora District Services Board Worried About State of Housing

The Kenora District Services Board has been warned that it needs to come up with nearly 490-thousand dollars to fund non-profit public housing units.

The Board's Housing Director says capital reserves are running dry and notes 2-providers may have nothing in the bank as early as next year.

CAO Dan McNeill says this has been a problem for some time now.

The KDSB services 8 non-profit providers for a total of 560-units.

West Nile Confirmed in the region

For the first time in a couple of years, a mosquito in this region has tested positive for the West Nile Virus.

The Northwestern Health Unit says a number of mosquitoes were identified in a trap in the Fort Frances area.

West Nile can be spread to humans through the bite of mosquito.

The Health Unit ceased its west nile bird collection program last year, but continues to trap mosquitoes in several areas of the Kenora and Rainy River Districts to monitor for the presence of the virus.

Horwath Promises Northern Platform soon

The NDP plan to unveil a northern Ontario-specific platform in the next two weeks.

Leader Andrea Horwath, in Fort Frances for Monday night's nomination meeting, says it will include policies that will make a real difference for the region.

It's to includes previously announced plans to scrap the current wood allocation process and forcing mining companies to process their raw materials in Ontario.

A day of Severe Weather in Northwestern Ontario

(Tornado at Dryden Airport)

It was a day of severe weather in northwestern Ontario.

While there was a tornado warning issued for the Kenora area, none materialized.

We did get just over 41 millimeters of rain which was a record for August 16th.

The previous record rainfall was 26.6 back in 2006.

Meanwhile, there are no reports of damage after a large funnel cloud swept through the Dryden area.

The funnel cloud materialized near Oxdrift and swept past the Dryden Airport yesterday afternoon.

It appears to have made it all the way to Sioux Lookout before finally running out of steam.

OPP Dive Team Brought in to Search for Missing Man

OPP divers are being brought in to help search Shoal Lake for a missing Winnipeg man.

28 year old Lucas Janz was reported missing Sunday afternoon after he had gone for a swim near a camp on Galt Island.

An Emergency Response Team began searching the island and the immediate area yesterday, without any success.

Today an Underwater Search and Recovery Unit will help out with the search.

Prostate Cancer Run through Kenora

Dr. Riley Senft is back on the road again.

Senft brought his Step into Action run to Kenora yesterday.

Senft is on a cross-Canada tour to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer.

He arrived at the Kenora Jail yesterday afternoon and ran with local supporters to Husky the Musky.

Senft began his 36 hundred kilometer journey on May 7th and has raised 189 thousand dollars so far for Prostate Cancer Research.

NDP Select their Candidate in Kenora-Rainy River

NDP in Kenora-Rainy River have selected MPP Howard Hampton's constituency assistant in Dryden as their candidicate in the October 6th provincial election.

Sarah Campbell of Oxdrift beat out Kenora lawyer Robert Sinding following a series of nomination meetings that concluded last night in Fort Frances.

Campbell says the campaign for her is now underway.

No results were given, but a total of 137 people cast ballots.

Conservatives to Hold Nomination Meetings this Saturday

All the major parties should have their candidates in place by the end of this weekend.

The Conservatives are planning to send a travelling ballot box around the riding on Saturday.

Stops are scheduled in Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora.

Two members of Kenora City Council are seeking the Tory nomination, with Louis Roussin challenging Rod McKay.

Houseboat Owners Speak out Against City's Threat to Move Them

Kenora city council is getting an earful about its decision to remove a number of houseboats moored off Coney Island.

A couple of houseboat owners made deputations to council last night.

Brian Finck says they don't have a lot of options as to where they can moor their boats.

Council was going to ask the houseboat owners to remove their vessels from the area by the end of September, but has decided to defer any decision on the matter until they can look at all the legalities first.

More Forest Fire Activity in NWO

New forest fires continue to rage across northwestern Ontario.

Ministry of Natural Resources fire information officer Gabby Rivard says of  the 53 new fires, 26 erupted on Sunday through yesterday.

Dry, sunny conditions returned to the region on the weekend, resulting in a number of new fires.

Firefighters hope for a break with rain forecast for the next two days.

More than two-thousand firefighters are battling 102 fires in the region.

NDP Accuse Clement of Covering Up G-8 Slush Fund

Thunder Bay NDP MP Bruce Hyer calls it a very smelly coverup.

Hyer says his party has discovered that FedNor Minister Tony Clement controlled a G-8 FedNor slush fund and kept it away from the eyes of the Auditor General.

Hyer says the so called slush fund had almost 50 million dollars in it.

Another Drug Bust on By-Pass

A 23 year old Winnipeg man faces drug charges after being pulled over the by OPP on the Kenora By-Pass over the weekend.

Around 11:30 Saturday night, officers stopped a vehicle on Highway 17-A for a traffic violation.

Police say they noticed the odor of alcohol and marijuana in the vehicle, and a search turned up five grams of pot and a qunatity of alcohol.

John Mullan has been charged with possession of a narcotic and operating a motor vehicle with alcohol readily available.

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

IJC Begins Hearings on Task Force Report on Lake of the Woods

International Joint Commission held the first of a series of meetings last night in Fort Frances to gather input on a task's forces report regarding the management of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake basins.

Nick Heisler, a senior advisor, says the input will help the IJC makes its decision on the recommendations.

There will be a meeting this Saturday morning in Kenora at 9:00 at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.