Keewatin Beach Closed

People who use Keewatin Public Beach will have to find another place to cool off over the next few days.

The Northwestern Health Unit has posted the beach as unsafe for swimming.

The Health Unit says recent tests has found high bacterial counts in the water.

The beach will remain closed until satisfactory test results come back.

The Health Unit tests local beaches on a regular basis and Keewatin Beach was found to have unacceptible levels of e-coli.

Kenora By-Pass Closed by Fatal Accident

A fatal motor vehicle accident has closed down a section of the Kenora By-Pass this
morning.

The OPP say there was a single motor vehicle accident shortly after 8:00 this morning
near the intersection of the Jones Road.

The vehicle burst into flames and fire crews and the OPP are at the scene dealing with
the situation.

As a result of the accident, the Highway 17-A has been closed down from the
east entrance to the By-Pass right to the Redditt Road.

Traffic is being detoured through the City of Kenora.

Busy weekend for sports ahead

Its shaping up to be a busy sports weekend in Kenora.

Four major events will be taking place over the next three days.

First up is the annual Lake of the Woods Men's Soccer Tournament at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.

Eight local teams will be doing battle with eight out-of-town teams from Manitoba, Fort Frances and Thunder Bay.

Action begins Friday evening and will wrap up Sunday afternoon with the

finals.

Just across the road, the Kenora Rowing Club will be holding its annual Tops and Bottoms

Regatta Saturday on Rabbit Lake. 

The Bronzeback Classic will start Saturday and finish with last day weigh-ins Sunday.

100 teams are entered in the sold out fishing tournament.

And finally on Sunday, the Kenora Borealis Triathlon/Duathlon will take place at Garrow Park.

The race is scheduled to start at 9:00.

Moose Tag Changes Proposed

Today is the last day Ontario residents have to comment on a proposed change that could impact the transfer of moose tags among hunters.


The Ministry of Natural Resources is looking to prohibit hunters from passing their tags onto another person in consecutive years.

Wildlife Management Coordinator Tosh Gierek says the recommendation based on input received at public meetings last year.

The new regulation could be in place for the 2011 hunting season.

Washed out Redditt road repaired

Residents on the north side of Redditt can now travel to the south side of the tiny hamlet without taking a lengthy detour.

A couple of weeks ago, the main road in the community north of Kenora washed out after a

beaver dam burst.

It took a couple of weeks for the repairs to be carried out, but a new culvert and gravel

were put in place late last week.

The Redditt Local Roads Board is appealing to the provincial government for emergency                      funding to cover the cost of repairs.

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More Money for Northern Highways

The McGuinty Government has increased the funding for the Northern Highway program.

An extra 125 million dollars was added to this year's budget.

Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle says four laning the highway will help our economy and our safety.

Included in the 775 million dollar funding includes twinning the first 15 kilometers of the

Trans-Canada Highway from the Manitoba Border towards Rush Bay and the re-surfacing of
10 kilometers of Highway 17 from the Kenora City limits east to the Kenora By-Pass.

Jack Irwing Passes Away at 78

A sad note to pass on about the parent company of Northwoods Broadcasting, its chairman Jack Irving passed away in Saint John New Brunswick after a short illness.

He was 78.

Among other accomplishments, Jack Irving was a member of the Order of Canada.

In 1952 he joined his father's businesses and worked all his life, along-side his brother Arthur in Irving Oil.

In addition, he was a Director of all Irving businesses and was responsible for and managed a number of the companies within the varied Irving enterprises.

Funeral services will take place Saturday in Saint John.

Round-About Etiquette urged

The OPP say local motorists need a refresher course on how to properly use the round-about by the Subway.
A recent survey by local summer students hired by the OPP show that about 61 percent of drivers exit the round-about without using their turn signals.

The students observed 151 vehicles recently and found that 93 didn't use their turning lights.

The OPP says using signals while exiting the round about helps with the continuous flow of traffic.

Donations Sought for Family

Making Kenora Home is looking for household items for a family of five displaced by a fire a couple of weeks ago.

The family lost all their possessions in the fire, but have managed to find a new place to live at the end of this month.

However, the mother and four kids are in need of a number of items including beds, dishes
and dish cloths, cutlery, clothing and toys.

The children include a 5 year old girl, a two year old and a four year old boy and a six
week old baby girl.

Donations can be dropped off at the Ontario Works Office at 120 Matheson Street South.

PUSH NWO Searching for Volunteers

People living with disabilities continue to work towards creating a more accessible society.


The group persons united for self help in Northwestern Ontario is holding an information session looking for volunteers.

Spokesperson Justin Miller says volunteers will help fight for equality in a number of areas.

 The Volunteer meeting will take place in August, but anyone who wants more information can contact  http://www.pushnwo.ca/

Rickford Supports Voluntary Census in 2011

The M.P. for the Kenora Riding says he supports his government's plan to

scrap the 2011 long form census.

A number of groups have written the government asking that the census
be carried out as normal.

Greg Rickford says he has concerns about the way the census is conducted
and the type of information that's being collected.

There are concerns that the response to a voluntary census will be very low among the poor, aboriginal communities and recent immigrants.

Minister of Natural Resources promoting Far North Act

Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey has been using her summer to tour area first nations.


Many people have said that there hasn't been enough consultation with aboriginals on the far north act.

Kenora Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton says proper consultation needs to take place throughout the entire implementation process.

Meanwhile, Minister Linda Jeffrey says its often hard to accomodate everyone in such a short period of time.

The bill will come back for a second reading in the legislature in the second week of September.

OPP Summer Students Busy

The OPP summer students have been busy in recent weeks keeping track of local motorists.


The students have been involved in a number of different initiatives, including the Lock it
or Lose it Campaign.

So far over 25 hundred vehicles have been checked in downtown Kenora and 14 percent have
found to be unlocked.

Over 21 hundred vehicles have also been checked for seatbelt compliance, and the students
have fund that 5.7 percent of motorists are failing to buckle up.

Three students have been hired by the OPP to patrol the downtown core this summer.

Construction resumes downtown

There shouldn't be any delays on Bernier Drive this week, as phase two of the downtown revitalization project gets under way.

Jarnel Contracting began work on the nearly four million dollar project yesterday.

Site work has started up in the area near the Thistle Pavillion.

Phase two will include the construction of Lake of the Woods Plaza south of the ScotiaBank on Main Street South and also preparation of the underground works for the festival site on the Kenora Harborfront.

Work is expected to continue through the rest of this summer right into late fall.

The city says it will be providing weekly updates on the progress of the project
on the BigSpruce website.

Phase Two of Downtown Revitalization Begins

Work has started on phase two of the downtown revitalization project.

Jarnel Construction began mobilizing yesterday and will be working over the next couple of months on the almost four million dollar contract.

The Lake of the Woods Plaza and festival park will all be part of the project.

One item that's not included in the work is the installation of a new tent on the Harborfront.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck admits that's something they will have to include in the 2011 budget.

Perchuck say the tent structure will likely cost about a million dollars.

The city has applied for a grant of 500 thousand dollars from the Northern
Ontario Heritage Fund to help cover the cost of the tent.

NOMA wants 2011 Census to Proceed

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is adding its name to the list of groups expressing concern about the recent Federal Census decision.

The Government is moving to discontinue the use of the mandatory long-form questionnaire in favour of a voluntary survey.

President Anne Krassilowsky says the voluntary response will be unreliable.

Krassilowsky notes its not known how many forms will come to Northwestern Ontario.

OPP seek Auxillary Officers

A recruitment effort is underway by the OPP to increase their numbers

in the Auxillary Unit.

The OPP Auxillary is a volunteer unit that works along side full-time
officers.

OPP Constable Dave Cain says members of the Auxillary do receive
training.

An information session will take place tomorrow night at the OPP
Detachment office on the Kenora By-Pass starting at 7:30.

Legalize ATV's For On-Road Use

If Kenora City Council has its way, All-Terrain Vehicles would be licensed to operate on local highways.

Council approved a resolution recently calling on the provincial government to review the Off-Road Vehicles act to include ATV's as vehicles that can be licenced to drive on provincial and municipal roadways.

The resolution says there are economic benefits in the tourism industry to develop ATV trails.

Hap's Runners Up at Women's Soccer Tournament

One local teams made it into the prize money at the annual Lake of the Woods Woman's Soccer Tournament over the weekend at the Tom Nabb Soccer Complex.
Hap's Hurricanes finished second overall, after losing the A-Side Final Sunday afternoon 4-0 to the Southend Shooters from Winnipeg.

Manitoba teams dominated the other finals played Sunday.

The Wisegals from Winnipeg edged Stonewall 2-1 in penalty shots.

In the C-Side Final, it was Portage over Victorious Secret from Winnipeg 2-1 also in penalties.

Canfield files nomination papers

Its going to be at least a two-man race for the mayor's chair in Kenora.

Former mayor Dave Canfield did the expected on Friday by filing his
nomination papers.

In an interview earlier this year, Canfield indicated he's ready to get back into
municipal politics after being defeated in the last municipal elections.

Canfield will challenge former city Councillor Andrew Poirier in the
mayoralty race.

The deadline to file nomination papers is September 10th.