Campbell Urges Government to Reconsider Closing Tourist Centers

The campaign to keep three tourist information centers in northwestern Ontario open is being brought to Queen's Park.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Sarah Campbell appealed to the premier Dalton McGuinty reverse the government's decision to close them.

She calls the decision irresponsible and misguided. 

Tourism minister Michael Chan defending the decision saying visitor traffic to the tourism centers had decreased by 50 percent, and the government was simply making a wise business decision.

OPP Cruisin' for a Cure

OPP are Cruisin' for a Cure.

Sixty officers and their families from the northwest region will be taking part in the Winnipeg Police's Cops for Cancer run in May.

Constable Anne McCoy says she's running to help bring more public awareness to the disease. 

Runners will participate in the half marathon and the 2 person relay half marathon.

Blood Donor Clinic has good first day

Canadian Blood Services says it was happy with the turn-out on day one of its blood donor clinic in Kenora.

Yesterday, 151 people showed up to give the gift of life.

A total of 127 units of blood was collected.

The goal after the first day was 134 units with a two day total of 220 pints of blood.

The blood donor clinic will wrap up at 12:30 this afternoon at the Thomas Aquinas gym.

Local Tourism Officials Looking to Save Tourist Info Centers

Area tourism officials hope to meet with the Ministry of Tourism this week to discuss the pending closure of the Tourist Information Centres in the Kenora-Rainy River districts.

Tom Pearson, president of the Ontario Sunset Country Travel Association, says the closures are bad for business.

The tourism center at the Manitoba border and Rainy River won't open at all this summer, while the Tourist Bureau in Fort Frances will close permanently on April 30th.

Campbell Seeking Input on the Provincial Budget

Kenora-Rainy River M.P.P. Sarah Campbell says she's still not sure if she'll support last week's provincial budget.

She says there's a lot in the budget that she doesn't like, and will find it hard to vote in favour of.

Campbell says she wants her constituents to weigh in on the budget.

She says that input will help her decide whether to support it or not.

Expensive Wolf Hunt

A hunting trip north of of Dryden has cost three Southern Ontario men over 47 hundred dollars.

Court heard that Douglas McDonald shot two wolves while hunting near Thaddeus Lake.

Craig England attached his tag to one wolf and Paul England's tag was attached to the other animal.

Violations include possessing illegally killed wildlife, tagging a wolf killed by another person and attaching a tag to a wolf killed by another person.

OPP Investigate mischief and theft complaints

The OPP are investigating a rash of mishief complaints over the weekend.

There were a number of incidents of rocks being thrown through windows.

The Beer Store on Park Street, the Subway in Market Square, a car parked on Tunnel Island, and a home on Minto Avenue, all had windows broken.

Police are also investigating the theft of an all-terrain vehicle from a Bayridge Road residence.

The OPP say the 1989 Honda quad was taken from the garage.

The keys were in the vehicle at the time.

NAPS gets a new Deputy Chief

The Nishinabe Aski Police Service has a new deputy chief.

Former Thunder Bay Police Chief, Bob Herman is taking up the duties on an interim basis.

NAPS Sgt. Jackie George says he will be helping the force for the next year to navigate through expected funding cuts.

Herman begins his new duties on April 16th.

Hoppe Rink places fourth at the Dominion

Kenora's Lori Hoppe rink finished with a 2-3 record at the Dominion provincial championships over the weekend in New Liskeard.

Her record was good enough for fourth place overall.

Geralton won the playdowns with a 6-1 record.

Two arrested in connection to Coney Island Break-ins

The OPP have arrested two men in connection to a rash of break-ins on Coney Island.

Over the weekend a number of camps were entered.

18 year old Paul Letander and 21 year old Roderick Land of Kenora have been charged with seven counts of Break and Enter.

They also face two counts of Mischief and one count of Theft, and possessions of property obtained by crime as well as breach of probation.

Blood Donor Clinic Starts This Afternoon

Canadian Blood Service says its looking for more donor's for this week's blood donor clinic in Kenora.

Right now there are 49 appointment times still available tonight and tomorrow morning.

Harvey Heather from Canadian Blood Services says the need starts to pick at this time of year.

The Blood Donor Clinic will run from 4:30 until 9:00 tonight at St. Thomas Aquinas, and then again tomorrow from 9:30 to 12:30.

Thistles to Face the Real McCoys For the Renwick Cup

The Kenora Senior Thistles now know who they'll face in the Renwick Cup.

The Thistles will travel to Dundas next weekend to take on the Real McCoys in a best-of-three series.

The winner will move on to the Allan Cup.

Dundas won the southern Ontario title last night with a sudden death 5-4 overtime victory over Whitby in seventh and deciding game of their series.

The Thistles were supposed to play Fort Frances for the right to play the southern Ontario champs, but the Thunderhawks folded their team before the end of the season due to a lack of players.

Ontario Worst Roads Back

It's time once again to cast your vote in the Ontario Worst Roads campaign.

Pelican Falls Road in Sioux Lookout was voted the worst road in Ontario in 2010.

Spokesperson Korey Kennedy says this is the perfect time to select a road that you are fed up with.

Kennedy says since 2003, more than 90-percent of the roadways nominated have been repaired or are scheduled to be repaired.

Health Care changes in the Region Applauded

The Kenora Chiefs Advisory is embracing a new blueprint for health care in northwestern Ontario.

Joe Barnes is the executive director and says for too long, heath care groups have been working on their own.

Earlier this week, the Northwest Local Health Integration Network came out with a new health strategy for the region, creating five seperate Districts which will develop and implement their own plans.

Kenora Catholic District School Board to receive more Funding next year

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is expecting a boost in its education grant from the province next year.

The separate school system will see an increase in funding next year of about 75 thousand dollars.

Their budget will go up to just over 20 million dollars starting in the fall.

Most of the increase is being attributed to higher enrolments.

Public School Board facing big budget cuts

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is looking at a million dollar hit to its budget next year.

Last week, the provincial government outlined exactly much much each school board would be getting for the 2012/2013 school year.

Superintendant of Business Dean Carrie says its going to be a challenge to balance their budget this year.

If there is a bright spot, its in the all-day everyday kindergarten program.

The public school board will be getting an extra 800 thousand dollars next year to expand the all day JK and SK programs in the region.

Tourism Officials Concerned about Ontario Tourism Bureau closures

Local Tourism officials aren't sure what impact the closure of the Ontario Tourism office on at the Manitoba Border will have on their operations.

Last week, the province announced it was permanently closing three tourist bureaus in northwestern Ontario.

Kenora's Tourism Development Officer Heather Paterson says the closure presents some challenges and some opportunities for them.

Fort Frances and Rainy River will also see their Tourism Ontario offices closed down this year.

City starts branding itself

We have the brand, now we have to find a way to use it.

That's the challenge for the Brand Leadership Team now that Kenora is being promoted as North America's Premier Boating Destination.

Randy Nickle is chair of the city's tourism committee and says he's excited by the possibilities.

Nickle says the brand leadership team has a to do list of some 80 items to get the city ready to begin using its new marketing image.

OFAH Concerned about Cuts at the MNR

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters wasn't surprised the Provincial Government decided to overhaul the MNR.

A 3 year transformation plan is included in the Provincial budget and OFAH Spokesperson Greg Ferrant says they'll be meeting with Minister Gravelle about it.

The plan calls for some staff and offices to be reduced and will be implemented if the budget is passed.

Kids for Cancer Tournament sets a new Record

The week long Kids for Cancer three on three hockey tournament proved to be an unqualified success.

At the end of play yesterday, 52 thousand dolars had been raised, more than doubling last year's tally.

Proceeds from the tournament will be split between the Canadian Cancer Society and the Lake of the Woods Hospital Foundation.