Iron Ore Project gets a boost

A $900 million mining development is in the works for Northwestern Ontario.

The construction of the iron mine in the Wabigoon area is expected to begin in 2015, where close to 1,000 workers will be hired to construct the mine site.

President and CEO of Bending Lake Iron Ore Group Henry Wetalainen seems confident about it and

says they have a Chinese company interested in becoming a major investor in the project.

Bending Lake hopes to have the mine in full production in 2017.

Interpretive Forest Planted at Discovery Center

The Discovery Center is showing off its newest exhibit.

An interpretive forest was unveiled on Friday behind the building on Lakeview Drive.

Heather Paterson is Kenora's Tourism Development Officer and says the forest gives visitors an idea of some of the plant life in the area.

The city received 15 thousand dollars from the TD Green Streets fund for the interpretive forest.

The total project will amount to about 60 thousan dollars over two years.

Battle for ELA Continues

The battle to keep the Environmental Lakes Area open east of Kenora isn't over.

A meeting took place last night Knox United Church talking about the importance of the outdoor laboratory.

The public meeting was billed as "Closing the ELA-What's at Stake", and  featured a number of guest speakers including Thunder Bay-Superior North M.P. Bruce Hyer.

Relay for Life sets record in Kenora

A record breaking weekend for the Canadian Cancer Society.

The Relay for Life in Kenora raised a total of 110 thousand dollars over 12 hours.

That's the best ever total.

Hundreds of people walked the track at Lakewood School Friday night and early Saturday morning.

All totalled, Relays for Life generated 375 thousand dollars in four separate events in northwestern Ontario over the past two weekends.

Severe Weather over the Weekend

There are reports of a tornado touching down in the Rainy River district.

Emergency officials say it happened last night in the Stratton area.

There are no reports of any damage or any injuries.

David Rogers of Environment Canada says a system was prime for severe weather.

Because of the funnel cloud report, much of the district was briefly placed on a tornado watch.

Kenora was also a victim of the intense weather system getting 82 millimeters of rain.

Sod Turning for Habitat for Humanity This Morning

A milestone for Habitat for Humanity in Kenora.

A sod turning ceremony will take place this morning for the first ever build in the city.

So far Habitat has raised about 44 thousand dollars in cash, plus even more worth of "in-kind" donations.

The sod turning will take place at 10:00 just off Mellick Avenue.

Actual construction will begin on June 18th.

Saints Enjoy best ever showing at OFSAA

The Thomas Aquinas boys soccer team is back home after its best ever showing at the provincial championships.

The Saints finished with a record of two wins, a loss and two ties.

The only loss was a costly one, coming in the Quarter-final round.

T.A. lost 2-0 to the eventual gold medalists, Kings Christian from Halton.

Meanwhile, Beaver Brae's girls team won its final game at the All-Ontario Double A championships, finishing with a 1-3 record at OFSAA, but out of the play-offs.

Saints Advance to OFSAA Quarter-Finals

Its a landmark day for the Thomas Aquinas boys soccer program.

For the first time ever, the Saints have qualified for the play-offs at the All-Ontario Single "a" championships.

The Saints earned a berth into the quarter-final round with a 2-2 draw with St. Patrick Secondary School from Toronto.

Patrick Van Belleghem scored on a penalty kick late in the game to secure the tie, while Tristan Argue added the other goal.

T.A. finishes second in its pool with a record of two wins and two ties  and now plays Kings Christian in the quarter-final round this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Beaver Brae won't be playing in the second round at the OFSAA double A championships.

The Broncos are winless in three games, after losing 3-0 this morning to St. Paul from Mississauga.

Beaver Brae plays one final game in the round robin this afternoon against Lester B. Pearson from Burlington.

Thomas Aquinas Boys Win Again at OFSAA

The Thomas Aquinas boys soccer team controls its own destiny at the All-Ontario Single "a"

championships.

The Saints need a win or a tie this afternoon to move onto the quarter-finals at the OFSAA

tournament in Windsor.

This morning T.A. won its second game with a 2-1 win against Walkerton District High School.

Patrick Van Belleghem scored both T.A. goals, giving him three in three games.

Thomas Aquinas has one more game in the round robin against St. Patrick Secondary School from
Toronto.

Meanwhile, Beaver Brae won't be playing in the second round at the OFSAA double A championships.

The Broncos are winless in three games, after losing 3-0 this morning to St. Paul from Mississauga.

Beaver Brae plays one final game in the round robin this afternoon against Lester B. Pearson from Burlington.

New Tourism Web Site Launched

There's no place like home for Waysaya Wild Adventures.

The tourist group has recently launched their website, waysayawild.com.

Tour Advisor Bruce Fallen says there was a specific idea in mind when the site was being created.

Tourists will be able to see the northern way of living, such as fishing and local communities.

Thunder Bay declared a disaster area

Thunder Bay, Conmee and Oliver-Paipoonge are now disaster areas and are elibigle for funding from the provincial government.

The announcement was made in Thunder Bay yesterday by Municipal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne.

Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs calls it a great start.

The three areas will share in up to 16 million dollars in disaster relief funding

Sioux Narrows Embraces Grey Power

Officials in Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls say they're not surprised that the community has the oldest population in the Kenora District.

A recent StatsCan report showed the number of people 65 or older in the town was 24.3 percent.

Town Planner Jeff Port says Stats Can last year also showed Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls was also the fastest growing community in the region, which he attributes to more seniors deciding to

declare their cottages their primary residence.
Port says Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls move to approve condo developments is something that he sees as a positive for the aging population in his community.

Louisiana Man Drowns in Quetico Provincial Park

A tragic drowning in Quetico Provincial Park.

Provincial Police say two men were on a canoe trip in Carp Lake, about 70-kilometres south of Atikokan.

OPP say the men were fishing in their canoe when one of them suffered a medical emergency.

The canoe capsized and the victim couldn't be kept above water by his friend.

The survivor managed to swim to shore and call for help.

27-year-old Jacob Jones of Ruston, Louisiana has been identified as the victim.

OPP say Jones wasn't wearing a life jacket at the time.

Relay for Life Takes Center Stage Tonight

Another major fundraiser for Cancer patients and research tonight.

The annual Relay for Life will take place at the Lakewood School track.

Amanda Witta is the co-chair and says one of the most inspirational moments is the lighting of the luminaries.

The Relay will start around 7:00 this evening, with the luminaries being lit starting around 10:00.

Hospital Finishes Fiscal Year in the Black

Despite increasing costs, Lake of the Woods District Hospital managed to record a small surplus this past year.

The hospital was 80 thousand dollars in the black in the 2011/2012  fiscal year.

Vice President of Corporate Services Cindy Gasparini admits it wasn't easy to balance their books.

Gasparini says the outlook for the year ahead isn't very rosy.

They are expecting only a modest increase in spending of just 0.4 percent from the province.

Richardson Acclaimed as Chair of Hospital Board

Not a lot of suspense in the election of the hospital board's executive last night.

Fred Richardson was acclaimed as chair for another term.

He admits these are challenging times to be a hospital in Ontario.

New board member, Dorothy Monteith was also acclaimed as vice chair.

There were a couple of departures from the hospital board as both Joan Reid and Dale Munro have resigned.

Adam Pringle and Theresa Stevens were selected to replace them on the board. 

Forest Fire Activity Picks up

There are 20 active forest fires in Northwestern Ontario.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is reporting three new fires which started yesterday.

The Sioux Lookout District has the most fires with 9, there are 5 in the Red Lake area and one each burning in the districts of Dryden, Fort Frances and Kenora.

Information Officer Debbie McLean says if the rain in the forecast holds true, the fire hazard rating will drop to low for the South and Central portions of the region, but remain high to extreme in the North.

Campbell Speaks Out Against Energy Retailers

There's a call to ban the door-to-door sale of hydro or natural gas.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell says contracts signed at the door are both misleading and costly for consumers.

Campbell says she's received hundreds of complaints about these companies across her riding and

is urging the provincial government to ban the practice of selling energy contracts door-to-door.

Northern Rendez Vous Coming to Kenora

Call it a British Invasion.

Next week, about 100 M.G.'s, Minis, Triumphs and Astin Martins will be cruising the streets of Kenora.

Tom Struthers is one of the organizers of the Northern Rendezvous and says Kenora is the perfect location for the event.

Struthers says the only open event to the public, is a car show on Saturday, June 16th under the Harborfront Tent.

Saints Unbeaten At OFSAA

Thomas Aquinas boys soccer team remains undefeated at the All-Ontario single "a" championships in Windsor.

The Saints played to a 1-1 draw against Glengarry District High School yesterday afternoon.

Ryan Landon scored the lone goal for T.A.

T.A. now has a win and a tie after two games.

Thomas Aquinas is back in action this morning at 8:30 against Walkerton.

Meanwhile, Beaver Brae's girls soccer team is still searching for its first win at the All-Ontario double "a" championships.

The Broncos dropped its second game in a row yesterday at the OFSAA finals.

Beaver Brae was edged 2-1 by Holy Trinity from Bradford yesterday and fall to 0-2.

Their next game is this morning at 8:30 against the St. Paul Wolverines