SIU clears Red Lake OPP officer

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has cleared the OPP in Red Lake of any

wrong-doing in the death of a North Spirit Lake Man this pas summer.

41 year old Dalius Kakegamic was picked up on a criminal charge on June 14th,
but began experience medical problems.

He was initially taken to hospital in Red Lake, but was then airlifted to the Regional

Health Sciences Center in Thunder Bay a week later.

Kakegamic died on June 21st.

The SIU says there is no evidence to show that Kakegamic was mistreated while
in custody.

SIU director, Ian Scott suggests that Kakegamic's rapid decline and death

were likely due to a pre-existing medical condition.

NorWOSSA Court Sport Finals this week

The NorWOSSA double and single "a" boys volleyball and girls basketball finals are taking place this week.

Single "a" play-offs begin today at Thomas Aquinas with the semi-finals.

Three Saint teams have bye's into tomorrows gold medal games, so the only T.A. squad in action today is the junior girls basketball team.

The Saints take on Sioux Lookout today for the right to advance to tomorrows final.

That game begins at noon.

Meanwhile, the double "a" play-offs are taking place in Fort Frances tomorrow.

All of Beaver Brae's court sport teams are in the semi-finals.

Former OPP officer faces several years in prison

The Crown says a former OPP officer who sexually molested boys for most of  his policing career deserves 10 to 12 years behind bars.

The prosecutor in an Orangeville court said Robert Lewis has never admitted guilt, expressed remorse or taken responsibility for his actions.

Lewis is a former OPP officer who served in Minaki and Whitedog in the 70's.

Court heard that the now 63-year-old man used his position for more than 25 years to molest the boys, even in his police cruiser, while in uniform.

The defence is arguing for a term of five to seven years.

Paving begins on the Redditt Road

Expect traffic to move slowly on parts of Highway 658 for the next couple of days.

Pioneer Construction has begun paving a four kilometer stretch of the Redditt Road

just north of the Highway 17-A intersection.

The work is expected to last all week long, including patching a number of other

locations along that stretch of highway.

Funding for the project is from the federal/provincial infrastructure program.

Province working on a 10 year infrastructure plan

The McGuinty government is getting input on a new 10 year plan for funding road, sewer and building projects.

Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli believes such a plan would be very valuable for local communities and agencies.

Chiarelli met with representitives from school boards, municipalities and first nation

communities from northwestern Ontario yesterday.

NOSM Board ratifies contract with support staff

Finally, some labor peace at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

The strike by support staff is now over after the school's board of directors voted to ratify a new contract with OPSEU Local 677.

Dean Dr. Roger Strasser is happy business can get back to normal.

The contract is for 3 years, but a back to work date still has to be worked out.

Fort Hope Crisis gets national exposure

The crisis on the Fort Hope First Nation is starting to get some national exposure.

The wives of the Governor General and Ontario's Lieutenant General toured the community that recently declared a state of emergency last week.

Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine says the arsons and murders in the community all stem from poverty.

Fontaine says he feels for the community and understands that it's a huge challenge.

New Fire Hall getting ready to open

Work continues to get the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill ready for occupancy.

The opening ceremonies for the fire hall will take place in just under three weeks, on Monday, November 29th.

However, members of Kenora City Council will get a sneak preview of the six million dollar construction project.

A special meeting of the outgoing council has been scheduled for November 18th.

Fire chief Warren Brinkman says he wanted to give the council that approved the funding for the project a chance to see the building first hand, before they leave office.

Brinkman adds that they are still waiting for furnishings to be delivered to the new fire hall and for final inspections to be completed.

Local hockey teams struggle on the road

A tough weekend for the Thomas Aquinas boys hockey team.

The Saints were in Red Lake for a pair of exhibition game, but lost both.

On Friday night, T.A. arrived late at the Cochenor Arena and their game never really got on track, sustaining a 12-4 loss.

Saturday, the Saints played a little better but still were doubled up 8-4.

Jared Snyder and Colt Manson led the offense with three points each in the

weekend series.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles didn't fare much better.

They were on the road for a pair of games and suffered two one goal losses.

Saturday, the Thistles were edged 3-2 by the Central Plains Capitals.

On Friday, a similar result, as the Kenora Midgets were beaten 4-3 by the Pembina

Valley Hawks in a shootout.

Fire on the Redditt Road

Fire has caused extensive damage to a building on the Redditt Road.

The blaze broke out just before 7:00 last night in a workshop/studio about a
kilometer north of the Kenora By-Pass intersection.

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services department was called out and a

number of pumper trucks were dispatched to shuttle water from a hydrant
about two kilometers away on Veteran's Drive.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one was injured.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says at this time is looks as though the fire may

have been caused by an electrical malfunction in the workshop area.

Warm Weather Records Set

The unseasonably warm weather is expected to continue for at least three more days.

Yesterday, Kenora hit a record high for November 7th, topping out at 13.5 degrees, which was just a shade warmer than the previous record of 13.3 in 1969.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says there is the possibility of more records this week.

Laidlaw says both Ear Falls and Atikokan also set temperature records yesterday.

Atikokan was the hot spot in the region at 14 degrees.

Crime Prevention Week

The Kenora OPP have a busy schedule for Crime Prevention Week.

There will be a community presentation tomorrow night.

Constable Dave Cain Says that it is going to be called "Women Traveling Alone."

Cain also says that there will be a Community Awareness open house on Wednesday at the Lakewood School Cafeteria, as well as a variety of school programs all week long.

Medical School Strike nearing an end

Administrative, clerical and technical staff at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine have ratified a tentative contract agreement.

Their union says 78 per cent of members of OPSEU Local 677 who voted approved the deal.

The tentative contract now goes to the medical school's board of directors tomorrow.

If approved by the board it will bring to an end a strike that began August 16 at the school's campuses at Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Details of the agreement will be released pending approval by the medical school's board.

Rosehart comments on Northern Growth Plan

Bob Rosehart says he's pleased to see the provincial government taking action on

some of his recommendations aimed at improving the economy of the region.

The former Lakehead University president was hired by the McGuinty government to advise what could be done for the Northwestern Ontario economy.

Rosehart says he's pleased with the progress with his recommendations

Rosehart says he'd still like to see action on getting improvements made to elementary education in the far north.

Hospital looking for a new facilities

Lake of the Woods District Hospital is trying to keep alive its dream of creating a new health care campus in Kenora.

The Hospital Board says it has applied for funding from the Ministry of Health for a Pre-Capital Health Service Improvement Proposal.

Board Chair, Debbie Baldwin says they would like to hire a consultant to get the ball rolling.

She adds that they are in this for the long haul and the project isn't going to happen overnight.

No injuries in Hospital Bridge Accident

The OPP say no-one was injured in a single vehicle accident this morning on the Hospital Bridge.

A pick-up truck lost control shortly after 9:00 and ended up on its side.

The OPP and Kenora's Fire and emergency services department were called out.

Traffic was closed to one lane for over an hour while emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage.

Hospital says "no" to Lobbyists

Administration at Lake of the Woods District Hospital says its never employed lobbyists

and never intends to do so in the future.

A recent report suggests that as many as 14 Ontario Hospitals have used lobbyists to gain

access to the McGuinty Government.

Chief Executive Officer of the local hospital, Marc Belcaen says if they need to get a message

to the provincial government or the Ministry of Health, they have a board chair and vice-chair

to do the job.

Belcaen says the Ontario Hospital Association is now encouraging hospitals to avoid using

lobbyist altogether.

Opposition parties are concerned that money is being diverted from front-line health services

to pay lobbyists.

Support shown for Fort Hope First Nation

Leaders of a northwestern Ontario first Nation in crisis say they're now confident their calls for help aren't falling on deaf ears.

Sharon Johnston, wife of Governor Gen. David Johnston, and Ruth Ann Onley, wife of Ontario Lieutentant-Governor David Onley, visited Fort Hope First Nation yesterday.

Johnston and Onley toured the fly-in community, that recently declared a state of emergency due to increasing murders, gang fights, arsons and animal cruelty.

Band leaders have put out repeated calls for help from all levels of government as they attempt to deal with the problems.

Stan Beardy, grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, also visited yesterday and said it was important that the First Nation has attracted the attention of the Governor General and Lieutenant-Governor.

New President for Lakehead

The new era for Lakehead University officially todaqy.  

Brian Stevenson officially gets installed as university president. 

Stevenson says the day is about celebrating a new phase in the university's history and a new direction they'll be taking with the rest of the community.

Hospital in the Black

Even though Lake of the Woods District Hospital has a surplus half-way through this fiscal year, its been a struggle to balance their books.

The hospital is 264 thousand dollars in the black after six months of the the 2010/2011 fiscal year.

Despite the black in, Chief Executive Officer Marc Belcaen says its been tough making ends meet.

Belcaen says they cut the volunteer co-ordinator position as a cost-saving measure and will also

not be replacing two managers, who will be retiring later this year.