Event Centre Committee Happy With Survey Results

Kenora's Event Center Committee says its pleased with the response to its on-line survey.

The survey wrapped up on July 1st, with over 400 people taking time to fill it out.

Chris Van Wallenghem is co-chair of the committee and says the feedback was similar to what they received at a public meeting back in May.

Overall, Van Walleghem says local residents want to see the ice surface twinned at the Rec. Center, and the development of a multi-use auditorium with banquet facilities.

Kenora OPP Respond to Multiple Thefts

A 19 year old Kenora man has been arrested following a vehicle theft in the Lakeside area.

Police say Randel Beacham stole the vehicle on Friday evening and was found in a ditch on Autumnwood drive shortly after.

Beacham has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, impaired driving, driving while disqualified, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

He appeared in Kenora court yesterday.

In the meantime, Kenora OPP are investigating a break and enter on Valley Drive yesterday.

Police say an unknown number of suspects broke into a house early in the afternoon and made off with several items of jewellery.

Anyone with information is asked to call the OPP or Crimestoppers.

Rain Helps Reduce Fire Hazard

Today's rain should help reduce the fire hazard across the region.

Yesterday, there were just two new blazes reported.

One was located near Blindfold Lake, and grew to about a hectare
in size before being actioned by MNR fire rangers and air attack.

There were no property values located in the area.

There are currently 45 forest fires burning in the region, most in the Red Lake,
Sioux Lookout and Nipigon Districts.

Developer Sought For Industrial Park

Wanted:  someone to develop the industrial park on the Jones Road.

The city has set up a special committee to try and attract a developer.

Kenora mayor Dave Canfield says there is interest in the industrial park,
but they need some buildings out there first.

The industrial park property is located across the road from the iLevel Timberstrand Mill on the Jones Road.

Survey Being Done on Future of Sioux Narrows Park

Sioux Narrows Provincial Park has become a hot topic of discussion.

Rumours are starting to swirl about the future of the park since Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls town council sent out a public survey about the park.

Mayor Bill Thompson says he wants to park to stay open.

Thompson says council has contacted the MNR about transferring ownership of the land.

He says council will make a decision on the parks future in October.

MNR Conducting Lake Surveys

The Ministry of Natural Resources is taking a close look at 61 lakes in northwestern Ontario.

Spokesperson Kim Armstrong says lake surveys are underway.

Armstrong says they are also checking for invasive species.

Information gathered through the surveys will be used to make decisions on setting fishing seasons and size limits for anglers.

Cross-Border Data Collection Underway

The information you share at the border is now collected by both Canada and the U.S.

It's part of an initiative started as a pilot program last year and rolled out to all border crossings June 30th.

Program director Andrew Lawrence says in part, it help keeps track of people visiting.

Lawrence says it won't mean delays as the border as the information is obtained from documents from as a passport.

Fatal Accident Near Prawda

The RCMP are investigating a fatal motor vehicle accident near Prawda.

Police say a 1999 Subaru rolled over at least once while heading west along the Trans-Canada
around 4:00 yesterday afternoon.

There were three males inside the vehicle at the time, and one was proncounced
dead at the scene.

The other two were taken to hospital for treatment.

The west lanes of Highway 1 were closed while the Mounties carried out their
investigation.

Robbery Suspect Arrested

A 33 year old Kenora faces robbery charges following an assault yesterday on the Kenora Harbourfront.

The OPP say a man had been socializing with three other people he had just met.

They assaulted him and stole his wallet and other personal property.

Early this morning, officers were able to identify one of the suspects based on the victim's description.

James Shingebis has been charged with robbery with violence and is due to appear in Kenora Court today.

Petitions and A Rally in Support of Treaty Three Police Service

Petitions have started up to try and save the Treaty Three Police Service.

Late last week, the board of the Treaty Three Police indicated it was going
to shut its doors due to a lack of funding.

Sharon DeSousa is the regional vice-president of the Public Service Employees of Canada and says they would still like to see the Police Services
numbers to see where the spending problems lie.

A rally is also being planned in Kenora for July 23rd to try and save the
aboriginal police service.

Blood Donor Clinic Starts Up Today

You can help save a life.

The Canadian Blood Services will be holding a donor clinic start this afternoon at Thomas Aquinas High School.

Community Development Coordinator Mike Choi says they still have a number of appointment times available.

The Blood Donor Clinic will take place from 4:00 to 9:00 this evening then
again from 9:30 to 12:30 tomorrow.

Firefly Sets Up Endowment Fund

Firefly has set up a 50 thousand dollar endowment fund with the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Community Foundation.

Firefly board chair Jackie Mitchell says the fund will help support programs that they don't receive funding for.

Mitchell says the fund will hand out grants through the foundation but will be available to Firefly programs throughout the region.

Bimose Gets Language Funding

The Bimose Tribal Council is getting funding from the federal government to
do some language training in the Kenora area.

A grant of just over 67 thousand dollars will be used to hold seven, nine day
language camps.

Bimose says up to 84 adults will get to take part in the aboriginal language immersion
programs.

The camps will be video-recorded and be used for language resource materials.

The funding comes from the Aboriginal Languages Initiative.

Fire Crews Focus on Far North

The lack of forest fire activity in the Kenora district is allowing the Ministry of Natural Resources to move crews to where they're needed.

Crews from this region, along with Thunder Bay, Rainy River and Dryden areas have been deployed to support their counterparts further north.

Over 40 fires are burning, mostly in the Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Nipigon districts.

Help is also arriving from the MNR's northeastern regions.

Fort Frances Stand Off Ends Peacefully

A Fort Frances man remains in police custody following a lengthy stand-off with OPP.

Police blocked off a section of First Street East, and evacuated residents in the area after the unnamed man barricaded himself inside a home early Saturday morning.

Members of the OPP's Emergency Response Team, their Tactics and Rescue Unit, a Provincial Liaison Team, and Explosives Disposal Unit were called to assist local officers.

The man surrendered almost 13 hours later without incident.

No one was injured.

KACL Hosts Summer Activities

Kids looking for something to do this summer, have another option.

The Kenora Association for Community Living is launching Youth
Activities Kenora next week.

Theresa Wilson is organizing the evening get togethers and says they
are planning a number of different activities.

The activities will take place each Monday evening through July and
part of August.

Morwood and Fisher Tops at Kenora Borealis Triathlon

A couple of familiar faces topped the leader board at the Kenora Borealis Multi-Sport
Triathlon at Garrow Park.

Dan Morwood topped the men's field in the olympic division, while Edie Fisher was tops in the women's competition.

This was Morwood's second win in as many weeks, after winning the Dryden Canada Day Triathlon last weekend.

He finished in a time of two hours and four minutes, about 20 minutes ahead of Fisher.

About 250 people took part in the various triathlon events held yesterday.

Treaty 3 Police Service Decides to Close Doors

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is shocked at the decision to close down the Treaty 3 Police Service.

Regional Vice-Prescient Sharon DeSousa says the union is still willing to work with the force.

DeSousa says closing the force is not the right way to move forward and that more work can be done to find a solution.

She says in reaction to the announcement the union will be meeting with the officers on how they want to proceed.

She adds that it's disappointing that the communities the force serves will have to suffer due to a lack of federal funding.

The force is preparing to shut down on August 19th.

Power Out Due to Morning Storm

This mornings brief, but violent thunder storm has knocked out power
to over 200 homes in the Kenora area.

Hydro One says high winds associated with the storm system knocked trees onto power lines, resulting in the outages.

The electricity is out this morning in several areas west of the city including the McKenzie Portage area, Washagamis Bay First Nation and parts of Keewatin.

Its unknown when power will be restored.

City Gets a Clean Audit

A pretty robust bottom line for the City of Kenora.

A draft of the 2012 audit has been released and it shows the city's surplus has increased by about a million dollars over last year.

On paper the city has a surplus of 208 million dollars, but chair of the
finance committee Ron Lunny says that figure is misleading because it includes items such as roads and bridges, things he says are actually liabilities instead of assets.

One of the reasons for the increased surplus is a reduction in OPP costs
last year.

Lunny says with an 8.5 percent wage increase due next year, he doesn't anticipate the surplus will be as large in the future.