Midget Thistles Hit The Road This Weekend

The Kenora Triple "A" Midgets hit the ice road tonight hoping to build on last weeks 2 game sweep of Yellowhead.

Tonight the Thistles head to Morden Manitoba for a game against the Pembina Valley Hawks.

The Hawks currently sit 2 points ahead of Kenora in the standings.

Game time is 8:00.

The Kenora Midgets then head over Teulon for a pair of games against the Interlake Lightning.

Interlake is currently 1 point behind the Thistles in the standings.

Saturday's game goes at 8:00 with game 2 set for 2:00 Sunday.

Senior Thistles Take on Lac Du Bonnet This Weekend

Also this weekend the Kenora Triple "A" Seniors take over the Kenora Rec. Center
.
The Thistles are home for a pair of games against the Lac Du Bonnet Blues on Saturday and Sunday.

It's the next set of exhibition games for Kenora as they prepare for the Allan Cup in April.

The puck drops Saturday night at 7:00.

The rematch is Sunday at 1:00.

Chamber of Commerce Releases Award Nominees

The Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for it's annual Business Awards Ceremony.

More than 40 businesses have been nominated in nine different categories.

There are several multiple nominees, including Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, Gropp's Country
Catering, Kraynick Welding, Good Things and Ichabod's Incredible Images.

This year for the first time there is a new category for aboriginal business...nominees include
the Golden Eagles Charitable Casino, Devil's Gap Marina and Migizi Ventures.

The business awards will be handed out at the Chamber's annual general meeting on February 12 at the
Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Baltesson Returns As Chair of KDSB

No change in the executive of the Kenora District Services Board.

Barry Baltesson, who represents the Lake of the Woods North, has been re-elected as chair.

This will be his second year at the helm of the board.

The Kenora District Services Board held its inaugural meeting yesterday in Dryden.

Construction Continues At SMB

The Separate School Board is testing furniture for the new classrooms at École Ste-Marguerite Bourgeoys.

Director of Education Phyllis Eikre says that's thanks to a unique partnership.

Eikre says the 6 classroom expansion now has the floor in place.

The next phase installing the wall structures once they arrive.

Hydro One Teams Up with Con College

Confederation College and Hydro One are offering a pre-apprentice program together.

The Provincial Utility is giving the school 750-thousand dollars for the initiative.

College President Jim Madder says the program should be open for the inaugural class in the Spring.

It's a four year program that will focus on skilled trades, such as electricians.

Registrations Open for Hockey For Health Tournament

Don't delay.

Registration for the 6th annual 3 on 3 Hockey for Health tournament is open.

Organizer Jess Rheault says spots are already filling up.

She says there are five divisions and teams will be limited to a maximum
of ten players each.

The tournament hits the ice on April 7th.

registration information is available at http://www.lwdhf.com/events/3-on-3-hockey/

Accident Closes Trans-Canada Near Dryden

A few delays on highways in northwestern Ontario.

Highway 17 near Dryden was closed for part of the night due what the
OPP are calling a serious motor vehicle accident.

The Trans-Canada was closed around 8:00 last night in the Twin Towers area, and
was opened to one lane around 2:30 this morning.

The OPP says the westbound lane is open to passenger vehicles only.

Roads in the Kenora area are described as snow-covered this morning with fair
visibility.

KDSB Supports Housing Coordinator

The CAO of the Kenora District Services Board is in favor of a housing coordinator in Kenora.

Dan McNeill says the board recently received an inventory of mental health services in the region.

McNeill says a housing coordinator could do the same thing for housing providers.

The idea for the coordinator was passed by city council this week as part of a 2 to 3 year pilot project on homelessness.

The city is hoping for a provincial grant to fund the position.

Rec. Center Expansion Pegged At Almost 25 Million

A proposed expansion of the Kenora Rec. Center could cost anywhere from 16 to 25 million dollars.

Those were the figures put on the table at a public meeting yesterday on plans to adds a second ice
surface and multi-purpose facility.

Mike Dietsch is the co-chair of the Event Center Committee and says they looked a five different proposals for expanding the Rec. Center and have come out with a preferred concept.

Dietsch says the biggest challenge will be to come up with the funding for the project, which could require
up to 14 million dollars in government and private contributions.

The rest of the project would be mortgaged through the city of Kenora.

Dietsch says if they did a phased expansion, starting with just a second ice surface, costs would still
be almost 16 million.

A final draft of the Rec. Center expansion project will be prepared for City council by the end of February.

Osisko Rejects Goldcorp Offer

Osisko Mining has formally rejected Goldcorp's hostile takeover offer.

Osisko Mining says the 2-point-6 billion dollar offer announced last week  "significantly undervalues" the company's assets, including its flagship Canadian Malartic gold mine in Quebec.

Osisko also has the Hammond Reef gold project near Atikokan in its portfolio.

Economic Development Commission Reports Surplus

The Lake of the Woods Development Commission is reporting a surplus on it's operations last year.

The Commission told council this week, it earned almost 50 thousand dollars through the operations of the Whitecap Pavillion and the Discovery Center.

Sharon Smith is the council representative on the Commission and says that should help out with future special events in the city.

The Economic Development Commission says it's not looking for more money from the city this year, but would like to put the surplus into reserve for future use.

Rickford Still Waiting For Meeting with Province on Ring of Fire

There is still no formal meeting announced between Greg Rickford and Michael Gravelle on the Ring of Fire.  

Both are their government representatives  for the giant mining development in the far north.

Rickford says the two are still only exchanging information periodically

Rickford says he and Gravelle continue to have conversations about the opportunities available for the project.

Wind Chill Warning In Effect

Another cold one today.

A windchill warning is in effect for much of northwestern Ontario and
southern Manitoba.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says even though it will start to
warm up today, winds will also be increasing, still producing significant windchills.

Currently, the windchill is running around -42
.

Sportsplex Opening

The Kenora Sportsplex is set to open.

The complex which is located in the converted Jaffray Mellick Arena will open on February 7th.

Recreation Program Coordinator Megan Derouard says multiple groups are looking forward to renting the facility including both high schools, the majority of elementary schools, and the indoor soccer league.

City Clerk Heather Kasprick says the facility needs some final touches such as bleachers and netting to separate the fields.

Kasprick says those will be added over time.

The facility is now accepting bookings.

Any groups interested in using the facility can book time through Megan Derouard at 467-2987

St. Louis Unveils Renovations

 St. Louis School is making better use of there space now that renovations are complete.

Trudy Cedarwall is the schools principal and says they have opened a room that includes a fridge and freezer for the hot lunch program.

During construction of the new office and foyer the school also created a new central storage room and book storage room.

That left enough space to open a teachers work room which moves staff out of the hallways.

Travel Conditions In Manitoba Poor This Morning

You might want to take your time if you are heading west toward Winnipeg this morning.

The RCMP has issued a blowing snow advisory for the Steinbach and Richer areas.

Police say visibility is at times near zero along the Trans-Canada Highway.

A windchill warning has also been issued for much of southern Manitoba including Steinbach and Winnipeg.

Plans for Event Center To Be Revealed Today

City Council is hoping to see a good turnout tonight when a conceptual design is displayed for the Rec. Center expansion.

The plan comes after months of work by the Event Center committee.

Councillor Rory McMillan says he hopes to see some good discussion take place.

The public consultation meetings takes place in the Rotary room at the Kenora Rec. Center at 7:00.

Council Pleased With Budget Presentations

The City's finance committee is relieved to see that many of the agencies it supports are holding the line on their spending this year.

Ron Lunny chairs the committee and says shows these groups are willing to work with the city, and not against it.

Lunny adds that they still have some big challenges ahead, because the province is cutting funding for certain services, meaning the city is going to have to pick up the slack.

Ontario Chiefs Applaud Young's Honor The Treaty Tour

Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy is applauding Neil Young's "Honour the Treaties" tour.

Beardy says the singer brought to the forefront important issues of environment and industry, but also recognizing that First Nations people are the rights holders of the lands.

Young's tour ended on Sunday and surpassed its fundraising goal of 75-thousand dollars for the legal fund of the Athabasca First Nation.