St. Croix Signs On as Leafs Goaltending Coach

A former Kenora resident has landed a high profile job in the NHL.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Rick St.Croix as their goaltending coach.

St. Croix replaces Francois Allaire, who had an acrimonious split with the team earlier this month.

The 57-year-old St. Croix was the goaltending coach for the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars and also served as an assistant coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 1987 to 1989.

He also starred for the Kenora Muskies in his junior career in the early 1970's. 

NDP MPP's Pleased with Response from Health Town Halls

Lots of public feedback at a town hall meeting in Kenora on the Health Care system.

Kenora Rainy-River MPP Sarah Campbell and NDP Health Critic Frances Gelina spent over an hour listening to the concerns of local residents on Friday.

Gelinas says they'll now be taking those ideas and issues to Queen's Park to the health minister.

Campbell and Gelinas in total held five town hall meetings in five days in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Hudak Holds Town Halls in NWO

While the NDP MPP's were touring the riding, the Conservative leader was also doing his own tour of northwestern Ontario.

Tim Hudak was in Thunder Bay and Dryden for his own town hall meetings.

Hudak's main focus was the economy and how to get it to turned around.

Hudak adds that there is a high demand for skilled trades, and it's important to get youth interested in them right out of school.

OPP Looking for New Recruits

The OPP in Kenora are on the lookout for some new recruits.

A recruitment workshop will held at the Kenora Detachment on Saturday October 13 from 8am till 3pm.

Several OPP speakers including a recruitment officer, general patrol officers and specialty units will be there to answer any questions from those looking to get into policing.

You can contact the detachment office for more information.

Campbell Critical of Park Cuts

The provincial government is continuing to erode the tourist infrastructure of northwestern Ontario.

That's the feeling of Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell, after the MNR downgraded 10 parks in the region, including Caliper Lake, south of Nestor Falls.

She feels the McGuinty Government is being short-sighted in this latest round of cuts.

The provincial government estimates it will save about seven million dollars by cutting staff and services at the 10 provincial parks.

Great Weather for CIBC Run for the Cure

The 21st edition of the CIBC Run For The Cure is being hailed as a success.

Runners and walkers enjoyed a brilliant day in downtown Kenora.

The event is Canada's largest single day event for breast cancer fundraising, education and awareness.

Organizers are still adding up the money from yesterday's CIBC Run For The Cure.

OSSTF Member in Kenora and Rainy River Support Strike Action

Secondary school teachers with the Rainy River District School Board are the latest to take a strike vote.

Members of the OSSTF in the Fort Frances area voted 97 percent in favour of strike action late last week.

That's a similar result to teachers with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, who voted 96 percent in favor of strike action.

The OSSTF says its members want to reach a made at home agreement, not one imposed by politiicans at Queen's Park.

Midget and PeeWee Thistles See Action

The Kenora Triple "a" Thistles are almost ready for the regular season in the Manitoba Midget Hockey League.

The Thistles have a 1-1 record after a home and home series against the Eastman Selects.

Yesterday, the Thistles dropped a 5-1 decision to Eastman after a 4-1 win on the Road Saturday in Beausejour.

The Thistles start the season next weekend on the Road against the Pembina Valley Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Kenora Double "a" Thistles began their season with a win and a loss.

The Thistles upended Dryden 7-1 on Saturday, but were blanked 6-0 yesterday by Fort Frances.

Broncos lose to Elmwood

A tough loss for Beaver Brae's football team.

The Broncos were trounced 38-1 by the Elmwood Giants Friday afternoon at Pete Fair Memorial Field.

Coach Chris Penner says injuries played a role in the loss, especially the loss of running back

Dylan Pykerman, who's recovering from a concussion.

The Broncos fall to 2-3 on the season.

Their next game is at home next Thursday against St. Norbert.

Red Ink Continues to Grow in Dryden

Looks like Dryden is deeper in the hole than originally thought.

Mayor Craig Nuttall says that the city has 10 million dollars on top of the already 27 million it is in debt.

He says council is taking the issue very seriously, and looking where the city can save.

Nuttall says thanks to two new hockey tournaments coming to the area, the closure of the second ice surface is no longer a consideration.

Save ELA Submits Petitions On Parliament Hill

Over 23 thouand people are demanding that the federal government keep the Experimental Lakes area open.

Petitions to save the research facility east of Kenora were handed to members of parliament yesteday.

Director of the Coalition to Save the ELA Diane Orihel is telling people to speak out by contacting their local member of parliament.

The petition can be found at www.savetheela.org.

MNR Cutting Service At 10 Provincial Parks

Ten provincial parks in northern Ontario with low visitation rates will see staff cuts and have their designation downgraded, which means campers will not be able to access any services.

The only park in this area affected by the downgrade is Caliper Lake south of Nestor Falls.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says the changes will eliminate 28 full-time jobs and 102 seasonal positions, and will save $7.1 million a year.

Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle says the staff cuts and other changes will help the government eliminate a deficit of nearly $15 billion and modernize the way the ministry does business.

Public School Board Enjoys Increased Enrolment

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board claims its the fastest growing school board in the region.

The public school board has released its fall enrolment statistics and it shows an increase of 65 students over last year.

Sean Monteith is a superintendant of education and says the expansion of all day junior and senior kindergarten programs is part of the reason for the higher enrolment.

Monteith says they also have 20 more students at the secondary level this year.

SIU Won't Release Name of Woman Killed in Weekend Accident

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit says it will not be releasing the name of a 42 year old woman involved in a fatal accident at the intersection of the Redditt Road and the Kenora By-Pass this weekend.

The woman was killed while being transported in an OPP cruiser early Sunday morning.

SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon says the family has requested that the victims name not be released at this time.

Hudon adds that a post-mortem exam has been completed at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, but the details of the autopsy are also not being released at this time.

Mining Study Released

A new study says nine new mining projects in Northwestern Ontario are going to generate big bucks, at least 136 billion dollars.

However the study says in order to move ahead as quickly as possible, industry, government and First Nations have to work out their differences

The study also says the nine mines will help to generate over 13 thousand jobs and 16 billion dollars in tax revenue.

The study was headed by Dr. Bahram Dadgostar at Lakehead University who says some of the numbers the study uncovered surprised even him.

Big Trout Lake Man faces Assault Charges

Details are coming to the surface about a kidnapping in Big Trout Lake.

O.P.P. were called on Wednesday after parents apprehended the suspect who had taken their four kids, ages 5 through 8, earlier that day.

Police say two of the kids managed to escape and alert their parents but not before a 6 and an 8 year old were sexually assaulted.

The 33 year man remains in custoday and will appear in a Sioux Lookout court today facing charges of kidnapping, assault, sexual assault and uttering threats.

The children received immediate and on-going medical attention in Big Trout Lake and in Thunder Bay.

Broncos Play Third Game in A Week

Beaver Brae's football team will be going after its third win in a row this afternoon.

But it won't be an easy task.

The Broncos take on the unbeaten Elmwood Giants at Pete Fair Memorial Field.

Elmwood is 4-0 on the season, while Beaver Brae has a 2-2 record and is playing its third game in a week.

Kick-off is 3:00 this afternoon.

Broncos Enjoy Home Court Advantage

Beaver Brae's court sport teams enjoyed their first taste of home court advantage.

The Bronco boys volleyball and Girls basketball teams took three of four games from Fort Frances yesterday.

The Beaver Brae senior girls basketball team dropped the Muskies 35-28.

Kaitlyn Sparkman led the way with 9 points.

The Broncos junior girls also won 33-23.

Rylee Smith accounted for almost half of Beaver Brae's points with 16.

The Broncos senior boys swept the Muskies three sets to none, while the junior squad suffered the lone loss of the day, losing 3-0.

Doors Open in Kenora this Weekend

You can walk through Kenora's past this weekend.

Doors Open is being brought back for the first time in four years.

Jim Clarke is one of the organizers and says Doors Open is a celebration of not only some of Kenora's older buildings, but some of our newer ones as well.

This year a total of 17 buildings and two cemeteries are included in Doors Open along with three urban trails as part of the Trails Open celebration.

Doors Open Kenora will take place tomorrow and Saturday.

Saints Clean up in Mountain Bike Races

It was a clean sweep for the Thomas Aquinas Saints in the NorWOSSA Mountain Bike races yesterday at Mount Evergreen.

Connor O'Flaherty placed first in the boys seven kilometer race.

He was followed by Ben Scott in seond and Blaine van der Krabben who finished third overall.

In the cross country races, Daniel Thomson was the top local finisher in the Senior boys division, placing second in the seven kilometer run.

The Saints also did well in the Grade 7 and 8 divisions, with Katie Marcine and Mia Coma finishing second and third respectively in the girls 2.4 k cross country race, while Logan Spencer and Jayme Caron were second and third in the boys division.