Broncos lose in OFSAA Semi-Finals

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team will be playing for a medal at the All-Ontario High School Championships in Belleville...but it won't be gold.

The Broncos lost their first game at OFSAA, a 7-0 decision to the Number one team in the tournament, St. Theresa from Belleville in the semi-finals yesterday afternoon.

Beaver Brae has been relegated to the bronze medal game tomorrow morning.

They will face the 6th ranked team, St. Stephens from Bowmanville.

Game time is 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Broncos advance to OFSAA Semi-Finals

Beaver Brae is into the medal round at the All-Ontario girls high school hockey championships taking place in Belleville.

The Broncos got by Ecole Secondaire Louis Riel 4-1 this morning in quarter-final action.

Rylee Smith, Hannah Rose, Spencer Alcock and Hayley Moncrief each scored for Beaver Brae.

Their next game is a tough one against the number one seed in the tournament, St. Theresa from Belleville.

That game is a 1:00 start.

The winner moves onto the final, the loser heads to the bronze medal game tomorrow.

Northern Ice Roads Closed

Quick deteriorating winter road conditions has led to unsafe driving conditions on the winter road network in the Far North.

Nishnawbe-Aski Police say several vehicles have attempted to use the road network and have become stuck.

Most Northern communities have closed their winter roads.

Development Commission releases 2012 Work Plan

The Lake of the Woods Economic Development Commission expects to see more investment in the City of Kenora this year.

The Commission released its 2012 work plan yesterday.

Chair Dennis Wallace says over the past five years the city has invested a lot of money in infrastructure upgrades, and he expects that will pay off.

Wallace says he also expects more investment in the former Abitibi lands in the coming year.

Kenora's new brand to be released next week

A two month long process to come up with a new tourism brand for the City of Kenora is coming to an end.

An official unveiling of Kenora's re-branding will take place next Friday.

The city has been working with tourism guru Roger Brooks on the re-branding process and a small group was tasked with coming up with a single concept to market the city.

The official unveiling will take place March 30th at the Discovery Center.

Campbell endorses Ashton for NDP Leadership

Local New Democrats are split over who to support in the upcoming leadership vote.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Sarah Campbell has come out in support of Niki Ashton from northern Manitoba.

Tania Cameron, the NDP candidate in the last federal election says she'll be throwing her support behind Paul Dewar, while former Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Howard Hampton is supporting leadership frontrunner Thomas Mulcair.

The NDP will elect a new leader this weekend at a convention taking place in Toronto.

Red Lake Airport Gets Funding

Safety improvements at the Red Lake Airport.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford has announced 250-thousand dollars in funding for the purchase of a new snowplow truck.

The money is also being used for a replacement cable for the omnidirectional approach lights.

Rickford says the investment is the finishing touches to the Airport after a new permieter fence and parking lot were funded last year.

Mayor Phil Vinet says they are greatful for the on-going support.

Canfield won't endorse VLT's

Don't expect to be able to play Video Lottery Terminals in Kenora anytime soon.

Earlier this week, hotel owner, Doug Stemkowski lobbied the city to support VLT's in local bars and restaurants.

Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield says its not something he's eager to get into right now.

Yesterday, Premier Dalton McGuinty suggest municipalities would be able to hold referendums on whether to allow VLT's in the future.

City Council Costs released

The City of Kenora is in the middle of the pack when it comes to council salary and travel costs.

Last year the mayor and council were given a total of just over 129 thousand dollars.

That includes their honorarium, travel costs and per diems.

Councillor Louis Roussin had the highest travel costs last year, with just under 66 hundred dollars

to get to and from conferences.

Mayor Dave Canfield was about 100 dollars behind.

Last year Dryden spent 125 thousand dollars on council expenses, while Fort Frances was at 135 thousand.

Union Gas Rates Going Down

Look for lower natural gas bills soon.

Paul Crawford of the Ontario Energy Board says Union Gas has been approved for a rate decrease that takes effect April 1st.

Crawford says the decrease is due to a lower than expected price Union Gas will pay for natural gas over the next twelve months.

More Temperature Records Falls in NWO

Ho-Hum...another day another weather record in Kenora.

For the 7th consecutive day temperatures in Kenora his record highs.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says yesterday we hit 17.2 degrees at the Airport, which beat the previous record for March 21st of 12.8.

That record was set way back in 1939.

Fort Frances was once again the hot spot at 20 degrees, its ninth consective day of record warm

weather.

Broncos advance to Quarter-Finals at OFSAA

Beaver Brae's girls hockey team is into the quarter-final round at the All-Ontario High School Hockey Championships taking place in Belleville.

The Broncos finished the round robin with a 3-0 win over Smith Falls yesterday afternoon.

Hannah Rose had her third goal of the round robin, while Jodi Melillo and Spencer Alcock also scored. It was Alcock's first goal of the season for Beaver Brae.

The Broncos finished the round robin at the top of their pool with a record of three wins and a tie.

They play this morning at 9:00 against Ecole Secondaire Louis Riel from Ottawa.

The winner will advance to this afternoon's medal round.

Kenora Rises in Moneysense Survey

Kenora has moved up a few notches on the Moneysense list of the Best Places to Live index.

The publication rates Kenora 120th of the 190 communities across  Canada rates.

That's just ahead of Timmins and just behind Barrie.

Kenora has moved up 10 places since last year's survey, but the city is still ranked dead last in terms of Arts and Culture.

Fire Season Arrives Early in NWO

The official fire season doesn't start until April 1st, but the the Kenora District has already reported its first blaze of 2012.

It was a small 0.1 hectare grass fire near Ingolf.

Due to the dry conditions, fire information officer Debbie McLean says they will be putting on extra crews before the end of the month.

While daytime burning is allowed until April 1st, McLean is advising local residents to use common sense before doing any burning.

Health Unit to Launch Community Challenge

The slogan used to be Walk a block a day...now its walk 30 minutes a day.

The Northwestern Health Unit has launched a new challenge to get people our of their seats on on their feet.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield issued the challenge yesterday and says walking can help reduce a number of health care problems.

Canfield says studies have shown that walking a half hour a day could potentially cut helath care costs by half.

OPP concerned over Growth of Grandparents Scam

OPP are growing concern with a rise in the number of people becoming victims of the so-called grandparents scam.

It's where someone will call claiming to be a relative in trouble and seeking money.

Detective Constable Dave Felstead of the OPP's anti-racket branch says the con artists have become very sophisticated in their actions.

More than 460 people in Ontario fell victim to the scam last year, being bilked for over two-point-five million dollars.

Broncos 2-0 at OFSAA

Beaver Brae's girls are becoming the comeback queen's.

The Broncos have a 2-0 record at the All-Ontario High School Championships taking place in Belleville.

For the second game in a row, Beaver Brae needed a late goal to secure the win.

Yesterday afternoon, the Broncos edged St. Christoper from Sarnia 4-3.

Ainsley Lindquist provided the dramatics this time, scoring with just 42 seconds left in the game to steal the victory.

It was her second of the game.

The Broncos face their toughest test this morning when they take on 4th ranked St. Mary's from London at 10:00.

They wrap up the round robin at 1:00 against Smith Falls.

Vehicle goes through ice on Lake of the Woods

The OPP are advising local residents to think twice before heading out on to the lake.

Yesterday afternoon around 5:00 a Toyota Sequoia SUV went through the ice near the Rat Portage First Nation.

Police say three Americans managed to get out of the vehicle before it eventually plunged into the water.

The vehicle was hauling a trailor with two snowmachines, which also ended up in the lake.

In another incident, police were contacted about a dog going through the ice on Lake of the Woods near Dairy Queen.

The woman walking the dog managed to get it safely out of the water.

Broncos win first game at OFSAA

Beaver Brae has its first win at the All-Ontario Girls high school hockey championships.

The Broncos earned a 2-1 win over Our Lady of Lourdes from Guelph this morning in their

first game of the round-robin.

Hannah Rose scored both goals for Beaver Brae, including the game winner with less

than two minutes left to play.

The Broncos next game is 1:00 this afternoon against St. Christopher from Sarnia.

Beaver Brae will also play two round robin games tomorrow with the play-offs taking place on Thursday.

Hospital Unsure how new Funding Foruma will affect it's finances

Its unclear how a patient-based funding formula will impact Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

The provincial government announced a funding change yesterday.

The hospital's Finance Manager Cindy Gasparini says they don't have many details about the funding forumla yet, so its too early to say if it will help them or not.

She says starting this year, hospitals will be paid for the care they provide patients, rather than a lump sum.

 She says 55 smaller hospitals won't be affected, but Lake of the Woods is just large enough that it will be a part of the new funding arrangement.