Service Canada closures

Service Canada has announced plans to close several Employment Insurance Claim processing sites in Northern Ontario.

The sites slated for closure by 2014 include Kenora, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Timmins.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty isn't happy with the cuts and says they come at a bad time considering the economic situation in the region.


The move is meant to centralize services bringing the number of offices in the province down from 24 to 6.

Highway 71 open again

Highway 71 between Sioux Narrows and Nestor Falls is open to traffic again

after being closed for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon.

A large sinkhole opened up in the road in the area of Cameron Lake.

The Ministry of Transportion was contacted and the problems was fixed
by about 6:30 last night.

Its believed a broken beaver dam caused the problem.

NorWOSSA Single "A" soccer play-offs today

The second season in the high school soccer league begins today.


The NorWOSSA single "a" championships take place in Red Lake.

The Thomas Aquinas Saints go into today's play-offs as the number one
ranked boys and girls teams after round-robin play.

The winners will move onto the NWOSSA championships next week.

Provincial Parks open for the Long Weekend

Provincial Parks in Ontario will be full of activity this May long weekend.
It's the opening weekend for camping, and an alcohol ban is in place at most of the provincial sites in the region.

Parks Spokesperson Barb Rees says the alcohol ban is in place at Blue Lake, Rushing River, Sleeping Giant, Aero Lake and Silver Falls until May 24th.

Fire Hazard on the rise

Things are starting to heat up in the bush.


The Ministry of Natural Resources says they are dealing with active fires in the region.

Fire Information Officer Debbie McLean says the hazard in the region is definitely on the rise.

While there isn't a restricted fire zone in place, the MNR is encouraging local residents to postpone any outdoor burning over the long weekend.

(Photo courtesy of the MNR)

Toll starts today on Couchiching First Nation

There is no backing down for Chief Chuck McPherson of the Couchiching First Nation.


Plans are in place for the band members to set up a toll booth tomorrow on a section of Highway 11 that runs through the community near Fort Frances.

Chief McPherson says he's taking a lot of heat for his position, but says it's a matter of priniciple

McPherson says he is prepared to go to jail for his stand.

Electronic Waste Recycling

Get ready to junk your old computers and TV's.


Kenora's waste transfer station will be holding a one day
electronics recycling campaign on Saturday, May 29th.

Councillor Dave McCann says they want to keep electronic
items out of the landfill if possible.

The Ontario Electric Stewardship is sponsoring the
one day recycling blitz.

There is only two electronic recycling depots in northwestern
Ontario and both are located in Thunder Bay.

Water Main Leak Fixed

                                                                                      
City work crews have been able to find and fix
a water main leak under the Safeway Bridge.

Crews have been working for the past couple of days to try and get to the problem area.

While crews continue to work at the scene, traffic is moving normally across the bridge over Laurenson's Creek after being reduced to one lane
over the past two days. 

BIZ Levy approved

The Kenora Business Improvement Zone will be getting another 48 thousand dollars

from its members this year.

Kenora City Council approved the 2010 levy at its open meeting this week.

Chair of the downtown BIZ, Kerick Funk says they currently have almost
300 members.

He adds they have a number of beautification projects this summer and will
be hiring a summer student to work on some of their initiatives.

Youth in Philanthropy

Eight community groups are 700 dollars richer today thanks to the Youth in

Philanthropy programs at both Thomas Aquinas and Beaver Brae high schools.

A granting ceremony took place yesterday where the cheques were handed out to
Triple Play, Saakaate House, The Cat Shelter and The Kenora Fellowship Center.

Rachel Sawatzky is a Beaver Brae student and says they actually expanded their
Youth In Philantropy program this year to include donations for victims of the earthquake in
Haiti

The Kenora Sexual Assault Center, the Breakfast for Learning program at Pope John Paul
School, the Lake of the Woods Railroaders Muesum and Iggy's Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center were also presented cheques yesterday.

Opposition to Forest Tenure Changes

The proposed forest tenure reform is the final nail in the forest industry's coffin.


That's the feeling of the Ontario Forest Industry Association.

President Jamie Lim says the government believes it's consulting stakeholders; but it's not.

The first public consultation session was held yesterday in Thunder Bay and another
one will be taking place today in Dryden.

Kenora Mayor Len Compton will be attending today's session.

NOMA opposed to Endangered Species Act

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is going to bat for the Ontario forest industry.


It's launched a letter writing campaign to exempt the industry from more red tape under the Endangered Species Act.

NOMA President Anne Krassilowsky says that forest companies are already required to file to identify threatened and endangered species when they prepare a Forest Management Plan.

NOMA has launched an email writing campaign to lobby the government on the issue.

Boreal Forest to be protected in the North

Canada's top pulp and paper companies and environmental groups who spent years fighting them have united in an unlikely alliance to protect 72 million hectares of threatened boreal forests in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Forest Products Association of Canada president Avrim Lazar says Canada's troubled forest industry will adapt to a marketplace that is getting "more environmentally progressive."

Lazar said the former foes were able to trust each other after realizing the importance of compromise -- that loggers need trees to make a living, but that endangered caribou need a habitat to live.

NorWOSSA Soccer on tap today

One final tune-up for Beaver Brae's boys and girls soccer teams before the NorWOSSA finals next week.

The Broncos are hosting Dryden and Fort Frances in the final round-robin games before the finals next week.

Both Beaver Brae's boys and girls team are in second place in the
standings after the first two mini-tournaments.

The Broncos girls have seven points with two wins, a tie and a loss.

The Beaver Brae Boys have four points with one win, two losses and
a tie.

The Broncos take on Dryden this morning at 9:00 at the Tom Nabb Soccer
Complex.

In a Funk over Cigarette Butts

No butts about it.


There are too many discarded cigarettes littering Kenora streets.

That was the message by the Kenora Business Improvement Zone to city
council this week.

Kerick Funk is president of the BIZ and says something needs to be done
to address the unsightly litter.

Funk says he would also like the city to take action on the issue and come up with a plan to removing cigarette butts from local streets and sidewalks.

Committees on the Chopping Block

A number of committees in Kenora are going the way of the dodo bird.


City council has approved the elimination of a dozen standing committees.

Chief Administrative officer Bill Presentanz says they decided to cull committees that had become dormant or which have seen their duties transferred to other committees.

Some of the committees on the chopping block are the Kenora Health Providers,
the Kenora Port Authority, the Native Street Patrol Advisory committee and
the Sign Committee.

Forest Tenure meetings this week

The Ontario Government's forest tenure reform will be the main topic of discussion at a pair of meetings

this week.

The first public hearing will take place in Thunder Bay today before moving to Dryden tomorrow.

Harold Wilson is the chief operating officer of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and says they're not sure what to make of the new initiative.

The Ontario Forest Industries Association has been very vocal against the plan and feels it will jeopardize the future of the industry.

Council says no to re-zoning for Ambulence Base

The ball is now back in the court of the Kenora District Services Board as it searches for a new land ambulence base in town.

Last night, Kenora City Council voted unanimously to turn down a re-zoning application for property on Railway Street to accommodate a new land ambulence base.

The property owner can appeal council's decision to the Ontario Muncipal Board, but there's been no indication yet from the District Services Board what its plans are now.

The board has been looking for a suitable location for a new land ambulence
base for several years now, with little success.

Save our tree

Kenora's Heritage Committee is looking at ways of designating a centuries old
tree in the Rideout area.

The eastern Cottonwood is growing in an alley between Mascott and Regina Avenues and is believed to be one of the largest trees of its kind in the province.

The cottonwood is over 300 years old and some residents in the neighborhood
are concerned about its future.

The Heritage Committee says while buildings can and have been designated
natural landscapes haven't received similar treatment yet.

Board members are now looking at options for protecting the tree.

More fires for the northwest

With the warmer weather comes an increased chance of forest fires.


The Ministry of Natural Resources is reminding the public to take precautions when burning outdoors.

Fire Information Officer Mitch Miller says crews responded to five new fires over past couple or
days.

The weather forecast is calling for hot dry weather for the next two weeks and MNR officials are keeping a close watch on the local conditions.