City Demanding Money to Repair Bridges

Its like being between a rock and a hard place.

That's how some members of city council have described this year's budget process.

Of particular concern is what to do with the city's aging bridges.

There's no money in the capital budget to fix them up, but Councillor Ron Lunny says they know the work has to be done eventually.

The West Winnipeg River Bridge, better known as the Husky Bridge, is the main priority for the city, and needs over 5.5 million dollars of repair work done.

Mayor Dave Canfield says he doesn't want to foot the bill for the project and is insisting the provincial government take back control over bridges from the municipality.

Camp on Lake of the Woods Destroyed by Fire

A fire to a camp on Lake of the Woods is believed to have caused more than a million dollars damage.

The OPP say they were contacted around 3:00 Sunday morning about a blaze in the area of Strawberry Island.

Police say the building was not occupied at the time and was completely

destroyed by the fire.

The Ontario Fire Marshall's office has been contacted, but will not be attending the scene.

The Camp belonged to Jim Richardson and was valued at about 1.6 million dollars.

First Student Canada wins school bussing contract in Kenora

A new company will be picking up kids for school in the Kenora

area next year.

The Northwestern Ontario Student Services Consortium, which handles

transportation issues for local school boards, has awarded a five year

contract to a company called First Student of Canada.

That company will be taking over from Excel Coachlines, which has

had the contract for several years.

The Student Services consortium says the tender process was part of a

provincially mandated initiative.

First Student will take over school bus service in Kenora this fall.

Tent Tenders for the Harborfront come in under budget

One of the items in the City's capital budget in 2011 is the tent covering for the festival park.

Operations manager Rick Perchuck says they have received back

the tenders for the tent, and they are all under the 1.5 million dollars

that has been budgeted for the strucuture.

Perchuck says a report will be presented to the committee of the whole  next week for review.

Council still has to find a way of funding the tent structure

City Starts Budget Process

Kenora city council has started the long budget process for 2011.

Today councillors got a first hand look at the capital budget, which

calls for spending of 13 million dollars this year.

Chair of the finance committee Ron Lunny admits there are some

big challenges ahead.

Some of the items in this year's capital budget are completion of the Discovery Center and downtown revitalization, the harborfront tent, and a new pumper truck for the fire department.

HST to add to City's Budget Woes

The Harmonized Sales tax could have some impact on the City of Kenora's 2011 budget.

The provincial government has said repeatedly, the HST is revenue neutral, but Chief Adminstrative officer of the city, Karen Brown expects the HST will add about 1.7 percent to its spending.

She says city department's will have to take that into account when drafting their operating budget's this year.

NOACC supports Northern Growth Plan

The Northwestern Associated Chambers of Commerce is another organization on board with the Northern Growth Plan.

NOACC President Barry Streib says the proposed Northern Policy Institute is welcome by the chambers

While critics say the plan has no substance, Streib believes the framework is there to guide growth into

the future.

Rafferty Demands HST be taken off gasoline

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty believes gas prices in northwestern Ontario are out of control.

In the House of Commons Friday, Rafferty says removal of the HST would help bring them down.

Rafferty says studies suggest the recent increase in prices is netting the federal government almost 7-million dollars each week

Agent Orange Panel being set up

Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey says an independent panel into Ontario's use of Agent Orange will be up and running by the end of the week.

She says she will likely name the head of the panel within the next few days.

Close to 650 calls have flooded provincial hotlines in the wake of recent revelations that Agent Orange was used in Ontario for more than three decades.

Saints Aim for Gold at OFSAA

The Thomas Aquinas senior girls volleyball team is in Belleville today for the start of the All-Ontario Single A championships.

Saints head coach Bob Kowal says this is probably the best team he has taken to OFSAA.

The Saints go into the tournament as the number one ranked team.

Their first game is at 8:00 this morning against People's Christian Acadamy from Toronto, which is the lowest seed at OFSAA.

Festival Funding Announced

A couple of local festivals are getting a helping hand from the provincial government.

Celebrate Summer, a festival which will take taking place just after Canada Day has been promised 40 thousand dollars to help stage that event this year.

Harborfest will also be getting 75 thousand dollars from the Ministry of Tourism's Celebrate Ontario fund.

A total of 20 million dollars has been promised 230 different festivals across the province, to help attract more visitors and create jobs in the community.

Council begins budget process this morning

Kenora city council will get its first crack at the 2011 budget this morning.

A special council meeting is scheduled to take place in Council chambers to go over the capital budget and take a look at long term projects.

The budget time-line for this fiscal year will also be laid out.

The budget meeting is scheduled to take place at 9:00 this morning.

Mixed reviews for the Northern Growth Plan

The head of the Northwestern Ontario Muncipal Association is giving thumbs up to the province's Northern Growth Plan.

Ron Nelson says NOMA is especially happy that a Northern Policy Institute is part of the plan

Nelson says now the plan is out it's up to everyone concerned to make sure it moves forward.

NDP MPP Howard Hampton doesn't see much oppirtunity for growth after reading the new Growth Plan For Northern Ontario,

The Northern Growth Plan was released on Friday to much fanfare.

Northern Policy Institute being Planned

The McGuinty government's proposal for a Northern Policy Institute is only a idea so far.

Liberal MPP Bill Mauro says details will be worked out by the presidents of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities.

Mauro says the advice will be passed on the Minister of Northern Development.

Wasaya Air expanding again

Flying services to Northern Ontario will be getting a boost.

Wasaya Airways is meeting increased demand for air service in the North by adding its second Bombardier Dash 8 since October.

Vice President George Simon says the company also plans on adding a third Dash 8 as part of an expansion plan.

Simon says the new planes can carry 37 passengers which is a lot larger than the current planes in their fleet.

The Fight is on for Northern Ontario Curling Teams

The federal NDP wants to save Northern Ontario and its place on the national curling stage.

Sports Critic Glenn Thibeault of Sudbury says they're trying to stop the Canadian Curling Association from eliminating the region's place at the Brier and giving it to the defending champion.

Thibeault says the region's vastness and uniqueness support the need for a separate Northern Ontario entry.

Hospital still in the black

Lake of the Woods District Hospital still expects to break even this year

despite its recent bed shortage.

Finance manager Cindy Gasparini says as of the end of January they wereabout 220 thousand dollars in the black.

She adds that the bed shortage has meant more overtime costs, so that will eat into their surplus.

She adds that at this point they still don't know what their budget will be for this years, but says right now they are working with the expectation of a zero percent increase.

Bronco Girls win NorWOSSA hockey Gold

Beaver Brae's hockey teams have won one gold and one silver medal in the NorWOSSA finals.

The Bronco girls took the NorWOSSA double "a" title last night with a 4-2 win over Dryden.

Ainsley Linquist led the scoring attack with a goal and three assists, while Sam Smith, Hannah Rose and Haley Moncrief each scored singles for Beaver Brae.

The Broncos won the best-of-three final two games to none and will head to Stratford after the March Break for the All-Ontario championships.

Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Muskies took the NorWOSSA double "a" boys crown with a 4-3 win over Beaver Brae last night at the Rec. Center.

The Muskies scored the game winner 12:28 in overtime to take the series two games to none.

Senior Thistles Trounce Penticton

The Kenora Triple "a" senior Thistles were not good hosts over the weekend.

The Thistles whipped the Penticton Vees in two games played at the Kenora

Rec. Center.

Yesterday, Jeff Richards had a pair of goals en route to a 9-1 win over the Vees.

On Saturday, the Kenora Seniors got three goals from Jon Johnson in a 9-4

rout over Penticton.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Double "a" PeeWee Thistles came up short in their best-of-three final against Steinbach in the EastMan Manitoba League.

The Millers best the Thistles 2-1 yesterday at the Keewatin Arena to take the series two games to one.

Beaver Brae Cheerleaders win Double Gold at Northern Regionals

Beaver Braes cheerleading squad won a couple of gold medals at the Northern Region Championships yesterday in Thunder Bay.

The Broncos took the Team Dance gold and also won the small, all-girl intermediate cheerleading competition.

The both cheerleading squads had now qualified for the provincial championships.

The cheer squad will head to Missisaugua in April.